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HISTORY 


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NORTH  CAROLINA 


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VOLUME  IV 
NORTH  CAROLINA  BIOGRAPHY 

BY  SPECIAL  STAFF  OF  WRITERS 


ILLUSTRATED 


THE  LEWIS  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

CHICAGO  AND  NEW  YORK 

1919 


1 


Copyright,    1919 

BY 

THE  LEWIS  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


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HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Hon.  Nathaniel  Boyden.  A  concise  summaiy 
of  the  life  and  distinguished  services  of  Hon.  Na- 
thaniel Boyden  was  given  recently  by  Chief  Justice 
Clark  upon  the  acceptance  of  a  portrait  of  the 
former  justice.     Said  Judge  Clark: 

"He  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812  and  the 
son  of  a  soldier  of  the  Eevolution,  and  his  son 
served  the  South  with  distinction  in  the  War  of 
of  1861-65.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1822  and  was 
several  times  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  In 
1847  he  was  a  member  of  Congress,  and  again  in 
1868.  He  was  appointed  to  the  Supreme  Court  in 
May,  1871,  and  served  two  and  a  half  years  tiU 
his  death  in  November,  1873. 

"Admitted  to  the  bar  in  1823,  he  served  in  his 
profession  with  great  distinction  for  nearly  half 
a  century.  During  that  time  it  was  his  custom 
to  attend  forty-eight  courts  each  year,  and  he 
practiced  regularly  in  twelve  counties. 

' '  When  appointed  to  the  Supreme  Court  Bench, 
Judge  Boyden  was  in  his  75th  year,  being  the 
oldest  man  ever  appointed  to  this  bench.  Judge 
Boyden  brought  to  this  court  the  accumulated 
learning  and  experience  of  nearly  fifty  years  at 
the  bar  and  the  intesity  of  energy  and  love  of 
labor  which  had  gained  him  success  and  fortune 
in  that  forum,  and  commanded  for  him  a  well 
earned  reputation  here. ' ' 

Nathaniel  Boyden  was  born  at  Conway,  Mass- 
achusetts, August  16,  1796.  The  Boyden  family 
was  long  established  in  England,  where  the  name 
is  found  in  records  covering  three  centuries.  It 
was  from  ancestors  of  wealth  and  distinction  that 
Nathaniel  Boyden  derived  many  qualities  that 
enabled  him  to  adorn  the  positions  he  held  in 
life. 

The  ancestor  of  all  the  earlier  members  of  the 
famUy  was  Thomas  Boyden,  who  left  Ipswich, 
Suffolk  County,  England,  in  April,  1635,  and  on 
the  ship  Francis  came  to  Massachusetts.  There 
is  an  extended  genealogical  work  entitled 
' '  Thomas  Boyden  and  his  descendants. ' '  His  son, 
Thomas  Boyden,  Jr.,  born  at  Watertown,  Mass- 
achusetts, September  26,  1639,  married  Martha 
Holden,  daughter  of  Richard  Holden,  who  ,  c^me 
to  America  in  the  ship  Francis  in  1634.  From 
Watertown  they  moved  to  Groton.  Their  son, 
Jonathan  Boyden,  was  born  September  27,  1675, 
lived  and  died  in  Groton.  The  family  names  ot 
neither  of  his  wives  have  been  preserved.  His  son, 
Josiah  Boyden,  bom  at  Groton  September  21, 
1701,  moved  to  Deerfield  about  1762,  and  in  1767 
was  one  of  those  who  sighed  the  petition  asking 
for  a  division  of  the  township.  The  answer  to  that 
petition  was  the  Town  of  Conway.  Josiah  Boyden 
first  married  Eunice  Parker. 

Their  son  John  Boyden,  father  of  Judge  Boyden, 
was  born  at  Conway,  Massachusetts,  January  29, 
1764,  and  was  the  first  male  child  of  European  par- 


ents born  in  that  township.  He  died  October  2, 
1857,  at  the  great  age  of  ninety-three.  As  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolution  he  stood  on  guard  at  one 
end  of  the  cable  stretched  across  the  Hudson 
River  to  prevent  the  passing  of  the  sloop  of  war 
Vulture  when  Benedict  Arnold  was  plotting  to 
betray  West  Point,  and  he  often  reverentially  spoke 
of  seeing  Washington  when  he  made  his  unex- 
pected visit  to  West  Point  after  Arnold 's  flight. 
John  Boyden  enlisted  several  times  during  the 
Revolution.  His  first  enlistment  was  for  three 
months  at  Ticouderoga.  Aside  from  his  military 
service  he  spent  his  life  as  a  farmer  at  Conway. 

Judge  Boyden 's  mother,  Eunice  Hayden,  was  the 
daughter  of  Dr.  Moses  Hayden,  a  learned  phy- 
sician of  Conway.  Eunice  Hayden  was  a  sister  of 
Hon.  Moses  Hayden,  a  member  of  Congress  from 
New  York.  On  this  side  of  the  family  William 
Hayden  came  to  America  in  1630.  The  Haydens 
long  held  legal  appointment  in  England  from  the 
king  and  Nathaniel  Boyden  probably  derived  his 
brilliant  talents  as  a  lawyer  from  his  mother's 
family. 

Nathaniel  Boyden  displayed  the  martial  spirit 
of  his  ancestors  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  enlisted 
in  the  War  of  1812.  For  his  services  he  was 
granted  a  land  warrant  for  160  acres.  He  was 
liberally  educated,  preparing  for  college  at  Deer- 
field  Academy,  and  attending  in  succession  Wil- 
liams College,  and  Union  College  in  New  York, 
whence  he  wa9  graduated  in  July,  1821.  He 
studied  law  while  in  college,  and  also  under  his 
uncle  Hon.  Moses  Hayden. 

In  1822  Nathaniel  Boyden  came  south  for  the 
purpose  of  teaching  school.  In  the  fall  of  that 
year  he  and  his  companion,  a  clock-maker's  agent, 
named  Sidney  Porter — grandfather  of  the  late 
' '  O.  Henry ' ' — alighted  from  the  stage  coach  near 
King's  Crossroads  in  Guilford  County,  North  Caro- 
lina; and  after  breakfast,  having  surveyed  the 
scane,  they  determined  on  the  spur  of  the  moment 
to  remain,  rather  than  continue  to  their  destination 
further   south. 

Nathaniel  Boyden  found  a  school  to  teach  at 
King's  Cross  Roads  and  at  the  same  time  ac- 
quainted himself  with  the  North  Carolina  Legal 
Code  and  Procedure.  Later  he  taught  school  in 
Madison,  Rockingham  County,  where  he  met  Ruth, 
great-niece  of  Governor  Alexander  Martin.  She 
became  his  wife  January  20,  1825.  In  December, 
1823,  he  was  licensed  to  practice  and  settled  near 
Germanton  in  Stokes  County,  where  he  resided 
until  his  removal  to  Surrey  County  in  1832.  In 
1842  he  moved  to  Salisbury  which  was  his  home 
until  his  death,  November  30,  1873. 

Aside  from  these  facts  it  is  possible  to  obtain 
something  approaching  a  better  estimate  and  char- 
acti  lization  of  Judge  Boyden  from  the  words  of 
Dr.    Archibald    Henderson    of    the    University    of 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Isorth  Carolina,  in  his  address  on  presenting  the 
portrait  of  Judge  Boydeu  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

In  appreciation  of  Nathaniel  Boyden's  powers 
as  a  lawyer,  Dr.  Henderson  said:  "Brought  into 
competition,  at  the  outset  of  his  legal  career  with 
men  of  the  stamp  of  Ruflin,  Murphey,  Nash,  Settle, 
Yancey  and  the  Moreheads,  he  met  every 
eanergency  tlirough  the  extraordinary  gifts  with 
which  nature  and  study  had  endowed  him — vigor- 
ous intellect,  perception  quick  as  light,  and  an 
ability  in  mental  reasoning  well-nigh  phenomenal. 
A  later  contemporary  thus  characterizes  him:  'He 
delighted  in  the  practice  of  the  noble  profession 
which  he  so  much  adorned  and  in  which  he 
reached  so  high  an  eminence.  The  fine  intellectual 
conflicts  to  which  it  gave  rise  had  for  him  in- 
describable charms.  They  were  meat  and  drink  to 
his  nature.  Self  reliance  never  forsook  him  for  a 
moment.  His  moral  courage  was  sublime.  He 
never  slirank  from  the  performance  of  any  duty 
nor  hesitated  to  take  any  responsibility.  His  fidel- 
ity to  his  chiefs  was  never  doubted.  With  all 
these  high  qualities,  being  well  grounded  in  the 
law  and  thoroughly  understanding  its  great  cardi- 
nal principles,  success  was  inevitable. ' 

' '  From  his  time  of  retirement  from  Congress 
until  his  elevation  to  the  Bench  he  was  actively 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  over  a 
circuit  of  twelve  counties.  For  more  than  thirty 
years  he  regularly  attended  the  sessions  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  Endowed  with  an 
eminently  practical  mind  and  extraordinary  in- 
dustry, he  attained  to  great  repute  and  achieved 
a  handsome  competency.  As  Associate  Justice 
of  this  Court  during  the  two  and  a  half  years  of 
his  incumbency,  Judge  Boyden  delivered  opinions, 
which,  for  practical  wisdom,  broad  knowledge,  and 
cogency  in  reasoning  may  uniformly  be  cited  with 
profit.  The  present  distinguished  head  of  this 
court  has  WTitten  of  Jodge  Boyden :  '  Wliile  on 
the  Bench  he  was  said  to  have  been  especially  use- 
ful on  questions  of  practice.  He  possessed  a  strong 
and  cultivated  mind,  and  was  endowed  with  an 
extraordinary  memory.  A  fair  specimen  of  his 
style  and  his  practical  turn  of  mind  will  be  found 
in  Horton  v.  Green,  66  N.  C,  596,  an  action  for 
deceit  and  false  warranty. '  ' ' 

Of  especial  interest  are  his  attitude  and  position 
in  the  political  life  and  thought  of  his  time  as 
portraj-ed  by  Dr.  Henderson.  "In  all  the  political 
changes,  through  periods  of  great  stress  and  fer- 
ment, in  state  audt  nation,  Judge  Boyden  was 
allied  with  more  than  one  political  party.  But  as 
an  old  line  Whig  he  stood  consistently  for  the 
doctrines  in  which  he  had  early  learned  "to  believe. 
In  the  earlier  years  of  his  life  he  was  a  Madisonian 
republican,  and  when  the  old  republican  party  dis- 
solved he  joined  the  national  republicans  and  sup- 
ported John  Quincy  Adams  for  the  presidency  in 
1825  and  1829.  Upon  its  formation  he  became  a 
member  of  the  whig  party  and  stood  steadfastly 
by  its  fortunes  to  the  last.  And  when  that  party 
ceased  to  exist  he  continued  to  cling  to  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  which  it  had  taught.  *  »  * 
From  the  very  beginning  of  the  war  between  the 
States  he  never  expected  any  other  result  than 
the  final  surrender  of  the  Confederate  forces  to 
the  Federal  army.  Yet,  notwithstanding  what  he 
regarded  as  their  great  political  errors,  he  mani- 
fested the  profoundest  sympathy  with  the  Southern 
people,  lamented  the  stern  penalties  of  war,  and 
lent  his  aid  to  the  citizens  of  his  adopted  State. 
*  *  *  Judge  Boyden  was  identified  with  the 
South  by  family  ties,  by  interest,  and  by  all  the 


memories  of  his  balmy  days;  and  he  was  not,  at 
heart,  untrue  to  the  South  in  opposing  that  which 
his  sagacious  mind  considered  baneful  to  her  wel- 
fare, prosperity  and  peace.  He  looked  upon  seces- 
sion as  disastrous  to  the  South.  But  once  the  die 
was  cast,  he  went  with  the  State.  One  may  read 
today  in  The  Carolina  Watchman  of  24th  of  Aug- 
ust, 1861,  the  list  of  subscriptions  to  the  Confeder- 
ate Loan — a  list  headed  by  the  name  of  Nathaniel 
Boyden  in  tiie  sum  of  $1,500,  accompanied  by  the 
statement  that  his  tobacco,  as  well,  would  be  freely 
subscribed.  He  bore  the  sternest  test  of  all — he 
gave  his  beloved  voungest  son,  Archibald  Hender- 
son, to  fight  for  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy. 

' '  One  who  knew  him  intimately  has  written  that 
'no  man  was  more  opposed  to  the  plan  of  Con- 
gressional reconstruction  than  Judge  Boyden,  and 
none  labored  harder  to  prevent  it. '  But  at  the 
same  time  none  realized  more  clearly  than  he  the 
exigency,  as  well  as  the  intrinsic  justice,  of  mak- 
ing some  sort  of  concession  in  the  form  of  political 
privileges  to  the  negro  race.  Nathaniel  Boyden 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Worth  in  1866  on  a 
Commission,  the  main  function  of  which  was  to 
investigate  the  condition  of  affairs  and  mature  a 
rational  and  humane  policy.  *  *  *  The  plan 
proposed,  known  as  the  'North  Carolina  Plan,'  in 
the  formulation  of  which  Judge  Boyden  had  a 
large  shaxe,  had  for  its  basis  impartial  suffrage 
and  universal  amnesty.  *  *  *  In  all  probability, 
the  North  Carolina  Plan  would  have  been  accepted, 
liy  the  State  Legislature  but  for  the  conviction 
that  it  would  be  only  the  prelude  to  the  imposition 
of  deeper  humiliations.  Foreseeing  the  direful 
consequences  to  North  Carolina  in  case  of  its  fail- 
ure, Mr.  Boyden  had  its  success  deeply  at  heart. 
Upon  learning  of  the  failure  of  the  plan,  after 
all  his  arduous  and  sincerely  patriotic  efforts,  the 
anguished  man  vented  his  deep  grief  in  bitter  tears. 
*  *  *  It  was  related  in  writing  by  the  late  John 
A.  Boyden,  and  is  believed  to  be  an  historic  fact, 
though  never  hitherto  given  to  the  pulilic,  that 
President  Lincoln  had  selected  Nathajiiel  Boyden 
for  the  post  of  Provisional  Governor  of  North 
Carolina.  The  proclamation  had  been  prepared 
by  President  Lincoln,  who  was  assassinated  on  the 
night  before  it  was  to  be  published. 

"In  the  Convention  of  1865  he  playe*!  one  of 
the  leading  roles  and  introduced  the  ordinance 
which  declared  that  the  ordinance  of  May  20, 
1861,  'is  now  and  has  been  at  all  times  null  and 
void. '  In  the  impeachment  trial  of  Governor 
Holden  he  was  one  of  the  brilliant  array  of  legal 
talent  composing  the  Governor's  counsel;  and  his 
speech  on  March  17,  1871,  with  its  imposing  mar- 
shalling of  legal  authorities,  is  memorable  as  an 
argument  on  the  impossibility  of  holding  the  Gov- 
ernor responsible  for  his  execution- of  an  imeon- 
stitutional  law. 

' '  Lastly  Mr.  Boyden  was  consistent  with  his  own 
principles,  long  tenaciously  maintained,  in  trans- 
ferring his  allegiance  in  1868,  to  the  republican 
party.  *  *  *  Apart  from  the  policy  of  the  re- 
publican party  in  reference  to  reconstruction  he 
had  always  held  to  some  of  its  great  cardinal 
principles." 

The  following  tribute  to  Judge  Boyden  was  writ- 
ten at  the  time  of  his  death  by  Dr.  Henderson's 
father.  ' '  In  all  his  intercourse  with  his  f ellownien 
Judge  Boyden  was  straightforward,  honest,  direct- 
He  was  a  pattern  of  perfect  sincerity  in  all  that 
he  said  or  did.  He  was  manly  in  everything.  Flat- 
tery he  det^-sted.  The  arts  of  the  demagogue  he 
despised.      No  man   ever    lived   who   was   farther 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


away  from  corruption.  His  integrity  was  never 
doubted  iy  any  man  who  came  near  him.  His 
manly  ajid  straightforward  courage,  aceorapauied 
by  a  certain  brusqueness  of  manner,  may  have  led 
some  to  suppose  that  he  was  deficient  in  some  of 
the  qualities  of  the  heaxK  If  so,  it  was  a  great 
mistake.  With  as  much  of  true  manhood  as  be- 
longs to  the  greatest  and  most  powerful  characters, 
he  yet  possessed  all  the  tenderness  that  character- 
izes the  gentlest  of  the  gentler  sex.  None  who 
knew  him  well  can  deny  that  his  was  a  character 
that  deserves  to  be  held  long  in  remembrance,  espe- 
cially as  a  bright  example  to  the  young  men  of  the 
country.  Let  them  take  courage  from  that  re- 
markalde  example,  and  emulate  his  many  virtues 
and  noble  qualities,  and  success  in  whatever  they 
undertake  is  within  their  reach. ' ' 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  his  first 
marriage.  This  wife  died  August  20,  1844,  leav- 
ing four  childi-en,  Nathaniel,  John  Augustus,  Sarah 
Ann  and  Ruth.  In  November,  1845,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Mrs.  Jane  (Henderson)  Mitchell,  widow  of 
Dr.  Lueco  Mitchell,  and  niece  of  Chief  Justice 
Leonard  Henderson  and  daughter  of  Archibald 
Henderson.  Of  this  union  there  was  one  son, 
Archibald  H.  Boyden,  w-hose  career  is  subject  for 
a  separate  sketch  on  other  pages. 

Col.  Aechib.ild  Henderson  Boyden.  A  broad- 
minded,  public-spirited  citizen  of  Salisbury,  Rowan 
County,  Col.  Archibald  H.  Boyden,  now  serving 
as  postmaster,  has  long  been  associated  with  the 
higher  and  better  interests  of  city  and  county, 
advocating  and  working  for  those  ideas  and 
measures  that  will  be  of  lasting  good  to  the  com- 
munity, being  more  especially  interested  in  the 
mental,  moral,  and  physical  development  of  the 
children  of  this  generation,  in  whom  he  sees  the 
future  guardians  of  the  public  welfare.  Coming 
from  honored  New  England  ancestry,  he  was  born 
in  Salisbury,  North  Carolina,  January  29,  1847, 
a  sou  of  Hon.  Nathaniel  and  Jane  Mitchell  (Hen- 
derson) Boyden,  and  maternal  grandson  of  Hon. 
Archibald  and  Sarah  (Alexander)  Henderson, 
families  of  prominence  and  influence.  The  house 
in  which  his  birth  occurred,  and  which  he  now 
owns  and  occupies,  was  built  by  his  grandfather, 
Hon.  Archibald  Henderson,  in  1800.  It  is  a  large 
commodious,  frame  building,  colonial  in  style,  and 
sits  back  some'  distance  from  the  street,  the  lo- 
cation being  ideal.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  beautiful 
lawn,  ornamented  with  trees,  plants  and  shrubs, 
rendering  the  place  pleasant  and  attractive.  On 
this  lot  stood  the  building  occupied  as  a  law  oflSce 
by  Andrew  Jackson  during  the  year  he  practiced 
law  in  Salisbury.  In  1876  Mr.  Boyden  sold  the 
building,  which  was  taken  first  to  Philadelphia, 
and  later  to  Cliieago. 

In  1863  Mr.  Boyden  left  the  preparatory  school 
in  which  he  was  being  fitted  for  college  to  enter 
the  Confederate  Army.  Going  to  Virginia,  he  was 
detailed  as  a  courier  to  Gen.  Robert  F.  Hoke,  and 
served  in  that  capacity  until  the  close  of  the  con- 
flict. Returning  home  with  health  badly  shattered 
by  the  many  hardships  and  privations  of  life  in 
camp  and  field.  Colonel  Boyden  was  for  nearly  five 
years  incapacitated  for  work.  Regaining  his  for- 
mer physical  vigor,  he  engaged  in  the  buying  and 
selling  of  cotton,  a  substantial  business  with  which 
he  has  since  been  actively  identified,  being  presi- 
dent of  Boyden,  Oranan  &  Co.  and  vice  president 
of  Oranan  &  Co.,  wholesale  dealers  and  jobbers, 
also  interested  in  various  other  enterprises  of  a 
commercial  or  financial  nature. 


Taking  a  genuine  interest  in  everything  con- 
nected with  the  advancement  of  the  public  welfare, 
Colonel  Boyden  has  served  with  credit  to  himseU', 
and  to  the  honor  and  satisfaction  of  his  constitu- 
ents in  numerous  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility. 
He  was  for  tea  years  mayor  of  Salisbury.  When 
he  was  first  nominated  to  that  position,  he  prom- 
ised, if  elected,  to  give  the  city  the  much-needed 
sidewalks,  good  roads,  and  better  schools,  and 
under  his  efficient  administration  all  of  these  prom- 
ises were  fulfilled  to  the  letter,  sidewalks  being 
built,  streets  being  paved,  and  the  schools  placed 
among  the  best  in  the  state.  A  new  railroad  sta- 
tion, which  Salisbury  had  long  needed,  was  erected 
through  the  colonel's  influence  with  the  railroad 
officials,  it  being  the  best  station  on  the  road  be- 
tween Washington  and  Atlanta. 

In  1911  Colonel  Boyden  was  elected  to  the  State 
Senate,  and  was  renominated  in  1913,  but  refused 
to  accept  the  nomination.  While  a  member  of  the 
Senate  he  secured  the  passage  of  a  bill  for  the 
state  iuspection  of  schools,  but  it  was  defeated  in 
the  House.  He  continued  to  advocate  the  measure, 
however,  and  the  Legislature  of  1916  enacteu 
such  a  law.  For  a  full  quarter  of  a  century  the 
colonel  has  served  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board,  and  for  twelve  years  has  been,  postmaster. 

Actively  interested  not  only  in  the  welfare  of 
the  children,  but  in  that  of  the  Confederate  soldier, 
Colonel  Boyden  is  serving  as  chairman  of  the 
board  of  managers  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  at  Ra- 
leigh, where  the  175  inmates  are  well  cared  for, 
and  is  also  chairman  of  the  pension  board  of 
Rowan  County.  He  is  commander  of  the  First 
Brigade,  North  Carolina  Veterans.  He  is  likewise 
chairman  of  the  Salisbury  Board  of  Charities;  a 
member  of  the  board  of  managers  of  the  Thompson 
Episcopal  Orphanage  at  Cliarlotte;  and  a  director 
of  the   Children 's  Home  at  Greensboro. 

On  July  7,  1880,  Colonel  Boyden  was  united  in 
marriage  witli  May  Wh*it,  a  daughter  of  Hon. 
Francis  E.  and  May  (Wheat)  Shober,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Rev.  John  Thomas  Wheat,  whose 
brother.  Major  Rob  Wheat,  commanded  the  Louisi- 
ana Tigers  in  the  Civil  War.  Mrs.  Boyden 's  great- 
grandfather on  the  paternal  side,  Gottlieb  Shober, 
was  a  leader  in  the  Moravian  Colony,  located  at 
Salem,  Forsyth  County.  Her  father  was  prominent 
in  public  affairs,  serving  as  a  representative  to 
Congress,  and  later  as  secretary  of  the  Senate. 
Colonel  and  Mrs.  Boyden  have  two  daughters, 
namely:  May  Wheat,  who  married  Dr.  Vance  R. 
Brawley,  and  has  two  children,  Robert  V.  Jr.,  and 
Boyden;  and  Jane  Henderson,  wife  of  Burton 
Craige,  has  three  children,  Burton,  Jr.,  Jane  Hen- 
derson and  an  infant.  Colonel  Boyden  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  in 
which  he  has  served  as  vestryman  for  several  years.' 

Hon.  Archib.\ld  Henderson,  who  was  bom  in 
Granville  County,  North  Carolina,  August  7,  1768, 
.and  died  at  Salisbury  October  21,  1822,  had  a 
career  replete  with  the  finest  successes  and  dig- 
nities of  the  law,  citizenship  and  manhood.  All  of 
this  is  perhaps  best  expressed  in  the  inscription 
placed  on  his  monument  by  the  North  Carolina 
bar,  in  these  words: 

"In  Memory  of  Archibald  Henderson,  to  whom 
his  associates  at  the  Bar  have  erected  this  Monn- 
ment  to  mark  their  vener.ation  for  the  character  of 
a.  Lawyer  who  illustrated  their  profession  by  the 
extent  of  his  learning,  and  the  unblemished  integ- 
rity of  his  life;  of  a  Man  who  sustained  and  em- 
bellished all  the  relations  of  Social  Life  with  rect- 


4 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


itude  and  benevolence  of  a  Citizen;  wlio  elevated 
by  the  native  dignity  of  his  mind  above  the  atmos- 
phere of  selfishness  and  party,  pursued  calmly,  yet 
zealously,  the  true  interest  of  his  country. ' ' 

He  was  of  Scotch  ancestry.  His  grandfather, 
Samuel  Henderson,  came  from  Hanover  County, 
Virginia,  and  settled  in  Grannlle  County,  North 
Carolina,  about  1743,  and  subsequently  served  as 
sheriff  of  that  county.  Richard  Henderson,  father 
of  the  subject  of  this  article,  was  born  in  Hanover 
County,  Virginia,  April  20,  1735.  He  read  law 
with  his  cousin.  Judge  Williams,  for  twelve  months. 
When  he  applied  for  a  license  to  the  chief  justice 
of  the  colony,  whose  duty  it  was  to  examine  ap- 
plicajits  and  on  his  certificate  request  that  a  li- 
cense be  issued  by  the  governor,  young  Henderson 
was  asked  how  long  he  had  read  law  and  what 
books.  When  the  limited  time  was  stated  with  the 
number  of  books  read,  the  judge  remarked  that  it 
was  useless  to  go  into  any  examination  as  no  liv- 
ing man,  in  so  short  a  time,  could  have  read  and 
digested  the  works  he  had  named.  With  great 
promptness  and  firmness  young  Henderson  replied 
that  it  was  his  privilege  to  apply  for  a  license  and 
the  judge's  duty  to  examine  him,  and  if  he  was 
not  qualified  to  reject  him.  The  judge,  struck 
with  his  sensible  and  spirited  reply,  proceeded  to 
a  most  searching  examination.  So  well  did  the 
applicant  sustain  himself  that  not  only  was  the  cer- 
tificate granted  but  with  it  went  encomiums  on  his 
industry,  acquirements  and  talents. 

The  brilliant  qualities  of  mind  thus  exemplified 
were  sustained  throughout  his  mature  career.  He 
soon  rose  to  the  highest  rank  in  his  profession, 
and  honors  and  wealth  followed.  A  vacancy  oc- 
curring on  the  bench,  he  was  appointed  by  the 
governor  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  the  high- 
est court  in  the  colony.  He  discharged  the  duties 
of  this  dignified  position  with  fidelity  and  credit 
during  an  exciting  and  interesting  period  of  North 
Carolina  history.  On  oije  occasion  he  was  forced 
to  leave  HUlsboro  by  the  disturbances  of  the  regu- 
lators. In  1779  he  headed  the  commission  which 
extended  westward  the  dividing  line  between  Vir- 
ginia and  North  CaroUna. 

His  name  has  an  interesting  association  with  the 
progress  of  opening  up  the  country  west  of  thb 
Alleghenies.  In  1774,  on  the  adWce  of  Daniel 
Boone,  who  had  carefully  explored  the  country. 
Judge  Henderson  formed  a  company,  comprising 
John  WDliams  and  Leonard  H.  Bullock  of  Gran- 
ville, and  others  from  Orange  County,  and  bought 
from  the  Cherokee  Indians  for  a  fair  considera- 
tion all  their  lands  south  of  the  Kentucky  River 
beginning  at  the  junction  of  that  river  with  the 
Ohio  River  and  thence  south  into  Tennessee  and 
including  a  large  portion  of  the  present  states  of 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  The  company,  known 
to  history  as  the  Transylvania  Company,  took 
possession  under  their  title  April  20,  1775,  and 
on  May  25,  Judge  Henderson,  as  president  of  the 
Transylvania  Company,  convened  the  first  Legisla- 
tive assembly  ever  held  west  of  the  Alleghenies. 
In  1780  Judge  Henderson  encouraged  the  settle- 
ment at  the  French  Lick,  now  Nashville,  ana 
opened  an  office  there  for  the  sale  of  the  lands. 
Not  long  after  his  return  to  North  Carolina  Rich- 
ard Henderson  died  at  his  home  in  Granville,  Jan- 
uary 30,  1785.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Elizabeth  Keeling.  He  was  survived  by  six 
children,  Fanny,  Richard,  Archibald,  Elizabeth, 
Leonard  and  John  Lawson.  The  son,  Leonard, 
afterward  rose  to  distinction  and  became  chief 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina. 


Archibald  Henderson  studied  law  with  Judge 
WUliams  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  locating 
soon  afterward  at  Salisbury.  He  soon  became 
prominent  in  public  life  and  from  1799  to  1803 
represented  his  district  in  Congress.  He  also  repre- 
sented Salisbury  in  the  State  Legislature  in  1807, 
1808,  1809,  1814,  1819  and  1820.  About  the 
year  1800  he  built  a  commodious  frame  house  in 
colonial  style,  located  on  South  Church  street,  and 
it  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  his  grandson. 
Colonel  Archibald  Henderson  Boyden.  It  was  in 
this  dignified  old  home  that  Archibald  Henderson 
died.  He  married  Sarah  Alexander,  daughter  ol 
Colonel  Moses  Alexander,  and  sister  of  William 
Lee  Alex.ander  and  of  Governor  Nathaniel  Alex- 
ander. They  reared  two  children,  Archibald  ana 
Jane,  the  latter  becoming  the  wife  of  Dr.  Lueco 
Mitchell   and  later   of   Judge   Nathaniel  Boyden. 

Joseph  Gill  Brown.  A  few  of  his  old-time 
friends  and  associates  have  distinct  recollections  of 
Joseph  Gill  Brown  in  the  capacity  of  bank  clerk 
at  Raleigh.  Well  informed  people  of  the  entire 
state  and  in  fact  the  entire  South  hardly  need  to 
be  reminded  of  his  important  relationships  with 
the  financial  affairs  of  North  Carolina  and  the 
nation  at  large.  Joseph  GUI  Brown  is  without 
doubt  one  of  the  foremost  bankers  of  the  South, 
and  his  range  of  influence  and  activities  has  ex- 
tended to  many  other  affairs. 

He  was  born  at  Raleigh  November  5,  1854,  a 
son  of  Henry  Jerome  and  Lydia  (Lane)  Brown. 
His  people  have  always  been  fairly  well  to  do  and 
liighly  respected  families.  Some  of  his  ancestors 
were  prominent.  His  great-grandfather  on  the 
maternal  side  was  James  Lane,  a  brother  of  Joel 
Lane,  who  was  the  original  owner  of  the  site  of 
Raleigh.  Mr.  Brown 's  mother  was  born  on  the 
farm  on  which  Raleigh  now  stands.  Mr.  Lane 's 
house  in  Bloomsbury,  now  included  in  the  city,  was 
the  place  of  meeting  for  the  Revolutionary  Legis- 
lature in  1781.  Another  ancestor  of  Mr.  Brown 
was  Col.  Needham  Bryan  of  Johnston  County. 
Colonel  Bryan  was  a  representative  in  the  Provin- 
cial Congress  and  was  an  active  supporter  of  the 
Patriot  cause  during  the  Revolution. 

Joseph  G.  Brown  obtained  his  early  education 
in  private  schools,  in  Lovejoy  Academy,  and  com- 
pleted half  of  his  sophomore  year  in  Trinity  Col- 
lege, which  he  left  in  1872.  Beginning  as  a  clerk 
in  the  Citizens  National  Bank,  in  a  little  more  than 
twenty  years  he  had  been  promoted  through  the 
various  grades  of  responsibility  and  since  1894  has 
been  president  of  the  Citizens  National  Bank  and 
is  also  president  of  the  Raleigh  Savings  Bank  & 
Trust  Company,  whose  combined  resources  now 
total  more  than  $4,000,000. 

He  was  for  years  president  of  the  Raleigh  Clear- 
ing House  Association,  was  president  of  the  Jeffer- 
son Standard  Life  Insurance  Company,  is  vice 
president  of  the  Atlantic  Fire  Insurance  Company, 
a  director  in  the  Carolina  Division  of  the  Southern 
Railway  and  president  of  the  Carolina  &  Tennessee 
Southern  Railway. 

Much  of  his  experience  and  study  of  finance  and 
business  have  been  made  available  for  others 
through  his  active  associations  with  various  public 
bodies.  He  was  president  of  the  North  Carolina 
State  Bankers  Association  in  1899-1900  and  was  a 
member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Ameri- 
can Bankers  Association  for  nine  years  and  vice 
president  for  North  Carolina  of  that  association. 
Many  times  he  has  been  called  upon  to  make  ad- 
dresses  before   the   conventions   of   the   American 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Bankers  Association  and  his  words  are  always 
heard  as  authoritative  utterances  on  such  questions 
as  the  economic  and  financial  life  of  the  South. 
He  delivered  one  notable  address  before  this  asso- 
ciation at  New  Orleans  in  1902  and  was  again  a 
speaker  in  1904.  He  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee in  cliarge  of  the  National  Emergency  Cur- 
rency and  is  now  chairman  of  the  Liberty  Loan 
Committee  in  charge  of  the  campaign  for  the  sale 
of  Liberty  Bonds  in  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Brown  has  that  breadth  of  mind  and  in- 
terest which  his  position  as  a  leader  in  southern 
life  would  indicate.  He  is  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent Methodist  laymen  in  the  southern  branch  of 
the  church.  He  was  a  member  of  the  General  Con- 
ference in  1898,  1902,  1906,  1910  and  1914,  and 
was  elected  for  the  general  conference  of  1918  to 
convene  in  May  of  that  year.  For  several  years 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Epworth  Board  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Missionary  Ecumenical  Conference  at  New 
York  in  1900,  and  was  appointed  by  the  College  of 
Bishops  as  delegate  to  the  World's  Ecumenical 
Conference  at  London  in  1902.  For  several  years 
he  has  been  a  steward  at  his  home  church  in 
Raleigh,  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school,  and 
is  a  trustee  and  treasurer  of  the  Methodist  Orphan- 
age. He  is  also  a  trustee  of  the  Olivia  Eaney 
Library,  and  was  president  of  the  Raleigh  Asso- 
ciated Charities. 

For  twenty-five  years  he  served  as  treasurer  of 
the  City  of  Raleigh,  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen,  is  president  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees'  of  Trinity  College,  and  president  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  State  Hospitals  for  In- 
sane. He  is  a  member  of  the  Raleigh  Chamber  of 
Commerce-  and  is  one  of  the  prominent  Odd  Fel- 
lows of  the  state,  having  served  as  grand  master 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  and  as  representative  to  the 
Sovereign  Grand  Lodge  of  the  World. 

November  10,  1881,  Mr.  Brown  married  Miss 
Alice  Burkhead,  of  Raleigh,  daughter  of  Rev.  L.  S. 
Burkhead,  D.  D.,  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  South.  They  have  four  liring  chil- 
dren: Josephine  Lane,  now  Mrs.  J.  K.  Doughton, 
of  Richmond,  Virginia,  Robert  Anderson,  Bessie 
and  Frank  Burkhead  Brown. 

Edwin  Mich.iel  Holt.  Repeated  _  references 
have  been  made  in  these  pages  to  Edwin  M.  Holt 
as  the  founder  of  the  old  Alamance  Mill  at  Bur- 
lington, where  the  first  colored  cotton  fabric  in 
the  South  was  woven,  and  which  was,  in  effect, 
the  beginning  of  the  great  cotton  mill  industry 
of  North  Carolina,  an  industry  which  in  the  eighty 
years  following  the  founding  of  the  Alamance  Mill 
has  not  merely  grown  but  multiplied,  and  its  mul- 
tiplication has  been  carried  forward  and  stimulated 
by  no  one  family  so  much  as  that  of  Edwin  M. 
Holt,  his  son,  grandsons  and  all  the  connections 
comprehended  in  the  Holt  family.  Apart  from 
the  general  interest  that  would  demand  something 
like  an  adequate  review  of  the  history  of  this  man, 
his  part  in  industrial  North  Carolina  makes  his 
personal  record  an  indispensable  chapter.  The 
story  as  told  here  of  his  life  and  achievements 
is  largely  as  it  has  been  told  before  in  the  words 
of  his  kinsman  Martin  H.  Holt,  and  as  published 
some  years  ago. 

Edwin  Miciiae!  Holt  was  born  January  14,  1807, 
in  Orange,  in  what  is  now  Alainance  County,  and 
died  at  his  home  at  Locust  Grove  in  Alamance 
County   May    14,   1884,   aged   seventy-seven  years 


and  four  months.  His  grandfather  was  Capt 
Michael  Holt  of  Little  Alamance,  a  man  of  promi- 
nence in  the  Revolutionary  period.  His  parents 
were  Michael  and  Rachael  (Rainey)  Holt.  Hia 
father  was  a  farmer,  mechanic  and  merchant,  his 
home  being  one  mile  south  of  Great  Alamance 
Creek  on  the  Salisbury  and  Hillsboro  Road,  where 
Edwin  M.  was  born.  Rachael  Rainey  has  been  de- 
scribed as  a  woman  of  queenly  beauty  coupled 
with  strong  common  sense.  Her  parents  were 
Benjamin  and  Nancy  Rainey  and  her  grand- 
parents, William  and  Mary  Rainey.  Beniamia 
Rainey   was   a  minister   of   the  Christian   Church. 

Edwin  M.  Holt  worked  on  the  farm  in  the 
summer  and  attended  district  schools  during  the 
winter.  From  the  routine  of  farm  work  and  out- 
door life  he  developed  robust  health  and  the  ability 
to  work  steadily  at  tasks,  no  matter  how  difficult, 
until  they  were  finished.  From  the  neighboring 
schools  he  obtained  a  fair  English  education,  the 
ability  to  write  a  good  hand  and  to  keep  books  by 
the  simple  processes  of  that  time.  In  addition  to 
his  farm  work  he  spent  much  time  in  his  father 's 
shops  attached  to  the  farm,  developing  his  natu- 
rally fine  mechanical  talent,  which  had  been  char- 
acteristic of  the  Holts  for  several  generations. 

Much  of  his  success  in  life  was  due  to  the  gentle, 
patient,  energetic  and  cultured  woman  who  became 
his  wife,  and  for  that  reason  it  is  necessary  to 
mention  his  marriage  almost  at  the  beginning. 
Her  maiden  name  was  Emily  Farish,  descended 
from  the  Farish  and  Banks  families  of  Virginia 
and  daughter  of  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Chatham 
County,  North  Carolina.  They  were  married  Sep- 
tember 30,  1828.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Holt 
began  handling  a  small  farm  and  store  near  his 
father's  home,  and  that  was  his  modest  station  in 
life  until  1836. 

He  was  endowed  by  nature  as  well  as  by  train- 
ing in  the  qualities  of  a  fine  mind  to  become  a 
pioneer  in  a  new  and  broad  industry.  His  biog- 
rapher stat<"s  that  while  at  the  work  of  his  store 
and  farm  he  did  not  allow  the  happenings  and 
movements  of  the  outer  world  to  pass  unnoticed. 
He  was  a  deep  thinker,  a  logical  reasoner,  and  had 
the  ability  to  analyze  and  understand  what  he  saw 
in  the  p>olitical  and  economic  life  of  the  country 
and  nation.  The  fact  that  impressed  him  most  was 
that  the  cotton  mill  owner  of  England  and  of 
New  England,  the  merchant  of  London  and  of 
New  York  had  grown  rich  through  trade  in  a 
staple  which  was  raised  in  abundance  at  his  own 
door.  This  economic  inconsistency  of  the  pro- 
ducer not  realizing  to  the  full  the  advantages  of 
his  relation  with  the  product  has  appealed  to 
thousands  of  men  both  before  and  since  the  time 
of  Edwin  M.  Holt,  but  the  important  fact  with  him 
is  that  his  analysis  and  his  power  of  action  and 
resources  enabled  him  to  take  steps  to  overcome 
this  inconsistency  and  give  to  North  Carolina  cot- 
ton mills  of  its  own  that  would  rank  not  second 
to  those  of  Fall  River  and  Manchester.  The  story 
of  this  important  industrial  beginning  is  told  in 
the  words  of  one  of  his  sons.  Governor  Thomas  M. 
Holt: 

"About  the  year  1836  there  was  in  Greensboro, 
North  Carolina,  a  Mr.  Henry  Humphries  who  was 
engaged  in  running  a.  small  cotton  mill  at  that 
place  by  steam.  Following  the  natural  inclination 
of  his  mind  for  mechanical  pursuits,  my  father 
made  it  convenient  to  visit  Greensboro  often,  and 
as  often  as  he  went  there  he  always  made  it  his 
business  and  pleasure  to  call  on  Mr.  Humphries. 


HISTOEY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


The  two  soon  became  good  friemls.  Tlic  more  my 
father  saw  of  the  workings  of  Mr.  Humpliries' 
mill,  the  more  conTinced  he  became  that  his  own 
ideas  were  correct.  Some  time  about  the  .year  1836 
he  mentioned  the  matter  to  his  father,  Michael 
Holt,  hoping  that  the  latter  would  approve  of  his 
plans,  as  at  that  time  he  owned  a  grist  mill  on 
Great  Alamance  Creek  aljout  one  mile  from  liis 
home,  the  water  power  of  the  creek  being  sufficient 
to  run  both  the  grist  mill  and  a  small  cotton 
factory.  He  reasoned  that  if  his  father  would  join 
him  in  the  enterprise  and  erect  the  factory  on 
his  own  site  on  the  Alamance,  success  would  be 
assured.  But  his  father,  a  very  cautious  and  con- 
servative man,  bitterly  opposed  the  scheme  and 
did  all  that  he  could  to  dissuade  his  son  from 
embarking  in  the  enterprise.  Not  discouraged  by 
this  disappointment,  lie  next  proposed  to  his 
brother-in-law,  William  A.  Carrigan,  to  .join  him. 
The  latter  considered  tlie  matter  a  long  time,  not 
being  able  to  make  up  his  mind  as  to  what  he 
would  do.  Finally,  without  waiting  for  his 
brother-in-law's  answer,  he  went  to  Paterson,  New 
Jersey,  and  gave  tlie  order  for  tlie  machinery,  not 
then  knowing  where  lie  would  locate  his  mill.  On 
his  return  from  Paterson  he  stopped  at  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  met  the  late  Chief  Justice 
Thomas  Ruffin.  Judge  Euffin  at  tliat  time  owned 
a  waterpower  and  grist  mill  on  Haw  River,  the 
jjlace  now  being  known  as  Swepsonvillc,  and  he 
asked  my  father  where  he  exjiected  to  locate  his 
mill.  My  father  replied  that  he  wanted  to  put  it 
at  his  father's  mill  site  on  Alamance  Creek,  but 
that  the  old  gentleman  was  so  much  opposed  to  it 
that  he  might  not  allow  it.  Thereupon  Judge 
Euffin  said  that  he  did  not  wish  to  interfere  in  any 
way  witli  any  arrangements  between  him  and  his 
father,  but  if  the  latter  held  out  his  opposition  he 
would  l)e  glad  to  have  him  locate  his  mill  at  his 
site  on  Haw  River,  that  he  would  be  glad  to  form 
a  partnersliiji  with  him  if  he  wished  a  partner,  and 
that  if  he  did  not  wish  a  partner,  but  wanted  to 
borrow  mone.y  he  would  lend  him  as  much  as  he 
wanted.  When  my  father  returned  home  and  told 
his  father  of  the  conversation  with  Judge  Ruffin, 
a  man  in  whom  both  had  unbounded  confidence, 
and  he  saw  that  my  father  was  determined  to 
build  a  cotton  factory,  he  proposed  to  let  him 
have  Ms  water  power  on  Alamance  Creek  and  to 
become  his  partner  in  the  enterprise.  The  latter 
part  of  the  proposition  was  declined  on  account 
of  his  having  previousl.y  told  his  father  that  he 
would  not  involve  him  for  a  cent.  The  conversa- 
tion witli  .Judge  Ruffin  was  then  repeated  to  liis 
brotherin-law,  William  A.  Carrigan,  who  con- 
sented to  enter  into  the  partnership  and  join  in 
the  undertaking.  They  bought  the  water  power 
on  Great  Alamance  Creek  from  my  grandfather  at 
a  nominal  price,  put  up  the  necessary  buildings 
and  started  the  factory  during  the  panic  of  18.37. 
The  name  of  the  firm  was  Holt  &  Carrigan,  and 
they  continued  to  do  business  successfully  from 
the  start  under  this  name  until  1851.  About  this 
time  Mr.  Carrigan 's  wife  died,  leaving  five  sons. 
Two  of  them  had  just  graduated  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Nortli  Carolina,  and  concluding  to  go 
to  the  State  of  Arkansas,  their  father  decided  to 
go  with  them ;  so  he  sold  his  interest  in  the  busi- 
ness to  my  father.  In  the  year  1853  there  came  to 
the  mill  a  Frenchman  who  was  a  dyer.  He  pro- 
liosed  to  teach  father  how  to  color  cotton  yarn 
for  the  sum  of  a  hundred  dollars  and  his  board. 
Father  accepted  his  proposition  and   immediately 


set  to  work  with  such  appliances  as  they  could 
scrape  up.  There  was  an  eighty-gallon  copper 
boiler  whicli  my  grandfather  had  used  to  boil  pota- 
toes and  turnips  for  his  hogs,  and  a  large  cast- 
iron  wash  pot  wliich  happened  to  be  in  the  store 
on  sale  at  that  time.  With  these  implements  was 
done  the  first  dyeing  south  of  the  Potomac  River 
for  power  looms.  As  speedily  as  possible  a  dye 
liouse  was  built  and  the  necessary  utensils  for 
dyeing  acquired.  He  then  j>ut  in  some  four-box 
looms  and  commenced  the  manufacture  of  the 
class  of  goods  then  and  now  known  as  'Alamance 
Plaids.'  I-'p  to  that  time  there  had  never  been  a 
yard  of  plaid  or  colored  cotton  goods  woven  on  a 
power  loom  south  of  the  Potomac  River.  When 
Holt  &  Carrigan  started  their  factory  they  liegan 
with  528  spindles.  A  few  years  later  sixteen  looms 
were  addeil.  In  1861  such  had  been  the  growth 
of  the  business  that  there  were  in  operation  1200 
spindles  and  96  looms,  and  to  run  these  and  the 
grist  mill  and  saw  mill  exhausted  all  tlie  power 
of  the  Great  Alamance  Creek  on  which  they  were 
located.  My  father  trained  all  of  his  sons  in  the 
manufacturing  business,  and  as  we  grew  up  we 
lirnnched  out  for  ourselves  and  built  other  mills. 
But  the  plaid  business  of  the  Holt  family  and,  I 
miglit  add,  of  the  South,  had  its  l)eginning  at 
this  little  mill  on  the  banks  of  the  Alamance  with 
its  little  copper  kettle  and  an  ordinary  wash  pot. 
I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  state  tliat  my  grandfather, 
Michael  Holt,  who  was  so  bitterly  opposed  to  the 
inauguration  of  tlie  enterprise  and  from  whom  my 
father  never  would  borrow  a  cent  or  permit  the 
endorsement  of  paper,  lived  to  see  and  rejoice  in 
the  success  of  the  enterprise.  The  mill  ran  twelve 
hours  a  day.  I  was  only  six  years  old  when  the 
mill  started,  and  well  do  I  remember  sitting  up 
with  my  mother  waiting  for  my  father  to  come 
home  at  night.  In  tlie  winter  time  the  mill  would 
stop  at  seven  o  'clock  P.  M.  and  thereafter  my 
father  would  remain  in  the  building  for  half  an 
hour  to  see  that  all  of  the  lamps  were  out  and 
that  the  stoves  were  in  such  a  condition  that  there 
would  tie  no  danger  of  fire,  and  then  he  would  ride 
one  mile  and  a  quarter  to  his  home.  In  the  morn- 
ing he  would  eat  his  breakfast  by  candle  light  and 
be  at  the  mill  at  six-thirty  o  'clock  to  start  the 
machinery  going.  He  kept  this  habit  up  for  many 
years. 

' '  I  attribute  the  success  which  has  crowned  the 
efforts  of  his  sons  in  the  manufacturing  of  cotton 
goods  to  the  earlj'  training  and  business  methods 
imparted  to  them  in  boyhood  by  their  father, 
Edwin  M.   Holt." 

Edwin  M.  Holt  not  only  founded  a  business  of 
much  promise  and  importance,  but  his  sagacity 
and  genius  guided  it  through  the  critical  period, 
and  he  trained  and  encouraged  his  sons  and  left 
to  them  the  responsibility  of  continuing  the  up- 
building and  the  maintenance  of  industries  which 
are  now  second  to  none  in  importance  in  the  state, 
and  which  have  grown  from  several  hundred 
spindles  and  a  few  looms  in  the  little  old  Alamance 
Mill  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  spindles  and 
thousands  of  looms  in  the  plants  operated  and  con- 
ducted by  the  Holts  alone.  Much  of  the  char- 
acter and  the  extent  of  the  Holt  interests  in  the 
cotton  mill  industry  of  North  Carolina  must  be 
reserved  for  telling  in  various  other  articles  de- 
voted to  Edwin  Holt's  sons  and  grandsons. 

Edwin  M.  Holt  was  not  favorable  to  the  seces- 
sion of  North  Carolina,  and  yet  when  the  war  be- 
came a  fact  he  furnished  three  sons  to  the  Con- 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


federate  army.  In  1866  he  retired  from  the  active 
management  of  tlie  Alamance  Mill  and  turned  it 
over  to  his  sons  James  H.,  William  E.,  L.  Banks, 
his  son-in-law  James  N.  Williamson,  and  reserved 
a  fifth  interest  for  his  younger  son,  Lawrence  S., 
xmtil  his  majority.  He  was  always  content  to 
perform  his  service  to  the  world  as  to  liis  family 
through  his  mills  and  his  industry.  The  only 
politic-al  ofSce  he  ever  accepted  was  that  of  asso- 
ciate judge  of  the  County  Court.  He  was  an  en- 
thusiastic advocate  of  internal  improvements. 
After  the  war,  when  the  state  treasury  was  ex- 
hausted, he  contrihuted  generously  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  North  Carolina  Railroad.  At  one 
time  he  loaned  the  road  $70,000  without  security 
in  order  to  pay  the  mechanics  in  the  shops.  He 
was  a  director  and  large  stockholder  in  the  road. 
He  was  associated  with  his  sons  in  establishing  tlie 
Commercial  National  Bank  of  Charlotte.  Edwin 
M.  Holt  was  a  type  of  the  old  fashioned  com- 
mercial integrity.  He  was  never  a  speculator,  and 
his  generous  fortune  grew  from  honest  and  legiti- 
mate effort  and  the  practice  of  commercial  virtues 
which  are  as  valid  today  as  they  have  been  in 
all  the  centuries  past.  Like  all  successful  men,  he 
had  some  business  principles  which  he  expressed 
through  maxims.  One  was  ' '  You  will  have  your 
good  years  and  your  bad  years;  stick  to  business." 
Another  was:  ''Put  your  profits  into  your  busi- 
ness. ' ' 

While  building  up  the  cotton  mill  industry  of 
North  Carolina  and  engaged  in  a  tremendous  task 
and  one  worthy  of  his  best  interests  and  power, 
it  is  said  that  his  chief  inspiration  for  all  his 
success  was  his  love  and  devotion  to  his  wife  and 
children.  He  and  his  wife  had  ten  children,  their 
names  being  in  order  of  birth:  Alfred  Augustus, 
Thomas  Michael,  James  Henry,  Alexander,  Frances 
Ann,  who  married  John  L.  Williamson,  William 
Edwin,  Lynn  Banks,  Mary  Elizabeth,  who  married 
James  N.  Williamson,  Emily  Virginia,  who  mar- 
ried J.  W.   White,  and   Lawrence  Shackleford. 

For  some  of  his  ideals  and  for  a  summing  up 
of  his  character  the  following  direct  quotations 
are  made: 

"His  ideas  were  patriarchal.  He  thought  fami- 
lies should  hold  together,  build  u]i  mutual  in- 
terests and  be  true  to  one  another.  Nor  was  this 
a  Utopian  dream  of  Edwin  M.  Holt.  It  was  a  con- 
viction Iporn  of  his  experience  and  observation  of 
human  life.  It  was  also  an  inheritance.  It  had 
been  the  idea  of  his  father,  Michael  Holt,  it  was 
the  idea  of  his  grandfather.  Captain  Michael  Holt. 
It  was  the  idea  of  his  maternal  ancestry,  the 
Eaineys.  If  he  had  not  been  strengthened  by  his 
•own  experience  and  observation,  tie  would  still 
have  probably  listened  to  the  teaching  of  his 
fathers.  He  liad  seen  members  of  families  going 
•out  in  divergent  directions  from  the  old  home- 
stead, the  title  to  estates  disappear  and  the  ties 
of  affection  weaken,  family  pride  lost  and  mutual 
aid  and  influence  impossible.  He  believed  '  in 
union  there  is  strength, '  hence  it  was  his  idea 
that  his  children  should  settle  around  him,  and 
that  they  should  do  so  in  honor  and  in  charge  of 
successful  business  enterprises. 

' '  Great  as  Edwin  M.  Holt 's  life  was  as  a 
pioneer  in  a  branch  of  our  state 's  material  de- 
velopment which  is  playing  so  important  a  part 
in  its  growth  and  prosperity  today,  he  was  greater 
as  a  man.  Back  of  the  power  to  plan  and  project 
successful  enterprises,  to  build  up  his  own  fortunes 
and  to  make  his  name  a  household  word  in  homes 


where  fathers  recount  the  great  deeds  of  great 
men  in  civic  life,  was  Edwin  M.  Holt,  the  man. 
He  was  modest,  unassiuning,  silent,  ofttimes  to  a 
remarkable  degree,  seeking  success  not  for  its  ovni 
sake,  but  for  his  children's  and  for  humanity's, 
turning  a  deaf  ear  to  appeals  from  admiring 
friends  and  neighbors  to  allow  his  name  to  go 
before  the  people  for  public  oflice.  But  there 
slumliered  the  irresistible  power  of  resolute,  moral 
manhood  behind  his  quiet  face;  and  he  would 
have  been  at  ease,  aye,  and  welcome,  in  the  society 
not  only  of  the  world's  greatest  men  in  busi- 
ness, but  also  in  politics  and  religion.  He  was  a 
lifedong  friend  of  Governor  John  M.  Morehead, 
Chief  Justice  Thomas  Ruffin,  Frank  and  Henry 
Fries,  the  Camerons,  and  others  of  the  state 's 
greatest  men  in  the  various  callings  of  life,  and 
was  easily  the  peer  of  any  of  them. 

"Edwin  M.  Holt  was  *  truly  unselfish  man.  A 
beautiful  loyalty  and  love  for  his  older  brother, 
William  Rainey  Holt,  marked  his  entire  life.  Ac- 
cording to  English  customs,  the  "family  pride  set- 
tled ill  the  eldest  son.  William  was  sent  to  Chapel 
Hill,  where  he  graduated  with  honor,  then  to 
Philadelphia,  where  he  took  his  medical  degree 
in  the  greatest  school  on  the  continent  at  that 
time.  On  his  return  to  the  state  and  upon  his 
marriage,  he  was  given  some  of  the  most  choice 
and  valuable  property  belonging  to  the  estate. 
All  this  time  Edwin  was  working  on  the  farm 
faithfully,  contentedy,  and  feeling  an  exaltation  of 
spirit  in  his  brother  William  "s  success.  This  self- 
abnegation  of  spirit  and  loyalty  to  his  brother 
lasted  throughout  his  whole  life,  altered  neither 
by  distances  nor  circumstance.  They  often  saw 
tilings  differently;  William  was  a  great  and  bril- 
liant talker;  Edwin  was  a  great  listener.  William 
was  an  ardent  democrat  and .  secessionist ;  Edwin 
was  equally  as  strong  a  whig  and  a  Union  man. 
But  they  never  quarreled.  Edwin  only  listened  and 
smiled  or  his  face  gi-ew  grave,  and  the  hand  clasp 
that  followed  was  that  of  loving  brothers. 

' '  As  he  grew  older  benevolence  and  patience  and 
tenderness  for  children  and  love  of  humanity  de- 
veloped more  and  more  in  his  heart  and  life  and 
was  reflected  from  his  quiet  face.  Fortune  had 
smiled  on  the  struggles  of  his  hand  and  head  in 
his  youth  and  manhood,  and  when  age  approached 
he  accepted  its  infirmities  with  calm  resignation." 

James  Henky  Holt.  Of  that  historic  family 
of  Holts  that  supplied  much  of  the  original  genius, 
determination,  power  and  enthusiasm  to  the  up- 
building and  maintenance  of  the  cotton  industries 
of  North  Carolina,  one  whose  career  was  most 
fruitful  in  its  individual  achievements  and  also  in 
carrying  out  the  work  begun  by  his  honored  father, 
Edwin  M.  Holt,  founder  of  the  historic  Alamance 
Mills  at  Burlington,  was  James  Henry  Holt,  third 
son  of  Edwin  M.  and  Emily  (Farish)  Holt. 

He  was  born  at  the  old  Holt  home.stead  in 
Alamance  County  April  4,  1833,  and  died  at  his 
home  in  Burlington  February  13,  1897.  Besides 
the  advantages  of  the  local  schools  he  spent  a 
year  or  so  beginning  in  1848  as  a  student  in 
Dr.  Alexander  Wilson's  famous  preparatory  school. 
In  1850,  though  only  seventeen  years  of  age,  he 
entered  business  as  a  copartner  with  his  oldest 
brother,  Alfred  Holt,  and  this  firm  of  merchants 
built  and  occupied  a  house  which  is  still  standing 
on  the  northwest  corner  of  the  Court  House  Square 
at  Graham. 

In  1852,  though  still  under  age,  James  H.  Holt 
was   made   cashier   of   the  Bank   of   Alamance    at 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Graham.  This  position  supplied  him  his  chief 
duties  until  1862,  when  he  became  cashier  of  a 
bank  at  ThomasviUe. 

In  the  spring  of  1864  Mr.  Holt  resigned  his 
position  in  civil  life  to  volunteer  in  the  Confederate 
army.  He  was  assigned  to  the  Tenth  North 
Carolina  Artillery  and  stationed  at  Fort  Fisher 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state.  He  was  there 
until  late  in  the  year  1864,  when  Governor  Vance 
commissioned  him  captain  and  ordered  him  to 
report  at  Fayetteville,  to  become  commandant  of 
the  Military  Academy  there.  It  was  the  service 
of  this  commission  which  occupied  him  to  the  end 
of  the  war.  While  in  the  army  he  did  his  whole 
duty,  regardless  of  his  own  personal  preference 
in  the  matter.  On  being  ordered  to  Fayetteville 
his  colonel  spoke  of  the  fact  that  he  was  beiug 
taken  from  what  promised  soon  to  be  scenes  of 
excitement.  To  this  Mr.  Holt  replied :  ' '  Colonel, 
I  regret  to  leave,  but  you  know  I  have  always 
obeyed  orders. ' '  And  to  this  the  colonel  replied : 
' '  That  is  true,  Holt,  you  have  been  one  of  the  most 
dutiful  and  competent  soldiers  in  my  command." 

With  the  close  of  the  war  James  H.  Holt,  having 
returned  to  Alamance  County,  joined  with  his 
brothers  and  under  the  guidance  of  his  honored 
father,  Edwin  M.  Holt,  became  active  in  the 
management  of  the  old  Alamance  Cotton  Mills. 
James  H.  Holt  was  one  whose  initiative  and  energy 
did  so  much  to  expand  and  develop  the  interests 
of  the  Holt  family  as  cotton  manufacturers.  It 
was  largely  his  judgment  and  his  influence  with 
other  members  of  the  family  that  caused  the  Holts 
to  purchase  the  site  known  as  the  Carolina  Cotton 
Mills,  where  in  1867  the  construction  of  a  new 
plant  was  begun.  At  that  time  the  science  of  mill 
construction  as  measured  by  modern  attainments 
was  almost  unknown,  and  while  Major  J.  W. 
Wilson  made  the  survey  for  the  water  power,  it 
was  James  H.  Holt  who  gave  his  entire  time  and 
attention  to  supervising  the  construction  and 
equipment  of  the  plant.  Later  this  became  one  of 
the  most  successful  mills  in  the  South  and  was  one 
of  the  foundation  stones  of  the  Holt  family  pros- 
perity. Mr.  Holt  managed  these  mills  until  his 
death  under  the  name  J.  H.  and  W.  E.  Holt  & 
Company.  The  mill  was  operated  without  any 
architectural  change  whatever  until  1904,  showing 
that  he  not  only  "builded  wisely  but  well." 

Just  above  the  Carolina  Mills  in  1879  Mr.  Holt 
and  his  brother  W.  E.  Holt  bought  the  mill  site 
and  built  the  Glencoe  Mills,  and  he  continued 
active  in  their  management  for  many  years.  It  is 
said  that  he  never  forgot  his  early  training  and 
fondness  for  the  banking  business,  and  until  the 
late  years  of  his  life  he  remained  a  director  and 
chairman  of  the  examining  board  of  the  Com- 
mercial National  Bank  of  Cliarlotte,  his  life  and 
services  contributing  much  to  the  splendid  success 
of  the  institution. 

Even  in  such  a  brief  outline  it  is  possible  to 
indicate  the  great  material  results  that  came  from 
his  genius  as  an  industrial  builder  and  manager, 
but  there  should  be  some  effort  to  recall  some  of 
the  dominant  traits  of  his  personal  character,  since 
it  was  character  with  him,  as  with  all  men,  that 
stands  Viehind  and  .above  material  achievement. 
One  who  knew  him  and  had  studied  his  career  many 
years  has  said :  ' '  Mr.  Holt  not  only  adopted 
honesty  as  a  policy,  but  to  him  it  was  a  very  basic 
principle,  never  to  be  swerved  from  even  by  so 
much  as  a  hair 's  breadth.  His  life  and  its  success 
in  the  business  world  is,  as  it  should  be,  a  sermon 
and  an  inspiration  not  only  to  his  sons,  but  to  all 


young  men,  on  honesty,  clean  living  and  right 
thinking.  Whatever  was  for  the  building  up  and 
development  of  his  state,  section  and  county,  that 
he  was  interested  in  and  to  that  he  lent  his  aid 
and  gave  counsel  and  support.  He  prospered,  and 
with  his  o-svn  he  brought  prosperity  to  others  and 
developed  the  resources  of  his  section.  Mr.  Holt 
had  that  charity  which  vaunteth  not  itself.  One 
who  has  lived  here  as  the  writer  has  for  many 
years,  among  the  people  with  whom  he  worked, 
hears  many  times,  from  grateful  recipients,  of  the 
charity  dispensed  by  this  good  man  that  would 
ne\er  have  been  known  save  for  this  telling  by 
those  who  received.  Mr.  Holt  himself  never  spoke 
of  these  acts,  and  so  far  as  a  sign  from  him  was 
concerned,  when  they  were  done,  they  were  for- 
gotten and  no  obligations  were  incurred.  One  of 
his  chief  outstanding  characteristics  was  his  uni- 
versal friendliness.  It  seemed  that  people,  and 
particularly  young  men,  instinctively  saw  in  him 
a  friend.     He  never  failed  them." 

Mr.  Holt  became  identified  early  in  life  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Graham.  He  served  that 
church  as  an  elder  and  later  was  an  elder  and  an 
active  leader  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Burl- 
ington. Politically  he  was  a  democrat,  did  much 
to  hold  up  the  party  cause,  and  only  his  personal 
preferences  stood  in  the  way  of  his  selection  for 
some  of  the  higher  offices  of  community  and  state. 

On  January  15,  18.56,  Mr.  Holt  married  Laura 
Cameron  Moore,  of  Caswell  County.  They  led  an 
ideal  married  life  and  their  home  was  all  that  a 
home  should  be.  They  reared  the  following  chil- 
dren: Walter  L.  Holt,  Edwin  C.  Holt,  Samuel  M. 
Holt,  James  H.  Holt,  Robert  L.  Holt,  William  I. 
Holt,  Ernest  A.  Holt  and  Daisy  L.  Holt,  who  mar- 
ried Walter  G.  Green.  Comment  has  been  made 
upon  the  fact  of  Mr.  Holt's  wisdom  and  discretion 
in  choosing  to  a  large  degree  his  own  executors  by 
setting  up  his  sons  in  business  while  he  lived  to 
give  them  aid  and  counsel.  Thus  the  son  Walter 
L.  became  president  of  the  Holt-Morgan,  Holt- 
Williamson,  and  Lakewood  Mills;  E.  C.  Holt,  of 
the  Elmira  and  Delgado  Mills;  Samuel  M.  Holt 
was  connected  with  the  Lakeside  Mills;  James  H., 
Jr.,  with  the  Windsor  Mills;  Robert  L.,  with  the 
Glencoe  Mills;  W.  I.  Holt,  with  the  Lakeside  Mills; 
and  Ernest  A.,  with  the  Elmira  Mills. 

Edwin  Cameron  Holt.  No  small  share  of  the 
remarkable  genius  for  industrial  organization  and 
building  associated  with  the  Holt  family  in  gen- 
eral has  been  possessed  and  exemplified  by  Edwin 
Cameron  Holt,  who  is  a  grandson  of  the  pioneer 
cotton  mill  man,  Edwin  M.  Holt,  whose  record 
of  achievement  is  taken  care  of  on  other  pages, 
and  is  the  second  son  of  James  Henry  and  Laura 
(Cameron)  Holt,  a  sketch  elsewhere  being  given 
of  his  honored  father. 

Edwin  Cameron  Holt  was  born  at  Graham, 
North  Carolina,  May  11,  1861.  He  was  educated 
in  private  schools,  at  the  age  of  fourteen  entered 
the  Findley  High  School  at  Lenoir  in  Caldwell 
County,  and  in  1877  enrolled  as  a  student  in  Da- 
vidson College.  After  completing  his  junior  year 
he  left  college  on  account  of  ill  health  and  soon 
afterward  found  practical  employment  under  his 
father  in  the  Carolina  Cotton  Mills  near  Graham. 
His  father  was  a  very  forceful  and  practical 
business  man  and  possessed  imusual  wisdom  in 
dealing  with  his  sons.  One  of  his  characteristics 
was  exemplifying  the  principle  that  all  work  is 
honorable,  and  in  accordance  with  this  principle 
he   set   tasks   for   his   sons   at   hard   labor   in   the 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


9 


garden  and  at  the  mill,  and  Edwin  Holt  spent 
many  hours  and  days  in  occupations  which  some 
sons  of  wealthy  men  would  have  deemed  menial 
and  beneath  them. 

Having  served  his  apprenticeship  in  the  cotton 
mill  industry,  Edwin  C.  Holt  in  1887,  with  his 
brother  Walter  L.,  built  the  Elmira  Cotton  Mills 
in  Burlington.  This  was  a  successful  institution 
from  the  beginning,  and  the  brothers,  acting  npon 
advice  from  their  father,  reinvested  the  profits 
in  extensive  enlargements  and  additions.  In  1893 
these  two  brothers  built  the  Lakeside  Mills,  near 
the  Elmira  Mills.  In  189.5  they  built  the  Holt- 
Morgan  Mills  at  Fayetteville.  The  two  brothers 
were  very  close  partners  in  their  various  enter- 
prises and  in  the  course  of  years  built  up  indus- 
tries which  represented  working  capital  and 
surplus  of  over  $1,000,000. 

Until  1895  Edwin  C.  Holt  had  his  home  and  his 
chief  activities  in  his  native  county  of  Alamance. 
In  the  latter  year,  recognizing  the  gi'eat  natural 
advantages  at  Wilmington  in  the  matter  of  cheap 
raw  material  and  advantageous  freight  rates, 
Edwin  C.  Holt  built  the  Delgado  Mills  in  that 
city.  These  were  splendidly  equipped  and  added 
a  great  deal  to  the  industrial  prosperity  of  the 
city.  The  imjiortant  business  interests  of  Mr. 
Holt's  later  years  have  been  represented  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Delgado  Mills  at  Wilmington,  president 
of  the  Lakeside  Mills,  vice  president  and  manager 
of  the  Elmira  Mills,  vice  president  of  the  Holt- 
Morgan  Mills  at  Fayetteville,  director  of  the 
People's  S.avings  Bank  at  Wilmington,  director  of 
the  Commercial  National  Bank  at  Charlotte.  At 
the  death  of  his  father  he  was  made  chainnan  of 
the  examining  board  of  the  Commercial  National 
Bank  of  Charlotte. 

One  of  the  forces  which  have  actuated  and  im- 
pelled him  during  much  of  his  business  and  per- 
sonal career  has  been  an  ambition  to  l^e  worthy 
of  his  father  in  integrity  and  manliness,  and  this 
ambition  has  been  reflected  and  has  brought  results 
not  only  in  many  sturdy  enterprises,  but  in  a 
kindly  humanitarian  helpfulness  and  a  looking  out 
for  the  interests  and  welfare  of  the  hundreds  of 
individuals  and  families  who  get  their  living  from 
the  industries  controlled  and  directed  by  him. 

For  three  years  Mr.  Holt  served  as  captain  of 
the  Burlington  Lieht  Infantry.  He  is  a  Royal 
Arch  and  Knight  Templar  Mason,  and  a  member 
and  deacon  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Con- 
cerning his  persona]  character  for  trutlifulness 
and  fidelity,  a  biographer  once  told  the  following 
story  as  an  illustration:  "The  late  Governor 
Thomas  M.  Holt  on  one  occasion,  while  engaged  in 
the  consideration  of  a  serious  and  embarrassing 
business  problem,  tried  to  find  the  truth  of  a  cer- 
tain situation.  Some  one  remarked  that  Ed  Holt 
said  that  a  certain  fact  was  true;  the  governor 
spoke  with  an  expression  of  evident  relief:  "That 
settles  the  question ;  if  Ed  Holt  says  it  is  so,  it  is 
true. ' ' 

He  has  had  a  congenial  home  life.  April  19, 
189.'!,  he  married  Dolores  Delgado  Stevens,  daugh- 
ter of  Bishop  Peter  Faysoux  Stevens,  of  Charles- 
ton. South  Carolina,  and  a  granddaughter  of 
Bishop  William  Capers,  of  South  Carolina.  They 
have  one  daughter,  Dolores  Stevens  Holt. 

James  Henry  Holt,  of  Burlington,  is  one  of 
the  grandsons  of  Edwin  M.  Holt,  ami  has  been 
true  to  the  traditions  and  the  ideals  of  the  family 
and  has  kept  his  own  career  closely  identified 
with  the  gi-eat  cotton  mill  industry. 


He  was  born  in  Davidson  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, October  27,  1864,  a  son  of  James  Henry  and 
Laura  Cameron  (Moore)  Holt.  His  father  was 
long  distinguished  as  a  cotton  mill  man  and  also 
a  banker.  The  son  was  liberally  educated,  attend- 
ing high  school  at  Lenoir,  Lynch  's  School  at  High 
Point,  North  Carolina,  Horner's  Military  School, 
and  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  He  served 
his  apprenticeship  as  a  cotton  manufacturer  at 
Glencoe  Mills  and  is  now  vice-president  of  that 
industry,  one  of  the  largest  comprised  within  the 
Holt  interests.  In  1890  he  built  the  Windsor  Cot- 
ton Mills  at  Burlington.  For  years  he  has  been 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Elmira  mills  and 
is  now  vice  president,  is  secretary  and  treasurer 
of  the  Lakeside  mills,  is  president  of  the  Alamance 
Loan  and  Trust  Bank  and  has  other  business 
interests  too  numerous  to  mention. 

Mr.  Holt  has  always  been  deeply  interested  in 
military  matters.  His  service  was  witli  the  Third 
Eegiment,  North  Carolina  National  Guard.  He 
was  lieutenant,  later  captain,  of  Company  F,  and 
during  the  Spanish-American  war  lie  undertook 
to  raise  a  company  for  one  of  the  state  volunteer 
regiments,  but  found  the  quota  filled,  and  while 
he  thus  did  not  have  the  satisfaction  of  leading 
a  company  in  that  brief  war,  he  gladly  turned 
over  his  recruits  to  another  reg^iment.  During 
the  administration  of  Governor  Carr  he  served  on 
the  governor's  staff  as  aid  de  camp  with  the 
rank  of  colonel.  Mr.  Holt  is  a  vestryman  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  at  Burlington.  February  27, 
1901,  he  married  Olive  Joyner,  daughter  of  Charles 
G.  and  Sarah  (Parish)  Joyner,  of  Baltimore, 
Maryland.  Her  family  is  a  prominent  one  of  Balti- 
more and  her  father  was  a  wholesale  merchant 
there.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holt  have  one  child,  Mar- 
garet Elizabeth. 

Robert  Lacy  Holt,  of  Burlington,  hardly  needs 
any  identification  as  one  of  the  prominent  figures 
in  the  cotton  mill  industry  of  North  Carolina,  but 
it  is  appropriate  to  indicate  his  relationship  to  the 
family  in  general  by  saying  that  he  is  fourth  son 
of  the  late  James  Henry  Holt  of  Burlington,  who 
in  turn  was  one  of  the  sons  of  Edwin  M.  Holt, 
founder  of  the  historic  Alamance  Cotton  Mills  and 
one  of  the  greatest  figures  in  the  industrial  life  of 
the  South. 

Robert  Lacy  Holt  was  born  at  Thomasville  in 
Davidson  County,  North  Carolina,  January  7,  1867. 
He  received  his  early  advantages  at  Graham,  at- 
tended Horner's  School  at  Oxford,  and  from  there 
entered  the  State  University.  At  the  end  of  two 
years  his  eagerness  to  enter  the  business  world 
made  him  dissatisfied  with  the  quiet  routine  of 
university  life,  and,  returning  home,  was  permitted 
by  his  father  to  enter  the  office  of  the  Glencoe 
Cotton  Mills,  of  which  his  father  was  then  man- 
ager. His  father  was  keenly  interested  in  his 
developing  talents  and  gave  him  every  opportunity 
to  assume  larger  responsibilities  and  he  very  soon 
put  him  in  as  general  manager  of  the  Carolina 
Cotton  Mills,  and  with  that  institution  he  laid 
the  basis  of  his  wonderful  success  as  a  cotton  man- 
ufacturer. 

For  many  years  he  was  closely  associated  with 
his  brother  J.  H.  Holt,  Jr.  In  1890  they  built  the 
Windsor  Cotton  Mills  at  Burlington,  and  for  many 
years  these  were  operated  by  R.  L.  and  J.  H. 
Holt,  Jr.  Robert  L.  Holt  in  the  meantime  gave 
much  of  his  attention  to  the  duties  as  active  man- 
ager of  the  Glencoe  Cotton  Mills,  and  at  the  death 
of  his  father  was  put  in  active  charge  and  had  the 


10 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


entire  management  of  the  Glencoe,  Alamance,  Caro- 
lina and  Elmira  Cotton  Mills.  AH  of  these  mills 
prospered  and  improved,  but  in  1902,  having  ae- 
qxiired  the  majority  of  stock  in  the  Glencoe  Mills, 
he  resigned  his  management  of  other  mills  to  give 
all  his  time  to  the  Glencoe  property.  Those  mills 
have  since  more  than  doubled  in  size  and  capacity, 
and  are  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  complete 
and  efficient  cotton  mills  of  the  state. 

The  secret  of  his  success  as  a  cotton  mill  execu- 
tive is  found  in  the  words  of  a  biographer,  who 
says:  "Mr.  Holt  is  a  good  exemplification  of  the 
maxim,  '  absolute  accurate  knowledge  is  power. ' 
He  knows  the  cotton  business,  not  with  an  un- 
certain, wavering  kind  of  knowledge,  but  abso- 
lutely. He  has  made  it  a  special  study,  and  the 
writer  has  been  frequently  struck,  when  hearing 
the  figures  of  cotton  production,  acreage,  and  the 
like  under  discussion,  to  see  the  absokite  accuracy 
of  Mr.  Holt 's  knowledge.  With  this  accurate  in- 
formation always  at  his  command,  and  with  the 
training  that  has  come  from  his  years  in  the  cotton 
Ijusiness,  it  is  no  wonder  he  succeeds.  It  would 
be  the  wonder  were  it  otherwise. ' ' 

While  so  much  of  his  time  in  recent  years  has 
been  given  to  the  management  of  the  Glencoe  Cot- 
ton Mills,  Mr.  Holt  has  also  been  a  director  of  the 
Alamance  Loan  and  Trust  Company,  the  largest 
bank  in  the  county,  in  the  Elmira  and  Lakeside 
Cotton  Mills,  and  is  president  of  the  Home  Insur- 
ance Company  of  Greensboro.  Public  ofBce  has 
never  been  of  his  seeking,  though  he  has  reudered 
splendid  service  to  the  cause  of  the  democratic 
party.  Only  once  did  he  aijpear  as  a  factor  in 
practical  politics,  in  1904,  when  he  went  as  a  dele- 
gate from  his  district  to  the  national  convention. 
In  a  public  way  he  has  served  as  a  director  of  the 
Western  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Morganton 
and  chairman  of  the  Highway  Commission  of  Ala- 
mance County,  but  through  the  prosperous  and 
wise  management  of  large  business  interests  has 
Tjeen  contributing  his  biggest  and  best  service  to 
state  and  community. 

Even  his  recreations  represent  a  degree  of  pro- 
ductiveness which  many  men  would  regard  as  a 
successful  independent  business.  Mr.  Holt  has 
for  many  years  been  one  of  the  largest  land  owners 
in  Alamance  County,  and  the  lands  constituting 
his  farm  have  been  conducted  on  a  scale  that  is  at 
once  business  like  and  a  source  of  example  and 
encouragement  to  the  general  agricultural  and 
stock  husbandry  interests  of  the  state.  His  farms 
around  Glencoe  Mills  have  been  stocked  with 
blooded  hogs,  sheep  and  cattle,  and  he  developed  a 
Iierd  of  registered  Devons  probably  unexcelled  in 
the  state.  Mr.  Holt 's  country  home,  at  which 
many  of  his  friends  have  had  delightful  enter- 
tainment, is  widely  known  as  ' '  Fort  Snug. ' '  He 
has  always  been  a  lover  of  fine  horses,  and  has 
owned  some  animals  that  have  made  more  than 
local  records  on  the  lace  course.  Of  the  dealings 
with  his  fellow  men  some  one  has  said  that,  like 
'his  honorable  father,  he  "  is  a  man  to  whom  others 
instinctively  turn  in  a  time  of  trouble,  certain  that 
they  will  find  in  him  a  friend.  He  does  charity, 
but  one  must  learn  of  it  from  the  outspoken 
gratitude  of  the  recipients,  because  in  this,  again 
like  his  father,  he  is  secret,  gaining  his  reward 
from  his  personal  knowledge  of  the  good  done. ' ' 

Lynn  Banks  Holt  is  one  of  the  oldest  surviv- 
ing members  of  a  family  that  might  with  eminent 
fitness  be   regarded   as   the  cornerstone   of   Xorth 


Carolina's  greatness  and  prosperity  as  a  cotton 
manufacturing  state.  He  is  sixth  among  the  sons 
of  Edwin  M.  Holt,  founder  of  the  old  Alamance 
Cotton  Mill  at  Burlington.  The  history  of  other 
memljers   of   the   family   is   told  elsewhere. 

Lynn  Banks  Holt  was  born  near  Graham  in 
Alamance  County  June  28,  1842.  His  life  ahnost 
to  the  age  of  nineteen  was  spent  without  special 
incident  and  alternating  between  a  home  of  solid 
comfort  and  the  advantages  of  some  of  the  best 
schools  of  North  Carolina.  He  attended  Prof. 
Alexander  Wilson 's  School  at  Hawfield  and  in 
1859  entered  the  Military  Academy  near  Hillsboro 
conducted  by  Col.  C.  C.  Tew.  While  these  institu- 
tions gave  him  a  thorough  discipline  of  mind  he 
was  getting  the  equivalent  of  what  is  in  modern 
times  known  as  vocational  training  by  work 
under  his  father 's  eye  in  the  cotton  mill.  From 
the  roaitine  and  studies  of  Hillsboro  Miltary 
Academy  he  responded  to  the  tocsin  of  war  at 
the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter  and  enlisted 
as  a  private  in  the  Orange  Guards.  His  experi- 
ence in  drill  resulted  in  his  appointment  as  drill 
master  in  a  company  of  the  Sixth  Regiment  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Fisher.  He  was  with  that 
regiment  in  Virginia  until  after  the  battle  of 
Manassas.  October  20,  1861,  he  was  appointed 
second  lieutenant  in  Company  I,  Eighth  Regi- 
ment, North  Carolina  State  Troops,  commanded  by 
Colonel  Shaw.  From  that  time  forward  lie  was  a 
member  of  Clingman  's  famous  brigade,  and  later 
was  made  first  lieutenant  of  his  company.  He  was 
in  the  battle  of  Roanoke  Island,  was  stationed  at 
Charleston  during  the  spring  and  summer  of  1863, 
and  is  one  of  the  last  survivors  of  that  famous 
defense  of  Battery  Wagner.  Later  he  was  with 
liis  regiment  in  the  capture  of  Plymouth,  in  the 
battle  of  Drury  's  Bluff,  which  saved  Richmond 
from  the  army  of  Butler,  and  was  with  Hoke  at 
Cold  Harbor.  After  Cold  Harbor,  when  General 
Grant  changed  his  plan  of  attack  and  launched  his 
blow  against  Petersburg,  Lieutenant  Holt  was  one 
of  the  defenders  wlio  turned  aside  that  blow,  and 
in  the  battle  of  that  day  he  was  wounded  in  the 
face  and  has  ever  since  carried  the  scar.  On 
September  29,  1864,  he  again  commanded  his  com- 
pany in  the  assault  on  Fort  Harrison.  The  histor- 
ian of  Clingman  's  Brigade  states  that  about  a 
third  of  those  in  the  charge  were  either  killed 
or  wounded.  ' '  Among  the  wounded  and  captured 
were  Capt.  William  H.  S.  Burgwyn  and  First 
Lieut.  L.  Banks  Holt,  commanding  Company  I, 
Eighth  Regiment.  Lieutenant  Holt  was  shot 
through  the  thigh  and  the  bone  fractured,  entail- 
ing a  long  and  painful  recovery.  He  was  con- 
fined at  Fort  Delaware  jirison  until  released  in 
June,  I860."  It  thus  fell  to  his  lot  to  lead  his 
company  in  one  of  the  most  terrific  assaults  of 
the  entire  war,  but  that  was  only  the  crowning 
achievement  of  a  record  filled  with  constant  hero- 
ism and  fidelity  to  the  cause  which  he  loved  and 
for  which  he  sacrificed  so  much. 

.June  16,  1865,  on  being  released  from  Fort 
Delaware,  he  set  out  for  home  and  undismayed  by 
the  general  devastation  that  met  his  eyes  and 
that  presented  a  picture  of  almost  complete 
economic  overthrow  throughout  the  South,  he  ac- 
cepted the  inevitable  and  went  to  work  in  the  old 
Alamance  cotton  mills  under  his  father.  More 
than  half  a  century  has  passed  since  then  and 
every  one  of  those  fifty  years  has  its  story  of 
achievement,  industrial  advancement  and  new  and 
large  contributions  to  the  fame  of  the  Holt  family 
and  to  the  prosperity  of  tlie  South  in  general. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


11 


Mr.  L.  Banks  Holt  has  been  one  of  the  most 
prominent  among  the  various  Holts  in  the  upbuild- 
ing of  cotton  mills  and  other  industries  of  North 
Carolina.  Individually  he  has  been  owner,  director 
or  stockholder  in  a  number  of  cotton  miUs,  and  is 
sole  owner  and  proprietor  of  the  Oneida  Mills  at 
Graham,  one  of  the  largest  individual  cotton  mills 
in  the  South,  is  owner  of  the  Bellemont  Cotton 
Mills  at  Graham,  the  Carolina  Cotton  Mills  and 
the  Alamance  Cotton  Mills.  All  these  mills  are 
now  incorporated  under  the  name  of  L.  Banks 
Holt  Manufacturing  Company.  The  ownership 
of  the  Alamance  Mills  involves  a  great  sentimen- 
tal value,  since  it  is  in  effect  the  parent  of  all 
the  cotton  mills  of  the  Holt  family  and  almost 
of  the  cotton  mill  industry  of  the  state. 

Among  other  important  business  interests  that 
have  taken  his  time  and  ability  in  recent  years, 
Mr.  Holt  is  president  of  the  E.  M.  Holt  Plaid 
Mills  of  Burlington ;  a  stockholder  in  the  Mineola 
Cotton  Mills  at  Giljsonrille,  and  the  Morehead 
Cotton  Mills,  is  a  stockholder  in  the  Commercial 
Bank  of  Cliarlotte  and  a  stockhohler  in  the  Bank 
of  ^\Jamance  in  his  home  town.  He  is  alsS)  a  stock- 
holder in  the  North  Carolina  Railway  Company. 

For  years  Mr.  Holt  has  been  an  elder  and  a 
faithful  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Cliurch  at 
Graham.  He  is  a  sincere  Cliristian  and  has  ex- 
em|ilified  his  faith  by  practical  devotion  to  the 
welfare  of  humanity  and  by  a  full  sense  of  stew- 
ardship as  the  owner  and  proprietor  of  a  large 
individual  estate.  Politically  he  is  a  democrat, 
but  public  life  has  had  no  attractions  for  him 
and  he  has  done  his  part  to  the  state  and  nation 
through  the  activities  of  the  various  industries 
which  he  has  managed  so  fruitfully  and  well. 

Mr.  Holt  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the 
graded  schools  at  Graham,  his  home  town,  and 
started  the  library  fund  with  a  donation  of  $1,000 
in  conjunction  with  the  school. 

October  26,  186.5,  soon  after  his  return  home 
from  the  war,  Mr.  Holt  married  Miss  Mary  C. 
Mebane.  Her  father  was  Hon.  Giles  Mebane  of 
Caswell.  To  their  marriage  were  born  eight  chil- 
dren,  five    of   whom  lived   to   middle    age. 

L.\WRENCE  Sn.\CKLEFORD  HoLT.  With  North 
Carolina  the  home  of  more  cotton  mills  and  in- 
dustries than  any  other  state  in  the  Union,  there 
is  every  valid  reason  why  a  large  number  of  the 
prominent  business  men  mentioned  in  these  pages 
are  owners,  managers,  and  department  officials  of 
this  industry.  In  the  case  of  Lawrence  Shackle- 
ford  Holt,  of  Burlington,  it  is  not  sufficient  to 
refer  to  him  indiscriminatingly  as  a  highly  suc- 
cessful cotton  mill  owner.  His  relation  to  this 
primary  industry  of  North  Carolina  is  a  more  im- 
portant one  than  as  a  director  and  operator  of 
mills  and  all  the  resources  and  personnel  that 
go  with  them. 

Mr.  Holt  has  apparently  been  guided  by  unusual- 
ly high  ideals  and  a  powerful  and  fundamental 
sense  of  stewardship,  so  that  his  attitude  has  not 
been  strictly  regulated  in  the  rigid  caste  of  the 
owner  and  employer.  He  has  for  years  recognized 
the  vital  interest  that  the  workers  have  in  in- 
dustry and  that  the  mill  owner  has  higher  inter- 
ests than  merely  to  see  that  the  processes  of  his 
industry  are  mechanically  perfect  and  efficient,  and 
that  with  the  payment  of  standard  wages  the  par- 
ticipation of  the  employer  in  the  life  and  welfare 
of  his  employes  ceases. 

Por  all  his  other  varied  interests  and  material 
achievements    the    distinction    which    means    most 


among  the  people  at  large  and  which  will  be  long- 
est associated  with  Mr.  Holt  is  that  he  was  the 
first  maniifacturer  iu  the  South  voluntarily  to 
shorten  the  hours  of  labor.  The  first  step  he  took 
in  this  direction  was  iu  1886,  and  the  second  in 
1902.  The  particular  facts  in  the  matter  are  told 
in  a  sketch  which  was  written  of  Mr.  Holt  several 
years  ago,  as  follows :  ' '  He  was  the  first  person 
in  tlie  South  to  pay  the  wages  of  his  employes  in 
cash.  This  system  was  inaugurated  by  him  short- 
Iv  after  he  started  the  Bellemont  Mills  and  was 
soon  after  adopted  by  other  mills,  which  had  up  to 
that  time  paid  off  in  barter  and  store  accounts. 
He  was  the  first  manufacturer  in  the  South  to 
''orten  tlie  hours  of  labor  from  twelve  to  eleven 
hours  a  day,  and  this  schedule,  inaugurated  at  the 
Aurora  Mills  on  September  6,  1886,  was  soon  after 
adopted  by  other  mills.  In  1902  the  Aurora  Mills 
made  a  further  reduction  of  from  eleven  to  ten 
hours  a  day,  and  it  was  the  first  of  the  mills  of 
the  South  to  inaugurate  this  schedule.  Thus  it 
may  be  said  that  Mr.  Holt  was  twice  first  in  re- 
ducing the  hours  of  labor  of  the  thousands  of 
cotton  mill   operatives   in   the   South." 

In  his  career  he  has  justified  an->old  fashioned 
phrase  of  being  the  great  son  of  a  great  father. 
The  originator  of  so  much  that  has  been  distinc- 
tive in  the  cotton  mill  industry  of  the  South, 
and  tlie  founder  of  tlie  famous  old  Alamance  Mill 
at  Burlington  was  his  honored  father,  Edwin  M. 
Holt,  whose  career  and  achievements  are  repre- 
sented elsewhere  in  these  pages. 

Lawrence  Chackleford  Holt  was  the  youngest 
son  of  Edwin  M.  and  Emily  (Parish)  Holt,  and 
was  born  at  the  old  homestead  of  his  father 
at  Locust  Grove  in  Alamance  County,  May  17, 
18.51.  His  early  training  and  education  was  re- 
ceived in  a  celebrated  school  conducted  by  Alex- 
ander Wilson  at  Melville  in  Alamance  County,  and 
afterwards  in  the  Horner  Military  School  at  Ox- 
ford under  Professor  J.  H.  Horner  .and  one  year 
in  Davidson  College.  It  was  the  earnest  wish  of 
his  father  that  he  would  complete  a  college  career, 
but  his  eagerness  to  get  into  business  life  caused 
him  to  leave  school  in  1869  and  go  to  Charlotte  and 
take  the  management  of  a  wholesale  grocery  busi- 
ness owned  by  his  father.  While  at  Charlotte, 
recognizing  the  needs  of  the  city  for  increased 
banking  facilities,  he  brought  about  in  1874,  with 
the  assistance  of  his  father  and  brothers,  the  or- 
."■nnization  of  the  Commercial  National  Bank  of 
Charlotte.  The  majority  of  the  capital  stock  of 
this  well  known  institution  has  always  been  held 
by  the  Holt  family.  It  is  a  bank  that  has  long 
stood  first  on  the  honor  roll  of  national  banks 
in  Notth  Carolina,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $.500,- 
000  and  a  surplus  of  more  than  $2.50,000. 
Lawrence  S.  Holt  was  a  director  in  this  bank 
for  many  years,  though  his  other  interests  finally 
made  it  necessary  to  resign  any  part  or  role  as  an 
active  director. 

In  1873  he  received  from  his  father  a  fifth  in- 
terest in  the  Alamance  and  the  Carolina  Cotton 
mills,  and  from  that  time  forward  he  was  actively 
identified  with  the  cotton  mill  industry.  He  assist- 
ed in  managing  and  operating  the  Alamance  aJid 
Carolina  Cotton  Mills  until  1879.  Then,  with  his 
brother,  L.  Banks  Holt,  he  built  the  Bellemont 
Cotton  Mills  at  Bellemont,  located  accessible  to  a 
water  power  on  the  Alamance  River  about  two 
miles  south  of  the  old  Alamance  Mills.  This  was 
his  first  individual  undertaking  of  importance  in 
the   cotton   mill   industry.     He   displayed  at   that 


12 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


time  much  of  the  broad  ability  which  has  ever 
sinc-e  characterized  him,  and  was  his  own  archi- 
tect, engineer  and  contractor  at  the  erection  of 
the  mills,  which  was  successful  from  the  very 
start.  He  finally  sold  his  interests  to  his  brother 
L.  Banks  Holt. 

In  188.S  he  organized  and  built  the  E.  M.  Holt 
Plaid  Mills  at  Burlington,  and  cau.sed  these  mills 
to  lie  named  in  honor  of  his  father.  He  was 
president  of  the  company  and  had  as  active  man- 
ager of  the  mills  for  many  years  his  brother-in- 
law,  William  A.  Erwin,  who  accjuired  much  of  that 
training  and  ex]3prience  which  has  since  made  him 
eminent  in  the  cotton  mill  industry  of  the  South 
while  with  the  Holt  Plaid  Mills. 

In  1884  Mr.  Holt  with  his  brother  L.  Banks 
Holt  and  his  brother-in-law,  John  Q.  Gant  bought 
the  Altamaliaw  Cotton  Mills  on  Haw  River,  about 
six  miles  north  of  Elon  College.  This  small  plant 
was  greatly  enlarged  and  for  many  years  has  been 
a  highly  efficient  and  profitable  mill,  now  con- 
ducted ijy  the  Holt,  Gant  &  Holt  Cotton  Manufac- 
turing Company.  In  1885  Mr.  Holt  bought  the 
Lafayette  Cotton  Mills  at  Burlington,  then  a  bank- 
rupt institution,  and  he  changed  them  to  the 
Aurora  Cotton  Mills  and  put  them  in  the  front 
rank  of  cotton  mills  of  the  state,  their  special 
fame  over  the  dry  goods  field  being  due  to  the  cel- 
ebrated Aurora  plaids. 

On  October  1,  189fi,  Mr.  Holt  admitted  to  part- 
nership, with  him  his  two  oldest  sons,  Erwin  Allen 
and  Eugene,  while  on  October  1,  190.5,  his  young- 
est son,  Lawrence  S.,  Jr.,  also  became  a  partner. 
These  sons  were  brought  into  the  active  manage- 
ment of  Mr.  Holt 's  various  cotton  mill  interests, 
and  through  them  he  was  gradually  able  to  retire 
from  the  heavier  responsibilities  of  executive  di- 
rection. The  firm  thus  established  was  Lawrence 
S.  Holt  &  Sons.  In  1905  this  company  bought 
the  Hiawatha  Cotton  Mills  at  Gibsonville,  North 
Carolina,  and  after  extensive  changes  and  new 
ecpiinment  in  the  plant  the  name  was  changed  to 
the  Gem  Cotton  Mills.  Mr.  Holt  still  remains  as 
senior  member  of  the  Lawrence  S.  Holt  &  Son,  but 
more  and  move  in  passing  years  has  shifted  the 
burden  of  active  management  of  affairs  to  his 
sons  and  the  leisure  thus  created  has  been  used 
by  him  to  attend  to  many  private  interests,  in 
indulgence  in  philanthropy  and  especially  in  ex- 
tended travel.  He  and  his  family  have  been  all 
over  North  America  and  have  toured  Europe  and 
Oriental  countries  several  times.  Mr.  Holt  is  one 
of  the  incorporators  and  a  director  of  the  Durham 
&  Soutliern  Railway  Company,  was  for  a  number  of 
years  a  director  and  active  in  financial  atfairs  of 
the  North  Carolina  Railway  Company,  and  is  in- 
terested in  a  numlier  of  the  leading  indu.stries  of 
the  state  besides  those  specifically  mentioned. 

A  character  portrait  of  Mr.  Holt  was  drawn  by 
a  eomnetent  biographer  a  few  years  ago  in  the 
following  words: 

"Lawrence  S.  Holt  is  a  distinct  personality. 
There  is  an  impression  given  to  the  observer  of 
mental  and  physical  vigor  and  strength.  He  is  a 
positive  character,  active,  alert  and  progressive. 
His  whole  being  is  vibrant  with  dominant  energy, 
sound  judgment  and  splendid  business  acumen. 
He  has  a  genius  for  doing  well  and  promptly  all 
that  he  undertakes,  is  exact,  systematic  and  far- 
seeing,  and  every  enterprise  planned  by  him  has 
without  exception  been  successful.  Like  his  father, 
he  has  a  keen  sense  of  humor  and  greatly  enjoys 
a  good  anecdote.     Painstaking  and  unsparing  of 


his  strength  and  intellect,  he  exjiects  from  all 
others  tlie  same  unswerving  attention  and  devo- 
tion to  duty  which  is  present  in  him  to  such  a 
great  extent.  While  exacting,  he  is  not  a  hard 
taskmaster,  because  he  never  believes  in  doing  any- 
thing which  is  unnecessary.  He  has  often  said 
tliat  'the  groans  of  creation  are  enough  without 
adding  t/i  them. '  He  has  always  abhorred  waste, 
destruction,  idleness  and  improvidence,  and  en- 
couraged and  commended  thrift,  economy  and  good 
management.  He  believes  in  keeping  everything 
up  to  the  highest  possible  degree  of  efficiency 
and  has  accomplished  this  as  much  by  his  own 
example  as  by  his  splendid  management,  for  per- 
sons associated  with  him  who  did  not  properly 
take  advantage  of  their  opportunities  or  realize 
their  responsibilities  were  soon  made  to  feel 
asliamed  by  the  example  set  before  them  in  their 
liead.  He  is  an  ideally  devoted  husband  and  father, 
never  sparing  himself  fatigue  or  hardship  that  he 
might  lavish  on  those  he  loves  the  best  that  life 
can  atford.  As  a  loyal  and  generous  son  of  the 
church  hg  has  given  without  ostentation  or  pub- 
iicity  freely  and  cheerfully  to  the  support  of  her 
various  institutions.  Any  one  really  deserving 
could  always  rely  upon  him  as  a  friend  who  would 
advise  them  wisely  and  without  prejudice,  and  the 
number  of  persons  to  whom  he  has  lent  financial 
aid  is  legion.  He  has  a  profound  reverence  and 
respect  for  both  of  his  parents,  to  whom  he  refers 
as  the  most  wonderful  couple  he  ever  knew. ' ' 

Mr.  Holt  has  always  frankly  given  credit  to  the 
devotion,  sympathy,  help  and  good  example  of 
his  wife  as  a  source  of  constant  help  and  inspira- 
tion to  him  at  all  times.  Mrs.  Holt  before  her 
marriage  was  Margaret  Locke  Erwin.  They  were 
married  April  2,  1872.  She  is  a  daughter  of 
Col.  Joseph  J.  and  Elvira  (Holt)  Erwin,  of  Belle- 
\'ue,  near  Morganton,  North  Carolina.  After  his 
marriage  Mr.  Holt  became  a  member  of  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church,  and  was  chiefly  instru- 
mental in  the  erection  and  subsequent  mainte- 
nance of  St.  Athanasins  Church  at  Burlington,  of 
which  he  was  for  years  a  vestryman. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holt 's  oldest  daughter,  Emily 
Farish,  died  in  1882,  at  the  age  of  five  and  a  half 
years.  The  six  living  children  are  Erwin  Allen, 
Eugene,  Margaret  Erwin,  Florence  E.  Lawrence 
S.,  Jr.,  and  Bertha  Harper.  Concerning  his  sons 
and  their  successful  positions  in  life  more  partic- 
ular reference  is  made  on  other  pages. 

Erwin  Allen  Holt,  son  of  Lawrence  and  Mar- 
garet Locke  Erwin  Holt,  was  born  near  Morganton 
in  Burke  County,  North  Carolina,  November  11, 
187.3.  He  was  educated  in  private  schools  and  the 
Episcopal  High  School  at  Alexandria,  Virginia,  in 
the  Franklin  School  at  Washington,  District  of 
Columbia,  and  in  the  Raveneroft  School  of  Ashe- 
ville.  North  Carolina.  He  grew  up  in  the  atmos- 
]ihere  of  cotton  mills  and  as  member  of  a  family 
with  a  particular  mission  in  the  cotton  mill  in- 
dustry of  the  South.  He  recognized  his  vocations 
and  the  opportunities  presented  him  by  his  father, 
who  as  the  sons  came  to  majority  prepared  places 
for  them  in  his  business.  He  entered  business 
September  12,  1892,  in  the  office  of  the  E.  M.  Holt 
Plaid  Mill.  Burlington,  North  Carolina.  On  Octo- 
ber 1,  189fi,  Erwin  A.  Holt  was  admitted  to  part- 
nership in  the  firm  of  Lawrence  S.  Holt  &  Sons  and 
had  already  gained  considerable  practical  experi- 
ence in  the  family  business  in  the  Aurora  Cotton 
Mills.     As  member  of  this  firm  he  has  had  a  part 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


13 


in  the  management  of  its  various  interests,  includ- 
ing the  Gem  Cotton  Mills  of  Gibsonville,  North 
Carolina,  also  interested  in  the  Sevier  Cotton  Mills 
at  Kings  Mountain,  the  Holt,  Gant  &  Holt  Cotton 
Manufacturing  Company  at  Altamahaw,  and  is  a 
director  in  tliese  various  industries. 

Mr.  Holt  is  an  Episcopalian  and  of  the  broadest 
type  and  has  been  a  vestryman  since  1S92  and 
senior  warden  since  1901.  On  June  16,  1903,  he 
married  Mary  Warren  Davis,  of  Ealeigh.  Mr. 
Holt  is  an  amateur  student  of  history  and  has  done 
much  to  encourage  interest  in  some  of  those  scenes 
and  events  which  in  North  Carolina  have  not  re- 
ceived the  appreciation  they  deserve.  He  has  been 
especially  interested  in  what  is  called  by  some 
"the  first  battle  of  the  Revolution,"  otherwise 
known  as  the  battle  of  Alamance,  fought  near  Bur- 
lington, North  Carolina,  May  16,  1771,  between 
the  Regulators  or  Carolina  Patriots  and  an  over- 
whelming force  of  British  under  the  command  of 
Governor  Tryon. 

Mr.  Holt  is  an  independent  and  state  democrat, 
but  always  a  stanch  supporter  of  Roosevelt,  and 
especially  in  1912,  and  was  a  delegate  to  the 
National  Convention  in  Chicago  in  1916  which 
nominated  Roosevelt.  When  Roosevelt  declined 
Mr.  Holt  turned  his  support  to  Wilson. 

Eugene  Holt  was  born  in  Alamance  County 
at  the  residence  of  his  grandfather,  Edwin  M. 
Holt,  on  August  31,  187.5.  He  is  the  son  of 
Lawrence  S.  and  Margaret  Locke  (Erwin)  Holt. 
He  was  educated  under  private  tutors,  in  schools 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  Episcopal  High  School 
near  Alexandria,  Virginia,'  and  Ravencroft  High 
School,    Asheville,    North    Carolina. 

On  July  1,  1893,  he  went  to  work  under  his 
father  and  on  October  1,  1896,  was  admitted  to 
partnership  in  the  firm  of  Lawrence  S.  Holt 
&  Sons.  He  has  been  active  in  the  management 
of  this  firm,  who  owns  the  Aurora  Cotton  Mills, 
Burlington,  North  Carolina,  and  Gem  Cotton 
Mills,  Gibsonville,  North  Carolina,  He  is  also 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Sevier  Cotton 
Mills  Company,  Kings  Mountain,  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Holt  has  been  identified  with  the  building 
up  of  Burlington,  his  home  town,  ami  his  county, 
having  served  as  alderman,  member  of  various 
commissions,  and  school  board  trustees.  He  is 
a  member   of  the  Episcopal   Church. 

On  Qptober  25,  1895,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Edna  Barnes,  daughter  of  Lemuel  Franklin  and 
Annie  (Ball)  Barnes,  of  Richmond,  Virginia. 
They  have  one  child,  Anne  Erwin  Holt. 

Lawrence  Schackleford  Holt,  Jr.,  youngest 
son  of  the  eminent  North  Carolinian  whose  name 
he  bears,  was  born  at  Burlington,  North  Carolina, 
November  19,  1883.  Carefully  reared  and  edu- 
cated, he  attended  public  schools,  Horner's  Mili- 
tary Institute,  and  graduated  from  the  University 
of  North  Carolina  with  the  class  of  1904.  Turn- 
ing his  mind  to  the  serious  work  of  life,  he  was 
employed  as  clerk  in  his  father's  cotton  manufac- 
turing business,  and  on  October  1,  1905,  was  ad- 
mitted to  a  partnership  in  the  firm  of  Lawrence  S. 
Holt  &  Sons,  an  organization  in  which  he  has 
since  borne  a  share  of  executive  responsibilities. 
He  is  a  director  of  the  Aurora  Cotton  Mills  and 
the  Gem  Cotton  Mills,  is  president  of  the  Sevier 
Cotton  Mills  at  Kings  Mountain,  vice  president  of 
the  Holt.  Gant  &  Holt  Cotton  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany at  Altamahaw,  and  is  a  director  of  the  Erwin 


Yarn  Agency,  Incorporated,  at  Philadelphia,  Penn- 
sylvania. From  March,  1911,  to  December  1,  1913, 
Mr.  Holt  was  a  resident  of  Norfolk,  Virginia, 
living  in  that  city  in  order  the  better  to  attend 
to  his  duties  as  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
Union  Cotton  Bagging  Corporation.  Since  1913 
he  has  resumed  his  residence  at  Burlington. 

December  5,  1905,  he  married  Elizabeth  S.  Bill, 
of  Spencer,  Virginia.  She  died  March  4,  1909. 
On  April  2,  1913,  he  married  Elizabeth  Lacy 
Chambers,   of   Charlotte,  North   Carolina. 

James  Nathaniel  Williamson.  A  busy  and 
fruitful  life  has  been  that  of  James  Nathaniel 
Williamson,  who  when  little  more  than  a  boy  bore 
arms  bravely  and  faithfully  as  a  soldier  and  oflBcer 
in  the  Confederate  army,  after  the  war  took  up 
cotton  manufacture,  was  associated  with  some  of 
the  most  prominent  cotton  mill  men  in  the  state, 
and  also  combined  therewith  extensive  interests 
as  a  mercliant  and  farmer.  His  home  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  mature  years  has  been  at 
Graham  in  Alamance  County. 

He  was  born  at  Locust  Hill  in  Caswell  County, 
North  Carolina,  March  6,  1842.  His  father, 
Thomas  Williamson,  owned  several  large  planta- 
tions and  conducted  a  store.  He  never  held  any 
public  office  beyond  that  of  magistrate  of  his 
county,  but  by  his  business  integrity  and  private 
virtues  lie  became  a  man  widely  known  and  well 
deserving  of  the  admiration  and  veneration  paid 
him  by  his  famOy  and  friends.  He  was  an  in- 
timate friend  of  such  eminent  men  as  Chief  Justice 
Ruffin,  Hon.  Calvin  Graves  and  Hon.  Bedford 
Brown.  A  source  of  inspiration  to  .lames  Na- 
thaniel Williamson  in  his  career  was  a  desire  to 
emulate  his  father,  concerning  whom  he  came  to 
know  largely  through  his  mother  and  his  father's 
friends,  since  he  was  a  boy  of  only  six  when 
his   father  died. 

His  early  career  and  edm'ation  were  largely 
directed  by  his  mother,  who  possessed  many  at- 
tainments, both  intellectually  and  spiritually.  Her 
maiden  name  w'as  Frances  Panel  Banks  Farish. 
She  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  and  related  to 
the  Banks  and  Farish  families  of  Virginia.  Her 
mother,  Frances  Banks,  was  a  sister  of  Hon.  Lynn 
Banks,  who  for  five  years  was  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Delegates  in  Virginia  and  then  .served 
his  state  in  Congress  from  1838  until  his  death 
in  1842. 

James  Nathaniel  Williamson  owed  more  than 
he  could  ever  calculate  to  the  influence  and  teach- 
ing's of  his  mother.  He  found  it  a  pleasure  as 
well  as  a  duty  to  assist  her  in  the  work  of  the 
home  and  farm.  His  father  had  expressly  desired 
that  his  son  should  be  thoroughly  educated  and 
that  met  exactly  with  the  ambition  and  plans  of 
the  mother.  James  N.  Williamson  was  ,a  jnipil 
in  the  preparatory  school  conducted  by  Dr.  Alex- 
ander Wilson  in  Alamance  County.  That  was  one 
of  the  best  institutions  in  the  state  at  the  time. 
Doctor  Wilson  's  report  of  young  Williamson  was : 
' '  He  is  among  the  best  in  his  classes. ' '  From  the 
preparatory    school    he    entered    Davidson    College. 

On  May  13,  1861,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  Mr. 
Williamson  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  A 
of  the  Third  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Volunteers. 
This  was  the  first  company  raised  in  Caswell 
County.  The  colonel  of  the  regiment  was  W.  D. 
Pender,  whose  bravery  and  efficiency  as  a  soldier 
and  officer  brought  him  eventually  to  rank  as  a 
major  general  in  the  Confederate  army.     After  a 


14 


HISTOKY  OF  XOKTH  CAROLINA 


time  the  Third  Eegiment  was  assigned  as  the 
Thirteenth  Begiment,  and  for  a  considerable  part 
of  its  service  was  in  Pender 's  Brigade.  James  K. 
Williamson  was  a  soldier  four  years,  sharing  all 
the  hardships  of  his  comrades  in  his  company  of 
this  regiment.  He  participated  in  nearly  all  the 
great  battles  wliich  made  the  names  of  Jackson 
and  Lee  famous  in  the  annals  of  warfare.  He 
was  promoted  to  lieutenant  in  September,  1862, 
and  at  ChancellorsvUle  was  wounded  on  the  second 
day.  He  was  also  wounded  at  Gettysburg  and  at 
the  Wilderness,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
latter  battle  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  first 
lieutenant.  He  was  with  Lee  in  the  trenches  about 
Petersburg,  and  was  captain  of  his  company  when 
paroled  at  Appomattox. 

The  family  fortunes  had  suffered  grievously  dur- 
ing the  period  of  the  war,  and  when  the  veteran 
soldier  returned  home  there  was  no  thought  to  be 
taken  of  further  schooling  and  he  courageously 
faced  the  necessity  of  strenuous  work  in  rehabili- 
tating the  old  farm.  This  old  plantation  in  Cas- 
well County  represented  little  more  than  the  bare 
land  at  the  close  of  the  war.  For  about  two 
years  after  returning,  home  Captain  Williamson 
employed  himself  with  the  greatest  of  zeal  and 
industry  to  farming.  In  the  meantime  he  married, 
and  at  the  suggestion  of  his  wife's  father,  E.  M. 
Holt,  Mr.  Williamson  became  a  partner  with  the 
five  sons  of  Mr.  Holt  in  conducting  the  Alamance 
Cotton  Mills  under  the  firm  name  of  E.  M.  Holt 's 
Sons.  Mr.  Williamson  had  already  considered  the 
possibilities  of  a  career  as  a  manufacturer,  and  he 
readUy  accepted  what  seemed  and  proved  to  be 
an  excellent  opportunity  to  become  associated  with 
men  of  experience  and  such  high  standing  as  the 
Holts. 

In  1867  he  removed  to  Alamance  County,  and 
while  supervising  his  farming  operations  in  Cas- 
well County  took  up  his  new  duties  as  a  partner 
in  the  firm.  The  Alamance  Cotton  Mills  continued 
to  grow  and  prosper  and  the  business  was  after- 
wards extended  by  the  construction  of  the  Caro- 
lina Cotton  Mills  on  the  Haw  Eiver  near  Graham. 
These  mills  when  finished  were  put  under  the 
management  of  the  Holt  Brothers  and  Mr.  Wil- 
liamson. For  fifteen  years  these  men  shared  the 
responsibilities  of  the  management  and  conducted 
the  mills  under  the  name  J.  H.  and  W.  E.  Holt 
&  Company.  From  the  time  the  Carolina  Cotton 
Mills  were  put  in  operation  Mr.  Williamson  had 
his  home  at  the  Town  of  Graham. 

Subsequently  he  built  the  Ossipee  Cotton  Mills 
in  Alamance  County,  and  managed  and  operated 
them  under  the  firm  name  of  James  N.  Williamson 
&  Sons.  Eventually  his  sons  William  H.  and  James 
K".  assumed  the  burdens  of  active  management  of 
the  institution.  Soon  after  the  construction  of 
the  Ossipee  Mills,  Mr.  Williamson  and  his  son 
William  H.,  under  the  name  James  N.  and  Wil- 
liam H.  Williamson  erected  the  Pilot  Cotton  Mills 
at  Ealeigh,  and  this  son  has  had  the  active  man- 
agement of  the  mills  from  the  beginning. 

Thus  the  name  James  N.  Williamson  has  become 
widely  known  throughout  the  State  of  North  Caro- 
lina among  cotton  mill  owners  and  manufacturers, 
and  he  came  to  a  notable  position  in  an  industrv 
which  has  employed  the  resources  and  abilities 
of  many  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  state  and  of  a 
large  part  of  the  working  population.  It  has  been 
through  the  wise  and  efficient  and  careful  adminis- 
tration of  his  affairs  that  he  has  rendered  real 
service  to  the  public  and  through  his  business  he 


has  benefited  the  state  and  the  community  by 
much  of  that  public  spirit  and  earnestness  which 
some  other  men  devote  to  formal  public  affairs 
and  public  office.  Mr.  Williamson  never  eared  to- 
hold  public  office. 

On  September  5,  1865,  James  X.  Williamson 
married  Mary  E.  Holt,  daughter  of  Edwin  M. 
Holt  of  Alamance  County.  They  became  the 
parents  of  the  following  children:  William  Holt, 
who  married  Sadie  Tucker,  daughter  of  Maj.  R.  S. 
Tucker  of  Ealeigh:  Ada  V.,  who  died  in  1898, 
the  wife  of  O.  H.  Foster,  of  Ealeigh:  James  N., 
Jr.,  elsewhere  referred  to:  and  Mary  Blaneli,  wife- 
of  J.  Harrison  Spencer,  of  Martinsville,  Virginia. 

James  N.  Williamson,  Jr.,  son  of  James  Na- 
thaniel Williamson,  the  old  soldier  and  cotton 
manufacturer  whose  career  has  been  reviewed  on 
other  pages,  has  successfully  developed  those  pri- 
mary interests  and  opportunities  which  were 
afforded  him  by  his  father  as  a  successful  cotton 
mill  man,  and  for  years  has  been  one  of  the  busi- 
ness builders  and  upholders  of  prosperity  in  Ala- 
mance County. 

He  was  born  at  Graham,  Alamance  County,  Jan- 
uary 28,  1872.  Other  pages  supply  detailed  in- 
formation concerning  his  family  and  ancestry.  H& 
owed  much  both  to  inheritance  and  training  ac- 
quired from  his  parents.  Like  many  boys,  he  had 
a  practical  turn  of  mind  and  took  naturally  to  the 
mechanics  and  the  technical  processes  of  cotton 
manufacture,  his  father 's  cotton  mills  furnishing 
a  splendid  environment  for  the  development  of  his 
intelligence  and  his  intellectual  curiosity.  While 
reared  in  one  of  the  substantial  and  even  wealthy 
families,  luxurious  ease  was  no  part  of  his  youth- 
ful habits  and  practices.  He  found  plenty  to 
Aq  and  was  constantly  inspired  Ijy  his  energy  and 
talent  and  ambition  to  accomplish  something  worth 
while.  Like  his  father,  he  was  fond  of  outdoor 
sports  and  has  always  been  a  lover  of  and  a 
good  judge  of  horses. 

His  father  and  mother  sought  for  him  the  very 
best  of  educational  opportunities.  When  he  was 
twelve  years  old  he  entered  Pantops  Academy  near 
Charlottesville,  Virginia,  where  he  remained  a  stu- 
dent sevei'al  years  and  made  himself  popular 
among  his  associates  and  teachers  as  well  as  mak- 
ing a  good  record  for  scholarship.  One  important 
source  of  his  disciplined  mind  was  the  Bingham- 
Military  School,  then  located  at  Mebane,  where 
his  formal  literary  studies  were  combined  with 
military  regulations  and  training.  From  the  Bing- 
ham School  he  entered  the  L'niversity  of  North 
Carolina,  but  did  not  remain  t-o  graduate,  coming 
out  of  university  to  take  his  work  in  the  prac- 
tical industry  of  cotton  manufacture. 

In  1894  he  went  to  work  under  his  father  at  the 
Ossipee  Mills.  Three  years  later  he  was  admitted 
to  the  firm  of  James  N.  Williamson  &  Sons.  He 
soon  became  secretary  and  treasurer  and  general' 
manager  of  the  Ossipee  Mills.  In  all  the  processes 
surrounding  cotton  manufacturing,  from  the  de- 
tailed technique  of  the  mills  to  the  larger  prob- 
lems connected  with  industrial  management.  Mr. 
Williamson  has  for  a  mimber  of  years  been  a 
recognized  master,  authority  and  expert. 

Soon  after  the  PUot  Mills  were  erected  at 
Ealeigh  he  bought  from  his  father  a  fourth  in- 
terest in  the  mills  and  became  vice  president  of 
them  and  also  president  of  the  Hopedale  Mills  at 
Burlington.  A  number  of  years  he  has  also  been 
director  of  the  Alamance   Loan   and   Trust  Com- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


15 


paiiy  at  Burliugton  and  of  the  American  Trust 
Company  of   Cliarlotte. 

The  career  of  such  an  active  and  public  spirited 
business  man  as  Mr.  Williamson  is  a  source  of 
benefit  and  service  to  the  public  even  though  not 
an  item  could  be  recorded  of  participation  in 
politics  or  the  holding  of  a  single  office.  He  has 
done  mucli  to  advance  those  matters  in  Alamance 
County  Tvliieh  bring  tangible  results  of  good  and 
benefit  to  all  classes  of  citizens.  He  has  been 
especially  identified  with  the  good  roads  movement 
in  his  home  county  and  throughout  the  state.  In 
politics  he  is  independent  and  non-partisan,  and 
that  is  indicated  in  the  fact  that  he  regards  as 
the  greatest  presidents  of  the  la.st  lialf  century 
Grover  Cleveland  and  Theodore  Roosevelt.  The 
Williamsini  family  for  generations  have  been  ac- 
tive Presbyterians  and  Mr.  Williamson  himself  was 
reared  in  that  faith.  But  his  wife  was  aji  Epis- 
copalian, and  in  order  that  one  faith  might  govern 
the  household  he  united  with  that  church  and  has 
given  much  time  to  church  and  its  affairs  and 
has  served  as  a  member  of  the  vestry  in  the  Bur- 
lington Church. 

Business  aside,  Mr.  Williamson's  first  and  last 
thought  is  his  home  and  f.amily.  He  lias  enjoyed 
an  ideal  home  life.  November  9,  1898,  he  married 
Miss  Mary  Archer  Saunders,  daughter  of  a  wealthy 
and  influential  citizen  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  the 
late  E.  A.  Saunders.  Mr.  and  Mrs..  Williamson 
have  three  children,  James  Saunders  Williamson, 
Mary  Archer  WOliamson  and  Edwin  Holt  Wil- 
liamson. 

Ce:asar  Cone.  When  North  Carolina  erects 
its  Pantheon  of  great  men — and  great  women, 
too — somewhere  among  the  founders  of  the  com- 
monwealth, the  warriors  and  statesmen,  jurists 
and  law  makers,  agriculturists,  business  men  and 
manufacturers,  a  special  place  of  dignity  will  be 
apportioned  to  the  late  Ceasar  Cone,  cotton  mer- 
chant and  manufacturer  of  national  and  inter- 
national   fame. 

When  Ceasar  Cone  died  on  March  1,  1917,  the 
importance  of  the  man  himself,  his  place  in  the 
business  world,  and  his  position  in  the  affairs  of 
the  country  were  all  so  important  that  the  Asso- 
ciated Press  dispatches  bore  the  news  of  his 
death  to  the  great  daily  papers  in  all  the  cities 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  report  quickly 
spread  beyond  the  confines  of  this  country.  In 
a  comparatively  brief  life  he  had  established  his 
name,  his  firm's  name,  the  names  of  his  mills, 
and  the  reputation  of  his  product  beyond  all  local 
limits    or    limitations. 

It  was  because  of  this  high  national  standing 
that  the  Wool  and  Cotton  Reporter,  the  nation 
journal  devoted  to  the  textile  industries  of 
America,  published  a  special  issue  containing  an 
appreciation  of  Mr.  Cone's  career  and  character 
and  a  description  of  the  monumental  industries 
which  he  had  built  up  in  and  axound  Greens- 
boro. It  is  from  the  columns  of  this  journal 
that  most  of  the  facts  here  noted  are  obtained. 

There  are  many  great  names  in  cotton  manu- 
facturing. These  include  family  names  that  have 
become  so  firmly  established  in  the  textile  trade 
that  cities  are  similarly  named.  There  has  never 
been  a  family  that  has  become  more  prominent 
in  the  production  of  cotton  goods,  the  financing 
of  cotton  mills,  and  the  distribution  of  the  textile 
mill  products  than  has  that  of  Cone.  Ceasar 
Cone's    co-worker    for    a    great    many   years    was 


his  older  brother,  Moses  Cone,  and  the  names  of 
these  two  brothers  will  always  be  linked  together. 
Everyone  with  a  knowledge  of  the  industry  im- 
mediately thinks  ckf  Ceasar  Cone  as  equally  great 
in  finance,  manufacture  and  merchandising,  and 
because  of  his  pre-eminence  in  these  several 
branches  he  towered  above  or  as  the  equal  of 
any  individual  name  that  adorns  the  annals  of 
cotton   manufacturing. 

Ceasar  Cone  was  born  April  22,  18.59,  at  .Jones- 
boro,  Tennessee,  and  was  not  yet  fifty-eight  years 
of  age  when  he  died  at  his  home  in  Greensboro. 
His  father,  Herman  Cone,  came  from  Bavaria, 
Germany,  to  America  in  1845,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen.  He  began  his  life  here  with  only  fifty 
cents  in  capital.  In  1870  he  removed  his  family 
to  Baltimore  and  estalilished  a  wholesale  grocery 
business,  which  in  1878  became  the  firm  of  H. 
Cone  &  Sons.  Herman  Cone  married  Helen  Gug- 
genhcimer,  who  was  also  from  Bavaria.  Many 
of  her  fine  traits  of  character  were  inherited  by 
Ceasar  Cone. 

Ceasar  Cone  attended  the  public  schools  of  Bal- 
timore to  the  age  of  foi'rteen.  That  completed  his 
education.  He  then  went  to  work  with  a  Balti- 
more firm  of  stationers.  It  is  said  that  he  never 
ileparted  from  the  methods  and  precepts  incul- 
cated during  his  tender  years.  The  paternal  les- 
son was  rigid  honesty,  rigid  economy,  and  rigid 
observance  of  every  obligation.  The  life  of 
Ceasar  Cone  was  a  complete  exemplification  of 
these  principles.  He  represented  a  family  of  suc- 
cessful men  and  women.  Besides  his  older 
brother,  Moses,  he  was  survived  by  four  brothers 
at  Greensboro,  Sol,  Julius  W.,  Bernard  M.  and 
Clarence  N.,  and  by  two  other  brothers  at  Balti- 
more, Dr.  Sidney  M.  and  Fred  W.  His  three 
sisters  were:  Dr.  Claribel  Cone  and  Miss  Etta 
Cone,  of  Baltimore,  and  Mrs.  M.  D.  Long,  of 
Ashe^•ille.  North  Carolina. 

In  1890  the  old  and  successful  firm  of  H. 
Cone  &  Sons,  wholesale  grocers  of  Baltimore,  was 
dissolved.  Both  Moses  and  Ceasar  Cone  had  been 
members  of  the  firm.  Through  its  connections 
they  had  obtained  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
conditions  and  resources  of  the  South.  Planning 
to  develop  these  resources,  they  organized  the 
Cone  Export  and  Commission  Company  for  the 
handling  of  cotton  goods.  This  put  them  in  close 
touch  with  the  cotton  mills,  and  finally  brought 
them  into  the  manufacturing  field.  As  manu- 
facturers they  began  vrith  a  small  mill  of  only 
a  few  looms.  Removing  to  Greensboro,  the  Cone 
brothers  acquired  several  hundred  acres  of  land 
adjoining  the  corporate  limits  and  there  in  1895- 
96  erected  the  mills  of  the  Proximity  Manufac- 
turing Company.  The  dominant  ideal  in  the 
organization  of  the  company  was  the  manufac- 
ture of  a  class  of  goods  not  made  in  the  South 
prior  to  1896.  Starting  vrith  240  looms,  in  less 
than  ten  years  the  company  enlarged  its  capital 
stock  and  built  another  mammoth  plant  known 
a'  the  Whit^  Oak  Mill,  which  is  the  largest  cot- 
ton mill  in  the  South  and  the  largest  denim 
manufacturing  plant  in  the  world.  The  Proxim- 
ity and  White  Oak  mills  contain  3,600  looms  and 
employ  2,500  people.  Mr.  Ceasar  Cone  was 
actively  associated  with  his  brother,  Moses,  in 
the  establishment  of  the  White  Oak,  Proximity 
and  Revolution  cotton  mills.  At  the  death  of 
Moses  Cone  the  business  burdens  of  the  Cone 
Export  and  Commission  Company  fell  upon  the 
shoulders    of    the   younger    brother,    and    when    he 


16 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


in  turn  answered  the  call  of  death,  the  great 
Cone  industries  were  left  to  the  administrative 
skill  and  experience  of  his  brothers,  Bernard  and 
Julius,   and   his    oldest    son,    Herman    Cone. 

Estimating  his  place  in  southern  cotton  manu- 
facturing, a  writer  m  the  Wool  and  Cotton  Be- 
porter  said:  "  Ceasar  Cone  was  the  largest  denim 
manufacturer  in  tJie  world.  It  has  been  currently 
reported  that  one-third  of  all  the  denims  of  the 
world  are  manufactured  in  the  Wliite  Oak,  Prox- 
imity and  Revolution  Mills  at  Greensboro.  .  .  . 
Ceasar  Cone  was  a  salesman,  a  merchant.  Per- 
haps his  greatest  work  was  not  his  manufactur- 
ing plants,  extensive  though  they  were,  but  his 
merchandising  projects.  The  Cone  Export  and 
Commission  Company  has  been  of  great  value 
not  only  to  southern  mills  but  to  the  industry 
as  a  whole.  A  considerable  number  of  cotton 
mills  not  owned  and  not  controlled  by  the  Cone 
family  merchandise  their  goods  through  the  Cone 
commission  house.  To  a  very  large  extent,  the 
outside  mills  who  sell  through  this  commission 
house  depended  upon  the  Cone  Export  and  Com- 
mission Company  for  many  years,  and  upon 
Ceasar  Cone  himself  to  a  very  great  extent,  not 
only  for  the  distribution  of  their  products  but 
for  the  financing  of  their  mills,  for  the  money 
with  which  raw  materials  were  purchased,  for 
the  money  that  met  the  pay  roll  on  every  pay 
day.  No  commission  house  has  ever  attained  a 
higher  reputation  than  this  one,  not  only  in  the 
trade  and  with  its  competitors  but  with  the  finan- 
cial authorities  of  downtown  New  York.  And 
the  policy  of  the  Cone  Commission  House  was 
the  policy  of  Ceasar  Cone.  Its  merchandising 
activities  and  ability,  its  fuianeial  guidance,  its 
ethics,  all   rested  upon  him. ' ' 

The  late  Ceasar  Cone  expressed  the  best  ele- 
ments of  his  life  and  character  in  his  devotion 
to  his  great  mills  at  Greensboro  and  to  the  gen- 
eral civic  welfare  of  that  community.  He  served 
as  president  of  the  Greensboro  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, president  of  the  American  Cotton  Manu- 
facturers Association,  and  he  and  his  family 
were  identified  with  practically  every  large  wel- 
fare movement  in  the  city.  His  brother,  Moses 
Cone,  gave  a  large  portion  of  his  estate  to  build 
a  hospital  at  Greensboro.  One  of  the  last  acts 
of  Ceasar  Cone  was  offering  a  large  sum  to  be 
used  for  the  proposed  Guilford  County  Tubercu- 
losis  Sanitarium. 

Many  writers  have  commented  upon  the  exten- 
sive welfare  program  planned  and  carried  out  in 
the  mill  villages  of  the  great  Cone  Mills.  The 
proper  point  of  view  in  regarding  the  material 
and  social  conditions  prevaUing  in  these  mill  vil- 
lages is  not  how  far  they  measure  up  to  the  most 
ideal  theoretical  standard,  but  how  far  they 
bring  the  inhabitants  above  the  plane  of  exist- 
ence in  moral  and  physical  comforts  which  the 
people  had  enjoyed  before  they  became  factors 
in  the  mill  communities.  It  has  been  pomtea 
out  and  is  a  well-known  fact  that  most  of  th^ 
manufacturing  centers  of  the  South  are  recruited 
from  the  poor  and  backward  hill  sections,  where 
the  people  representing  an  undiluted  strain  of 
Anglo-Saxon  stock  have  lived  for  generations  out 
of  touch  with  modern  schools,  religious  privileges, 
and  most  of  those  comforts  and  attractions 
which  go  to  make  up  the  wholesomeness  of  Amer- 
ican life. 

A  writer  describing  the  welfare  work  of  the 
Cone    mill    villages    says:      "The    manufacturers 


with  whom  C<?asar  Cone  was  always  a  leader  fur- 
nished the  place  to  work  and  a  fair  profit  in 
wages,  furnished  comfortable  homes  in  which 
the  operatives  lived,  supplied  the  schools  in 
which  the  children  are  educated,  saw  to  it  that 
the  school  teachers  were  efficient,  supplied  the 
churches  and  preachers  according  to  the  religious 
trend  of  the  mill  workers,  furnished  the  mill  hos- 
pital so  that  the  mill  village  doctors  could  sat- 
isfactorily take  care  of  the  health  of  the  workers' 
families.  In  fact,  these  manufacturers  have 
made  it  a  part  of  their  business  to  insure  more 
than  a  living  to  the  men  and  women  who  are 
working  with  them.  The  Cone  mills  at  Greens- 
boro are  not  typical  of  the  industry — they  are 
larger  and  better  and  more  profitable  than  the 
average.  The  mill  villages  and  the  advantages 
of  mill  village  life  at  Greensboro  are  not  typical 
of  the  textile  manufacturing  industry.  The  cot- 
tages are  better  than  the  average;  so  are  the 
educational  and  health  and  living  conditions.  In 
the  villages  at  the  Proximity  and  White  Oak  and 
Eevolution  cotton  mills  there  are  perhajis  8,000 
or  9,000  people  who  are  whoUy  dependent  upon 
the  past  and  present  and  future  work  in  these 
Cone  mills  for  their  livelihood,  the  education  of 
their  children,  for  the  savings  that  will  take  care 
of  them  in  their  declining  years — in  fact,  for  all, 
their  financial,   social  and  religious  advantages. ' ' 

One  of  Ceasar  Cone 's  last  public  appearances 
was  as  one  of  the  principal  speakers  on  the  pro- 
gram of  the  St.  Louis  convention  of  the  Na- 
tional Association  of  Garment  Manufacturers  in 
the  fall  of  1916.  A  more  concise  description  of 
his  high  standing  in  the  textile  industries  it  would 
be  difficult  to  imagine  that  the  brief  sentences  the 
president  of  the  convention  used  in  introducing 
Mr.  Cone.  He  said :  "  It  is  my  privilege  and  great 
pleasure  to  introduce  to  you  a  gentleman  known 
■personally  to  many  of  you  and  by  reputation  to 
all  of  us.  This  gentleman  stands  so  highly  in 
his  profession  that  he  speaks  with  that  authority 
that  one  who  knows  always  commands.  Long 
years  of  fair  dealing  and  fair  play  have  made  this 
gentleman  dear  to  many  of  us.  I  may  say  that 
all  of  us  stand  ready  at  all  times  to  render  unto 
Ceasar  that  which  is  Ceasar 's.  It  is  with  pleasure 
that  I  introduce  Mr.  Ceasar  Cone  of  America. ' ' 

In  1894  Mr.  Cone  married  Miss  Jeanette  Siegel, 
a  lady  of  rare  gifts  and  attainments,  who  survives 
him.  They  had  three  sons:  Herman,  Benjamin 
and  Ceasar  Cone. 

Moses  H.  Cone.  The  career  of  the  late  Moses 
H.  Cone  was  so  intimately  associated  with  that 
of  his  brother  Ceasar  Cone  in  the  building  and 
operation  of  the  great  mills  around  Greensboro 
that  no  special  comment  on  his  business  achieve- 
ments is  required  to  supplement  what  is  said  in 
the  sketch  of  his  brother  published  elsewhere.  The 
following  paragraph  is  a  brief  recital  of  the  main 
facts  of  his  personal  history. 

He  was  born  at  Jonesboro.  Tennessee,  son  of 
Herman  and  Helen  (Guggenheimer)  Cone,  both 
of  whom  were  natives  of  Bavaria.  He  was  one 
of  thirteen  children  and  acquired  a  fair  education 
in  his  youth,  and  was  identified  with  his  father 
in  the  wholesale  grocery  business  at  Baltimore  for 
a  number  of  years.  In  1890  he  was  the  primary 
factor  in  organizing  the  Cone  Export  and  Commis- 
sion Company,  which  made  contracts  with  many 
of  the  largest  cotton  mills  in  the  South  to  handle 
their    products.      In    1895    Moses    Cone    and    his 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


17 


brother  Ceasar  bought  large  tracts  of  land  adja- 
cent to  Greensboro  and  successively  erected  the 
Proximity,  Revolution  and  White  Oak  Mills.  He 
and  Ms  brother  alsol  put  into  operation  the 
Southern  Finishing  MUl,  the  first  institution  of  its 
kind  in  the  South.  Incidentally  it  may  be  stated 
that  through  the  operations  of  these  brothers 
Greensboro  took  a  new  lease  of  industrial  pros- 
perity and  from  that  time  forward  its  strides  as 
a  southern  industrial  center  have  taken  it  to  a 
foremost  position  among  the  cities  of  North 
Carolina. 

Though  never  a  resident  of  Greensboro,  Moses 
Cone  was  well  known  in  the  city  and  his  work  and 
influence  have  been  vital  factors  in  the  state  as  a 
whole.  About  1900  he  bought  a  large  tract  of  land 
near  Blowing  Rock,  and  tliere  built  the  palatial 
home  which  he  loved  so  well  and  which  was  the 
scene  of  his  last  days.  The  Blowing  Rock  estate 
is  a  wonderfully  interesting  place  and  under  his 
direction  large  areas  of  vineyard  and  orchard  were 
developed.  In  that  home  Moses  H.  Cone  died  De- 
cember 8,  1908.  He  married  Bertha  Lindau,  who 
survives  him. 

Thomas  Henry  Briggs.  The  character  of  the 
men  of  a  community  may  be  correctly  gauged  by 
the  standing  of  its  business  houses  whose  growth 
has  been  stimulated  by  intelligent  and  progressive 
methods,  or  held  back  by  lack  of  proper  develop- 
ment. No  city  can  attain  its  highest  standard 
lacking  the  oo-operation  of  its  citizens  in  all  lines 
in  giving  honest  service  for  value  received.  The 
real  progressive  and  helpful  men  of  a  community 
may  be  counted  upon  to  promulgate  and  support 
worthy  measures  looking  toward  the  securing  for 
their  community  of  solid  improvements;  they  are 
to  be  found  actively  engaged  in  church  labors;  they 
give  a  solidity  to  commercial  organizations,  and 
when  the  need  arises  contribute  liberally  toward 
charities.  Judging  from  all  these  standards,  the 
City  of  Raleigh  is  fortunate  in  the  possession  of 
such  sterling  citizens  as  Thomas  Henry  Briggs, 
who  has  been  identified  with  the  commercial  life 
of  the  city  since  1870,  and  who,  during  his  long 
career,  has  labored  faithfully  in  church  move- 
ments, has  maintained  a  high  standard  in  his 
commercial  relations,  and  has  consistently  and 
continuously  worked  in  behalf  of  better  education, 
better  morality  and  better  citizenship. 

Mr.  Briggs  belongs  to  one  of  the  oldest  families 
of  Raleigh,  his  grandparents,  John  Joyner  and 
Elizabeth  (Utley)  Briggs.  having  been  among  the 
founders  of  the  city  in  1792.  He  was  born  Septem- 
ber 9,  1847,  and  is  the  eldest  soit  of  Thomas  Henry 
and  Evelina  (Norwood)  Briggs,  and  secured  good 
educational  advantages  in  his  youth,  attending  the 
celebrated  school  of  Mrs.  James  P.  Taylor,  Love- 
.ioy  Academy  and  Wake  Forest  College,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1870.  In  that  year  began  his 
connection  with  the  commercial  life  of  Raleigh,  an 
association  that  has  continued  throughout  a 
period  of  more  than  forty-eight  years.  Mr.  Briggs 
has  been  engaged  in  the  wholesale  and  retail 
hardware  business  and  interested  in  various  other 
industrial,  commercial  and  financial  enterprises  of 
the  community,  and  at  the  jiresent  time  is  a  direc- 
tor in  the  Commercial  National  Bank,  of  which  he 
was  one  of  the  organizers,  and  the  Wake  County 
Savings  Bank. 

As  a  supporter  of  the  cause  of  education,  Mr. 
Briggs  has  served  as  school  committeeman  for 
Raleigh  Township  as  trustee  for  the  Agricultural 


and  Mechanical  College  for  the  Colored  Race,  at 
Greensboro,  North  Carolina,  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  Governor  Elias  Carr,  and  for  twenty- 
five  years  as  treasurer  of  Wake  Forest  College.  On 
his  resignation  from  the  last-named  position  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  that 
institution,  and  still  holds  that  position.  He  is 
also  president  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Raleigh  Cemetery  Association.  John  Joyner 
Briggs  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church  of  Raleigh,  hence  Thomas  Henry 
Briggs  is  the  third  generation  of  the  family  in 
this  church,  whose  successive  pastors  have  had  no 
hesitancy  in  calling  upon  him  for  aid  in  forwara- 
ing  the  work  of  the  organization.  He  is  otherwise 
closely  identified  with  the  religious  life  of  the  city 
and  with  mission  interests,  both  home  and  foreign, 
and  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  state 's  leading 
Sunday  school  workers,  his  efforts  being  directed 
particularly  in  the  training  of  boys  and  youths. 
Mr.  Briggs  is  known  and  honored  in  the  commun- 
ity as  a  man  above  reproach,  of  integrity  and  of 
high  Christian  character. 

On  October  21,  1874,  Mr.  Briggs  was  married  to 
Miss  Sarah  Grandy,  daughter  of  Willis  Sawyer  and 
Elizabeth  (Ferebee)  Grandy,  then  living  at  Oxford, 
North  Carolina. 

Thomas  Walter  Bickett.  In  every  state  and 
country  friends  of  enlightened  progress  in  politics, 
those  who  are  prayerfully  and  hopefully  looking 
and  struggling  for  the  light  while  occasionally 
admitting  doutjt  and  cynicism  over  ineptitude  and 
selfishness,  must  find  encouragement  in  what  has 
been  achieved  so  far  during  the  administration  of 
Thomas  Walter  Bickett  as  governor  of  North  Caro- 
lina. While  it  is  too  soon  to  measure  and  estimate 
ultimate  effects  and  results,  it  can  be  confidently 
asserted  that  as  a  rational  program  now  in  progress 
of  fulfillment  no  state  in  the  Union  can  present 
a  record  that  is  more  completely  an  expression  of 
political  wisdom  and  practical  idealism. 

Since  he  became  governor,  Mr.  Bickett  has 
truly  demonstrated  leadership  which  leads.  While 
at  every  point  it  has  been  democratic  leadership. 
He  has  compelled  attention  and  has  gained  support 
for  his  proposals  through  the  cogency  of  clear  and 
sincere  presentation.  It  may  be  ventured  that  no 
public  paper  relating  to  the  state  of  affairs  in 
North  Carolina  has  been  more  widely  read  and 
will  be  more  frequently  referred  to  in  the  years 
to  come  than  the  inaugural  address  of  Governor 
Bickett.  It  is  a  wonderful  appeal  to  the  spirit  of 
progress,  to  constructive  co-operative  endeavor  and 
to  that  unselfishness  which  makes  the  interest  of 
the  many  superior  to  the  interest  of  the  few.  It 
would  be  no  disparagement  of  those  who  loyally 
co-operated  with  Governor  Bickett  in  carrying  out 
his  plans  to  assert  that  the  clear  and  forceful  man- 
ner in  which  he  presented  the  different  items  of  his 
program  quickened  and  vitalized  popular  support 
all  over  the  state,  so  that  the  results  in  formal 
legislation  were  almost  inevitable.  Someone  has 
well  said  that  Governor  Bickett 's  inaugural  address 
delivered  in  January,  1917,  was  his  platform,  and 
that  in  January,  1918,  though  he  had  been  in  of- 
fice only  a  year  the  address  had  become  his  record. 

Considered  either  as  literary  or  as  a  political 
document  the  most  notable  feature  of  the  inaugural 
address  was  the  specific  and  direct  language  in 
which  the  various  propositions  were  outlined,  and 
the  almost  total  absence  of  generalization  and 
rhetoric.     The  address  falls  into  two  parts.     The 


18 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


first  is  an  outline  of  nine  measures,  all  directed 
to  the  improvement  of  rural  life:  Assisting  the 
tenant  to  become  a  landlord  by  eonstitutional 
amendment  exempting  taxation  notes  and  mort- 
gages given  for  the  purchase  price  of  a  home;  the 
conserving  of  fertility  and  the  regeneration  of  the 
soil;  legislation  to  relieve  the  farmer  of  the  evils 
of  the  crop  lien;  development  of  the  water  powers 
of  the  state ;  establishment  and  extension  of  rural 
telephone  systems;  making  the  schoolhouse  the  so- 
cial as  well  as  the  educational  center  of  rural  com- 
munities; maintenance  as  well  as  construction  of 
good  highways;  constitutional  amendment  requir- 
ing a  fixed  school  term  throughout  the  state;  and 
incorporation  of  rural  communities.  Governor 
Biekett  in  addition  to  these  nine  measures  urged 
a  uniform  system  school  administration  both  in 
counties  and  for  the  state  at  large.  On  the  subject 
of  manufacturing  his  proposals  were  three  in 
number :  A  reasonable  minimum  requirement  that 
manufacturers  should  provide  for  the  convenience 
and  comfort  of  mill  operatives;  permission  to 
combination  by  manufacturers  for  advancement  of 
trade;  and  industrial  and  technical  education  in 
manufacturing  districts.  Other  proposals  were  for 
a  commission  to  submit  a  comprehensive  plan  of 
taxation,  for  the  enlargement  of  the  scope  of  work 
and  adequate  appropriations  for  the  state  board 
of  health;  provision  for  absentee  voting;  limita- 
tion of  state  officers  to  two  successive  terms  and 
of  county  officers  to  three  successive  terms;  urging 
the  wisdom  of  the  short  ballot;  consolidation  of 
boards  of  management  for  state  hospitals;  central- 
ized management  of  the  state  agricultural  depart- 
ment and  tlie  College  of  Agriculture;  and  modi- 
fications and  reforms  of  state  prison  management. 

It  will  now  be  in  order  to  notice  briefly  how 
Governor  Biekett 's  suggestions  were  enacted  into 
law  by  General  Assembly  of  1917.  A  brief  sum- 
mary of  the  specific  acts  is  as  follows: 

The  act  submitting  a  eonstitutional  amendment 
calling  for  a  six  months'  instead  of  a  four  months' 
public  school  term.  The  act  follows  the  declara- 
tion in  the  governor's  inaugural  address  that  "the 
childi-en  are  entitled  to  have  the  voter  east  a  single 
ballot,  whether  he  is  or  is  not  in  favor  of  a 
larger  opportunity  for  the  child. ' ' 

The  act  submitting  a  constitutional  amendment 
exempting  from  taxation,  notes  and  mortgages 
given  in  good  faith  for  the  purchase  price  of  a 
home.  The  purpose  of  this  act  is  to  bring  the 
money  in  reach  of  every  homesteader. 

The  crop  lien  act  designed  to  give  the  small 
farmer  a  chance  to  ' '  break  out  of  jail. ' ' 

The  act  providing  for  the  teaching  of  the  basic 
principles  of  good  farming  in  every  rural  public 
school.  The  machinery  of  this  act  is  well  adapted 
to  serve  its  purpose. 

The  act  to  encourage  the  instaUation  of  run- 
ning water,  electric  lights,  telephones  in  country 
homes  and  communities  by  furnishing  expert  ad- 
vice and  assistance  free  of  cost. 

The  act  to  make  the  schoolhouse  a  social  center 
and  to  jirovide  for  wholesome  entertainment  in 
country  sehoolhouses  that  will  be  both  constructive 
and  relaxing. 

The  act  providing  for  the  medical  inspection 
of  all  children  who  attend  the  public  schools  that 
physical  defects  may  be  discovered  and  corrected 
in  their  incipiency. 

The  act  providing  for  the  incorporation  of  rural 
communities  to  the  end  that  thickly  settled  com- 
munities in  the  country  may  take  such  steps  for 


tlieir  own  betterment  as  they  think  wise  and 
proper. 

Tlie  act  forbidding  the  sale  of  the  advertise- 
ment for  sale  of  medicines  purporting  to  cure 
incurable  diseases  and  forbidding  the  sale  of  me- 
chanical device  for  the  treatment  of  disease  when 
the  state  board  of  health  may  declare  such  device 
to  be  without  curative  value. 

The  act  providing  for  the  improvement  of  high- 
ways by  expenditure  of  automobile  tax  for  this 
purpose  under  the  direction  of  the  state  highway 
commission. 

Tlie  act  that  permits  and  regulates  absentee 
voting. 

The  appointment  of  a  state  tax  commission  to 
investigate  and  report  a  comprehensive  system  of 
taxation   to   the  next  General  Assembly. 

The  act  consolidating  the  management  of  the 
three  hospitals  for  the  insane  and  establishing  a 
purchasing  agency  for  the  seven  state  institutions. 

The  act  limiting  the  time  for  which  a  convict 
may  be  sent  to  a  chain  gang  to  five  years.  The 
recommendation  of  the  governor  was  for  two  years, 
but  owing  to  the  inadequacy  of  quarters  at  the 
state  prison  the  time  was  made  five  years  for  the 
present. 

The  act  authorizing  the  construction  of  modern 
sanitary  quarters  for  the  convicts  on  the  state 
farm. 

The  Turner  bill,  whicli  fulfills  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  governor  in  that  part  of  his  inaugural 
address  in  which  he  says :  "I  am  convinced  that 
the  only  justification  for  tlie  punishment  of  crime 
is  the  protection  of  the  public  and  the  reformation 
of  the  criminal.  Anything  that  savors  of  vin- 
(lictiveness  is  indefensible  in  the  administration 
of  the  law.  When  the  state  sends  a  citizen  to 
prison  he  ought  to  be  made  to  feel  that  his  punish- 
ment is  a  just  measure  imposed  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  himself  and  others  from  committing 
further  crimes,  and  that  pending  his  imprisonment 
the  State  desires  to  afford  him  every  opportunity 
to  become  a  good  citizen." 

Governor  Biekett  has  proved  as  fearless  and 
progressive  in  his  purely  administrative  and  execu- 
tive functions  as  in  promoting  a  liberal  and  well 
rounded  legislative  program.  One  example  only 
can  be  considered  here.  It  was  a  matter  which 
attracted  attention  beyond  the  borders  of  the 
state,  and  was  made  the  subject  of  an  article  by 
a  writer  in  The  Survey.  It  told  how  Governor 
Biekett  exercised  his  executive  clemency  in  writ- 
ing out  pardons  for  six  boys,  whose  average  age 
was  a  little  more  than  twelve  years,  who  had  each 
been  convicted  for  some  criminal  offense  and  the 
sentences  ranging  from  fifteen  years  to  a  life  term 
in  the  penitentiary.  In  doing  this  he  was  acting 
upon  the  principles  that  he  enunciated  in  his 
inaugural  and  at  the  same  time  was  overturning 
]irecedents  and  setting  new  ones,  and  was  revers- 
ing the  will  and  decision  of  the  state  courts. 
While  Governor  Biekett  accepts  and  approved  the 
partisan  system  of  democratic  government,  is  hirh- 
self  a  party  man,  it  is  true  that  he  has  as  little 
partisanship  in  the  narrow  personal  sense  as  any 
man  who  has  ever  been  governor  of  "North  Caro- 
lina. He  is  proud  of  what  has  been  accomplished 
during  his  term,  and  yet  the  credit  for  all  those 
varied  achievements  he  generously  assigns  to  the 
state  administration  as  a  whole  in  which  he  is 
merely  the  executive  head.  The  spirit  of  this  is 
well  indicated  in  an  article  which  he  gave  to  the 
public   press   reviewing   the  work   of   the   General 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


19 


Assembly  of  1917  and  as  his  personal  impression 
of  the  results  wliieli  have  already  been  outlined 
it  has  its  appropriate   place   in  this   article : 

' '  The  finest  commentary  on  the  General  As- 
sembly of  1917,  will  be  found  in  tlie  simplest  state- 
ment of  its  record.  The  outstanding  feature  of 
that  record  is  that  it  deals  entirely  with  industrial, 
social  and  educational  problems.  Only  in  a  nega- 
tive way  did  the  Assembly  touch  the  domain  of 
politics.  The  big,  constructive  measures  were  con- 
sidered in  patriotic  fashion,  and  it  is  due  the 
members  of  the  minority  party  to  say  that  on  these 
questions  they  refrained  from  playing  politics  and 
gave  vote  and  voice  to  the  support  of  what  they 
conceived  to  be  the  highest  good. 

' '  The  record  discloses  that  the  Assembly  recog- 
nized two  fundamental  principles : 

"1.  That  every  citizen  is  entitled  to  a  fair 
chance  to  make  his  bread. 

"2.  That  a  high  grade  citizenship  cannot  live 
by  bread  alone. 

' '  The  constitutional  amendment  exempting  home- 
stead notes  from  taxation,  the  crop  lien  law  regu- 
lating the  penalty  imposed  on  poverty  for  its  in- 
ability to  pay  cash  for  supplies,  the  act  providing 
for  tlie  teaching  of  the  fundamentals  of  good  farm- 
ing in  every  country  school,  the  law  providing  for 
medical  inspection  of  school  children  so  as  to 
discover  physical  defects  in  their  incipieney,  the 
act  to  protect  the  citizen  from  being  defrauded  by 
the  sale  of  nostrums  for  incurable  diseases,  the 
establishment  of  the  home  and  school  for  cripples, 
the  state  wide  quarantine  law,  this  law  providing 
rural  sanitation  were  all  designed  and  are  calcu- 
lated to  aid  the  citizen  in  the  world  old  battle  for 
bread.  They  deal  largely  with  the  physical  neces- 
sities of  men,  but  in  addition  to  their  commercial 
value  they  are  shot  through  with  the  spirit  of 
humanitarianism. 

"On  the  other  hand  the  eoustitutioual  amend- 
ment calling  for  a  six  instead  of  a  four  months' 
scliool,  the  act  authorizing  the  incorporation  of 
rural  communities,  tlie  liberal  appropriation  for 
moonlight  schools,  the  expansion  of  the  work  of 
rural  libraries,  the  act  providing  for  a  system  of 
state  highways,  the  act  to  encourage  the  installa- 
tion of  running  water  and  electric  lights  and  tele- 
phones in  country  homes,  the  appropriation  to 
relieve  the  loneliness  of  country  life  by  giving 
wholesome,  instructive  and  entertaining  exhibitions 
in  country  school  houses,  the  establishment  of  the 
home  for  delinquent  women,  the  creation  of  the 
State  Board  of  general  welfare  and  public  char- 
ities, the  special  act  for  the  building  of  a  new 
home  for  the  blind,  the  three  million  dollar  bond 
issue  to  encourage  the  building  of  better  school 
houses  in  the  country,  and  to  provide  adequate 
quarters  and  equipment  for  our  educational  and 
cliaritable  institutions,  all  recognize  the  truth  that 
man  cannot  live  by  bread  alone,  but  requires  for 
liis  jiroper  devcloiiment  the  enrichment  of  his  social 
and  intellectual  life. 

' '  In  addition  to  these  measures  that  so  vitally 
touch  the  life  of  the  people,  the  administration  of 
the  State's  affairs  were  placed  upon  a  more  in- 
telligent and  humane  basis  by  the  prison  reform 
bill,  the  consolidation  of  the  three  hospitals  for 
the  insane  under  a  single  management,  the  act  to 
establish  a  new  and  modern  system  of  accounting 
in  the  State  departments  and  institutions,  the  law 
creating  an  educational  commission  to  consider  the 
entire  school  system  of  the  state,  the  act  providing 
for  a  State  Board  to  examine  teachers  and  conduct 


educational  institutes,  the  creation  of  a  sub-com- 
mission to  devise  an  equitable  system  of  taxation, 
and  the  law  eliminating  unnecessary  and  cumber- 
some reports  of  State  departments. 

"I  do  not  have  before  me  any  list  of  the  acts 
of  the  General  Assembly,  and  I  may  have  omitted 
some  important  measures  in  this  outline.  But  in 
the  record  above  given  there  will  be  found  twenty- 
one  separate  and  distinct  acts  of  dealing  with  new 
subjects  or  old  subjects  in  a  new  way.  And  the 
fine  thing  about  the  record  is  that  not  one  of  the 
acts  named  was  written  in  a  spirit  of  hostility 
to  jiersons  or  property,  but  every  one  of  them  rep- 
resents a  proper  conception  of  ]uiblic  service.  The 
General  Assembly  made  scant  use  of  the  hatchet, 
but  was  very  busy  with  the  trowel,  the  hammer 
and  the  saw.  In  the  early  days  of  the  session 
there  was  considerable  lost  motion  and  there  were 
a  few  grave  errors  of  omission,  but  the  record  in 
its  entirety  reveals  the  Legislator  of  1917  as  a 
'workman  tliat  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed.'  " 

It  now  remains  to  review  briefly  the  career  of 
tliis  honored  public  servant  of  North  Carolina, 
whose  earlier  years  well  justified  the  record  he 
has  made  in  the  office  of  governor.  Thomas  Walter 
Bickett  was  born  in  Monroe,  North  Carolina,  Feb- 
ruary 28,  1869,  a  son  of  T.  W.  and  Mary  A. 
(Covington)  Bickett.  When  he  was  thirteen  years 
of  age  his  father  died,  and  as  tlie  oldest  of  four 
children  he  had  heavy  responsibilities  and  in  pro- 
viding for  tlieir  support  he  acquired  much  of  the 
self-reliance  and  the  sturdy  manhood  which  have 
always  distinguished  him.  lie  attended  the  Monroe 
Higli  Seliool,  and  in  1886  entered  Wake  Forest 
College.  He  paid  his  way  through  school,  and 
at  the  same  time  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  col- 
lege life,  gaining  honors  as  a  debater,  winning  a 
wealth  of  school  associations  and  lasting  friend- 
ships, and  graduating  A.  B.  with  the  class  of  1890. 
Then  followed  a  period  of  teaching,  principally  in 
the  graded  scliools  of  Winston-Salem  until  1892. 
He  liad  spent  the  vacations  studying  law  in  the 
office  of  his  uncle,  D.  A.  Covington,  and  in  the 
fall  of  1892  entered  the  University  Law  School. 
Receiving  his  license  to  practice  in  February, 
1893,  he  spent  1%  years  at  Danbury,  and  since 
.January,  1895,  his  home  has  lieen  at  Louisburg  in 
Franklin  County.  In  his  practice  there  he  was 
soon  noted  as  a  leader  of  the  bar,  a  man  of  ade- 
quate scholarship,  of  splendid  resourcefulness  both 
in  learning  and  in  wit,  and  witli  an  integrity  of 
character  tliat  caused  his  clients  to  trust  implicitly 
in  his  judgment. 

While  during  the  years  that  followed  he  steadily 
liuilt  up  a  reputation  as  a  lawyer  and  became  well 
known  to  the  members  of  the  state  bar,  he  gave  all 
his  time  to  his  profession  and  never  consented  to 
lie  a  figure  in  polities  until  1907,  when  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  He  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  17.50,  and  after  taking  his 
seat  distinguished  himself  as  an  able  advocate  of 
some  of  the  measures  of  special  importance  to 
the  state.  As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Insane  Asylums  he  introduced  and  secured  the 
passage  of  what  is  known  as  the  Bickett  Bill,  ap- 
propriating a  half  million  dollars  for  the  purchase 
of  land  and  construction  of  buildings  to  take 
care  of  the  insane  and  other  classes  of  the  state's 
unfortunate.  That  was  the  largest  appropriation 
voted  by  the  General  Assembly  for  a  single  pur- 
jiose  in  an  entire  decade.  He  also  advocated  a 
iiill  to  regulate  lobbying,  and  worked  for  the 
establishment     of     the     East     Carolina     Teachers 


20 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Training  School  and  the  establishment  of  a 
school  of  t-eehnology  in   some  cotton   mill  center. 

As  a  delegate  to  the  Charlotte  Convention  of 
1908  Mr.  Bickett  iirst  became  a  figure  of  state 
wide  prominence.  His  nominating  speech  for 
Col.  Ashley  Home  for  governor  made  him  so 
conspicuous  that  he  in  turn  was  nominated  for 
the  office  of  attorney  general,  and  during  the  fol- 
lowing campaign  he  did  much  to  draw  together 
the  various  factions  in  his  own  party  and  con- 
tributed much  to  the  success  of  the  ticket.  He 
was  elected  attorney  general  and  began  his  of- 
ficial duties  in  January,  1909.  In  1912  he  was 
reelected,   for   the   term   expiring  in   1916. 

His  record  of  service  has  been  particularly 
scrutinized  by  the  people  of  North  Carolina  dur- 
ing the  last  year  or  so,  when  his  candidacy  was 
urged  on  all  sides  for  the  office  of  governor  to 
succeed  Mr.  Craig.  His  record  as  attorney 
general  is  one  of  special  interest.  Besides  acting 
as  adviser  to  every  department  of  the  state 
government,  he  argued  upwards  of  400  cases  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina,  and  repre- 
sented the  state  before  the  Federal  Court  within 
the  state,  the  Commerce  Court  and  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  and  the  Supreme  Court  at 
Washington,  and  it  is  said  that  every  ease  argued 
by  him  before  a  federal  tribunal  was  won  for  the 
state.  A  reference  to  his  work  as  attorney 
general  is  found  in  an  editorial  of  the  Raleigh 
News  and  Observer  of  November  11,  191.5,  which 
says :  ' '  The  record  of  Attorney  General  Thomas 
W.  Bickett  before  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  is  one  of  which  he  can  well  be  proud.  Since 
coming  into  the  high  office  which  he  holds  he  has 
had  occasion  to  argue  five  different  cases  before 
the  Supreme  Court  as  the  guardian  of  the  state 's 
legal  rights,  and  he  has  won  every  one  of  them. 
The  Tennessee-North  Carolina  boundary  ease, 
which  was  decided  Monday  in  favor  of  North 
Carolina,  being  the  latest  one  to  claim  public  at- 
tention. Mr.  Bickett  besides  being  one  of  our 
most  finished  public  speakers  is  also  one  of  the 
state 's  astute  lawyers,  capable  of  profound  and 
patient  study,  with  a  keenly  analytical  mind  and 
with  the  faculty  of  engaging  and  illuminating 
expression." 

A  gracefully  expressed  tribute  such  as  few  men 
can  deserve  was  that  which  appeared  in  the  annual 
publication  for  1915  of  Wake  Forest  College,  and 
which  is  dedicated  to  Mr.  Bickett  as  follows: 
"To  Thomas  Walter  Bickett,  Class  1890.  On 
every  level  of  a  brilliant  career,  student,  teacher, 
lawyer,  attorney  general,  standing  in  the  midst  of 
a  host  of  friends. ' ' 

Every  successive  st-age  of  his  career  has  demon- 
strated him  a  man  of  proficiency,  adequate  for 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  time,  and 
fitting  himself  for  a  new  and  larger  life  that  was 
to  succeed.  Therefore  when  on  November  5, 
1916,  the  people  of  North  Carolina  were  called 
upon  to  express  their  choice  of  a  citizen  to  fill 
the  office  of  governor,  there  was  no  question  of 
fitness  and  only  a  generous  outburst  of  confidence 
and  trust  in  a  man  who  had  proved  worthy  at 
every  test,  Mr,  Bickett  was  elected  governor  of 
North  Carolina  on  the  democratic  ticket  by  over 
48,000  majority.  He  was  inaugurated  governor 
on  January  1,  1917, 

Mr,  Bickett  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order 
and  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  On  November  29, 
1898,  he  married  Miss  Fannie  Yarborough,  a 
woman  of  rare  attainments  and  fine  character,  and 


devoted  to  their  home  and  to  his  advancement  as 
a  public  leader.     They  have  one  child, 

Pl.^tt  DrcKiN-sON  Walker,  For  thirteen  Tears 
the  learning  and  integrity  of  Piatt  Dickinson  Wal- 
ker has  been  read  into  the  decisions  of  the  North 
Carolina  Supreme  Court,  He  is  one  of  North 
Carolina's  most  distinguished  lawyers  and  jurists 
and  a  man  who  has  succeeded  in  translating  the 
high  ideals  of  the  profession  into  practical  service 
for  good  in  his  community  and  state. 

He  was  born  in  Wilmington,  North  Carolina, 
a  son  of  Thomas  D.  and  Mary  Vance  Dickinson 
Walker,  and  has  lived  in  North  Carolina  practically 
all  his  life.  He  received  his  early  education  in 
George  W.  Jewett 's  School  at  Wilmington  and  in 
James  H.  Horner's  School  at  Oxford,  North  Caro- 
lina. He  then  entered  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  being  a  member  of  the  class  of  1869,  but 
finished  his  collegiate  course  at  the  University  of 
Virginia,  where  he  had  as  preceptors  in  his  legal 
studies  the  noted  Prof.  John  B.  Minor  and  Profes- 
sor Southall.  Graduating  LL.  B.  in  1869,  he  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  North  Carolina  by  the 
Supreme  Court  at  the  June  term  of  1870*.  In 
that  year  he  located  at  Eockingham,  and  was  in 
practice  with  the  late  Walter  L.  Steele,  who  after- 
wards represented  a  North  Carolina  District  in 
Congress.  While  living  there  he  represented 
T?ichmond  County  in  the  General  Assembly  in  1874- 

In  1876  Judge  Walker  moved  to  Charlotte,  and 
was  associated  in  partnership  with  Hon.  Clement 
Dowd,  who  was  afterwards  a  congressman,  and  in 
November,  1880,  became  a  jiartner  with  Hon. 
Armistead  Burwell,  who  afterwards  was  honored 
with  a  seat  on  the  Supreme  Bench.  In  1892  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  E.  T.  Cansler.  From 
Mecklenburg  County  Judge  Walker  was  called  to 
Raleigh  as  associate  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
beginning  his  first  terra  January  1,  1903,  and  his 
second  term  January  1,  1911. 

In  1899  Judge  Walker  served  as  the  first  presi- 
dent of  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association.  He 
is  a  trustee  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina, 
which  in  1908  honored  him  with  the  degree  of 
LL.  D.,  and  he  holds  a  similar  degree  from  David- 
son College  conferred  in  190.3.  Judge  Walker  is  a 
member  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  has  been 
twice  married.  June  5,  1878,  at  Reidsville,  North 
Carolina  he  married  Miss  Henrietta  Settle  Coving- 
ton, On  June  8,  1910,  he  married  Miss  Alma  Locke 
Mordecai.  Judge  Walker  still  retains  his  residence 
at  Charlotte.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Bar  Association  and  now  holds  the  office  in  that 
association    of    vice   president   for   this    state. 

Hon.  Locke  Cr.\ig.  Governor  of  North  Caro- 
lina from  1913  to  1917,  Locke  Craig  has  long 
ranked  as  one  of  the  state 's  foremost  orators,  a 
man  of  commanding  influence  in  public  affairs, 
and  until  he  took  the  governor 's  chair  had  spent 
twenty  years  in  the  practice  of  law. 

Governor  Craig  was  born  in  Bertie  County, 
North  Carolina,  August  16,  1860,  a  son  of  Andrew 
Murdoek  and  Clarissa  Rebecca  (Gillam")  Craig. 
He  "represents  one  of  the  old  Colonial  families,  his 
paternal  ancestor,  William  Craig,  having  come 
from  his  native  Scotland,  first  to  Ireland  and  then 
to  America  in  1749,  This  ancestor  settled  in 
Orange  County,  North  Carolina, 

It  was  the  good  fortune  of  Locke  Craig  to 
spend  his  early  years  on  a  farm.     The  leanings 


^/f^Jh^^-^^-^^^^-^'^^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


21 


of  bis  ambitions  and  his  talents  brought  him  to 
a  professional  career.  In  1880  he  graduated  with 
honor  from  the  University  of  Nortli  Carolina  with 
the  degree  A.  B.,  and  in  1883  he  concluded  his 
preliminary  work  and  was  admitted  to  the  Morth 
Carolina  bar.  He  then  located  at  Asheville,  and 
applied  himself  industriously  to  accumulating  a 
practice  and  reputation  as  a  lawyer. 

For  years  he  has  been  recognized  as  a  forceful 
leader  of  the  people,  and  a  man  of  unusual  power 
as  a  public  speaker.  In  1892  he  was  presiden- 
tial elector  for  the  then  Ninth  Congressional  Dis- 
trict, and  in  1896  was  elector  for  the  state  at 
large.  In  the  latter  year  he  made  a  brilliant  can- 
vass of  North  Carolina  on  behalf  of  William  J. 
Bryan.  In  1898  he  was  nominated  for  the  Legis- 
lature from  Buncombe  County,  and  in  that  cam- 
paign proved  his  ability  as  a  successful  campaign- 
er by  reversing  the  normal  republican  majority 
of  600  and  went  into  office  with  a  clear  majority 
of  700.  Observers  of  political  affairs  in  North 
Carolina  concede  that  the  General  Assembly  of 
1899  was  one  of  the  ablest  bodies  of  men  ever 
gathered  together  as  political  representatives  of  the 
people  of  the  state.  In  that  Legislature  Governor 
Craig  was  one  of  the  leaders.  He  was  one  of  the 
foremost  in  proposing  a  state  suffrage  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution.  In  1900  he  was  returned 
to  the  Legislature  by  an  increased  majority,  and 
in  the  Legislature  of  1903  was  a  prominent  can- 
didate for  the  United  States  Senate,  being  beaten 
only  after  a  protracted  struggle. 

In  1912  Jlr.  Craig  was  elected  governor  of 
North  Carolina  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of 
his  office  in  January,  1913.  The  record  of  his 
administration  is  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  while  Governor  Craig  was  noted  for  the 
firmness  of  his  decisions  and  the  many  construc- 
tive measures  advocated  by  him  and  carried 
through  to  the  benefit  of  the  state,  his  popularity 
was  as  great  when  he  left  office  at  the  close  of 
1916  as  it  had  l)een  when  he  was  carried  by  the 
votes  of  the  people  into  the  governor's  chair. 
Since  the  expiration  of  his  term  as  governor  Mr. 
Craig  has  resumed  his  residence  at  Asheville. 

November  18,  1891,  Governor  Craig  married 
Annie  Burgin  of  McDowell  County,  North  Caro- 
lina. They  are  the  parents  of  four  sons:  Carlyle, 
a  naval  officer;  George  Winston,  an  officer  in  the 
National  Army;  Arthur,  also  a  naval  officer; 
and  Locke,  .Jr.,  who  was  born  in  the  governor's 
mansion  in  November,  1914. 

Henry  Groves  Connor,  United  States  district 
judge  of  the  Eastern  District  of  North  Carolina, 
son  of  David  and  Mary  C.  (Groves)  Connor,  was 
born  at  Wilmington,  July  3,  18.52.  He  was  reared 
and  educated  at  Wilson,  which  is  still  his  home. 
.Judge  Connor  was  in  active  practice  of  the  law 
from  1873  to  1885  and  from  1893  to  1903.  More 
than  half  of  his  active  professional  career  has  been 
spent  on  the  bench.  In  188.5  he  represented  his 
district  in  the  State  Senate;  and  in  1899  and 
1901  he  served  in  the  House  of  Bepresentatives, 
of  which  he  was  speaker  in  1899.  He  was  appoint- 
ed judge  of  the  Superior  Court  in  1885  and  served 
until  1893,  when  he  resigned  to  resume  the  practice 
of  the  law.  In  1902  he  was  elected  an  associate 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina. 
From  that  office,  although  a  democrat,  he  was 
appointed  by  President  AVilliam  Howard  Taft  to 
the  United  States  District  Bench  for  the  Eastern 
District  on  June  1,  1909.     He  is  a  democrat  and 


a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  In  1908  the 
University  of  North  Carolina  conferred  upon  him 
the  degree  of  LL.  D.  Judge  Connor  married  Miss 
Kate  Whitfield,  of  Wilson,  North  Carolina.  They 
have  had  twelve  children,  of  whom  nine  are  living. 
George  Whitfield  Connor,  eldest  son  of  Henry 
Groves  and  Kate  Whitfield  Connor,  was  born  at 
Wilson,  October  24,  1873,  was  graduated  from  the 
University  of  North  Carolina  in  1892,  and  for  five 
years  was  in  educational  work  as  principal  of  the 
Goldsboro  High  School  and  superintendent  of  the 
pubUe  schools  of  Wilson.  From  1897  to  1912  he 
was  in  business  at  Wilson  as  a  merchant.  From 
1905  to  1908  he  served  as  chairman  of  the  Board 
of  Education  of  Wilson  County.  In  1912  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  entered  upon  the 
practice  of  the  law.  He  served  as  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  in  1909,  1911  and 
1913,  and  was  speaker  of  the  House  during  his 
last  term.  In  1913  he  was  chosen  a  member  of 
the  Commission  on  Constitutional  Amendments  and 
in  the  same  year  was  appointed  judge  of  the 
Superior  Courts  of  the  Second  District.  He  also 
served  as  a  trustee  of  the  University  of  North  Car- 
olina from  1905  to  1909.  Judge  Connor  is  a 
democrat  and  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 
May  30,  1894,  he  married  Miss  Bessie  Hadley, 
daughter  of  J.  C.  Hadley  of  Wilson.  They  have 
liad  four  children,  of  whom  two  are  living. 

Frank  H.  Vogler.  Much  of  the  business  his- 
tory of  Winston-Salem  might  be  written  around 
the  family  name  Vogler.  Voglers  have  lived  in 
this  part  of  North  Carolina  from  pioneer  times. 
They  were  prominent  in  the  community  of  old 
Salem,  long  before  Winston  came  into  existence 
or  before  the  Twin  City  of  Winston-Salem  was 
dreamed  of.  Frank  H.  Vogler  has  been  a  promi- 
nent business  man  of  Winston-Salem  for  over 
thirty  years,  and  at  one  time  served  as  mayor  of 
Salem. 

He  was  bom  in  the  old  Town  of  Salem.  His 
father,  Alexander  C.  Vogler,  was  also  born  at 
Salem,  in  1832.  The  grandfather  was  Nathaniel 
Vogler,  likewise  a  native  of  Salem.  The  great- 
grandfather was  the  founder  of  this  branch  of  the 
family  in  North  Carolina.  The  family  history 
states  that  he  was  one  of  six  brothers,  natives  of 
Germany,  who,  coming  to  America,  located  at 
Waldoboro  in  the  State  of  Maine.  One  of  the, 
brothers  remained  in  Maine,  and  his  descendants- 
are  still  to  be  found  there.  The  other  five  broth- 
ers came  south  on  a  sailing  vessel.  The  ship  was 
wrecked  off  Cape  Henry,  and  the  brothers  and 
other  passengers  were  landed  on  an  island.  Sub- 
sequently they  were  picked  up  by  another  ship, 
which  carried  them  to  Wilmington.  From  Wilm- 
ington.the  Vogler  brothers  made  their  way  to  the 
interior  and  located  in  that  portion  of  the  original 
Stokes  County  now  Forsyth  County,  North  Caro- 
lina. Whether  all  the  five  brothers  had  families 
is  not  known,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  many  descend- 
ants of  the  Vogler  stock  are  still  found  in  this 
part  of  North  Carolina. 

Grandfather  Nathaniel  Vogler  learned  the  trade- 
of  gunsmith.  For  many  years  he  was  enp-aged  in 
the  manufacture  of  fire  arms  at  Salem.  He  was 
not  only  a  master  of  his  trade  but  also  took  pride- 
and  pains  with  every  piece  of  work  that  left  his 
shop.  The  rifles  he  made  were  noted  for  their 
ser-vicea.hleness  and  accuracy,  and  they  were  sold 
not    only    over   North    Carolina    but    in    Virginia.. 


22 


HISTORY  OF  NORTPI  CAROLINA 


Though  Nathaniel  Vogler  owned  a  farm  two  miles 
south  of  Salem,  he  always  kept  his  home  in  the 
town.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years. 
He  married  Mary  Fishel.  She  was  born  at  Frieds- 
liurg  in  Davidson  County,  North  Carolina,  where 
her  parents  were  among  the  pioneers.  She  sur- 
vived her  husband  and  passed  away  at  the  age  of 
eighty-nine.  There  were  nine  children  in  tlieir 
family:  Henry,  Laura,  wlio  married  William  Beck, 
Julius,  Martha,  wlio  married  Edward  Peterson, 
Alexander  C,  Mortimer  N.,  Maria  E.,  who  for 
upwards  of  thirty  years  was  a  teacher  in  the 
Salem  Academy,  Regina  A.  and  William  F.,  both 
of  whom  are  still  living. 

Alexander  C.  Vogler  took  up  another  trade  than 
that  of  his  father.  He  served  an  apprenticeship 
at  cabinet  making,  and  following  his  apprentice- 
ship he  did  .iourneyman  work  in  Macon,  Georgia, 
ami  Milton,  North  Carolina.  He  finally  returned 
to  Salem  and  set  up  in  business  for  himself.  In 
earlier  years  he  made  many  articles  of  furniture, 
and  his  shop  was  largely  a  custom  shop,  but  he 
gradually  introduced  a  general  stock  of  furniture. 
His  first  shot)  was  24  by  70  feet,  a  frame 
building,  located  close  to  the  north  line  of 
Salem.  At  that  time  the  present  site  of  Winston 
was  a  wilderness.  In  18.58  Alexander  Vqgler 
made  undertaking  a  branch  of  his  furniture  busi- 
ness, and  he  continued  actively  in  those  lines  until 
his  death  in  1903.  Alexander  Vogler  married 
Antoinette  Hauser.  She  was  born  in  Salem,  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Susanna  (Shultz) 
Hauser.  She  died  in  1906,  three  years  after  her 
husband.  There  were  only  two  children,  Mary 
A.  and  Frank  H.  Mary  A.,  now  deceased,  was 
the  wife  J.  F.  Grouse. 

As  his  father  was  a  substantial  business  man 
and  highly  respected  citizen,  Frank  H.  Vogler 
grew  up  in  Salem  and  enjoyed  a  good  home  and 
liberal  encouragement  and  advantages.  He  at- 
tended the  Boys'  School  at  Salem,  and  on  leav- 
ing school  became  an  apprentice  at  the  cabinet- 
maker's trade.  In  1888  he  entered  actively  into 
the  business  with  his  father,  and  has  thus  earned 
on  an  establishment  which  is  now  one  of  the  oldest 
if  not  the  oldest  under  one  continuous  family  own- 
ership in  Winston-Salem.  Mr.  Frank  Vogler  is  a 
graduate  of  the  Cincinnati  School  of  Embalming 
and  also  studied  the  science  under  E.  B.  Myers,  of 
Springfield,  Ohio,  and  under  the  noted  Rewnard. 
His  sons,  who  are  now  associated  with  him  in  the 
business,  are  graduates  in  embalming,  the  older 
having  his  diploma  from  the  Rewnard  School  of 
Embalming  of  New  York  City.  The  firm  is  now 
Frank  H.  Vogler  &  Sons.  The  building  in  which 
their  business  was  established  nearly  sixty  years 
ago  has  since  been  removed  to  the  back  of  the  lot, 
and  in  front  a  commodious  l>rick  structure  occupies 
the  old  site.  There  is  no  firm  in  North  Carolina 
"which  has  a  more  complete  equipment  and  facil- 
ities for  rendering  ex^pert  and  careful  service  than 
that  of  Frank  H.  Vogler  &  Sons. 

In  188.5  Mr.  Vogler  married  Miss  Dora  Morton. 
She  was  born  in  Alamance  County,  North  Carolina, 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Nannie  Morton.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Vogler  are  the  parents  of  four  children: 
Francis  Eugene,  William  N.,  Louise  and  Ruth  A.- 
The  two  sous,  as  has  already  been  noted,  are 
actively  associated  with  tlieir  father  in  business 
thus  making  the  third  successive  generation  to 
foUow  this  profession  at  Winston-Salem.  Eugene 
married  Edith  Witt  and  has  a  son  Francis  Eugene, 


.Tr.      William    N.    married    Camille    Cliugman    and 
has  a  daughter  Virginia. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vogler  are  active  members  of  the 
Home  Moravian  Church.  Tliey  have  reared  tlieir 
family  in  the  same  faith.  Mr.  Vogler  has  served 
as  a  member  of  its  board  of  elders  for  several  years 
and  has  always  been  active  in  church  affairs.  In 
a  public  way  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  of  Salem  and  filled  the  oflSce  of  mayor 
for  four  years.  He  is  afiiliated  with  Salem  Lodge 
No.  36,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  is 
a  charter  member  of  Salem  Lodge  No.  56,  Knights 
of  Pythias.  He  is  also  widely  known  in  his  pro- 
fession, being  a  member  of  and  secretary  of  the 
State  EmVialmers  Board.  He  is  one  of  tlie  three 
charter  members  still  living  of  the  North  Carolina 
State  Funeral  Directors'  Association. 

Wksley  Bethel  Speas  is  one  of  the  best  known 
educators  in  Western  North  Carolina,  and  since 
1903  continuously  has  been  county  superintendent 
of  schools  of  Forsyth  County.  Mr.  Speas  is  not 
only  a  competent  school  man  from  a  technical 
standpoint,  but  knows,  thoroughly  the  people 
among  whom  he  works.  He  rejiresents  one  of  the 
oldest  families  of  Forsyth  County.  Five  genera- 
tions of  the  family  have  lived  in  this  section  of 
North  Carolina.  The  ancestry  begins  with  John 
Speas,  a  native  of  Germany,  who  came  to  America 
a  young  man  and  after  a  brief  residence  in  Penn- 
sylvania came  to  North  Carolina  to  join 'the  Ger- 
man Colony  here.  He  located  in  what  is  now  Old 
Richmond  Township  in  Forsyth  County,  and  in 
what  has  since  been  called  the  Reid  Settlement. 
He  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  there.  His  chil- 
dren were  named  Jonathan,  John,  Daniel,  Solomon, 
Isaac,  Henry,  Romulus,  Peter,  Kate  and  Elizabeth. 

The  next  generation  was  represented  by  Henry 
Speas,  who  spent  his  Ufe  as  a  farmer"  in  Old 
Richmond  Township.  By  his  marriage  to  Annie 
Shore  he  had  the  following  children:  Levi, 
William  Henry,  Isaac,  Samuel,  Rebecca,  Paulina, 
Betsy,  Malinda,  Mary  P.  and  Julia.  The  last  of 
this  family  was  Mary,  who  died  September  30, 
1917.  She  was  the  widow  of  Wade  H.  Bynum  of 
Winston-Salem. 

William  Henry  Speas,  grandfather  of  Professor 
Speas,  was  born  in  Yadkin  County,  North  Carolina, 
in  1S18.  On  coming  to  manhood  he  boughc  a  farm 
in  "\'ienna  Township  of  Forsyth  County  and  was 
Tni]iIoyed  and  interested  in  its  management  the 
rest  of  his  life.  Before  the  war  he  operated  with 
slave  labor.  He  married  Sallie  Hauser,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Martin  Hauser,  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers at  Bethania.  Both  William  H.  Speas  and  his 
wife  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  Their  children 
were  Wesley,  Edwin,  William,  John  Samuel, 
Junius,  Mary,  Ellen  and  Elizabeth.  The  four 
older  sons  were  all  Confederate  soldiers,  and 
Wesley  and  William  were  both  wounded  and  died 
while  in  the  army. 

John  S.  Speas,  father  of  Professor  Speas,  was 
bom  in  Old  Richmond  Township,  April  11,  1847, 
and  during  the  war  was  a  member  of  the  Junior 
Reserve,  his  service  being  in  the  last  year  of 
hostUities.  He  was  educated  in  rural  schools,  and 
on  a  tract  of  land  given  him  by  his  father  he  has 
worked  out  an  independent  career  as  a  prosperous 
agriculturist  in  Vienna  Township.  His  success 
enabled  him  to  acquire  other  holdings,  and  he  has 
built  up  a  fine  farm  home.    John  S.  Speas  married 


THE  NE»'.'  ■ 

PUBLICUM,; 


•ASTOR.    L.    . 
fTILDfcL>i   IC'-rO' 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


23 


Mary  Frances  Douh,  who  was  born  in  Vienna 
Township  in  July,  1847.  Her  family  is  also  one 
of  the  interesting  ones  in  Western  North  Carolina. 
She  is  descended  from  Rev.  John  Doub,  a  native  of 
Germany  who  in  young  manhood  settled  in  Western 
North  Carolina  and  became  the  founder  of  Method- 
ism  :n  Forsyth  Cbuuty.  By  trade  lie  was  a  tanner, 
and  his  tannery  in  what  is  now  Vienna  Township 
wa-i  one  of  the  first  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the 
state.  The  first  Methodist  meetings  in  the  vicinity 
were  held  in  his  log  house,  and  he  was  a  lo<'al 
preacher  of  that  church.  His  son  Henry  Doub 
was  born  in  Forsyth  County,  and  that  was  also  the 
place  of  nativity  of  Elijah  Doub,  father  of  Mrs.  J. 
S.  Speas.  John  Doub  reared  children  named 
Michael,  Joseph,  Henry,  William  Peter,  Mary  and 
Lethia.  Henry  Doub'  was  a  lifelong  farmer  in 
Vienna  Township,  and  married  Betsy  Ward,  their 
children  being  Elijah,  Cannon,  Wesley,  William, 
Nancy,  Margaret,  '  Mary  and  Elizabeth.  Elijah 
Doub  was  also  a  farmer  throughout  his  active 
career  in  Vienna  Township.  He  married  Lucy 
Newsom  who  was  born  in  Guilford  County  and 
vurvived  her  husband  until  more  than  ninety  years 
of  age.  Their  children  were  named  Henry,  Wil- 
liam, Elizabeth  J.,  Margaret,  Mary  Frances, 
Newton,  Martha,  Edwin  and  Wiley.  The  son 
Henry  was  a  Confederate  soldier  and  was  killed 
at  Petersburg,  Virginia. 

John  S.  Speas  and  wife  have  reared  four  chil- 
dren named  William  Clarence,  Louie  Cornelia, 
Walter  Henry  and  Wesley  Bethel.  The  parents 
are  members  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

Wesley  Bethel  Speas  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
Vienna  Township  of  Forsyth  County,  November 
30,  1875.  He  made  the  best  of  his  opportunities 
to  secure  a  liberal  education.  After  leaving  the 
rural  schools  he  prepared  for  college  at  Oak  Hill 
Institute,  and  in  1897,  he  entered  the  University 
of  North  Carolina  where  he  coinpleted  the  regular 
academic  course  in  1901.  His  first  teaching  was 
done  in  District  No.  3  of  Vienna.  Township.  The 
following  year  he  taught  in  the  Clemmons  High 
School.  He  became  known  not  only  as  a  success- 
ful individual  teacher  but  as  an  able  administrator 
and  a  leader  in  educational  affairs  and  those  we^e 
the  qualifications  that  caused  the  people  of  Forsyth 
County  to  choose  him  as  county  superintendent  in 
190.3,  "an  office  hj  has  held  by  re-election  to  the 
present  time.  He  is  now  president  of  the  Forsyth 
County  Teachers'  Association  and  is  a  member  of 
the  North  Carolina  County  Superintendents'  Asso- 
ciation. 

Mr.  Speas  was  married  in  1901  to  Miss  Louzana 
Long.  She  was  born  in  Old  Richmond  Township, 
a  daughter  of  Wiliam  Henry  and  Martha  Long. 
Two  children  have  been  born  to  their  marriage, 
Margaret,  ajid  Martha  Louise.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Speas 
are  members  of  the  West  End  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  at  Winston-Salem,  and  fraternally  he  is 
afBliated  with  Salem  Lodge  No.  36,  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 

John  Bynum.  M.  D.  For  nearly  two  genera- 
tions the  capable  services  of  members  of  the 
Bynum  family  as  physicians  and  surgeons  have 
been  given  to  the  community  of  Winston  and 
Winston-Salem.  Dr.  John  Bynum  has  practiced 
there  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  and  his  name  is 
associated  with  the  best  attainments  in  the  pro- 
fession and  with  the  best  of  citizenship. 


Doctor  Bynum,  member  of  an  old  and  prominent 
family  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  was  born 
on  a  plantation  about  two  miles  from  Germanton 
in  Stokes  County,  North  Carolina.  His  great- 
grandfather. Gray  Bynum,  was  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  married  Margaret  Hampton.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Anthony  Hampton  and  a  sister 
of  the  famous  Revolutionary  soldier  General  Wade 
Hampton.  Doctor  Bynum 's  grandfather  was 
Hampton  Bynum,  who  married  Mary  Martin.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Col.  John  Martin,  a  native  of 
Essex  County,  Virginia.  Col.  John  Martin  was 
twelve  years  of  age  when  about  1768  his  parents 
moved  to  North  Carolina  and  settled  in  Stokes 
County.  Of  Col.  John  Martin  much  has  been 
written  in  the  early  annals  of  North  Carolina. 
He  was  one  of  the  conspicuous  leaders  of  the  moun- 
taineers of  Western  Carolina  in  the  Revolutionary 
war.  Hampton  Bynum  became  an  extensive 
planter  in  Stokes  County,  and  lived  there  long  and 
prosperously. 

Dr.  Hampton  Wade  Bynum,  father  of  Dr.  John 
Bynum,  was  born  on  a  plantation  about  two  miles 
from  the  birthplace  of  his  son  John,  in  1823.  He 
was  liberally  educated  and  was  trained  for  his 
profession  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  of 
Philadelphia.  After  graduating  from  that  institu- 
tution  he  began  practice  in  Stokes  County.  When 
a  young  man  he  was  given  by  his  father  a  planta- 
tion about  two  miles  from  Germanton,  and  lived 
in  that  country  district  a  number  of  years,  acquir- 
ing in  the  meantime  an  extensive  practice  through- 
out Stokes  and  Forsyth  counties.  He  was  a 
typical  pioneer  physician  and  endured  innumerable 
hardships  in  attending  to  his  practice.  He  was 
almost  constantly  on  horseback  and  rode  through 
all  kinds  of  weather  to  the  homes  of  the  sick.  In 
1869  he  removed  to  Winston,  where  he  was  one  of 
the  first  idiysicians  to  locate  and  was  successfully 
engaged  in  practice  there  until  his  death  in  1880. 
Dr.  Hampton  Wade  Bynum  married  Mary  Spease. 
She  was  born  in  Yadkin  County  April  1,  1828. 
Her  grandfather,  John  Spease  was  a  German  and 
spoke  only  his  native  tongue  in  his  own  hovne  and 
family  circle.  He  was  a  farmer,  owning  and 
operating  a  place  near  the  Yadkin  River  in  what 
is  now  Vienna  Township,  Forsyth  County.  In  that 
locality  he  spent  his  last  years.  Henry  Spease, 
father  of  Mary  Spease,  was  born  in  what  is  now 
Forsyth  County,  and  on  reaching  his  majority 
crossed  the  Yadkin  River  into  Yadkin  County  and 
acquired  an  extensive  plantation  in  that  locality. 
He  was  one  of  the  successful  men  of  his  time  and 
was  able  to  assist  each  of  his  twelve  children  to 
acquire  a  farm.  Henry  Spease  married  Anna 
Shore.  This  grandmother  in  the  maternal  line  of 
Doctor  Bynum  was  born  in  Vienna  Township 
February  10,  1789,  a  daughter  of  Johan  and 
Elizabeth  (Beckel)  Shore.  Doctor  Bynum 's  sister 
has  the  baptismal  certificate  of  this  grandmother, 
Anna  Shore.  Her  father  was  of  German  ancestry 
and  a  farmer  in  Vienna  Township,  where  he  and 
his  wife  spent  their  last  years.  Dr.  John  Bynum 's 
mother  is  still  livin.g  in  Winston-Salem.  She  reared 
nine  children:  Wade,  Hampton,  Gray,  Mary, 
Annie,  John,  Benjamin,  Pamelia  and  William. 

Dr.  John  Bynum  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Winston  and  for  his  medical  education 
went  to  New  York,  entering  the  University  of 
New  York,  where  he  was  graduated  in  the  medical 
department   in   1892.      After   this   preparation   he 


24 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


returned  to  Wmston-Salem  and  has  been  continu- 
ously engaged  in  the  duties  of  a  large  professional 
practice  to  the  present  time. 

Doctor  Bynum  married  Miss  Eva  Hall,  who  was 
born  at  Wentwortli  in  Eoclcingham  County,  North 
Carolina,  daughter  of  James  and  Martha  Hall. 
Doctor  Bynum  and  wife  had  two  daughters,  Mar- 
garet and  Elizabeth.  Doctor  Bynum  is  an  active 
member  of  the  Forsyth  County  Medical  Society 
and  also  the  North  Carolina  State  Society  and 
the  American  Medical  Association.  In  1908  he  was 
elected  by  the  State  Medical  Society  as  examiner 
serving  six  years. 

Herman  Cummings  Catiness  had  established 
himself  in  successful  practice  at  Wilkesboro  soon 
after  his  twenty-first  birthday  and  in  his  case 
youth  has  proved  no  bar  to  rapid  advancement  and 
definite  achievement  in  the  legal  profession.  He 
is  now  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Wilkes  County  bar. 
He  was  born  at  EUerbe  Springs  in  Richmond 
County,  North  Carolina,  January  27,  1887.  The 
family  was  founded  in  America  by  his  great-grand- 
father, who  according  to  the  best  information  was 
a  native  of  England  and  came  to  this  country  a 
young  man.  He  located  in  Virginia.  The  family 
tradition  is  that  his  name  was  spelled  Cavendish. 
His  son,  the  grandfather  of  the  Wilkesboro  lawyer, 
changed  the  name  to  Caviness  because  of  some 
disagreement  with  otlier  members  of  the  family. 
It  was  Grandfather  Caviness  who  came  to  North 
Carolina  when  a  young  man  and  located  in  Moore 
County.  He  bought  land  about  twelve  or  fifteen 
miles  north  of  the  present  site  of  Pinehurst,  the 
noted  resort,  and  there  ran  a  plantation  with  the 
aid  of  slaves. 

Dr.  Isaac  W.  Caviness,  father  of  Herman  C,  was 
born  in  Moore  County,  North  Carolina,  in  1855. 
For  his  higher  education  he  attended  the  Vermont 
State  University  at  Burlington.  After  graduating 
there  he  taught  school  and  then  took  up  the  study 
of  medicine  and  was  graduated  from  Jefferson 
Medical  College  at  Philadelphia.  During  his  brief 
career  he  practiced  at  Keyser  in  Moore  County 
and  was  still  busy  in  his  work  when  deatli  stayed 
his  hand  in  December,  1887,  when  only  thirty- 
two  years  of  age.  He  married  Mary  Emma  Cum- 
mings, who  was  born  near  Pomona  in  Guilford 
County,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of  Enos  and 
Mary  (Bollinger)  Cummings.  Herman  C.  was 
their  only  child.  The  widowed  mother  married 
for  her  second  husband  Walter  W.  Mills  of  Greens- 
boro and  had  a  son,  Walter  W.,  Jr. 

Herman  C.  Caviness  was  graduated  from  Guil- 
ford College  at  the  early  age  of  seventeen.     His 
work  in  college  was  characterized  by  a  keeness  of 
intellect  and  a  resourcefulness  that  enabled  him  to 
keep  up  with  young  men  much  older.     Wlien  he 
graduated  from  college  he  was  ready  to  undertake 
the   serious   responsibilities   of   life   and   in   June, 
1904,  a  few  days  after  leaving  the  halls  of  col- 
lege he  married   Miss   Gladys   E.   Benbow.     Mrs. 
Caviness    is    a    daughter    of    Lewis    S.    and    Lula 
(Henderson)    Benbow,   who   is   lineally   descended 
from  Thomas  and   Mary    (Carver)    Benbow.     Mr. 
and  Mrs.   Caviness  have  had   a  most  happy  mar- 
ried life  and  have  a  family  of  four  children  named 
Nellie,  Lewis  R.,  Merrill  and  Herman  Cummings, 
Jr.    Soon  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Caviness  took  up 
the  study  of  law  and  was  graduated  from  the  law 
department  of  the   University  of  North   Carolina 
in  1908.    He  immediately  began  practice  at  Wilkes- 
boro and  his  success  and  reputation  are  now  as- 


sured. He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Lodge  and 
he  and  his  wife  are  active  in  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal  Church,   South. 

Fassifern,  a  home  school  for  girls,  which 
recently  closed  its  tenth  successful  year,  has 
gained  and  holds  a  place  as  one  of  the  distinctive 
preparatory  scliools  of  the  South.  It  represents  a 
happy  development  of  a  plan  for  giving  wholesome 
mental  discipline  and  practical  instruction  in  an 
environment  of  picturesque  buildings,  grounds  and 
landscape  charm  calculated  to  make  years  spent 
here  abundant  in  happy  associations  and  produc- 
tive of  the  greatest  good  in  real  culture  and 
character  formation. 

Fassifern  was  opened  in  October,  1907,  at 
Lincolnton,  North  Carolina.  In  October,  1914,. 
the  school  was  moved  to  HendersonviUe.  At 
Lincolnton  the  number  of  boarding  pupils  was 
limited  to  fifteen  and  the  total  number  had  been 
enrolled  within  a  month  from  tlie  opening  day. 
During  the  seven  years  in  Lincolnton  the  number 
was  increased  to  forty.  When  the  seliool  moved 
to  Hendersonville  it  had  sixty  boarding  pupils. 
The  curriculum  has  been  gradually  enlarged,  and 
since  1916  the  school  has  maintained  a  full  depart- 
ment in  home  economics.  In  the  ten  years  of 
its  existence  Fassifern  graduated  twenty  young, 
women  in  the  full  course  besides  various  certifi- 
cate students.  The  first  diploma  was  awarded  in, 
1913. 

Fassifern  is  distinctly  a  standard  preparatory 
school,  furnishing  the  facilities  of  instruction 
and  other  training  required  to  meet  the  require- 
ments and  standards  of  such  American  women's, 
colleges  as  Smith  and  Wellesley.  Fassifern  is  oii- 
the  accredited  list  of  the  Association  of  Southern 
Colleges,  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  and 
of  Smith  and  Wellesley  and  other  similar  schools. 
The  departments  for  instruction  include  the  usual 
literary  and  language  departments,  a  business, 
course,"  and  special  departments  in  music,  art  and 
home  economics.  The  school  makes  a  specialty 
of  individual  work,  all  classes  being  small,  and- 
the  instructors  and  principals  paying  special  atten- 
tion to  the  particular  needs  of  each  pupil. 

The  school  home  is  a  stately  group  of  colonial 
buildings  standing  on  an  eminence  from  which 
some  of  the  finest  topograpliy  in  that  section  of 
North  Carolina  is  surveyed.  There  is  every  oppor- 
tunity and  encouragement  for  wholesome  outdoor 
life  and  recreation.  It  is  a  school  where  every 
vital  interest  is  carefully  safeguarded,  and  where- 
the  best  ideals  of  home  life  are  upheld  and 
stimulated. 

The  principals  of  Fassifern  are  Miss  Kate  C. 
Sliipp  and  Mrs.  Anna  C.  McBee,  and  assisting 
them  are  half  a  dozen  specialists  in  tlieir  particu- 
lar fields,  in  languages,  music,  art  and  domestic 
science.  Miss  Shipp,  who  has  charge  of  the  depart- 
ment of  mathematics,  is  a  woman  of  broad 
experience  as  an  educator  and  as  a  school  admin- 
istrator. She  has  a  teacher's  diploma  from  Cam- 
bridge University  of  England. 

David  N.  Dalton,  M.  D.  The  career  of  the- 
true  physician  is  a  life  of  service,  a  devotion  to 
the  well  being  of  his  fellow  men  such  as  no  other 
professions  require  of  their  practitioners.  One  of 
the  oldest  and  best  known  members  of  the  medical 
fraternity  in  Forsyth  County  is  Dr.  David  N. 
Dalton,  who  has  practiced  continuously  at  Winston 
and  over  the  surrounding  country  for  over  35- 
years. 


>.^,  Ai£^ 


'3 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


25 


The  Dalton  name  has  many  associations  with 
early  history  in  Western  North  Carolina.  As  a 
family  they  have  been  soldiers,  fighters  for  the 
integrity  of  their  country  in  times  of  national 
danger,  and  effective  workers  in  whatever  field  or 
vocation  they  have  undertaken.  Doctor  Dalton  is 
descended  from  a  branch  of  the  family  which  was 
establislied  in  this  country  by  three  brothers  named 
Samuel,  William,  and  Robert,  who  were  natives  of 
Ireland  and  came  to  America  in  early  Colonial 
days.  After  a  brief  halt  in  New  Jersey  William 
and  Eobert  moved  to  Virginia,  while  Samuel 
became  the  ancestor  of  the  family  in  North 
Carolina. 

Doctor  Dalton 's  great-grandfather,  Capt.  David 
Dalton,  was  commander  of  a  company  in  the 
Revolutionary  War  and  was  with  the  victorious 
armies  under  Washington  which  participated  in 
the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  and  his  British  troops 
at  Yorktown.  Captain  David  married  Nancy 
Bostwick,  whose  father  had  served  as  a  colonel  in 
the  same  war.  After  the  war  Capt.  David  Dalton 
removed  to  North  Carolina  and  bought  land  in 
what  is  now  Stokes  County. 

Absalom  B.  Dalton,  grandfather  of  Doctor  Dal- 
ton, was  probably  a  native  of  Virginia.  He  acquired 
an  extensive  estate  as  a  planter  in  Stokes  County, 
North  Carolina,  had  a  number  of  slaves  to  look 
after  his  fields  and  the  other  work  of  his  farm, 
and  became  one  of  the  first  manufacturers  of 
tobacco  in  Stokes  County,  which  then  included 
Forsyth  County.  Grandfather  Dalton  remained  in 
Stokes  County  until  his  death  when  aljout  eighty 
years  of  age.  He  married  Nancy  Poindexter, 
whose  brother,  General  Poindexter,  was  a  promi- 
nent pioneer  lawyer.  Absalom  Dalton  and  wife 
reared  eight  children:  David  Nicholas,  John  F., 
George,  William,  Gabriel,  Robert  F.,  Christina  and 
Susan. 

David  Nicholas  Dalton  was  the  father  of 
Doctor  Dalton.  He  was  born  in  the  locality  known 
as  Pine  Hole  in  Stokes  County,  North  Carolina, 
grew  up  on  a  farm,  but  in  his  mature  manhood 
acquired  many  other  interests  and  became  one  of 
the  most  prominent  men  of  Forsyth  County.  After 
his  marriage  he  bouglit  a  plantation  near  Walnut 
'  Cove  in  Forsyth  County.  After  two  years  he 
removed  to  the  Village  of  Dalton,  where  he  bought 
property  and  became  a  mercliant.  He  also  erected 
two  floiir  mills,  one  at  Dalton  and  the  other  five 
miles  below  tlie  town.  Dalton  was  on  the  stage 
route  extending  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  to 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  It  was  a  noted  old 
thoroughfare,  and  before  railroads  became  common 
was  traversed  by  an  immense  volume  of  trafBc, 
which,  because  it  made  slow  progress,  afforded 
notable  opportunity  to  inn  keepers  and  others 
along  the  route.  David  N.  Dalton  kept  a  stage 
station  on  his  place  at  Dalton,  and  also  built  up  a 
large  system  of  what  would  now  be  called  stock- 
yards. Ho  had  accommodations  for  2,000  or  more 
cattle  and  also  yards  for  hogs  and  turkeys.  In 
those  days  all  live  stock,  including  turkeys,  were 
driven  over  the  highways  to  market.  One  of  his 
flour  mills  also  liad  machinery  for  the  manufacture 
of  lumber,  while  the  other  had  a  shingle  mill  run 
in  connection.  Besides  these  various  enterprises 
he  bought  large  tracts  of  land,  raised  crops  on  a 
large  scale,  and  was  a  dealer  in  live  stock,  includ- 
ing cattle,  horses  and  mules.  Necessarily  he  had 
to  delegate  much  of  his  business  to  other  parties, 
but  he  possessed  that  splendid  faculty  of  being 
able  to  oversee  and  practically  supervise  personally 


his  entire  range  of  interests.  He  continued  to  live 
in  Dalton  until  his  death  in  1895. 

David  N.  Dalton  married  Melissa  Rives,  who 
died  in  1866.  Her  father,  William  Rives,  was  a 
plaviter  in  Chatham  County,  North  Carolina,  where 
so  far  as  known  he  spent  all  his  life.  Mrs.  David 
N.  Dalton  reared  seven  children:  William,  Robert, 
Rufus  I.,  David  N.,  Jr.,  Ernest  L.,  Nancy  and 
Margaret. 

Dr.  David  N.  Dalton  was  born  at  Dalton,  North 
Carolina,  and  his  father  being  a  man  of  large 
estate  and  prosperous  circumstances  was  able  to 
give  him  the  best  of  advantages.  However,  he 
mingled  with  his  early  studies  a  practical  service 
to  his  father  in  the  mills  and  on  the  farm.  After 
making  known  his  choice  for  a  professional  career 
he  entered  in  1877  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, where  he  carried  on  his  studies  two  years.  He 
began  the  study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  Thomas  W. 
Harris  of  Chapel  Hill,  North  Carolina.  Seeking 
the  broader  advantages  and  opportunities  of  New 
York  City,  he  became  a  student  in  the  medical  de- 
partment of  New  York  University  where  he  was 
graduated  in  1881. 

For  the  first  two  years  Doctor  Dalton  practiced 
at  Walnut  Cove,  but  since  then  has  had  his  home 
in  Winston-Salem  and  his  services  have  been  in 
constant  demand  over  since.  He  began  practice 
before  telephones  and  automobiles  came  into  a 
physician 's  life,  and  in  recent  years  most  of  his 
work  has  been  done  in  consultetion  in  his  own 
ofliee. 

Doctor  Dalton  was  married  in  1887  to  Louisa 
Wilson  Bitting.  Mrs.  Dalton  was  born  near  Hunts- 
ville  in  Yadkin  County,  North  Carolina,  daughter 
of  Joseph  A.  and  Louisa  (Wilson)  Bitting.  Her 
Grandfather  Wilson  was  a  prominent  physician  in 
his  day. 

Doctor  and  Mrs.  Dalton  have  three  children: 
Margaret,  Joseph  N.  and  Wilson  B.  Doctor  Dalton 
has  long  had  active  membership  in  the  Forsyth 
County  and  North  Carolina  Medical  societies.  He 
is  a  member  of  Damon  Lodge,  No.  41,  Knights  of 
Pythias,  and  is  a  Presbyterian,  while  Mrs.  Dalton 
is  of  the  Episcopal  faith. 

Cornelius  M.  McKaughan  has  for  a  number  of 
years  been  officially  identified  with  Forsyth 
County  and  is  now  serving  as  clerk  of  courts  at 
Winston-Salem.  He  is  one  of  the  most  popular 
men  in  the  courthouse  and  has  many  times  over 
justified  the  confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens  in 
reposing  in  him  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of 
public  affairs. 

Mr.  McKaughan  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Kerners- 
ville  Township  of  Forsyth  County  November  5, 
1873.  He  is  a  son  of  Isaac  Harrison  and  Esther 
(Robertson)  McKaughan,  a  grandson  of  Archibald 
and  Mary  (Welch)  McKaughan,  a  great-grandson 
of  Hugh  and  Phebe  (Pope)  McKaughan,  all  con- 
stituting well  known  names  in  the  history  of  this 
part  of  the  state.  Mr.  McKaughan 's  mother  was 
a  daughter  of  William  Haley  and  Mahala  (Lonus) 
Robertson. 

Cornelius  M.  McKaughan  grew  up  at  his  father  'a 
home  at  Kernersville,  attended  the  public  schools 
there,  and  from  the  high  school  entered  the  Oak 
Ridge  Institute  for  a  commercial  course.  His 
education  completed  he  accepted  the  position  of 
deputy  register  of  deeds  at  Winston,  and  gave 
faithful  and  conscientious  work  in  that  capacity 
for  six  years.  His  experience  made  him  the  logical 
candidate  for  chief  in  the  oflSce  and  he  was  elected 


26 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


and   served   one   term.      Followin?   that    for    four 
years  he   was  clerk  in   the  sheriff 's  office  and  in 

1915  was  appointed  elerk  of  the  courts  to  fill  the 
unerpired   term    of   R.   J\.    Transau,    deceased.      In 

1916  Mr.  McKaughan  was  regularly  elected  to  the 
ofiBce. 

He  was  married  October  4,  1906,  to  Leota  Reed. 
Mrs.  McKaughan  was  born  in  Old  Richmond  Town- 
ship, daughter  of  Elijah  L.  and  Perinelia  M. 
(Spease)  Reed.     They  have  one  son,  Robert  Steele. 

Mr.  McKaughan  is  affiliated  with  Fairview  Coun- 
cil No.  19,  Junior  Order  United  American 
Mechanics  and  with  Salem  Lodge  No.  36,  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  He  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Calvary  Moravian  Church. 

Me.  Fred  M.  Pabrish,  born  in  1880,  Goochland 
County,  Virginia — father  Fred  M.  Parrisli,  mother 
Hattie  Lacey  Parrish.  Educated  at  Fork  Union 
Academy,  William  Mary  College  and  University  of 
North   Carolina.     Lawyer   in   Winston-Salem. 

Jefpeeson  Bostwick  Couxcill.  M.  D.  An  ac- 
tive and  prominent  member  of  the  medical  fra- 
ternity of  Rowan  County,  Jefferson  B.  Couneill, 
M.  D.,  of  Salisbury,  has  often  been  identified  with 
important  work  in  connection  with  his  regular 
jjracticc,  his  wisdom  and  skill  in  dealing  with 
difficult  cases  having  gained  for  him  the  confidence 
of  the  entire  community,  and  placed  him  among 
the  leading  jihysicians  of  the  city.  A  son  of  Dr. 
William  B.  Couneill,  he  was  born  in  Boone,  Wa- 
tauga County,  North  Carolina,  of  English  ancestry. 

His  grandfather,  Jordan  Couneill,  was  born  in 
England,  and  came  with  his  parents,  and  his  two 
brothers,  Benjamin  and  Jesse,  to  North  Carolina, 
settling  in  Watauga  County  in  pioneer  days.  He 
assisted  his  father  in  clearing  a  homestead,  but 
did  not  care  to  continue  life  as  a  farmer.  Soon 
after  attaining  his  majority,  he  embarked  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits,  an  occupation  much  to  his  tastes, 
and  for  which  he  was  well  fitted.  At  that  early 
day  there  were  no  railways  in  the  Carolinas,  and 
all  of  his  goods  had  to  be  transported  with  teams 
from  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  to  Watauga 
County.  Very  successful  as  a  merchant,  he  ac- 
cumulated considerable  wealth,  acquiring  large 
tracts  of  land  and  many  slaves.  He  married  Sally 
Elizabeth  Bowers,  who  was  born  in  Ashe  County, 
North  Carolina,  where  her  parents  were  pioneers. 
They  reared  four  children,  namely:  James  W. ; 
William  B.;  and  Elizabeth,  who  married  Col.  G.  N. 
Folk,  a  prominent  lawyer,  who  served  as  a  colonel 
in  the  Confederate  army;  and  George  E. 

Born  in  Watauga  County,  North  Carolina,  Feb- 
ruary 23,  1829,  William  B.  Couneill  acquired  his 
elementary  education  in  the  schools  of  Caldwell 
County,  and  was  subsequently  graduated  from  the 
Charleston  Medical  College  with  the  degree  of 
M.  D.  He  began  the  practice  of  medicine  at  Boone, 
but  soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war  he 
enlisted  in  the  Confederate  army  as  a  private;  he 
won  promotion  from  time  to  time  through  bravery 
and  meritorious  conduct  until  being  made  captain 
of  his  company.  He  was  twice  wounded,  but 
escaped  capture,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the 
conflict.  Resuming  his  practice  in  Boone,  he  re- 
mained there,  an  active  and  beloved  physician 
until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years. 
His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Alice  M.  Bost- 
wiek,  was  born  in  the  Sumter  District,  South  Caro- 
lina, December  1,  1832.  She  is  still  living,  and 
though  upwards  of  four  score  years  of  age  enjoys 
good  health,  and  retains  her  interest  in  the  topics 


of  the  day.  She  is  the  mother  of  sis  children,  as 
follows :  Jefferson  Bostwick,  of  this  sketch ;  Wil- 
liam B.,  Jr.,  a  prominent  lawyer  and  judge  in 
Hickory,  North  Carolina ;  Margaret ;  Emma ;  Isaac 
Lenoir,  who  is  engaged  in  the  real  estate  and 
mining  business  at  Waynesville,  this  state;  and 
Virginia. 

After  his  graduation  from  the  Finley  High 
School  at  Lenoir,  Jefferson  B.  Couneill  entered  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  at  Baltimore, 
Maryland,  where  he  was  graduated  with  the  class 
of  1884.  Beginning  the  practice  of  his  profession 
with  his  father  in  Boone,  he  remained  there  until 
1888,  gaining  knowledge  and  experience  of  great 
value.  Coming  from  there  to  Salisbury,  Doctor 
Couneill  has  since  built  up  an  extensive  and 
lucrative  practice,  and  has  won  an  assured  posi- 
tion among  the  leading  physicians  of  this  section 
of  the  state. 

Doctor  Couneill  married,  in  1899,  Bessie  Brandt 
Krider,  a  native  of  Salisbury.  Her  father,  Charles 
C.  Krider,  who  lost  a  leg  while  serving  in  the  Con- 
federate army,  was  for  many  years  sheriff  of  ^ 
Rowan  County,  holding  the  position  at  the  time 
of  his  death.  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Couneill  are  the 
parents  of  five  children,  namely:  Margaret  Eliza- 
betli,  Charles  Bower,  Jefferson  B.,  Jr.,  Catherine 
Stokes,  and  Alice  Virginia. 

The  doctor  is  an  active  member  of  the  Rowan 
County  and  the  North  Carolina  State  Medical  so- 
cieties, and  belongs  to  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion. Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of  Fulton  Lodge 
No.  99,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Ma- 
sons: and  of  Salisbury  Chapter  No.  20,  Royal  Arch 
Masons. 

jAiiE.s  Webb  Matthews.  In  the  expansion  of 
important  commercial  concerns  Rocky  Mount, 
North  Carolina,  holds  a  foremost  place  in  business 
development  in  Eastern  Nortli  Carolina,  and  a  very 
creditable  fact  is  that  tliey  have  been  founded  and 
fostered  by  local  capital  and  home  enterprise.  A 
commercial  house  here  of  solid  standing,  that  has 
developed  its  business  along  quality  lines,  is  tliat 
of  Matthews,  Weeks  &  Company,  of  which  .James 
Webb  Matthews,  one  of  Rocky  Mount 's  represen- 
tative citizens,  is  the  junior  jiartner. 

James  Webb  Matthews  was  born  at  Rocky 
Mount,  February  15,  1878.  His  parents  were 
Gideon  Taylor  and  Mary  E.  Matthews.  The  father 
was  engaged  in  a  general  mercantile  business  here 
for  many  years  and  was  '^""  of  the  city's  honorable 
and  respected  business  men. 

In  the  public  schools  and  at  Oak  Ridge  In- 
stitute James  W.  Matthews  secured  his  general 
educational  training  and  learned  the  principles 
of  business  while  associated  for  a  time  with  his 
father.  Later  he  became  connected  with  the  firm 
of  H.  E.  Brewer  &  Company,  wholesale  grocers, 
and  thereby  had  training  and  experience  which 
have  proved  exceedingly  helpful  since  embarking 
in  the  same  line  for  himself.  In  1899  he  found 
himself  in  a  position  to  enter  the  wholesale  trade 
and  established  the  J.  W.  Matthews  Wholesale 
Grocery  and  conducted  a  prosnerous  business 
under  "that  caption  until  1902,  when,  on  account 
of  the  gi'owth  of  the  same,  more  capital  was 
needed  to  expand  the  enterprise  advantageously 
and  a  partnership  was  formed,  which  combina- 
tion has  continued  until  the  present  date.  This 
is  one  of  the  largest  houses  in  its  line  in  this 
section  and  one  of  the  most  up-to-date.  Its  com- 
modities include  both  staple  and  fancy  groceries, 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


27 


.pure  food  laws  are  observed  in  the  stock,  and 
courtesy  aud  honorable  l.iusiuess  methods  are  rules 
of  the  "house.  Mr.  Matthews  has  additional  busi- 
ness interests,  the  Eocicy  Mount  Woodworking 
Company  being  one  of  tliese,  of  wdiieli  he  is  secre- 
tary. 

Mr.  Matthews  was  married  April  27,  190-i,  to 
Miss  Estelle  Weston,  who  was  born  in  Mathews 
County,  Virginia  and  is  a  daughter  of  Julius  A. 
Weston  who  is  a  substantial  farmer  in  that  state. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Matthews  have  two  children : 
Florence  Estelle  and  James  Webb  the  last  named 
born  December  12,  1912. 

Mr.  Matthews  is  a  man  of  public  spirit  and 
much  local  pride  and  his  main  investments  are  at 
Rocky  Mount.  He  is  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
National  Bank  of  Becky  Mount  and  is  also  on  the 
directing  board  of  the  Rocky  Mount  Insurance  & 
Realty  Company.  Fraternally  he  is  identified 
with  the  Masonic  order  and  belongs  also  to  the 
Knights  of  Pythias.  As  a  business  man  he  is 
creilited  with  keen  insight  and  sound  judgment, 
and  his  everyday  life  with  his  fellow  citizens 
proves  neighborliness  and  good  will  and  ensures 
him  their  respect  and  esteem. 

Henry  Theodore  Bahnson,  M.  D.  A  life  filled 
with  untold  services,  beyond  all  human  reckoning, 
and  one  that  should  prove  a  lasting  inspiration  to 
the  living,  was  that  of  the  late  Dr.  Henry  Theodore 
Bahnson  of  Winston-Salem.  North  Carolina  may 
well  take  pride  in  such  a  character,  and  there  is 
•reason  to  recall  and  remember  what  he  was  and 
what  he  did  even  more  than  the  careers  of  some 
men  who  had  perhaps  a  wider  newspaper  publicity. 
The  story  of  his  career  is  effectively  and  beauti- 
fully told  in  a  memoir  recently  read  by  Bishop 
Rondthaler,  and  with  only  a  few  changes  and  omis- 
sions the  following  is  substantially  Bishop  Rond- 
thaler 's  words. 

Dr.  Henry  Theodore  Bahnson  was  the  son  of 
Bishop  George  Frederick  and  Anna  Gertrude 
Pauline  (Conrad)  Bahnson.  He  was  a  member 
of  a  large  family,  all  of  whom  have  now  entered 
into  rest  with  the  exception  of  one  surviving 
brother,  the  Rev.  George  Frederic  Bahnson,  pastor 
of  the  Moravian  Church  at  Coopersburg,  Penn- 
sylvania. 

Doctor  Bahnson  was  born  at  Lancaster,  Penn- 
sylvania, on  March  6,  1845,  and  was  baptised  in 
his  infancy.  When  four  years  old  his  father  was 
called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Moravian  congrega- 
tion at  Salem,  North  Carolina,  where  in  after  years 
he  became  the  bishop  of  his  church,  rendering 
memorable  service  in  maintaining  hope  anil  courage 
among  his  people  during  the  terrible  ordeal  of  the 
Civil  War.  His  son  was  destined  to  become,  like 
his  father,  an  eminent  citizen  and  servant  of  this 
community,  which  throughout  his  life  he  loved  as 
his  home. 

As  a  boy  he  attended  the  old  Salem  Boys' 
School,  from  which  he  was  transferred  in  1858  to 
the  well  knowni  Mora^'ian  Institution  of  Nazareth 
Hall  in  Pennsylvania,  whence  he  passed  for  his 
further  education  into  the  Moravian  College  and 
Theological  Seminary  at  Bethlehem.  One  who 
remembers  him  from  those  early  years  recalls  his 
alert,  beautiful  face,  giving  promise  of  a  career 
which  a  long  life  has  now  worthily  fulfilled. 

The  year  1862  brought  with  it  for  him  as  for 
the  yoimg  manhood  of  the  country  a  momentous 
change.  Early  in  the  year  he  returned  home  and 
at    once    volunteered    in    the    Confederate    army. 


Then  came  the  stirring  years  of  service  under 
General  Lee  in  the  Army  of  Virginia.  He  was  at 
first  a  private  in  Company  G,  Second  North  Caro- 
lina Battalion  of  Infantry.  He  was  captured  at 
Gettysburg  and  imprisoned  in  Baltimore  City  jail 
and  Point  Lookout,  Maryland,  for  a  period  of  six 
months — a  brief  time,  it  is  true,  but  one  which 
sowed  the  seed  of  intense  suffering  in  many  a 
subsequent  year.  In  January,  1864,  he  was 
exchanged  and  in  the  course  of  the  year  was  trans- 
ferred into  Company  B,  First  North  Carolina  Bat- 
talion of  Sharpshooters,  in  which  he  became  known 
for  his  fearless  spirit  in  many  a  terrible  encounter. 
He  was  with  General  Lee  to  the  day  of  the  sur- 
render at  Appomattox,  bright,  active  and  unshaken 
to  the  very  last  hour  before  the  coming  of  disaster. 
It  was  in  this  final  struggle  that  he  was  appointed 
captain  of  the  sharpshooters,  but  in  the  confusion 
of  those  days  the  commission  could  not  be  deliv- 
ered and  he  laid  down  his  rifle  as  a  private — a.  fact 
to  which  in  later  years  he  often  referred  with 
pride. 

Paroled  at  Appomattox,  he  walked  the  long  way 
home,  arriving  weary,  sick  and  hungry  at  his 
father's  door,  after  being  given  up  for  dead,  in 
April,  1865.  Active  and  fearless  as  he  had  been 
on  the  great  scenes  of  warfare  and  deeply  inter- 
ested in  all  his  life  in  the  veterans  of  the  conflict 
and  in  their  memorial  occasions,  his  sympathetic 
spirit  shrank  with  a  peculiar  horror  from  what  he 
had  seen  and  endured,  so  that  for  years  he  could 
hardly  be  persuaded  to  refer  to  these  events,  and 
especially  to  his  own  part  in  them;  and  when  at 
last  the  ic«  was  somewhat  broken  his  occasional 
addresses  and  papers,  written  in  beautiful  and 
vivid  style,  breathe  out  a  tone  of  sympathy  for  all 
who  suffered  whether  with  him  or  against  him, 
wliich  make  them  to  be  among  the  choicest  pieces 
of  our  great  war  literature. 

The  war  over,  he  began  to  prepare  himself  for 
the  profession  which  he  had  chosen.  In  1867  he 
graduated  in  the  medical  course  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  and  received  in  addition  his 
diploma  in  practical  and  surgical  anatomy,  the  line 
in  which  he  himself  became  especially  eminent  and 
in  which  he  earned  the  lifelong  friendship  of  the 
great  specialist  under  whom  he  had  been  instructed. 
Dr.  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  of  Philadelphia.  Next  he 
went  abroad  and  studied  at  the  Universities  of 
Berlin,  Prague  and  Utrecht,  and  finally  returning 
home  in  1869  entered  upon  his  medical  practice  in 
Salem. 

His  long  service  is  a  part  of  the  medical  history 
of  his  community  and  of  Western  North  Carolina. 
The  writer  was  once  with  him  on  a  distant  pleasure 
journey,  when  a  child  was  presented  to  the  doctor 
with  a  pitiful,  distorted,  suffering  face.  We  can 
never  forget  how,  under  his  sympathetic  and  skill- 
ful touch,  the  signs  of  suffering  were  smoothed 
away.  A  quick  stitch  here  and  there  or  slight 
incision  gave  the  little  face  a  pleasing,  human  look 
once  more.  It  was  as  if  a  wonder  had  been 
wrought  before  our  very  eyes. 

So  he  went  in  and  out,  for  nearly  fifty  years, 
among  the  sick  and  suffering.  What  he  was  for 
the  needy,  for  the  widows,  for  God 's  ministering 
servants,  probably  no  one  will  ever  know  or  even 
guess  at  except  perhaps  some  pastor  whose  work 
might  lead  him  into  the  same  homes  and  on 
similar  occasions  for  service.  Some  thirty  years 
ago  he  became  the  house  physician  of  the  Salem 
College  and  Academy.  This  appointment  grew 
into  a  wide  field  for  his  particular  gifts  and  capa- 


28 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


bilities.  He  had  a  native  genius  for  diagnosis,  so 
perfected  by  long  study  and  practice  that  he 
became  a  very  precious  help  to  those  in  charge  by 
skillful  advice,  which  either  comforted  parents  at 
a  distance  or  warned  them  of  unexpected  dangers 
in  case  of  their  children.  He  loved  the  institution 
and  cherished  its  students.  As  a  lover  of  flowers, 
his  own  rich  stores  were  at  the  frequent  disposal  of 
the  academy  on  its  great  occasions  and  of  its 
pupils  in  times  of  illness.  His  last  notable  service 
was  in  the  spring  of  1916  when  he  led  the  com- 
pletely successful  effort  to  ward  off  a  threatening 
epidemic  from  the  college,  an  effort  so  wisely 
planned  and  carried  out  as  to  cause  the  commenda- 
tion of  federal  and  state  inspectors  and  to  deserve 
the  lasting  gratitude  of  the  institution  and  of  the 
community.  Such  a  career  naturally  called  for 
wide  commendation,  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

He  was  at  the  time  of  his  death  surgeon  of  the 
Southern  Eailway  System  and  president  of  its 
Board  of  Surgeons  and  also  chief  surgeon  of  the 
Winston-Salem  Southbound  Eailway  Company. 
He  had  been  president  of  the  North  Carolina 
Medical  Society,  president  of  the  State  Board  of 
Health,  secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Examiners, 
member  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  State 
Hospital  at  Morganton,  member  of  the  American 
Public  Health  Association,  of  tlie  Tri-State  Medical 
Association,  honorary  member  of  the  Virginia 
and  other  medical  societies,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
departure  his  nomination  lay  before  the  National 
Board  of  United  States  Surgeons. 

He  was  the  first  commander  of  Piedmont  Com- 
mandery  No.  6  on  its  organization,  and  held  the 
office  for  a  number  of  years.  He  was  a  Thirty- 
second  Degree  Mason  and  was  elected  to  receive 
the  thirty-third  degree,  but  was  prevented  by  cir- 
cumstances beyond  his  control  from  attending  the 
meeting  at  which  he  was  to  receive  the  degree. 

Of  the  many  fine  qualities  of  mind  and  heart 
that  have  already  been  alluded  to  the  one  that 
stands  out  as  most  characteristic  is  courage,  both 
physical  and  moral.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  con- 
victions, which  he  dared  maintain  with  force  and 
boldness.  He  was  no  trimmer.  And  his  was  more 
than  the  courage  that  flares  up  and  shortly  dies 
down — not  alone  the  gallantry  of  the  battle  field 
that  vpith  cheerfulness  faced  death  at  the  cannon's 
mouth,  but  also  of  the  finer  quality  that  for  years 
bore  with  fortitude  the  suffering  incident  to  a 
diseased  elbow  joint  and  for  months  the  heart- 
rending agonies  of  the  agina  pectoris  which  caused 
his  death. 

He  was  married  November  3,  1870,  to  Miss 
Adelaide  de  Schweinitz,  daughter  of  Bishop  de 
Schweinitz.  The  young  wife  was  quickly  called 
from  his  side  on  August  3,  1871.  His  second  mar- 
riage, on  April  14,  1874,  was  to  Miss  Emma  C. 
Pries.  Their  union  was  blessed  with  six  children. 
Two  of  them,  Henry  and  Carrie,  died  in  childhood. 
The  four  surviving  are:  Frederic  P.  and  Agnew 
Bahnson,  both  mentioned  on  other  pages;  Mrs. 
Holt  Haywood,  of  New  York;  and  Miss  Pauline 
Bahnson.  It  was  a  most  affectionate  family  circle 
and  one  in  which  helpers  and  dependents  were 
most  kindly  considered.  And  the  end  corresponded 
to  the  way  in  which  they  had  journeyed  together. 
Wife,  daughters  and  sons  were  in  constant  attend- 
ance in  and  around  the  sufferer 's  sick  chamber. 

Doctor  Bahnson  had  been  baptised  in  his 
infancy.  He  was  confirmed  in  the  First  Church 
of  Philadelphia  on  July  29,  1866.     His  religious 


convictions  had  been  deepened  during  the  war.  He 
had  read  the  Greek  New  Testament  through  from 
cover  to  cover  as  he  carried  it  in  his  knapsack 
through  the  weary  marches  of  the  long  campaigns. 
These  convictions  abode  with  him  for  a  lifetime. 
The  reading  of  the  scriptures  and  family  devo- 
tions were  steady  and  unfailing  rules  of  his  life, 
and  his  character  and  practice  of  his  profession 
corresponded  with  his  religious  Cliristian  views. 
He  entered  freely  into  religious  interests  and  was 
one  of  the  most  faithful  subscribers  to  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association.  He  dearly  loved  the 
church  of  his  father  and  mother;  served  in  its 
various  offices;  liberally  aided  in  its  work;  was  a 
member  of  its  college  and  seminary  boards  at  the 
time  of  his  departure. 

For  years  he  had  been  a  sufferer,  to  whom  occa- 
sional journeys  and  seasons  of  recreation  afforded 
but  partial  relief,  and  to  whom  outdoor  life, 
almost  to  the  end,  proved  to  be  the  main  and 
blessed  tonic  of  refreshment.  Amid  increasing 
physical  burdens  he  resolutely  continued  his  medi- 
cal work  until  on  September  8,  1916,  the  weary 
frame  had  to  cease  from  its  lifelong  toil.  Then 
with  fortitude,  with  faith,  and  with  the  promise  of 
the  grace  given  by  his  Saviour,  he  entered  into 
rest  January  16,  1917,  aged  seventy-one  years,  ten 
months,  twelve  days. 

Frederic  Fries  Bahnson.  A  son  of  the  late 
Dr.  H.  T.  Bahnson,  whose  life  work  has  been 
recorded  on  other  ])ages,  Frederic  Pries  Bahnson 
during  his  youth  had  an  ambition  to  follow  in  his 
father's  footstejis,  but  failing  eyesiglit  compelled 
him  to  give  up  his  studies  in  medicine  and  he 
turned  to  a  more  active  vocation  and  has  gained 
successful  prominence  in  the  field  of  electrical  and 
mechanical  engineering,  particularly  in  his  chosen 
field  of  air  conditioning. 

He  was  born  in  Winston-Salem  March  6,  1876, 
son  of  Dr.  Henry  T.  and  Emma  Christina  (Fries) 
Bahn.son.  He  prepared  for  college  in  the  Salem 
Boys'  School  and  entered  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  vrith  the  class  of  1S96.  He  was  gradu- 
ated Ph.  B.,  cum  laude,  and  for  the  next  few 
months  diligently  pursued  his  studies  in  medi- 
cine. On  being  obliged  to  discontinue  this  work 
he  took  up  electrical  engineering,  and  for  seven 
years  followed  that  work,  most  of  the  time  away 
from  his  old  home.  On  returning  to  Winston- 
Salem  he  was  for  five  years  associated  with  the 
P.  &  H.  Fries  Woolen  Mills,  then  for  two  years 
with  the  Briggs  Shaffner  Company,  mechanical 
engineers  and  machinists.  Since  then  Mr.  Bahnson 
has  been  head  of  the  engineering  department  of 
the  Normalair  Company  of  Winston-Salem,  de- 
voting his  time  to  problems  in  air  conditioning. 

He  was  married  in  1910  to  Blecker  Estelle  Reid. 
Mrs.  Bahnson  was  born  in  Charlotte,  North  Caro- 
lina, daughter  of  Edward  S.  and  Naunie  (Alex- 
ander) Reid.  They  have  two  sons,  Frederic  Fries 
Bahnson,  Jr.,  and  Edward  Reid  Bahnson.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bahnson  are  members  of  the  Home  Moravian 
Church.  He  served  as  secretary  of  the  committee 
which  drew  up  the  present  rules  of  the  Moravian 
"Congregation  of  Salem  and  Its  Vicinity,"  has 
served  on  boards  of  the  congregation  and  in  1917, 
was  made  an  elder  in  the  Home  Moravian  Church. 
He  has  taken  an  active  part  in  Masonry,  being 
affiliated  with  Winston  Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  is  Past  High  Priest  of 
Winston  Chapter  No.  24,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Past  Commander  of  Piedmont  Commandery  No.  6, 
Knights  Templar.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Ameri- 
can Society  of  Heating  and  Ventilating  Engineers, 
and  an  associate  member  of  the  American  Society 
of  Mechanical  Engineers. 

Agnew  Hunter  Bahnson.  One  of  the  leading 
mill  men  and  manufacturers  of  the  Winston-Salem 
industrial  community  is  Agnew  Hunter  Bahnson, 
who  found  his  real  work  early  in  life  and  has 
devoted  himself  to  it  with  a  spirit,  enthusiasm  and 
energy  that  sufficiently  well  accounts  for  his  rapid 
advancement  and  his  secure  position  when  only  a 
little  past  his  thirtieth  birthday. 

Mr.  Bahnson  was  born  at  Salem  March  10, 
1S86,  a  son  of  the  late  Dr.  Henry  T.  and  Emma 
Christina  (Fries)  Bahnson.  Of  his  father,  one 
of  the  greatest  physicians  and  kindliest  men  North 
Carolina  ever  had,  an  appropriate  sketch  appears 
on  other  pages  of  this  publication. 

The  son  was  liberally  educated  and  had  the  best 
of  home  training.  He  attended  private  school,  the 
Salem  Boys'  School,  and  in  1906  graduated  from 
the  University  of  North  Carolina.  For  the  follow- 
ing year  he  traveled  abroad,  and  then  with  all  that 
a  liberal  education  and  a  knowledge  of  the  world 
could  give  him  he  entered  upon  an  apprenticeship 
in  the  Mayo  Mills  at  Mayodan  in  Rockingham 
County.  As  an  apprentice  he  worked  for  65 
cents  a  day.  He  continued  his  apprenticeship  in 
the  Washington  Mills  at  Fries,  Virginia,  and  had 
not  been  there  long  when  he  was  advanced  to  the 
duties  of  the  loom  fixer.  After  a  few  months  he 
liecame  superintendent  of  the  Pomona  Mills  at 
Greensboro,  but  soon  resigned  to  become  agent  of 
the  Washington  Mills  at  Fries,  Virginia.  While 
there  he  was  not  only  agent  but  manager  of  the 
mills  and  store  and  also  the  town,  a  place  of 
1,800  inhabitants.  It  was  a  work  that  required 
great  executive  and  administrative  ability  and  he 
.  performed  his  duties  with  utmost  satisfaction  for 
two  years. 

Resigning,  he  was  engaged  in  the  sale  of  cotton 
mill  machinery  until  1912,  when  he  was  elected 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Arista  Mill  Com- 
pany at  Winston-Salem.  He  has  been  actively 
identified  with  that  large  local  corporation  ever 
since,  and  in  1915  was  elected  president  and  treas- 
urer. Tn  tlie  fall  of  1915  he  also  organized  the 
Normalair  Company,  and  has  been  president  of  this 
biisiness.  The  company  has  its  factory  in  Winston - 
Salem,  and  though  in  existence  less  than  two  years 
has  developed  a  flourishing  business.  Its  machin- 
ery products  are  shipped  to  all  the  states,  to 
Canada,  Mexico  and  Cuba,  and  to  six  other  for- 
eign countries.  The  company  maintains  offices  in 
New  York,  St.  Louis  and  Charlotte. 

Mr.  Bahnson  was  married  November  18,  1914, 
to  Miss  Elizabeth  Moir  Hill,  who  was  born  in 
Winston-Salem,  daughter  of  William  P.  and 
Elizabeth  (Ogburn)  Hill.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bahnson 
have  one  son,  Agnew  Hunter,  Jr.  They  are  active 
members  of  the  Home  Moravian  Church,  with  Mr. 
Bahnson  as  president  of  its  board  of  trustees.  He 
is  also  president  of  the  Moravian  Brotherhood  of 
the  Southern  Province  and  a  member  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  Board  of  Directors. 
He  is  an  officer  of  the  North  Carolina  Cotton 
Manufacturers '  Association. 

Douglas  Alexander  Nance  has  been  enrolled 
among  the  successful  members  of  the  Winston- 
Salem  bar  since  1911.    He  is  a  lawyer  of  thorough 


scholarship  and  mature  accomplishments,  and  has 
already  made  a  mark  in  the  profession. 

What  he  has  attained  has  been  due  to  the  energy 
of  his  own  nature  and  a  determined  ambition.  He 
w.as  born  in  a  log  cabin  in  Western  Prong  Tovvn- 
ship  of  Columbus  County,  North  Carolina,  and  he 
gained  his  education  largely  through  his  own 
efforts.  His  great-grandfather  Daniel  Nance  was 
a  native  of  England  and  on  coming  to  America  set- 
tled in  that  part  of  Bladen  County  now  included 
in  Columbus  County,  North  Carolina.  David 
Nance,  grandfather  of  the  Winston-Salem  lawyer, 
was  born  in  Columbus  County  and  was  a  farmer. 
His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Eliza  Shipman, 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years.  Her  ancestors 
were  among  the  pioneers  of  Bladen  County.  The 
grandparents  reared  four  children:  Richard, 
M,arsha]l,  Edward  and  Alexander.  Of  these  Rich- 
ard was  a  Confederate  soldier,  died  during  the  war, 
and  was  buried  at  Wilmington. 

Alexander  Nance,  father  of  Douglas  A.,  was 
horn  in  Columbus  County,  North  Carolina,  in 
September,  1854,  and  has  made  farming  his  regu- 
lar vocation.  After  his  marriage  he  bought  a  tract 
of  land  in  Western  Prong  Township  and  started 
his  household  and  business  on  a  small  scale. 
Industry  and  good  judgment  enabled  him  to  meet 
the  critical  times  of  his  career  successfully,  and  as 
a  result  of  long  and  thorough  experience  he  la 
now  a  farmer  on  an  extensive  scale.  He  married 
Virginia  Douglas  Bridgers,  daughter  of  Eugene 
Bridgers,  and  they  have  reared  ten  children: 
Luther,  Sallie.  who  died  ,at  the  age  of  eighteen, 
Douglas  A.,  Claude,  Marshall,  Henry,  Richard, 
Alexander,  Laura,  and  Mattie. 

Douglas  A.  Nance  was  educated  in  the  rural 
schools,  in  the  High  School  of  Lumberton,  and 
prepared  for  college  at  Buiss  Creek  Academy.  He 
took  his  law  studies  in  Wake  Forest  College,  and 
in  1911  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  Since  then  Mr. 
Nance  has  practiced  successfully  at  Winston  and 
his  achievements  as  a  lawyer  leave  no  doubt  as  to 
his  thorough   qualifications   for   the  profession. 

In  his  career,  both  at  home  and  in  his  profes- 
sion, he  has  been  ably  assisted  by  his  cultured 
wife.  Mrs.  Nance,  whose  maiden  name  was  Stella 
Elizabeth  Phelps,  was  born  in  a  log  cabin  in  Old- 
town  Township  of  Forsyth  County.  They  were 
married  in  1904.  Her  father  Melvin  Phelps  was 
born  in  McPherson  County,  North  Carolina, 
January  16,  1845,  and  when  only  seventeen  years 
of  age  he  entered  the  Confederate  Army  and  going 
to  the  front  participated  in  many  hard  fought 
battles  and  was  twice  wounded.  After  the  war  he 
settled  down  to  the  peaceful  occupation  of  farm- 
ing in  Oldtown  Township  and  besides  cultivating 
his  crops  he  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade.  His 
death  in  1900  was  due  to  an  accident  on  the  rail- 
road. Melvin  Phelps  married  Nancy  Paulina 
Grubb,  who  was  born  in  Oldtown  Township  in 
1857,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Ann  <Aldridge) 
Grubb.  Her  father  was  a  farmer,  spent  his  life 
in  Forsyth  County,  and  her  mother  died  there  at 
the  age  of  eighty-four.  Mrs.  Nance  is  one  of  three 
children,  her  two  brothers  being  William  Ells- 
worth and  Roscoe  Drake. 

Mrs.  Nance  was  liberally  educated.  She 
attended  the  Winston  graded  schools  and  in  1898 
graduated  in  the  commercial  course  from  Salem 
Academy  College  and  from  the  literary  depart- 
ment in  1900.  During  the  summer  of  1916  she 
attended  the  law  department  of  the  University  of 
North  Carolina.     She  had  also  studied  law  in  the 


30 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


office  of  her  husband,  and  in  the  summer  of 
1917  she  passed  the  examination  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  She  then  took  the  oath  in  the  Superior 
Court  before  Judge  W.  J.  Adams,  and  was  ac- 
corded the  distinction  of  being  the  first  woman 
to  be  sworn  in  as  an  attorney  at  Winston-Salem. 
She  is  now  associated  with  her  husband  in  prac- 
tice. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nance  are  active  members  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church.  He  is  affiliated  with  Twin 
City  Camp  No.  27  Woodmen  of  the  World,  Salem 
Lodge  No.  56,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
and  Liberty  Council  No.  .3,  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics  and  Winston  Lodge  No.  449, 
Benevolent  Protective  Order  of  Elks.  Both  he 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  Evangeline  Rebekah 
Lodge  No.  27. 

Vestal  Taylor  has  spent  his  life  in  Surry 
County,  is  a  farmer  by  occupation,  but  for  many 
years  has  been  concerned  with  official  duties.  He 
is  a  former  county  siirveyor  and  register  of  deeds, 
and  the  people  of  that  community  have  looked 
upon  him  for  leadership  in  many  matters  of  im- 
portance. 

Mr.  Taylor  was  liorn  in  Westfield  Township  of 
Surry  County  October  29,  1870.  His  grandfather, 
Thomas  Taylor,  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  on 
coming  to  North  Carolina  located  in  Westfield 
Township  where  he  bought  a  farm  and  where  he 
spent  many  years.  He  finally  sold  his  position  and 
with  his  wife  and  son,  Newell,  and  daughter,  Mary, 
moved  west  to  Utah,  where  he  and  his  wife  spent 
their  last  years.  Two  of  their  sons,  Martin  and 
Henry,  remained  in  North  Carolina. 

Martin  Taylor,  father  of  Vestal,  was  born  ac- 
cording to  the  best  information  obtainable  in 
Wcstlicld  Township  of  Surry  County.  For  his 
time  he  acquired  a  good  education,  and  was  a 
school  teacher.  He  bought  land  in  Westfield  Town- 
ship and  followed  general  farming  for  many  years. 
During  the  war  he  was  exempt  from  service  on 
account  of  physical  disability.  He  continued  to 
live  on  his  farm  until  his  death  in  1910  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five.  He  married  Mary  Ann  Sum- 
mers, who  was  born  in  Westfield  Township,  a 
daughter  of  .Jonas  and  Betsy  (luman)  Summers. 
Her  death  occurred  when  she  was  sixty-nine  years 
of  age.  Her  children  were:  Tizzie;  Martha,  who 
married  .Tames  Mclver;  Vestal;  Mickey,  who  mar- 
ried John  T.  Inman ;  and  Eliza,  who  married  Job 
McGee. 

Vestal  Taylor  during  his  childhood  attended  the 
district  schools  and  also  the  Mount  Airy  High 
School.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  taught  his  first 
term  of  school.  It  was  his  practice  to  teach  a 
part  of  each  year  and  the  rest  of  the  time  was 
spent  as  a  farmer.  Mr.  Taylor  located  on  his 
jiresent  farm  in  1910.  This  is  near  the  Village  of 
White  Plains.  Besides  general  farming  Mr.  Tay- 
lor has  deplt  extensively  in  horses  and  other  live- 
stock and  has  attained  a  substantial  business  posi- 
tion in  the  community. 

In  1892  he  married  Nannie  Nichols,  who  was 
born  in  Eldora  Township  of  Surry  County,  a  daugh 
ter  of  William  A.  and  Martha  (Marshall)  Nichols, 
The  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  comprise  four 
children,  Bertie  P.,  Perry,  Alma  and  Herbert  R, 
The  daughter,  Bertie,  is  the  wife  of  Maurice  E 
Miller,  and  they  have  a  son,  Billy. 

Mr.  Taylor  has  for  years  lieen  one  of  the  lead 
ing  and  influential  reiiublicans  of  Surry  County. 
He   cast   his  first  presidential  vote  for  Benjamin 


Harrison.  Various  official  dignities  have  been  con- 
ferred upon  him.  When  he  was  a  very  young 
man  in  1893  he  was  elected  county  surveyor  and 
by  re-election  was  continued  in  that  office  for 
twelve  years.  He  was  then  elected  register  of 
deeds  and  served  four  years,  and  in  1912  was  a 
candidate  for  sheriff.  Throughout  his  official  and 
jirivate  career  Mr.  Taylor  has  been  a  constant 
advocate  of  good  roads,  and  at  the  present  time  is 
superintendent  of  roads  in  Mount  Airy  Township. 
He  is  also  chairman  of  the  Mount  Airy  Township 
School  Board,  and  was  one  of  the  men  chiefly  in- 
strumental in  establishing  the  high  school  at  White 
Plains  in  1916,  in  which  year  the  high  school  build- 
ing was  erected.  Mr.  Taylor  is  now  serving  as 
chairman  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  re- 
]iublican  party  of  Surry  County. 

Tho.mas  Meares  Green,  M.  D.  Many  well 
earned  distinctions  have  come  to  Doctor  Green 
during  his  active  career  as  a  surgeon,  and  his 
reputation  is  by  no  means  confined  to  his  home 
City  of  Wilmington  but  has  brought  him  prom- 
inently before  the  medical  fraternity  of  the  state 
at  large. 

Doctor  Green  was  born  at  Wilmington  March 
28,  1879,  a.  son  of  William  Henry  and  Frances 
Iredell  (Meares)  Green.  His  father  was  a  drug- 
gist and  the  atmos|)here  of  that  business  no  doubt 
had  some  influence  over  Doctor  Green's  choice 
of  a  permanent  profession.  He  was  well  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools,  under  private  tuition 
and  in  the  Cape  Fear  Academy.  He  spent  two 
years  in  the  medical  department  of  the  University 
of  North  Carolina  taking  special  work  in  chemistry 
at  the  same  time.  Later  two  years  were  spent  in 
the  University  of  Maryland,  where  he  was  gradu- 
ated in  1900.  For  three  years  after  taking  his 
degree  he  was  employed  as  a  surgeon  in  the  hos- 
jiital  of  the  Maryland  University  and  St.  Joseph's 
of  Baltimore,  Maryland.  In  1903  Doctor  Green 
located  at  Wilmington,  and  his  work  has  been' 
almost  exclusively  in  the  field  of  surgery.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  surgical  staff  of  the  James 
Walker  Memorial  Hosjiital  and  is  a  surgeon  of  the 
Seaboard  Air  Line  Railway  Company. 

Doctor  Green  has  membership  in  the  New 
Hanover  County  Medical  Society,  the  Third  Dis- 
trict, the  North  Carolina  and  the  Tri-State  Medi- 
cal societies,  the  Southern  and  the  American 
Medical  associations.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Cape 
Fear  Country  Club,  the  Carolina  Yacht  Clul),  is  a 
Chapter  Mason  and  Knight  of  Pythias,  and  be- 
longs to  the  college  fraternity  Sigma  Alpha  Epsi- 
Ion.  November  16,  190.5,  Doctor  Green  married 
Emma  West,  daughter  of  Henry  P.  and  Rebecca 
(Love)  West.  They  have  two  children,  Emma 
West  Green  and  Mary  West  Green. 

Walter  Reade  Johnson,  now  a  successful  mem- 
ber of  the  Winston-Salem  bar,  has  .spent  his  life  in 
this  section  of  North  Carolina,  and  for  a  number 
of  years  was  engaged  in  commercial  lines,  chiefly 
as  a  traveling  salesman.  He  has  succeeded  in 
building  up  a  very  fine  practice  and  is  a  man  of 
the  highest  standing  both  in  his  profession  and  as 
a  citizen. 

He  was  born  in  Yadkin  Township  of  Stokes 
County,  North  Carolina,  October  14,  1884.  He 
comes  of  old  Virginia  ancestry.  His  great-grand- 
father, William  Johnson,  was  born  in  Stokes 
County,  North  Carolina,  where  he  remained  during 
his  life,  and  bought    upwards  of    1,000  acres   of 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


31 


land  in  Yadkin  Township  of  Stokes  County.  His 
extensive  plantation  he  operated  with  slave  labor 
and  lived  there  until  his  death.  The  maiden  name 
of  his  wife  was  Temperance  Kiser.  Both  lived  to 
a  good  old  age. 

William  Wade  Johnson,  grandfather  of  Walter 
B.,  was  born  May  23,  1835,  and  inherited  from  his 
father  a  tract  of  land  and  subsequently  bought 
more.  He  followed  farming  all  his  life,  and  at 
the  time  of  his  death  owned  about  300  acres. 
During  the  war  he  was  a  member  of  the  Home 
Guard,  physical  disability  having  exempted  from 
active  service  in  the  field.  He  married  Susan 
Leake,  who  was  born  in  the  north  part  of  Stokes 
County,  daughter  of  Peter  and  Betsy  Leake, 
pioneers  in  that  section  of  the  state.  William 
Wade  .Johnson  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-two,  his 
wife  living  to  the  age  of  eighty-two. 

James  Thomas  Johnson,  father  of  the  Winston- 
Salem  lawyer,  was  born  in  Yadkin  Township  of 
Stokes  County  November  8,  1857,  and  has  enjoyed 
a  substantial  position  as  a  farmer.  He  bought  a 
farm  from  his  father  a  half  mile  from  the  old 
homestead,  and  is  still  managing  it  as  a  general 
farming  proposition.  He  married  Regina  Edwards. 
She  was  horn  in  Yadkin  Township  of  Stokes 
County  May  23,  1863.  Her  grandfather,  Nathan 
Edwards,  was  a  native  of  Stokes  County,  where  he 
spent  his  life.  Her  father,  Solomon  Edwards,  was 
born  in  Stokes  County  in  1S40,  gave  his  active  life- 
time to  farming  and  also  served  as  coroner  and 
sheriff  of  the  county.  Solomon  Edwards  married 
Amelia  Ann  Westmoreland,  a  native  of  Stokes 
County.  Solomon  Edwards  died  in  1891,  while 
his  widow  is  still  living,  being  eighty-two  years 
old.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  T.  Johnson  had  seven 
children:  Walter  Keade,  Claudia,  Mallie,  Nellie, 
Paul,  Eflae  and  Thelma. 

The  early  enyironment  of  Walter  Reade  Johnson 
was  his  father 's  farm.  He  attended  the  dis- 
trict schools,  and  while  still  a  schoolboy  gained  his 
first  practical  knowledge  of  commercial  life.  His 
father  having  given  him  the  use  of  a  small  tract 
of  land,  the  boy  planted  a.  crop  of  tobacco,  and 
after  it  had  Ijeen  cut  he  took  it  to  Winston.  Here 
he  had  a  transaction  which  showed  his  judgment. 
The  dealer  offered  him  fifteen  dollars  and  also 
one-half  of  all  above  that  figure  that  the  tobacco 
would  bring  at  auction.  The  lot  sold  for  fifteen 
dollars  and  forty  cents,  showing  that  the  first  price 
was  a  fair  estimate  of  the  real  value.  After  a  few 
terms  in  the  district  school  Mr.  Johnson  attended 
the  Mountain  View  Institute  and  later  Dalton 
Academy. 

Wlien  nineteen  years  old  he  taught  a  term  of 
school  at  Corinth  but  soon  went  on  the  road  as  a 
traveling  salesman.  He  sold  goods  over  his  terri- 
tory until  1906,  and  while  he  made  a  good  living 
at  this  he  was  not  satisfied  to  continue  it  indefi- 
nitely. With  what  he  had  earned  he  entered  the 
University  of  North  Carolina,  where  for  a  time 
he  devoted  himself  to  special  studies,  and  then  took 
nri  the  regular  law  course.  He  was  graduated  in 
1909,  and  in  the  same  year  opened  his  office  in 
Winston-Salem. 

In  1910  Mr.  Johnson  married  Miss  Lou  MUhol- 
land.  Mrs.  Johnson  was  born  in  Statesville,  Iredell 
County,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of  Newton  and 
Ella  (Edwards)  Milholland.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John- 
son have  three  children :  Gretchen,  Dorothy  and 
Walter  Reade,  Jr.  They  are  active  members  of 
the  Brown  Memorial  Baptist  Church  of  Winston- 
Salem,  while  Mr.  Johnson  is  affiliated  with  Winston 


Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Mason, 
and  Winston  Chapter  No.  24,  Royal  Arch  Masons. 
In  polities  he  is  a  democrat. 

William  H.  Marler  came  to  Winston  Salem 
when  a  young  man,  was  a  mercantile  clerk  for 
a  number  of  years,  got  into  business  on  his  own 
account,  and  has  been  steadily  building  up  a  busi- 
ness house  in  proportion  to  the  growing  importance 
of  Winston-Salem.  He  is  now  one  of  the  leading 
wholesalers  in  Western  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Marler  was  born  in  Jonesville  in  Yadkin 
County,  North  Carolina.  His  father,  Hon.  John  G. 
Marler,  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  was  liberally 
educated,  and  on  coming  to  North  Carolina  became 
principal  of  the  Van  Eaton  School  at  Jonesboro. 
He  rapidly  gained  prominence  in  public  affairs, 
and  in  1870  was  elected  a  member  of  the  lower 
house  of  the  State  Legislature,  was  re-elected  in 
1872,  and  in  1874,  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
State  Senate  for  the  Thirty-third  District,  includ- 
ing Yadkin  and  Surrey  counties.  His  public  serv- 
ice both  in  the  House  and  Senate  was  given  in 
the  stirring  times  of  Reconstruction  days.  When 
partisanship  was  at  its  height,  when  passion  and 
bitterness  were '  controlling  factors,  he  showed  a 
serene  and  unruffled  spirit  and  proved  of  inesti- 
mable value  to  the  constructive  work  of  the 
Legislative  body.  In  1876  he  was  re-elected  to  the 
Senate,  and  his  sudden  death  in  1877  occurred  while 
the  Senate  was  still  in  session. 

Senator  Marler  married  Sallie  Stimpson.  She 
was  born  in  Virginia  in  1844  and  died  in  1915. 
They  reared  five  children:  William  H.,  Mamie, 
Blanch,  Dr.  J.  J.  and  Sallie. 

William  H.  Marler  had  the  advantages  of  the 
public  schools  of  Yadkin  County,  including  the 
Whittington  School  at  Jonesboro  taught  by  Prof. 
T.  H.  Whittington.  He  was  eighteen  years  of  ago 
when  he  came  to  Winston,  and  he  learned  business 
in  a  practical  fashion  as  clerk  in  the  retail  store 
of  J.  F.  Gilmer.  The  six  years  he  spent  in  that 
capacity  were  years  of  hard  work,  of  faithful 
attention  to  his  duties  and  a  growing  responsibility 
and  capacity.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  became 
a  partner,  linder  the  name  Gilmer  &  Marler.  Five 
years  later  Mr.  Gilmer's  sons  were  admitted  to 
the  firm,  which  took  the  new  title  of  Gilmer,  Marler 
&  Company.  The  business  became  both  retail  and 
wholesale."  After  a  few  years  Mr.  R.  E.  Dalton 
was  admitted  to  the  firm  and  not  long  afterward 
the  Gilmer  brothers  sold  their  interests,  and  the 
house  was  incorporated,  with  Mr.  Marler  as  presi- 
dent and  treasurer.  In  July,  1915.  Mr.  Marler 
sold  his  interest  in  that  concern  and  in  January, 
1916,  esta,blished  himself  in  the  wholesale  busi- 
ness, chiefly  as  a  jobber,  selling  direct  to  the  trade 
from  the  factories.  His  house  now  handles  the 
products  of  several  local  mills,  and  his  salesmen 
cover  a  territory  over  several  southern  states. 

Mr.  Marler  was  married  June  5,  1886,  to  Miss 
Ella  George.  Mrs.  Marler  was  born  in  Winston- 
Salem,  daughter  of  Peter  and  Martha  (Bowman) 
George.  They  have  reared  five  children,  named 
William  G.,  Grady,  Evelyn,  Robert  and  Ralph.  Mr. 
Marler  is  one  of  the  stewards  of  the  West  End 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  South.  He  is  affili- 
ated with  Winston  Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons. 

KiMBRO  M.  Thompson.  Noteworthy  among  the 
esteemed  and  respected  residents  of  Jonesville, 
Yadkin    County,   is    Kimbro    M.    Thompson,    who 


32 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


lor  many  years  was  an  importaut  factor  in  promot- 
ing the  mercantile  and  business  interests  of  the 
community  in  which  he  now  lives.  A  native  of 
Surry  County,  he  was  born,  February  1,  1859,  on 
a.  farm  lying  four  miles  southeast  of  Mount  Airy, 
North  Carolina.  His  father,  Cohmibus  Thompson, 
was  born  on  a  farm  in  Surry  County,  about  ten 
miles  west  of  Dobson,  and  his  grandfather,  Elijah 
Thompson,  was  born  in  the  same  locality. 

Joseph  Thompson,  the  great-grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  married  Isabella  Henderson, 
of  Albemarle  County,  Virginia,  and  with  his  bride 
came  to  North  Carolina,  settling  as  a  pioneer  in 
Surry  County.  In  1780  he  erected  a  substantial 
frame  house,  the  boards  used  being  whip  sawed, 
while  all  of  the  nails  were  hand  wrought.  With 
the  assistance  of  slaves  he  cleared  and  improved 
a  good  farm,  on  which  he  and  his  wife  spent  the 
remainder  of  their  years. 

Elijah  Thompson  learned  the  trade  of  a  tan- 
ner when  young,  and  also  acquired  proficiency  as 
a  farmer  while  living  with  his  parents.  Subse- 
quently buying  land  on  Mitchell 's  River,  three 
miles  below  the  parental  homestead,  he  operated, 
with  slave  labor,  a  tannery,  and  his  farm.  He 
served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  but  other- 
wise resided  on  his  plantation  until  his  death,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-four  years.  He  married  Martha 
Cleveland  Franklin,  a  daughter  of  Shadrach  and 
Judith  (Talliferio)  Franklin,  and  granddaughter 
of  Bernard  and  Mary  Franklin.  Eight  children 
were  born  of  their  union,  as  follows :  Benjamin, 
Columbus,  Kimbro,  Sally,  Shadrach,  Mary  F., 
Bettie,  and  Kittie  L. 

Columlius  Tliompson  became  an  expert  tanner 
and  farmer  under  his  father's  wise  training.  Soon 
after  attaining  his  majority,  he  bought  a  farm 
four  miles  southeast  of  Mount  Airy,  and  there 
established  a  tannery  which  he  operated  in  con- 
nection with  general  farming,  during  the  progress 
•of  the  Civil  war  being  detailed  to  furnish  leather 
and  other  supplies  to  the  army.  He  lived  to  the 
ripe  old  age  of  eighty-nine  years,  dying  on  the 
home  farm.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Mary  A.  Cockerham.  She  was  born  in  Surry 
■County,  Mitchells  River,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Polly  (Marshall)  Cockerham.  She  died  in  1868, 
leaving  three  children,  Mary  Jane,  Kimliro  M.  and 
Benjamin  H.  Mary  Jane,  married  Columbus  F. 
McMickel ;  to  this  union  four  children  were  born : 
John,  Addie,  Kittie  and  Sallie;  John  married  Mal- 
lie  Coruett  of  Virginia,  Kittie  married  Peter 
Beamcr  of  Mount  Airy,  North  Carolina;  Sallie 
married  Frank  Thompson  of  Kapps  Mills,  Surry 
County.  Benjamin  H.  married  America  Bryan, 
daughter  of  Gen.  John  Q.  A.  and  Martha  Bryan,  of 
near  Traphill,  Wilkes  County,  North  Carolina.  To 
this  union  was  born  two  children,  B.  Harton  and 
Mary  Atholene. 

Acquiring  a  practical  education  in  the  district 
school,  Kimbro  M.  Thompson,  while  assisting  his 
father,  became  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  vari- 
ous branches  of  agriculture,  and  also  with  the 
tanner 's  trade.  When  he  had  attained  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years,  his  father  gave  him  land  lying 
on  Mitchells  River,  about  two  miles  from  the 
farm  on  which  his  great-grandfather  once  lived. 
Mr.  Thomjison  had  learned  surveying  when  young, 
and  subsequently  for  twelve  years  he  served  as 
county  surveyor  in  Surry  County.  Superintending 
the  work  of  his  farm,  he  lived  upon  it  until  1900, 
when  he  sold  that  estate,  and  settled  in  Yadkin 
County.     Purchasing   property   in  Jonesville,   Mr. 


Thompson  embarked  in  mercantile  pursuits,  and 
continued  in  business  as  a  merchant  until  1916, 
meeting  with   success   in   his   operations. 

On  September  4,  1887,  Mr.  Thpnipson  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Emma  Frances  Bryan. 
She  was  born  in  Alleghany  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, a  daughter  of  Francis  and  Bettie  (Moore) 
Bryan,  and  granddaughter  on  the  paternal  side 
of  Thomas  and  Nancy  (Baugus)  Bryan,  natives 
of  Wilkes  County,  this  state,  while  on  the  ma- 
ternal side  she  was  a  granddaughter  of  Benjamin 
and  Susan  (Barber)  Moore.  The  Bryan,  Moore 
and  Barber  families  were  among  the  pioneer  set- 
tlers of  the  northwestern  part  of  North  Carolina 
and  Southern  Virginia. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson  have  four  children, 
namely:  Alonzo  A.,  Grove  L.,  Mabel  A.,  and  Rosa 
E.  Alonzo  A.  married  Lizzie  Burgess  of  Ten- 
nessee; Grove  L.  married  Mabel  Finney,  daughter 
of  Wesley  and  Mary  (Adams)  Finney,  arid  they 
have  one  child,  Dorris  Lee.  On  October  1,  1917, 
Grover  was  drafted  into  the  National  army.  He 
was  sent  to  Camp  Jackson,  but  after  staying  there 
awhile,  was  selected  as  an  expert  machinist  to  go 
to  Camp  Hancock,  Augusta,  Georgia,  after  remain- 
ing there  two  months  he  was  sent  to  Camp  Mer- 
ritte.  New  Jersey,  sailing  for  France  on  February 
20,  1918.  Mabel  A.  married  Wonderfer  A.  Finney, 
son  of  Franklin  and  Laura  (Martin)  Finney. 
Rosa  E.  married  Richard  C.  Minnish,  son  of  WU- 
liam  and  Annie  L.  (Brendle)  Minnish,  to  this 
union  three  children  have  been  born.  Iris  Evelyn, 
Russell  Bryan,  and  Mabel  Frances. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Thompson  is  a  non-affiliating 
member  of  the  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order 
of  Masons,  and  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows. 

Addi.son  Guy  RiCAtro.  The  position  of  Addi- 
son Guy  Ricaud  as  a  member  of  the  Wilmington 
bar  is  tersely  and  well  set  forth  in  an  endorsement 
signed  by  a  large  majority  of  the  most  prominent 
members  of  the  Wilmington  bar  urging  Mr. 
Ricaud 's  appointment  to  the  vacancy  on  the  bench 
of  the  Eighth  Judicial  Circuit  in  1915.  A  para- 
graph of  this  endorsement  reads  as  follows :  ' '  Mr. 
Ricaud  is  a  lawyer  of  wide  and  varied  experience 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession ;  is  a  man  of 
marked  ability;  a  gentleman  of  high  character; 
is  in  the  prime  of  life;  and  we  believe,  if  ap- 
jiointed,  he  will  discharge  the  duties  of  the  high 
office  with  great  abUity  to  himself  and  to  the 
State. ' ' 

Another  candidate  was  given  the  preference  in 
the  appointment  as  judge  of  the  Superior  Court, 
but  the  opinion  entertained  by  his  eminent  fellow 
lawyers  of  his  ability  has  made  him  none  the  less 
valuable  as  a  citizen  of  Wilmington  and  his  po- 
sition as  a  lawyer  has  long  been  assured. 

He  was  born  in  Washington,  North  Carolina, 
December  11,  1858,  a  son  of  Thomas  Page  and 
Anna  M.  (King)  Ricaud.  His  father  was  a  prom- 
inent minister  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  for 
over  fifty  years,  beginning  about  1845,  was  con- 
nected with  the  North  Carolina  Conference. 

Mr.  A.  G.  Ricaud  obtained  his  early  education  in 
the  Albermarle  High  School,  in  Olin  College,  and 
pursued  the  study  of  law  under  the  late  Governor 
D.  L.  Russell.  Upon  his  admission  to  the  bar  in 
January,  1879,  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
C4overnor  Russell,  and  they  were  associated  on 
terms  of  mutual  agreeability  and  profit  for  ten 
years.     For  a   time   his   partner  was   Solomon   C. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


33 


Weill.  Mr.  Eieaud  in  1898  moved,  to  New  York 
City,  and  during  the  ten  years  spent  there  had  a 
wide  and  varied  metropolitan  experience  as  a 
lawyer.  Since  1908  he  has  resumed  his  place  in 
the  bar  of  Wilmington,  and  handles  a  large  gen- 
eral practice. 

He  has  always  been  active  in  the  interests  of 
the  democratic"  party,  which  was  the  partisan 
faith  of  his  ancestors,  and  has  rendered  valuable 
service  to  his  home  municipality.  He  served  as 
mayor  of  Wilmington  from  1891  to  189o,  and  was 
also   an   alderman   for   two   years. 

On  September  11,  1900,  he  married  Mrs.  Marion 
M.  (Murrell)  Palfrey,  of  Louisville,  Kentucky. 

Ellis  H.  Spainhour,  M.  D.  Winston-Salem  has 
had  one  of  its  most  capable  physicians  and  sur- 
geons in  the  person  of  Doctor  Spainhour,  who  came 
to  this  city  during  the  calamitous  times  of  the 
smallpox  epidemic  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  years 
ago.  He  rendered  a  notable  service  at  the  time  in 
effectively  controlling  the  epidemic  and  has  ever 
since  been  advantageously  situated  as  a  physician 
and  as  a  public  spirited  citizen. 

Doctor  Spainhour  represents  one  of  the  very 
old  families  of  Western  North  Carolina.  He  is 
descended  from  one  of  two  brothers,  Avon  and 
Joseph,  who  were  pioneers  of  Stokes  County.  The 
name  at  different  times  was  spelled  in  different 
ways.  The  first  record  shows  that  John  Spoen- 
hauer  came  to  North  Carolina  in  1755.  In  the  first 
United  States  census  of  North  Carolina,  taken  in 
1790,  the  name  is  spelled  Spanehaur. 

Doctor  Spainhour  was  born  on  a  farm  in  old 
Richmond  Township  of  Forsyth  County,  North 
Carolina.  His  grandfather,  Solomon  Spainhour, 
was  a  native  of  Stokes  County  and  the  father, 
William  Windom  Spainhour,  was  born  near  Dalton 
in  Stokes  County.  Grandfather  Spainhour  kept  a 
stage  station  near  Dalton,  also  operated  a  farm, 
and  as  was  true  of  many  of  the  early  ssttlers 
operated  a  distillery.  He  married  a  Miss  Conrad, 
also  of  pioneer  stock.  Both  lived  to  a  good  old 
age.  They  reared  three  sons,  Theophilus,  William 
W.  and  Wesley,  and  daughters  named  Harriet  and 
Amelia.  Theophilus  settled  a  few  miles  from  the 
homestead  on  the  Little  Yadkin  River,  while  Wes- 
ley went  out  to  Iowa. 

William  W.  Spainhour  grew  up  on  the  old  farm 
in  Stokes  County,  acquired  knowledge  of  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  and  after  leaving  home  bought  land 
about  four  miles  from  his  father.  There  he 
engaged  in  general  farming,  but  with  his  brother 
Theophilus  he  also  owned  and  operated  a  custom 
flour  mill.  In  that  locality,  with  growing  honor 
and  prosperity,  he  lived  until  his  death  at  the 
advanced  age  of  seventy-nine.  He  married 
Pamelia  Grabbs.  She  was  born  at  Bethania,  then 
located  in  Stokes  County.  Her  father  was  John 
Grabbs  and  her  mother  a  Miss  Shore,  both  being 
of  early  German  ancestry.  Pamelia  Grabbs  had 
a  brother  Edwin  and  two  sisters,  Felicia  and 
Gelina.  Pamelia  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  W.  Spainhour  reared  nine  chil- 
dren: Eben  F.,  Ellen,  John  S.,  Edward  G., 
Seaton  B.,  Laura  F.,  William  W.,  Ellis  H.  and 
Alice  C,  the  last  two  being  twins. 

While  his  life  work  has  been  in  towns  and  con- 
nection with  professional  affairs,  Doctor  Spain- 
hour  grew  up  in  a  rural  atmosphere.  He  attended 
district  schools,  also  the  Dalton  Institute  and  the 
Pinnacle  Academy,  located  a  few  miles  from  Dal- 
ton,  and   on   seriously   beginning   the   preparation 


tor  medicine  he  entered  the  Baltimore  Medical 
College,  of  Baltimore,  Maryland.  Doctor  Spain- 
hour  satisfactorily  completed  his  course  anB  was 
given  his  degree  in  1898.  For  a  year  or  so  he 
practiced  at  Oldtown,  but  in  1900,  upon  the  break- 
ing out  of  smallpox  in  Winston,  he  came  to  this 
city  and  accepted  the  dangerous  and  difficult  posi- 
tion of  city  health  ofBcer.  The  duties  of  that 
position  having  been  satisfactorily  discharged  he 
remained  at  Winston  in  general  practice. 

He  is  a  man  of  broad  interests  and  generous 
sympathies.  He  is  affiliated  with  the  Forsyth 
County  Medical  Society,  the  North  Carolina  State 
Medical  Society,  the  Southern  Medical  Society  and 
the  American  Medical  Association.  He  also 
belongs  to  the  Sociological  Congress.  Fraternally 
he  is  a  member  of  Winston  Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  Salem  Lodge  No.  36, 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  Salem  Encamp- 
ment No  20,  of  the  Odd  Fellows,  and  Evangeline 
Rebekah  Lodge  No.  27. 

James  Orr  Cobb  is  one  of  the  most  progressive 
and  energetic  of  the  younger  business  element  at 
Winston-Salem,  where  he  is  officially  identified  with 
several  of  the  well-known  business  organizations. 

He  was  born  in  Greensboro,  North  Carolina,  Oc- 
tober 12,  1892,  a  son  of  James  S.  Cobb,  a  native 
of  Caswell  County  and  a  grandson  of  Henry  W. 
Cobls  Henry  W.  Cobb,  who  was  of  English  ances- 
try, had  a  plantation  in  Caswell  County  and  died 
there  in  the  prime  of  life,  leaving  his  son  James 
S.  and  four  other  sons  to  assist  the  widowed 
mother  in  the  management  of  the  farm.  James  S. 
Cobb  spent  his  early  life  on  the  plantation,  acquired 
a  good  business  education,  and  subsequently  re- 
moved to  Greensboro  to  engage  in  the  business 
of  buying  and  selling  leaf  tobacco.  That  busi- 
ness he  has  continued  to  the  present  time,  and 
now  has  charge  of  the  purchasing  department  of 
the  Liggett  Myers  Company  of  St.  Louis.  James 
S.  Cobb  married  Nannie  Orr,  who  was  born  in 
Caswell  County,  daughter  of  Ezekiel  and  Annie 
(Forrest)  Orr  of  Scotch  ancestry.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
James  S.  Cobb,  have  four  children:  James  Orr, 
Annie  Forrest,  Mary  Howard  and  John  B. 

A  liberal  education  preceded  Mr.  James  O. 
Cobb 's  entrance  into  business  affairs.  He  attended 
public  school  at  Greensboro,  Winston-Salem,  Rich- 
mond,  Virginia,  and  Durham,  North  Carolina,  and 
is  a  graduate  with  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  sci- 
ence from  Davidson  College.  Following  that  he 
took  postgraduate  courses  in  economics  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Cobb  located  at  Winston-Salem  in  the  fall 
of  191.3,  and  at  once  entered  the  real  estate  busi- 
ness. He  is  now  an  official  member  of  the  fol- 
lowing organizations:  President  of  the  Leake- 
Cobb  Company,  real  estate;  president  of  the  Serv- 
ice Insurance  Company;  president  of  the  Standard 
Improvement  Company  of  Winston-Salem;  vice 
president  of  the  Citizens  Building  and  Loan  Asso- 
ciation; president  of  the  Corner  Building  Com- 
pany; president  of  the  Home  Agency  Company  of 
Durham ;  vice  president  of  the  Jas.  T.  Catlin  &  Sou 
Co.  of  Danville,  Virginia;  vice  president  of  Bar- 
ber &  Cobb,  Inc.,  Winston-Salem ;  and  president 
of  the  Mecklenburg  Spring  Company  of  Mecklen- 
burg County,  Virginia.  Mr.  Cobb  is  also  well 
known  in  social  and  club  life  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Twin  City  Club  and  the  Forsyth  Country  Club. 
In  1918  Mr.  Cobb  expects  to  enter  the  army. 


34 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Hon.  John  Henry  Clement  of  Mocksville  was 
bom  on  a  farm  four  miles  from  that  town  in 
Davie  County  October  1,  1828.  While  now  suffer- 
ing the  infirmities  of  old  age,  he  deserves  a  tribute 
as  one  who  played  a  prominent  part  in  his  active 
career. 

His  father,  Godfrey  Clement,  was  a  native  of 
the  same  locality  and  his  grandfather,  Henry  Clem- 
ent, was  born  in  Germany  and  was  one  of  three 
brothers  to  come  to  America.  Henry  Clement 
bought  land  a  mile  south  of  the  present  site  of 
Mocksville,  and  was  an  extensive  planter  with  the 
aid  of  slaves  until  his  death.  He  reared  four  sons 
named  John,  Henry,  Godfrey  and  Jesse,  and  two 
daughters,  Polly  and  Sallie.  Godfrey  Clement 
spent  his  life  as  a  farmer  in  what  is  now  David 
County,  and  died  about  1831,  when  John  H.  was 
three  years  of  age.  The  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Elizabeth  Brown,  survived  her  husband 
only  a  few  years. 

John  H.  Clement  attended  the  rural  schools 
during  his  youth  and  ill  health  compelled  him  to 
forego  the  privileges  of  a  college  education.  In 
May,  1862,  he  went  into  the  Confederate  army  as 
a  member  of  Company  F,  Forty-second  North 
Carolina  troops,  and  was  with  that  regiment  in  its 
many  battles  in  Virginia  until  the  close  of  the 
war.  Mr.  Clement  reached  home  on  May  10,  1865, 
and  then  lived  on  the  old  homestead  farm  until 
his  marriage  to  Mary  Emily  Foster,  daughter  of 
Berry  and  Emily  Foster.  Mrs.  Clement  died  in 
November,  1915.  She  was  the  mother  of  six  chU- 
dren,  Mary,  John  H.,  Foster,  Abram,  Fred  and 
Sarah. 

Mr.  Clement  was  for  many  years  prominent  in 
public  affairs.  He  represented  his  party  in  the 
Legislature  in  1866-67  and  in  the  Senate  in  1876-77. 
He  has  also  served  as  a  county  commissioner.  He 
and  his  wife  long  had  an  active  part  in  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  South.  . 

Joseph  "Wallace  Little.  A  large  fund  of 
sound  natural  ability  plus  a  very  energetic  appli- 
cation to  his  preliminary  work  brought  Joseph 
Wallace  Little  to  membership  in  the  North  Caro- 
lina bar  before  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  February,  1907, 
and  his  twenty-first  birthday  was  April  30  of 
the  same  year.  His  early  education  was  received 
in  the  public  schools  and  the  North  Carolina 
Military  Academy  at  Red  Springs,  and  also  a 
business  college  course  at  Richmond,  Virginia.  He 
earned  his  own  living  while  studying  the  law 
privately,  being  employed  as  a  stenograi)her,  ami 
thus  be  brought  to  his  jiractice  a  thorough  train- 
ing in  self  reliance.  In  the  past  ten  years  he  has 
come  to  a  very  secure  position  as  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  bar  of  Wilmington,  and  has  also 
formed  some  important  Ijusiness  relations. 

Mr.  Little  was  born  in  Mecklenburg  County, 
North  Carolina,  a  son  of  Junius  Warren  and  Eliza- 
beth S.  (McKenzie)  Little.  His  father  was  a 
farmer,  and  the  son  spent  his  early  years  at  the 
old  homestead. 

Mr.  Little  is  now  vice  president  of  the  Home 
Savings  Bank  of  Wilmington,  president  of  the 
Wilmington  Printing  Company,  president  of  the 
Pythian  Castle  Hall  Corporation,  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Progressive  Building  &  Loan 
Association.  He  is  also  prominent  in  politics, 
having  served  as  chairman  of  the  New  Hanover 
County  Democratic  Committee  and  as  a  member 
of  the  State  Democratic  Committee,  and  in   1916 


was  candidate  for  Congress  from  tlie  Sixth  Con- 
gressional  District. 

He  is  the  New  Hanover  County  chairman  of  the 
National  War  Savings  Committee,  a  member  of 
the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association,  the  American 
Bar  Association,  the  Cape  Fear  Club,  the  Cape 
Fear  Country  Club,  the  Carolina  Yacht  Club,  and 
fraternally  is  identified  with  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  the  Junior  Order  of  United  American 
Mechanics,  the  Woodmen  of  the  World,  the  Royal 
Arcanum.  He  is  a  deacon  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church. 

November  16,  1909,  Mr.  Little  married  Miss 
Grace  Creelman  Turlington,  of  Wilmington.  She 
is  a  daughter  of  William  H.  and  Grace  (Creel- 
man)  Turlington.  Her  father  was  a  Wilmington 
merchant. 

Thomas  Maslin  has  been  a  resident  of  Winston- 
Salem  since  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and 
has  become  an  im,portant  factor  in  financial  circles, 
being  now  president  of  the  Merchants  National 
Bank  of  that  city. 

He  has  a  very  interesting  ancestral  line  and  is 
himself  a  native  of  the  City  of  Baltimore,  Mary- 
land. His  ancestors  originally  lived  in  Belgium, 
where  they  spelled  the  name  Malines.  They  were 
Protestants,  of  the  Huguenot  class,  and  on  account 
of  religious  persecution  tied  from  Belgium,  went  to 
Dieppe,  France,  and  from  there  emigrated  to 
England.  Stephen  Malines  was  for  forty-nine 
years  at  the  head  of  the  Queen's  customs  and  his 
son  Victor  was  also  in  the  customs  service.  The 
founder  of  the  family  in  America  was  Mr.  Maslin 's 
great-grandfather,  who  was  probably  born  in 
England  and  came  to  America  in  colonial  times, 
locating  in  Virginia.  He  was  a  planter,  and  spent 
most  of  his  life  at  Gerardstown  in  what  is  now 
West  Virginia.  Hon.  Thomas  Maslin,  grandfather 
of  the  Winston-Salem  banker,  was  born  at  Gerards- 
town, and  subsequently  located  at  ffioorefield  in 
what  is  now  West  Virginia,  becoming  a  successful 
breeder  of  cattle,  which  he  fattened  for  the  for- 
eign markets.  He  was  in  that  business  long  before 
railroads  became  the  favorite  method  of  trans- 
portation, and  he  drove  many  herds  of  his  fat 
stock  across  the  mountains  and  over  the  high- 
ways to  market  at  Philadelphia,  from  which  port 
they  were  shipped  to  Liverpool.  He  was  also  a 
man  of  prominence  in  the  public  eye,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  Virginia  convention  which  passed 
the  ordinance  of  secession  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  His  death  occurred  at  Moorefield  at  the  age 
of  seventy.  His  wife  was  Catherine  Seymour,  of 
English  ancestry  and  the  descendant  of  Jane 
Seymour.  She  died  at  the  age  of  sixty  years,  hav- 
ing reared  nine  children :  William  H.,  James  M., 
Jennie  R.,  Thomas,  George  C,  Julia,  Ella,  Lelia 
and  Sadie. 

William  Hanson  Maslin,  father  of  Thomas 
Maslin,  was  born  in  Moorefield,  West  Virginia, 
November  21,  1842.  He  was  educated  in  Moore- 
field Academy,  but  left  at  the  age  of  nineteen  to 
enlist  in  the  Confederate  army.  He  was  a  loyal 
and  hard  fighting  soldier  until  the  close  of  the  war, 
and  then  went  to  Cliillicothe,  Ohio,  where  he  had 
the  advantages  of  higher  studies  in  an  academy 
and  while  there  made  his  home  with  Thomas 
Woodrow.  After  completing  his  education  he 
engaged  in  the  wholesale  dry  goods  business  as 
member  of  the  firm  of  Henry,  Maslin  &  Company 
of  Baltimore,  Maryland.  His  career  was  success- 
ful though   brief,   and  his  death   occurred  at  the 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


35 


age  of  thirty-eight.  He  married  Alice  Virginia 
MeCouky,  who  was  boru  at  Baltimore,  daughter  of 
James  M.  MeOonky.  She  is  now  living  at  Winston- 
Salem,  the  mother  of  three  children:  Thomas, 
Edna  G.  and  William  Hanson,  Jr. 

Thomas  Masliu  made  the  most  of  his  early 
opportunities  to  obtain  an  education,  attending 
the  public  schools  of  Baltimore  and  also  the  Balti- 
more City  College.  He  was  just  twenty-one  years 
of  age  when  he  came  to  Winston-Salem  and  imme- 
diately accepted  the  position  of  bookkeeper  in  the 
Wachovia  Loan  and  Trust  Company.  He  gained  a 
thorough  and  fundamental  knowledge  of  banking 
with  that  company  and  was  one  of  its  trusted 
employes  until  1910,  when  he  resigned  and  put  his 
experience  and  his  self  confidence  to  test  in  the 
organization  of  the  Merchants  National  Bank, 
which  is  now  one  of  the  strongest  and  best  known 
financial  institutions  of  Forsyth  County.  From 
its  organization  Mr.  Maslin  has  served  as  vice 
president  and  cashier,  and  is  now  president. 

He  was  married  in  September,  1906,  to  Miss 
Martha  Murfree  Maney.  Mrs.  Maslin  was  born  in 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  H. 
and  Ida  (Morris)  Maney.  The  four  daughters 
born  to  their  union  are  named  Martha  Maney, 
Anne  Rhea,  Virginia  G.  and  Cornelia.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Maslin  are  members  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church. 

Charles  S.  Lawrence,  M.  D.  During  his  pro- 
fessional experience  in  Winston-Salem,  which 
covers  a  period  of  seven  years.  Doctor  Lawrence 
has  been  best  known  by  his  exceptional  skill  as  a 
surgeon.  He  brought  to  his  profession  a  thorough 
training  acquired  both  in  this  country  and  abroad, 
and  he  took  up  the  study  of  medicine  after  a  long 
and  varied  service  in  the  United  States  Regular 
Army  and  its  medical  corps. 

Doctor  Lawrence  is  a  native  of  Quaker  Gap 
Township,  Stokes  County,  North  Carolina.  Hia 
grandfather,  James  Lawrence,  was  born  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  on  coming  to  North  Carolina  located  in 
Quaker  Gap  Township,  where  he  followed  farming 
until  his  death.  William  A.  Lawrence,  father  of 
Doctor  Lawrence,  was  born  on  a  plantation  in 
Stokes  County,  grew  up  on  a  farm  and  after  reach- 
ing manhood  bought  a  place  near  the  old  home. 
He  lived  there  until  1885,  when  he  removed  to 
Eldora  Township  in  Surry  County  and  again 
bought  land  and  continued  its  operation  as  a 
farmer  until  his  death  in  1914,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
four.  He  married  Matilda  Cliristian,  who  was 
born  in  Stokes  County,  North  Carolina,  daughter 
of  Charles  and  Matilda  (Page)  Christian.  Mrs. 
William  Lawrence  is  still  living  in  Surry  County. 
Her  family  consisted  of  five  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter: Robert,  James,  Charles  S.,  Willis  F.,  Hartie 
and  Luther. 

Doctor  Lawrence  was  educated  in  the  rural 
schools  of  Surry  County  and  in  Siloam  Academy  in 
the  same  county.  His  first  important  experience, 
and  one  which  gave  him  a  large  knowledge  of  the 
world,  came  in  1897  when  he  enlisted  in  the  Fifth 
Regiment,  United  States  Artillery.  He  was  with 
that  regiment  for  three  years,  and  during  that 
time  the  Spanish-American  war  occurred  and  the 
Philippine  insurrection.  He  spent  two  years  in 
the  Philippines,  and  also  went  with  the  United 
States  Army  to  China  and  took  part  in  the  Allied 
expedition  to  put  down  the  Boxer  uprising.  After 
his  honorable  discharge  from  the  regular  service 
he    enlisted    in    the    Medical    Department    of    the 


army,  and  that  experience  opened  up  to  him  his 
permanent  vocation. 

On  leaving  the  army  Doctor  Lawrence  entered 
the  medical  department  of  the  George  Washington 
University  of  Washington,  D.  C,  where  he  was 
graduated  M.  D.  in  1908.  Returning  to  his  native 
state,  he  practiced  two  and  a  half  years  at  Mount 
Airy  and  then  came  to  Winston-Salem,  where  he 
has  specialized  in  surgery.  Several  post-gradu- 
ate courses  have  enlarged  his  view  and  knowledge, 
and  in  1914  he  went  abroad  and  visited  clinics  in 
the  leading  hospitals  of  European  cities.  H*  re- 
turned to  this  country  at  about  the  outbreak  of 
the  European  war. 

Doctor  Lawrence  was  married  in  1909  to  Alice 
George,  a  native  of  Stokes  County  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  W.  and  Margaret  (Hatcher)  George. 
Doctor  Lawrence  is  a  member  of  the  Forsyth 
County  and  the  North  Carolina  State  Medical 
.societies  and  the  American  Medical  Association. 
Fraternally  he  is  affiliated  with  Winston  Lodge  No 
167,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  Winston 
Chapter  No.  24,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  Piedmont 
Commandery  No.  6,  Knights  Templar,  and  Oasis 
Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine  at  Charlotte.  In  his 
home  city  he  is  a  member  of  the  Twin  City  and 
the  Forsyth  Country  Club. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Germany  Doctor  Lawrence  was  com- 
missioned captain  in  the  Medical  Reserve  Corps 
and  was  assigned  to  duty  as  captain  in  the  Red 
Cross  Ambulance  Company  No.  31,  a  volunteer  unit 
organized  by  the  Red  Cross  Chapter  at  Greens- 
boro, North  Carolina.  Its  members  are  composed 
of  young  men  in  this  section  of  the  state.  Later 
the  company  was  assigned  to  the  National  Army 
and  the  number  changed  to  No.  321. 

Waverly  Blackwood  Strachan  of  Salisbury 
has  had  a  long  and  successful  experience  in  rail- 
roading, real  estate  and  banking  affairs.  For  the 
past  eight  years  he  has  been  cashier  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Salisbury  and  is  well  known 
among  North  Carolina  bankers. 

He  was  born  at  Snow  Hill  in  Greene  County, 
North  Carolina,  and  of  old  and  prominent  Virginia 
ancestry  on  both  sides.  His  father,  Dr.  Joseph  B. 
Strachan,  was  born  in  Petersburg,  Virginia,  was 
educated  in  Lexington  Military  Institute  and  took 
his  medical  course  in  Jefferson  Medical  College  at 
Philadelphia,  from  which  he  graduated.  He  began 
practice  at  Snow  Hill,  North  Carolina,  afterwards 
moved  to  Johnston  County,  and  from  there  to 
Princeton,  where  he  practiced  for  many  years  and 
where  he  died  in  1910.  Doctor  Strachan  married 
Minnie  Ruffin,  who  is  still  living  at  Princeton, 
North  Carolina,  and  she  is  a  member  of  the  dis- 
tinguished family  of  Ruffin  which  was  represented 
by  her  remote  ancestor,  William  RuflSn,  in  Isle  of 
Wight  County,  Virginia,  as  early  as  1666.  Robert 
Ruffin,  Sr.,  a  son  of  this  Virginian,  was  the  pioneer 
founder  of  the  Ruffin  name  in  Surry  County,  North 
Carolina.  From  Robert  Ruffin,  Sr.,  to  Mrs.  Doctor 
Strachan  the  line  of  descent  is  through  the  fol- 
lowing: Robert  and  Elizabeth  Watkins  RuiJin,  Col. 
John  and  Polly  (H.awkins)  Ruffin,  Thomas  and 
Susan  (Harris)  Ruffin,  and  Thomas  and  Maria 
(Wilson)  Ruffin,  the  latter  being  the  parents  of 
Mrs.  Doctor  Strachan.  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Strachan 
had  one  son  and  two  daughters,  Hattie  and  Min- 
nie. Hattie  is  the  wife  of  J.  H.  Herbert  of  Rooky 
Mount,  North  Carolina,  and  Minnie  is  the  wife 
of  Paul  C.  Duncan  of  Clayton,  this  state. 


36 


HISTOKY  OF  NORTH   CAROLINA 


Waverly  B.  Strachan  besides  the  early  advantages 
obtained  "at  his  father's  home  was  a  student  under 
a  noted  educator.  Prof.  Alphonso  Smith,  principal 
of  the  high  school  at  Selma.  Alabama.  As  a  boy 
he  learned  telegraphy  and  his  first  regular  em- 
ployment was  with  the  old  Richmond  and  Danville 
Railway  as  telegraph  operator.  He  remained  with 
that  road  when  it  was  taken  over  by  the  Southern 
Railwav  Company  and  was  continuously  faithful 
and  efficient  in  "its  service  until  1901.  During 
that  time  he  served  as  station  agent  at  Salisbury 
and  was  also  traveling  auditor  and  in  the  law 
ilepartment.  He  finally  resigned  his  position  to 
take  up  real  estate  and  insurance  and  in  1910 
was  elected  to  his  present  responsibilities  as  cashier 
of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Salisbury. 

Mr.  Strachan  served  four  years  as  a  member 
of  the  board  of  aldermen  and  during  that  tinie 
was  chairman  of  the  finance  committee.  He  is 
affiliated  with  Andrew  Jackson  Lodge,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons;  Salisbury  Chapter, 
Royal  Arch  Masons;  Salisbury  Commandery  No. 
i:<,"  Knights  Temjilar.  Mrs.  Strachan  is  an  active 
member  of  the  Salisbury  Presbyterian  Church. 
Mr.  Strachan  married  in  1901  Miss  Henrietta  Mc- 
Neelev,  who  was  born  at  Salisbury,  daughter  of 
Julius  and  Henrietta  (Hall)  McNeeley.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Strachan  have  one  daughter,  Mildred. 

Juxius  D.\xiEL  Grimes.  Seemingly  designed 
by  nature  for  the  law  and  in  his  preparation  and 
early  practice  enjoying  unusual  advantages  and 
opi)ortunities,  Junius  D.  Grimes,  one  of  the  able 
members  of  the  Washington  bar,  has  in  his  pro- 
fessional capacity  won  a  solid  reputation. 

Mr.  Grimes  was  born  at  Grimesland,  North  Caro- 
lina, October  31, 1878,  a  son  of  Bryan  and  Charlotte 
E.  (Bryan)  Grimes.  Mr.  Grimes  received  part 
of  his  "early  training  in  a  private  school  at  Ra- 
leigh, and  in  1899  graduated  A.  B.  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina.  He  took  his  law 
course  in  the  law  school  at  Georgetown,  District 
of  Columbia,  receiving  his  LL.  B.  degree  iu  1902. 
Admitted  to  the  bar  the  same  year,  he  began 
practice  at  Washington  and  since  190.5  has  been 
member  of  the  well  known  firm  of  Ward  &  Grimes. 
Mr.  Grimes  served  for  several  years  as  city  at- 
torney of  Washington,  and  has  shown  great  ability 
in  handling  the  increasing  complexities  of  an  im- 
portant practice. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  school  board,  a  trustee 
of  the  State  Normal  School  at  Greensboro,  a  di- 
rector of  the  Savings  &  Trust  Company  of  Wash- 
ington, trustee  of  the  W^ashington  Tobacco 
Warehouse  Association  and  a  director  of  the 
Washington  Cotton  Storehouse  Association.  He 
belongs  to  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association. 

September  27,  1904,  Mr.  Grimes  married  Miss 
Ida  K.  Wharton,  of  Clemmons,  Forsyth  County, 
North  Carolina,  daughter  of  Albert  C.  and  Eliza 
A.  (Hill)  Wharton.  Her  father  was  a  farmer. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grimes  have  four  children:  Bryan, 
Eliza  Hill,  Charlotte  Emily  and  Junius  Daniel, 
Jr. 

WiLLUM  A.  Lemly  was  for  over  forty  years 
one  of  the  active  figures  in  banking  circles  at  old 
Salem  and  in  Winston-Salem.  He  became  a 
banker  almost  as  soon  as  the  war  closed,  in 
which  he  had  played  a  gallant  part  as  a  boy 
soldier.  Mr.  Lemlv  is  now  enjoying  a  vigorous  old 
age,  and  has  many  interests  and  associations 
with  his  home  city. 


He  represents  that  sturdj-  Moravian  stock  which 
so  largely  populated  and  developed  Western  North 
Carolina  in  early  times.    Mr.  Lemly  was  born  on  a 
farm    near    Bethania,    North    Carolina,   a    son    of 
Henry  A.  Lemly,  who  was  born  at  Salisbury,  North 
Carolina,  in  1812,  a  son  of  Samuel  Lemly.     Samuel 
Lemly  was  for  many  years  a  merchant  at  Salis- 
bury, but  subsequently  moved  to  Jackson,  Missis- 
sippi, where  he  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Elizabeth  Furr,  spent  their  last  years.    Henry 
A.   Lemly  was  reared  and  educated  in   Salisbury, 
and  also  became  a  merchant.     When  a  young  man 
he   moved   to   Bethania,   married   there,   and   soon 
located   on   his   father-in-law's   farm.     This  place 
he    operated   with   the    aid    of   slaves    for   several 
years,  but  eventually  removed  to  Salem  in   order 
to   give   his   children   the   advantages   of   the   fine 
schools  of  that  town.    In  Salem  he  passed  his  later 
years  and   died   at  the  age   of  seventy-four.     He 
married    Amanda    Conrad,    who    was    born    near 
Bethania.     Her  father,  Jacob  Conrad,  a  native  of 
Berks  County,  Pennsylvania,  came  to  North  Caro- 
lina with  three  brothers,  Isaac,  John  and  Abraham. 
Jacob  and   Abraham   located  near  Bethania,  while 
Isaac  and  John  found  homes  in  the  Yadkin  River 
Valley  in  what  is  now  Yadkin  County.    Besides  the 
farm  "near  Bethania  which  he  developed  and  owned 
.lacob    Conrad    also    had     a     store.      He   married 
Elizabeth  Lash.     Her  father.  Christian  Lash,  was 
born  near  Bethania  and,  according  to  the  family 
record,   was  a  son  of  Jacob   Loesch,  whose  name 
figures    prominently    in    the    early    history    of    the 
Moravian  colony,  of  which  he  was  business  man- 
ager  for  many  years.      The   Conrads  and   Lashes 
were  all  active  Moravians.     Mrs.  Henry  A.  Lemly, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-four,  reared  six  chil- 
dren:    Elizabeth,  Laura,  Ithiel  T.,  Henry  R.,  Wil- 
liam A.  and  Samuel  C.     Several  of  the  sons  had 
distinguished  careers.    Henry  was  for  twenty  years 
in  the  regular  army,  finally  retiring  with  the  rank 
of  captain  and  is  "now  a  resident  of  Washington, 
District  of  Columbia.     Samuel  C.  was  Judge  Advo- 
cate General  of  the  United  States  Na^•y  for  twelve 
years,   and  is  now   deceased.     Ithiel   is   a  farmer 
near  Asheville. 

Mr.  William  A.  Lemly  was  educated  in  the  Boys ' 
School  at  Salem,  but  at  the  age  of  seventeen  gave 
up  his  studies  to  enter  the  Confederate  army  as  a 
musician  in  the  Twenty-sixth  Regiment.  North 
Carolina  troops.  Going  to  the  front,  he  joined  the 
army  of  Northern  Virginia  and  was  with  his  com- 
mand through  all  its  service  until  in  the  early  days 
of  April,  1865,  he  was  captured  by  the  enemy  near 
Petersburg.  Taken  to  Point  Lookout,  Maryland, 
he  remained  a  prisoner  of  war  until  the  following 
June,  when  he  was  released  and  returned  home. 

With  the  organization  of  the  First  National 
Bank  at  Salem  toward  the  close  of  the  year  1865 
this  young  soldier,  then  in  his  nineteenth  year,  was 
elected  cashier.  With  fidelity  and  untiring 
industry  he  performed  the  duties  of  this  position 
for  thirteen  years.  Upon  the  death  of  his  uncle, 
Israel  G.  Lash,  president  of  the  bank,  its  affairs 
were  wound  up.  The  First  National  Bank  was 
followed  bv  the  immediate  organization  of  the 
Wax-hovia  Bank,  and  in  this  new  institution  Mr. 
Lemly  again  assumed  the  responsibilities  of 
cashier.  With  the  death  of  the  bank's  president 
Wyatt  F.  Bovrman,  Mr.  Lemly  was  elected  his  suc- 
cessor, and  he  continued  to  give  his  service  to  the 
executive  management  of  this  institution  until  ill 
health  finally  compelled  him  to  resign.     For  forty- 


.    w  L^-i^    ^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


37 


two  years  lie  liad  been  continuous!}'  identitied  with 
banking,  and  as  much  as  any  other  man  he  was 
responsible  for  the  strength  and  integrity  of  the 
great  bank  of  which  he  was  president. 

Since  he  gave  up  the  work  which  had  employed 
him  for  so  many  years  and  which  brought  his 
breakdown  in  health,  Mr.  Lemly  has  completely 
recovered  his  strength  and  vigor,  and  now  employs 
his  time  in  looking  after  his  private  affairs.  He 
has  interests  in  several  industrial  corporations,  and 
also  owns  much  farming  land.  He  is  one  of  the 
esteemed  members  of  the  Twin  City  Club  and  the 
Forsyth  Country  Club  and  he  and  his  wife  belong 
to  the  Home  Moravian  Church. 

He  tirst  married,  in  1874,  Bertha  C.  Belo,  a 
native  of  Salem  and  a  daughter  of  Edward  and 
Carolina  Amanda  (Pries)  Belo.  Mrs.  Lemly  died 
in  1883.  In  1884  he  married  Emily  Louisa  de 
Schweinitz,  also  a  native  of  Salem,  and  daughter 
of  Emil  Adolphus  and  Sophia  Amelia  (Hermann) 
de  Schweinitz. 

Mr.  Lemly  has  two  sons,  William  B.  and 
Frederick  H.  William  B.  is  now  serving  with  the 
rank  of  lieutenant  colonel  in  the  United  States 
Marine  Corps,  and  by  his  marriage  to  Adelaide 
von  Windegger,  of  St.  Louis,  who  died  in  1916,  he 
has  two  sons,  William  C.  and  Frederick  Von 
Windegger.  The  second  son,  Frederick  H.,  gave 
five  years  of  service  in  the  United  States  Navy, 
was  promoted  to  paymaster,  but  resigned  and 
returned  home  to  assist  his  father  during  the  lat- 
ter 's  ill  health.  He  was  an  active  farmer  in  the 
spring  of  1917,  in  Charles  County,  Maryland.  He 
joined  the  reserves  and  is  now  assistant  paymaster 
on  the  Von  Stuben.  Both  sons  are  now  in  France. 
The  older  son,  William  B.,  was  in  the  Quarter- 
master Department  in  the  Philippines  and  was 
wounded  at  Teusems.  He  was  all  through  the  cam- 
paign during  the  Boxer  uprising  in  China.  Mr. 
William  A.  Lemly 's  brother,  Samuel  C,  was  with 
Schley  during  his  expedition  in  the  North. 

James  B.  Whittington,  M.  D.,  received  a  long 
and  careful  preparation  for  his  chosen  profession, 
and  is  now  successfully  identified  with  his  calling 
at  Winston-Salem. 

Doctor  Whittington  was  born  in  the  Town  of 
East  Bend  in  Yadkin  County,  North  Carolina,  a 
son  of  James  Madison  and  Bettie  (Benbow)  Whit- 
tington. Further  reference  to  the  family  history 
is  made  on  other  pages,  but  it  should  be  noted 
that  in  the  maternal  line  Doctor  Whittington  is  a 
grandson  of  Dr.  Evan  and  Bettie  Benbow,  great- 
grandson  of  Thomas  and  Ann  (Mendenhall)  Ben- 
bow, while  Thomas  Benbow  was  a  son  of  Thomas 
and  Anna  (Stanley)  Benbow  and  a  grandson  of 
Charles  and  Mary  (Colver)  Benbow,  all  consti- 
tuting one  of  the  notable  families  of  North  Caro- 
lina. 

Doctor  Whittington  attended  school  in  his  home 
vicinity  of  East  Bend,  also  in  the  Salem  Boys ' 
School,  and  took  the  literary  course  of  Guilford 
College.  He  studied  pharmacy  in  the  University 
of  North  Carolina,  and  in  1911  finished  his  course 
and  received  the  M.  D.  degree  from  the  North 
Carolina  Medical  College.  Before  taking  up  active 
Ijractice  lie  spent  two  years  as  an  interne  in  the 
Sheltering  Arms  Hospital  at  Charleston,  West 
Virginia,  and  then  located  at  Winston-Salem, 
where  he  has  rapidly  attained  a  reputation  among 
the  leading  practitioners.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Forsyth  County  and  North  Carolina  State  Medical 
societies  and  the  American  Medical  Association, 


Doctor  Whittington  married  in  1914  Lisa  Madi- 
son Shepherd.  She  was  born  at  Orange,  Virginia, 
and  is  a  grandnieee  of  President  James  Madison. 
Doctor  Whittington  is  affiliated  with  Salem  Lodge 
No.  289,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  Win- 
ston Chapter  No.  24,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  Pied- 
mont Commandery  No.  6,  Knights  Templar,  and 
also  Salem  Lodge  No.  56,  Knights  of  Pythias  and 
the  East  Bend  Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows. 

.John'  S.  McKee,  M.  D.,  took  his  degree  in 
medicine  from  the  medical  department  of  the  Uui- 
\ersity  of  Maryland  in  1907.  Pfe  spent  one  year  in 
hospital  work  there  and  since  his  return  to  his 
native  City  of  Raleigh  has  been  in  active  general 
practice.  In  1913  he  was  appointed  city  physician 
and  since  1914  has  been  physician  to  the  Confed- 
erate Soldiers'  Home  and  St.  Luke's  Hospital. 
He  is  also  ^siting  physician  to  the  Rex  Hospital 
and  physician  to  the  Carolina  Power  and  Light 
Company. 

His  early  training  was  of  the  best,  his  associa- 
tions since  beginning  practice  have  been  with  those 
institutions  and  organizations  that  are  among  the 
most  prominent  in  the  state  and  city,  and  on  these 
grounds  and  in  the  general  esteem  of  his  fellow 
jiractitioners  he  is  one  of  the  leaders  of  his  pro- 
fession today. 

He  was  born  July  16,  1878,  a  son  of  Dr.  James 
McKee.  His  early  education  was  acquired  in  the 
Raleigh  Male  Academy,  in  the  Horner  Military 
Academy,  in  the  Fayetteville  Military  Academy, 
and  in  the  literary  department  of  the  University 
of  North  Carolina.  After  his  university  course 
he  entered  the  medical  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Maryland.  He  is  now  a  member  of 
the  Raleigh  Academy  of  Medicine  and  the  North 
Carolina  Medical  Society,  belongs  to  the  Raleigh 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  Country  Club,  the 
.lunior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics  and 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  the 
Young  Men 's  Christian  Association.  Doctor  Mc- 
Kee married  Miss  Elizabeth  Dudley  Purnell  of 
Raleigh.     They  have  one  son,  John  S.,  Jr. 

William  Hyman  Ellison  is  one  of  the  men 
who  have  supplied  much  of  the  energy  and  busi- 
ness judgment  to  the  prospering  commercial  affairs 
of  Washington  in  recent  years.  He  is  the  execu- 
tive manager  of  a  wholesale  grocery  house,  has 
various  other  business  interests,  and  has  taken  a 
public  spirited  part  in  local  affairs. 

Mr.  Ellison  was  born  at  Washington,  North 
Carolina,  December  24,  1882,  a  son  of  Charles 
Franklin  and  Emma  (Rosenthal)  Ellison.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  near  Washington  and  when 
William  H.  was  eleven  years  of  age  the  family 
moveil  to  Kinston.  The  latter  attended  private 
schools,  later  the  public  schools,  and  for  two  years 
had  instruction  in  business  courses  under  Prof. 
R.  H.  Lewis.  Some  of  his  preliminary  business 
experience  was  with  a  manufacturing  concern  at 
Baltimore,  Maryland,  and  on  returning  to  Wash- 
ington, his  birtliplaee,  he  was  bookkeeper  for  the 
Old  Dominion  Steamship  Company,  later  with  a 
wholesale  hardware  house,  and  in  1907  organized 
tlie  Ellison  Brothers  Company,  wholesale  grocers. 
This  is  now  a  leading  enterprise  of  the  kind  and 
has  business  connections  all  over  the  eastern  half 
of  the  state.  Mr.  Allison  is  secretary,  treasurer 
aiul  manager  of  the  corporation,  and  is  also  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  of  the  Pamlico  Brick  and  Tile 
Company.     He  is  chairman  of  the  Township  Road 


38 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Committee  and  vice  president  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  and  is  past  exalted  ruler  of  the  local 
lodge  of  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 
On  March  30,  1909,  Mr.  Ellison  marrieil  Mary 
M.  Blount,  daughter  of  tlie  late  Dr.  William  A. 
Blount,  of  Washington.  They  are  the  parents  of 
four  children:  William  Blount,  John  Gray,  Hyman 
and  Catherine  Masters. 

Hon.  Garland  E.  Webb  has  been  a  business  man 
and  resident  of  Winston-Salem  for  a  long  period 
of  years.  He  has  formed  many  prominent  and  in- 
fluential business  associations,  and  in  one  way  or 
another  has  done  much  to  promote  the  betterment 
and  general  improvement  of  his  home  city. 

A  native  of  North  Carolina,  he  vpas  born  in 
Mangum  Township  in  that  portion  of  Orange 
County  that  i.s  now  Durham  County.  His  grand- 
father was  at  one  time  in  the  .iewelry  business  in 
the  City  of  Washington  and  later  at  Baltimore, 
where  he  died  The  grandmotlier 's  maiden  name 
was  Elizabeth  Desreaux.  She  was  born  on  the 
Island  of  San  Domingo.  Her  father,  a  Frenchman, 
had  an  extensive  plantation  there  but  was  driven 
out  as  a  result  of  one  of  the  periodical  insurrec- 
tions which  have  marked  and  stained  the  history  of 
that  island  for  centuries.  Coming  to  the  United 
States,  he  located  in  Baltimore,  where  he  spent  his 
last  years.  Mr.  Webb  's  grandmother  married  for 
her  second  husband  Mr.  Louizo,  and  she  spent  her 
last  years  in  Baltimore. 

Col.  Robert  Fulton  Webb,  father  of  Mr. 
Webb,  was  born  in  Washington,  District  of  Colum- 
bia, in  1826,  was  liberally  educated  in  the  schools 
of  that  city  and  in  Baltimore,  and  when  twenty- 
two  years  of  age  he  formed  the  acquaintance  in 
Baltimore  of  Rev.  Mr.  McMannen,  of  Orange 
County,  North  Carolina.  Rev.  Mr.  McMannen  in 
addition  to  his  duties  as  a  local  preacher  was  a 
manufacturer  of  furniture  and  also  published  a 
religious  chart.  Colonel  Webb  became  associated 
in  this  business  and  that  was  what  brought  him 
to  North  Carolina.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexi- 
can war  he  resigned  his  business  connections  and 
enlisted  in  the  First  Regiment  of  North  Carolina 
Troops.  He  was  commissioned  lieutenant  of  his 
company,  went  with  the  regiment  to  Mexico,  and 
saw  an  extended  service  in  that  country  until  the 
close  of  hostilities.  Coming  back  to  North  Caro- 
lina he  again  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  furni- 
ture and  was  also  a  farmer  at  Flat  River.  After 
about  a  dozen  years  of  this  quiet  vocation  the  war 
broke  out  between  the  states.  He  immediately 
raised  a  company  known  as  the  Flat  River  Guards. 
He  recruited  and  organized  this  company  on  the 
site  now  occupied  by  the  railroad  shops  at  the 
Town  of  Burlington  in  Alamance  County.  The 
youngest  member  of  this  organization,  and  by 
virtue  of  that  service  the  youngest  soldier  either 
on  the  northern  or  southern  sides  in  the  war  was 
Garland  E.  Webb.  The  latter  was  then  seven  years 
old.  Wlien  his  father  raised  the  company  the  boy 
enlisted  as  a  drummer  and  during  the  rallying  of 
the  recruits  he  urged  them  to  patriotic  fervor  by 
the  rattling  of  his  drum.  He  also  went  to  the  site 
of  the  railroad  shops  and  beat  the  drum  during 
the  roll  call  while  the  regiment  was  being  organ- 
ized. That  constituted  his  military  experience,  his 
services  not  being  required  after  that. 

The  Flat  River  Guards  were  attached  to  the 
Sixth  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops,  and 
designated  as  Company  B.     Robert  Fulton  Webb 


was  commissioned  captain  of  the  company  on 
May  16,  1861,  and  was  promoted  to  major  July 
11th,  of  the  same  year.  Subsequently  he  became 
lieutenant  colonel  in  the  regiment.  He  was  with 
his  command  in  all  its  movements  back  and  forth 
over  the  Confederacy  and  was  present  in  some  of 
the  most  historic  battles  of  the  war.  In  November, 
1863,  he  was  captured  and  was  taken  north  to 
Johnson's  Island  in  Lake  Erie,  off  Sandusky.  He 
subsequently  wrote  a  very  interesting  account  of 
the  capture  and  confinement  of  himself  and  com- 
rades on  the  island,  and  that  account  appears  in  a 
history  of  North  Carolina  Regiments  and  Bat- 
talions published  by  Walter  CHark  in  1901.  Colonel 
Webb  remained  a  prisoner  of  war  until  July,  1865, 
when  he  was  released  and  returned  home.  On 
resuming  the  occupations  of  peace  he  became  a 
merchant  and  farmer  at  Flat  River,  but  in  1877 
changed  his  residence  to  Durham,  where  he  became 
a  dealer  in  and  exporter  of  leaf  tobacco.  Durham 
was  his  home  until  his  death. 

Colonel  Webb  married  Amanda  Mangum.  Her 
father,  Ellison  G.  Mangum,  was  born  in  Orange 
County,  North  Carolina,  and  spent  his  life  there, 
being  an  extensive  planter,  a  large  slave  owner  and 
a  merchant.  An  extended  account  of  the  Mangum 
family  may  be  found  in  Vol.  5  of  the  Ashe 
Biographical  History  of  North  Carolina.  Ellison 
G.  Mangum  married  Elizabeth  Harris,  who  also 
spent  her  life  in  Orange  County.  Colonel  Webb's 
wife  died  in  1872,  having  reared  three  children. 
Catherine  married  P.  T.  Conrad  and  Virginia 
became  the  wife  of  Charles  Crabtree. 

Garland  E.  Webb 's  first  important  experience 
in  life  has  already  been  referred  to  in  connection 
with  the  organization  of  the  military  company  by 
his  father.  After  that  he  attended  schools  and 
had  most  of  his  instruction  under  private  tutors. 
One  of  his  tutors  was  Dr.  A.  W.  Mangum,  Pro- 
fessor of  English  at  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina. He  also  had  a  course  in  Bryant  and  Strat- 
ton  's  Business  College  at  Baltimore.  During  his 
early  youth  he  had  some  experience  clerking  in  his 
father's  store,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty  he 
removed  to  Durham  and  became  bookkeeper  and 
salesman  for  J.  F.  Freeland,  a  general  merchant. 
A  year  later,  in  1876,  he  went  to  Philadelphia, 
during  the  year  of  the  centennial,  spent  one  year 
in  that  city,  and  then  returned  to  Durham.  For 
ten  years  he  acted  as  auctioneer  at  the  ware- 
house of  E.  J.  Parish.  As  an  auctioneer  he  has 
few  peers  in  the  state,  and  he  has  followed  the 
business  or  profession  most  of  his  active  life. 
While  at  Durham  his  public  services  began.  He 
was  elected  clerk  and  treasurer  of  the  Town  of 
Durham.  Mr.  Webb  has  had  an  extensive  expe- 
rience in  North  Carolina  journalism.  He  was 
proprietor   and    editor    of   the    Durham    Recorder. 

In  1886  he  removed  to  the  new  Town  of  Winston 
and  spent  five  years  with  A.  B.  Gorrell  as  auc- 
tioneer. Then  associated  with  W.  P.  Watt,  of 
Reidsville,  he  leased  a  warehouse  and  operated  it 
two  years  under  the  firm  name  of  Watt  &  Webb. 
In  the  meantime  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
board  of  aldermen  and  was  mayor  pro  tern.  On 
the  death  of  Mayor  Kerner  he  was  elected  mayor. 
In  1894  Mr.  Webb  became  auctioneer  for  the  firm 
of  M.  Norfleet,  and  has  followed  that  business 
steadily  to  the  present  time.  For  some  years  he 
has  also  edited  and  published  the  Southern  Tobacco 
Journal  and  is  a  recognized  authority  on  the 
tobacco  business  of  the  South.  Mr.  Webb  is  now 
a  member  of  the  board  of  aldermen  of  Winston- 


GARLAND  E.  WEBB 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


39 


Salem,  and  again  occupies  the  office  of  mayor 
pro  tern.  He  is  also  a  member  ami  vice  chairman 
of  the  school  board  of  Winston  Salem  and  for 
twelve  years  has  been  secretary  and  general  man- 
ager of  the  Piedmont  Fair  Association.  For  five 
years  he  has  been  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
Tobacco  Association  of  the  United  States. 

At  Lancaster,  Massachusetts,  in  1883  he  married 
Miss  Adeline  Emmerson  Holman.  The  officiating 
clergyman  at  the  marriage  was  Doctor  Bartol.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Webb  had  four  children:  Charlotte, 
Adeline,  A.  Magnum  and  Calvin.  Mrs.  Webb 
died  in  September,  1914.  She  was  a  devout  mem- 
ber of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  with  which 
Mr.  Webb  is  also  identified.  In  June,  1917,  Mr. 
Webb  married  Miss  Annie  Laur  Forgan,  of  Ogle, 
Virginia. 

Zachariah  Taylor  Btnum.  A  surviving  vet- 
eran of  the  war  between  the  states,  and  for  many 
years  identified  with  the  tobacco  industry  in  West- 
ern North  Carolina,  Zachariah  Taylor  Bynum  ia 
still  active  as  a  business  man  and  citizen  of  Win- 
stonSalem. 

He  represents  an  old  and  well  known  family  of 
North  Carolina.  His  birth  occurred  on  a  planta- 
tion in  Chatham  County,  April  14,  1847.  His 
grandfather,  Mark  Bynum,  owned  and  operated 
a  plantation  on  the  Haw  River  in  Chatham  County, 
and  gave  his  best  years  to  the  prosecution  of  its 
management  and  to  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as 
a  local  citizen. 

Turner  Bynum,  father  of  Zachariah  T.,  was 
born  on  a  plantation  in  Chatham  County  in  1808. 
With  such  advantages  as  were  supplied  by  the 
rural  schools  of  his  time,  he  grew  to  manhood  and 
then  bought  a  plantation  on  Haw  Kiver  ad.ioining 
the  old  home  place.  He  owned  a  number  of  slaves 
and  was  rated  one  of  the  very  substantial  men  of 
that  community.  His  death  occurred  in  1873.  He 
was  a  man  of  affairs  and  at  one  time  served  as 
representative  in  the  State  Assembly,  filling  that 
office  several  terms,  and  was  also  chairman  of  the 
County  Court.  He  married  Julia  Ward.  She  was 
born  in  Wake  County,  North  Carolina,  and  died 
in  1865.  Both  were  active  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  They  reared  five  sons  and  four 
daughters,  named  Joseph  M.,  Alvis  Jesse,  Zacha- 
riah T.,  Rufus,  Turner,  Elizabeth,  Sarah,  Minnie 
and  Pattie.  Three  of  the  sons,  Joseph,  Alvis  and 
Zachariah,  were  soldiers  in  the  Confederate  Army. 
Joseph  went  to  the  war  with  a  Mississippi  regiment, 
while  Alvis  was  with  the  Chatham  Rifles. 

Zachariah  T.  Bynum  spent  his  early  youth  on 
the  home  plantation,  and  was  only  fourteen  years 
of  ago  when  the  war  broke  out.  In  April,  1864,  at 
the  age  of  seventeen,  he  enlisted  in  Company  H  of 
the  Seventy-first  Regiment  North  Carolina  troops, 
and  was  with  that  command  through  all  its  re- 
maining service.  He  participated  in  the  last  impor- 
tant battle  of  the  war,  Bentonville,  and  soon  after 
wards  was  paroled  and  returned  home.  He  sur- 
rendered with  his  regiment  at  Greensboro. 

After  his  military  service  Mr.  Bynum  engaged 
in  farming  for  two  years,  following  which  for 
three  years  he  was  in  the  mercantile  business  at 
Raleigh.  He  then  resumed  merchandising  in  the 
old  home  community  where  he  was  located  until 
1878.  In  that  year  he  came  to  Winston  and  be- 
came a  tobacco  manufacturer  under  the  firm  name 
of   Bymim    &    Colton.      This    firm    was   continued 


with  successful  results  until  1893.  In  1895  Mr. 
Bynum  was  appointed  supervisor  of  tobacco  sales 
of  the  western  market,  and  has  filled  that  position 
ever  since.  He  is  a  man  of  excellent  business  judg- 
ment and  familiar  with  every  phase  of  the  tobacco 
industry  from  its  growing  to  its  manufacture  and 
ultimate  market. 

Mr.  Bynum  was  married  in  1872  to  Annie  Tenny. 
She  was  born  at  Chapel  Hill,  North  Carolina, 
daughter  of  William  and  Jane  Tenny.  Mrs.  By- 
num died  in  October,  1904.  To  their  marriage 
were  born  six  children,  named  Brooks,  Taylor  J., 
Turner,  Annie,  Julia  and  Grace.  The  son  Brooks 
is  married  and  has  a  son  named  Brooks,  Jr.  Annie 
is  the  wife  of  Thomas  Kapp  and  has  3  daughter 
Elizabeth.  Mr.  Bynum  has  for  thirty-seven  years 
been  treasurer  of  the  Centenary  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  at  Winston-Salem  and  his  *ife  was 
also  a  loyal  worker  in  that  denomination  as  long 
as  she  lived. 

William  W.  Miller,  for  many  years  an 
esteemed  and  respected  resident  of  Mocksville, 
was  a  valued  member  of  his  community,  and  those 
who  knew  him  best  reposed  implicit  confidence  in 
his  honesty,  integrity  and  fidelity.  He  was  born 
January  31,  1856,  in  Yadkin  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, a  son  of  Sanford  and  Caroline  (Woodruff) 
Miller. 

Growing  to  man 's  estate  in  his  native  county, 
Mr.  Miller  received  a  practical  education  in  the 
public  schools,  being  fitted  for  a  business  career. 
Locating  as  a  young  man  in  Forsyth  County,  he 
was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco  in 
Winston  for  a  number  of  years.  Having  accumu- 
lated considerable  money,  he  bought  a  farm  in 
Davie  County,  and  to  its  management  devoted 
much  thought  and  energy,  continuing  its  super- 
vision until  his  death,  December  2,  1900,  while  yet 
in  the  prime  of  manhood. 

Mr.  Miller  married,  October  18,  1882,  Maggie 
Booe.  She  was  born  in  Davie  County,  North 
Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Alexander  and  Sarah 
(Clement)  Booe.  Six  daughters  blessed  their  mar- 
riage, namely :  Maude  Clement,  wife  of  Herbert 
Birdsall;  Anita,  wife  of  Carl  Sherrill;  Sarah; 
Millie;  Carolyn,  wife  of  Price  Sherrill;  and  Ruth. 
Mrs.  Miller  is  a  faithful  and  valued  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  reared  her  family 
in  the  same  religious  faith. 

John  Hare  Bonner,  an  accomplished  young 
lawyer,  now  serving  as  deputy  collector  of  tTnited 
States  customs  at  the  Port  of  Washington,  is 
identified  with  Beaufort  County  by  many  excep- 
tional ties  of  family  association  and  interest. 
He  is  descended  from  that  James  Bonner  who  is 
given  credit  in  history  as  the  founder  of  the  Town 
of  Washington.  The  land  in  this  section  was  orig- 
inally granted  to  Chris'topher  Dudley,  but  about 
1729  it  passed  to  the  Bonner  brothers,  James  and 
Thomas.  Their  grant  consisted  of  337  acres,  ex- 
tending from  back  of  the  Hotel  Louise  in  Wash- 
ington to  Runyon  Creek.  They  also  owned  an 
extensive  plantation  in  Southern  Beaufort  County, 
comprising  thousands  of  acres.  The  Bonners  in 
Beaufort  County  were  ardent  patriots  of  the  Revo- 
lution, and  one  of  them  was  commander  of  the 
Beaufort  County  militia. 

John  Hare  Bonner  was  born  in  Beaufort  County 
July  9,  1887,  a  son  of  Macon  Herbert  and  Hannah 
SellDy    (Hare)    Bonner.     Through  his  mother   Mr. 


40 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Bonner  is  of  Irish  stock.  His  father  was  for  many 
years  a  boatmaster  and  pilot  in  the  navigation  of 
Eastern  North  Carolina  rivers  and  other  vpaters. 

John  H.  Bonner  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools,  in  the  Trinity  School  at  Chocowinity,  North 
Carolina,  and  after  that  had  some  experience  in 
the  cotton  business  at  Washington  and  Greensboro; 
and  for  eighteen  months  was  connected  with  the 
Norfolk  &  Southern  Railroad  at  Norfolk,  Virginia. 
He  studied  law  in  law  ofiSces  for  three  years, 
finishing  at  the  law  department  of  the  University 
of  North  Carolina,  and  was  admitted  to  practice 
February  7,  1910.  He  has  handled  a  general 
practice  at  Washington  since  his  admission  to 
the  bar.  He  is  also  a  director  of  the  Washington 
Building  and  Loan  Association.  Mr.  Bonner  is 
affiliated  with  the  Masonic  Order  aiul  the  Benevo- 
lent and  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  in  both  of 
which   he   has   held   several   positions  of   trust. 

Vann  M.  Long.  M.  D.,  is  a  specialist  enjoying 
high  rank  and  a  fine  practice  at  Winston-Salem, 
where  he  has  been  located  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  is  a  product  of  North  Carolina 's  best  educa- 
tional facilities  and  resources  and  thorough  train- 
ing and  experience  have  broadened  and  accentu- 
ated his  exceptional  talents  for  his  profession. 

Doctor  Long  was  born  on  a  plantation  in  Goose 
Creek  Township  of  Union  County,  North  Carolina. 
His  people  have  been  in  North  Carolina  for  a 
great  many  years.  His  grandfather,  John  Long, 
was  born  in  Union  County  and  became  a  very  suc- 
cessful farmer,  having  a  large  plantation  in  Goose 
Creek  Township.  He  married  Margaret  Russell, 
who  so  far  as  known  was  a  lifelong  resident  of 
Union  County. 

John  Cicero  Long,  father  of  Doctor  Long,  was 
born  January  21,  1842,  on  the  same  plantation  as 
his  son.  He  grew  up  there,  and  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  between  the  states  enlisted  in  a  regi- 
ment of  North  Carolina  troops.  While  on  duty  he 
was  shot  by  a  sharpshooter,  and  it  was  supposed 
that  he  was  mortally  wounded.  He  was  taken  to 
a  hospital,  and  as  a  result  of  careful  nursing  he 
finally  recovered  and  was  able  to  report  for  duty. 
From  that  time  until  the  close  of  the  war  he  did 
guard  duty  at  Charlotte.  Having  inherited  a  part 
of  his  father's  estate,  he  bought  the  interests  of 
the  other  heirs,  and  as  sole  owner  he  became  one 
of  the  most  successful  farmers  in  Union  County. 
He  personally  supervised  the  farm  until  1900,  wjien, 
he  moved  to  Unionville,  but  after  two  years 
returned  to  his  plantation  and  again  superintended 
its  fork  for  two  years.  He  then  retired  and 
removing  to  Davidson  College  lived  there  until  his 
death  on  October  8,  1912.  John  C.  Long  married 
Nancy  Jane  Winfree.  She  was  born  in  Wades- 
boro,  Anson  County,  North  Carolina,  in  1846,  and 
died  December  23,  1912.  Her  parents  were  Henry 
and  Thetus  (Teal)  Winfree.  Her  paternal  grand- 
parents were  natives  of  England  and  coming  to 
America  settled  in  Virginia  and  from  that  state 
their  numerous  family  have  become  widely  dis- 
persed. Henry  Winfree  was  a  planter  in  Anson 
County  aJid  before  the  war  operated  with  slave 
labor.  He  died  when  about  sixty  years  of  age 
and  his  wife  survived  him  and  lived  to  be  ninety. 
John  C.  Long  and  wife  reared  six  children:  Min- 
nie, Alonzo,  Hattie,  Louis,  Vann  M.  and  Neal. 
The  daughter  Minnie  is  the  wife  of  J.  A.  Helms, 
while  Hattie  married  J.  H.  Forbes. 

Doctor  Long,  though  reared  in  the  country,  early 
set  his  mind  upon  a  profession  and  after  attend- 


ing the  district  schools  was  a  student  in  Unionville 
High  School  and  Mint  Hill  High  School.  He  took 
up  the  study  of  medicine  in  the  North  Carolina 
Medical  College  at  Davidson  and  Charlotte,  and  in 
1906  gi-adnated  with  his  degree.  For  four  years 
Doctor  Long  practiced  at  Newell  Station  in  Meck- 
lenburg County.  His  success  there  justified  him  in 
removing  to  a  larger  community,  and  locating  at 
Winston-Salem  he  soon  acquired  a  large  practice. 
Doctor  Long  gave  his  time  to  the  general  practice 
of  medicine  until  1916,  and  since  that  date  has 
been   a  specialist. 

He  is  an  active  member  of  the  Forsyth  County 
and  State  Medical  Societies  and  the  American 
Medical  Association.  He  is  affiliated  with  Win- 
ston Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  and  Twin  City  Camp  No.  27,  Woodmen  of 
the  World. 

Dr.  Long  was  married  October  11,  1911,  to  Miss 
Hannah  Bryce  McLaughlin.  Mrs.  Long  was  born 
at  Newell  Station  in  Mecklenburg  County,  daugh- 
ter of  James  Bryce  and  Annie  (Sturges)  Mc- 
Laughlin. Dr.  and  Mrs.  Long  have  one  son,  Vann 
M.,  Jr. 

William  T.  Vogler.  Among  those  substantial 
people,  the  Moravians,  who  contributed  so  much 
to  the  early  character  and  industry  of  several 
counties  of  Western  North  Carolina,  including 
Forsyth,  hardly  a  better  known  family  in  name 
exists  than  that  of  Vogler.  Many  branches  of  the 
family  are  represented  in  and  about  Winston- 
Salem,  and  one  of  the  individuals  is  William  T. 
Vogler,  the  veteran  jeweler  of  Winston  Salem  and 
also  prominent  in  banking  and  church  affairs.  _ 

The  record  of  this  liranch  of  the  family  begins 
with  Phillip  Vogler,  who  was  born  in  Gundelsheim 
in  the  German  Palatinate  in  1725.  General  Waldo, 
a  native  of  Germany,  acquired  some  large  tracts 
of  land  in  th.e  vicinity  of  what  is  now  Waldo, 
Maine.  In  order  to  develop  the  land  he  promised 
two  hundred  acres  and  support  for  six  months' 
time  to  each  of  his  countrymen  who  would  cross 
the  ocean  and  settle  there.  Phillip  Vogler 's 
parents  were  among  those  attracted  by  this  offer 
and  comprised  the  colony  that  left  Germany  in 
174,5  and  came  to  America.  They  landed  on  the 
coast  of  Maine  late  in  the  fall,  and  found  shelter 
in  the  woods  sixteen  miles  from  any  other  white 
settlement.  They  were  ill  prepared  for  the  severe 
winter  that  followed,  and  endured  terrible  suffer- 
ings, several  of  the  colony  dying  from  hunger  and 
exposure.  The  Indians  were  also  hostile,  and 
Phillip  Vogler 's  father  fell  a  victim  to  their  en- 
mity. Phillip  Vogler  himself  was  thrust  into  the 
service  of  the  Colonial  forces,  and  did  duty  in 
border  protection  for  four  years.  After  the  death 
of  General  Waldo  the  title  to  his  lands  was  dis- 
puted, and  during  the  troubles  that  followed 
many  of  the  occupants  of  the  separate  homesteads 
either  paid  again  for  the  right  of  possession  or 
else  surrendered  their  claim  altogether  and  sought 
homes  elsewhere. 

In  the  meantime  Moravian  missionaries  from 
Pennsylvania  had  visited  the  German  colonists 
about  Waldo,  and  as  a  means  of  escaping  the 
persecution  and  oppression  they  recommended 
North  Carolina  as  a  place  of  refuge.  Phillip  Vog- 
ler, with  his  and  other  families,  accordingly  set 
sail  in  1770  for  the  Southland.  The  vessel  that 
carried  them  was  wrecked  off  Virginia  Beach. 
The  passengers  and  crew  landed  on  a  near-by 
island,    and    some    days    later    a    passing    vessel 


ASTOR, 
TT!_nE!- 


fOilKDATlONSj 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


41 


picked  them  up  and  carried  them  to  Wilmington. 
Thence  they  proceeded  to  what  was  known  as 
Cross  Creek,  now  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina, 
and  from  there  came  to  the  Moravian  settlement 
in  what  is  now  Forsyth  County.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  this  was  several  years  before  the 
outbreak  of  tlie  Kevolutionary  war.  Only  a  fringe 
of  settlement  had  extended  westward  toward  the 
Blue  Ridge  Mountains,  and  this  section  of  the 
Carolinas  was  still  virtually  a  wilderness.  Indians 
were  numerous  and  were  more  or  less  hostile, 
unwilling  to  give  up  their  hunting  grounds  with- 
out some  struggle  against  the  advancing  tide  of 
white  settlement.  In  .such  condition  the  little 
colony  from  Maine  bought  land  in  the  southeast 
corner  of  Wachovia  tract  and  named  it  Broad  Bay 
in  honor  of  the  name  of  the  locality  where  Ihey 
had  lived  in  Maine.  In  1771  nine  houses  were 
built  there.  All  these  settlers  had  embraced  the 
Moravian  faith,  and  on  February  18.  1785,  a 
church  edifice  was  built  of  spruce  and  hemlock 
logs  and  was  consecrated  to  worship. 

Phillip  Vogler  bought  a  tract  of  land,  as  did 
the  other  colonists,  and  began  farming  at  Broad 
Bay.  Late  in  life  he  moved  to  Bethania  and 
died  there.  The  maiden  name  of  his  first  wife, 
and  the  mother  of  all  his  children,  was  Catherine 
Seiz.  She  was  stricken  with  fever  while  coming 
to  North  Carolina,  and  died  at  Fayetteville,  where 
her  remains  were  laid  to  rest.  Phillip  Vogler 
married  for  his  second  wife  Barbara  Fishcuss. 
She  died  in  1781.  For  his  third  wife  he  married 
Christina  Margaret  Sennert.  This  Phillip  Vogler 
was  the  great-grandfather  of  William   T.  Vogler. 

Christopher  Vogler,  a  son  of  Phillip,  the  North 
Carolina  pioneer,  was  born  in  or  near  Waldo, 
Maine,  but  grew  up  in  Western  North  Carolina. 
He  learned  the  trade  of  gunsmith,  and  for  many 
years  conducted  a  shop  at  Salem,  where  he  man- 
ufactured many  of  the  tirearms  used  by  the  hunt- 
ers and  pioneers.  He  lived  at  Salem  until  his 
death.  Christopher  Vogler  married  Anna  Johanna 
Stauber.  She  reared  six  children,  named  Gott- 
lieb, Maria,  Nathaniel,  Timothy,  Paulina  and 
Eegina. 

Nathaniel  Vogler,  father  of  William  T.,  was 
born  at  Salem,  North  Carolina,  May  26,  1804.  He 
grew  up  with  little  advantages  in  the  way  of 
books  or  schools,  but  became  a  very  practical  man 
and  completed  his  apprenticeship  in  his  father's 
shop.  When  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age  he 
and  another  young  man  went  north  to  Pennsyl- 
vania. They  had  one  horse,  and  they  used  it 
alternately.  One  would  ride  a  stipulated  distance, 
then  tie  the  animal  and  proceed  on  foot,  while 
the  other  would  come  up  and  ride  the  horse.  Ar- 
riving in  Pennsylvania  Nathaniel  Vogler  worked 
at  his  trade  at  Nazareth  for  a  time,  and  then 
returned  to  his  old  home  at  Salem.  In  1827  he 
bought  the  house  his  father  had  built  on  Walnut 
Street,  and  that  was  his  home  until  his  death. 
He  also  succeeded  his  father  in  business  and  kept 
the  old  shop  going  for  many  years. 

Nathaniel  Vogler  married  Anna  Maria  Fishel. 
They  were  married  December  20,  1827,  and  began 
housekeeping  in  his  father's  old  home.  They 
reared  the  following  children:  Henry  S.,  Laura 
C,  Julius  R.,  Alexander  C,  Mortimer  N..  Maria 
E.,  Martha  V.,  Regina  A.  and  William  T.  The 
last  two  are  still  living.  The  daughter  Maria  E., 
who  was  born  March  .5,  1835,  was  educated  in 
the  old  Salem  Academy,  and  in  1853  became  a 
teacher   in   that    institution    and    filled   that    post 


for  twenty-nine  years.  Hundreds  of  young  women 
recall  with  gratitude  this  splenflid  old  teacher. 
She  finally  resigned  in  1882,  in  order  to  look  after 
her  aged  mother.  It  was  Maria  Vogler  who,  as 
the  result  of  much  research  and  investigation, 
compiled  the  history  of  the  family,  and  from  those 
records  much  has  been  taken  for  the  sketch  of 
the  family  as  above  given.  The  Vogler  family 
is  still  represented  in  Maine,  where  lineal  descend- 
ants of  a  son  of  Phillip  live.  However,  they  have 
changed  the  name  to  Fogler. 

The  old  gunsmith  at  Salem,  Christopher  Vogler, 
had  as  an  apprentice  in  his  shop  a  nejihew  named 
Jolin  Vogler.  This  John  was  a  natural  mechanic 
and  had  no  superior  as  a  workman.  While  serving 
his  apprenticeship  he  had  occasion  to  take  his 
watch  to  pieces,  and  he  thoroughly  cleaned  it, 
made  some  minor  repairs  and  put  it  together  as 
good  as  new.  In  those  days  Salem  boasted  no 
.jewelry  store,  and  his  feat  of  watch  repairing 
became  known  over  the  neighborhood  and  others 
brought  their  watches  and  clocks  to  him.  Thus 
by  the  time  he  had  completed  his  apprenticeship 
as  a  gunsmith  he  had  a  business  ready  made  as 
a  watch  repairer,  and  eonseciuently  he  opened  the 
first  jewelry  store  in  Salem.  He  continued  it 
through  all  his  active  years,  and  died  at  the  age 
of  ninety-seven.  He  is  the  oldest  man  laid  to 
rest  in   the   Moravian   grave  yard. 

Thus  the  Vogler  name  in  its  association  with 
the  jewelry  business  goes  back  to  pioneer  times 
in  Salem.  William  T.  Vogler,  who  continued  the 
jewelry  business,  was  born  at  Salem  in  October, 
1843.  '  He  attended  the  Boys  School  at  Salem, 
and  on  leaving  his  studies  entered  his  father's 
shop.  In  1862  he  entered  the  Confederate  service 
and  remained  imtil  the  close  of  the  war.  On 
returning  to  Salem  he  began  an  apprenticeship 
in  Linebeeh's  jewelry  store,  but  after  a  year  went 
to  the  E.  A.  Vogler  store,  where  he  remained  five 
years.  In  1871  he  engaged  in  business  for  him- 
self at  Salem,  and  remained  in  that  town  until 
1879,  when  he  removed  to  the  growing  city  of 
Winston,  where  he  has  conducted  one  of  the  chief 
establishments  of  his  line  for  upwards  of  forty 
years.  For  a  long  time  he  has  also  been  interested 
in  banking.  He  was  a  director  of  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Winston,  and  since  the  consolida- 
tion of  this  bank  with  the  Trust  Com]iany  he  has 
been  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Wachovia  Bank  &  Trust  Company. 

Mr.  Vogler  was  married  August  13,  1867,  to 
Johanna  C.  Mack,  and  August  13,  1917,  they 
celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  their  mar- 
riage. Mrs.  Vogler  was  born  at  Friedburg  in 
Davidson  County,  a  daughter  of  .lacob  and  Mary 
(Spaugh)  Mack.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vogler  have 
reared  three  children:  Henry  E.,  William  N.  and 
Emma.  William  N.  died  when  sixteen  years  of 
age  and  Emma  at  the  age  of  thirty-three.  Henry 
E.  is  now  associated  with  his  father  in  business. 
By  his  marriage  to  Biddie  V.  Goslin  he  has  four 
children,  named  Helen,  Gertrude,  Blanche  Mary 
and    Harold. 

William  T.  Vogler  was  reared  in  the  Moravian 
Church  and  has  always  held  to  that  faith.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Central  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Home  Church  and  a  member  of  the  Finance  Board 
of   the  province. 

.1.  Wesley  Slate,  M.  D.  While  a  graduate  of 
medicine  and  for  a  number  of  years  a  successful 
practitioner   at    Walnut    Cove,   Doctor    Slate   now 


42 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


gives  most  of  his  time  and  attention  to  his  duties 
as  cashier  of  the  Farmers  Union  Bank  at  Winston- 
Salem.  He  is  a  member  of  one  of  the  old  and  in- 
fluential families  of  Western  North  Carolina,  and 
his  people  have  been  identified  with  Stokes  County 
since  pioneer  times. 

Doctor  Slate  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Yadkin 
Townshij)  of  Stokes  County,  a  son  of  William 
Slate  and  a  grandson  of  Samuel  Slate.  The  early 
records  of  the  famOy  have  not  been  completely 
preserved.  However,  it  is  believed  that  Doctor 
Slate 's  great-grandfather  was  the  founder  of  the 
family  here.  He  was  a  native  of  England  and 
was  one  of  four  brothers  who  came  to  America 
and  settled  in  Virginia.  Doctor  Slate 's  grand- 
father, Samuel  Slate,  was  born  in  Halifax  County, 
Virginia,  and  subsequently  bought  land  in  Yad- 
kin Townshi[)  of  Stokes  County,  where  he  became 
a  successful  general  farmer.  In  contrast  with 
the  customs  and  practices  of  the  times  he  was 
opposed  to  the  institution  of  slavery  and  chose 
to  operate  his  lands  with  free  labor.  He  married 
Lena  Hall,  the  Halls  being  early  settlers  in  North 
Carolina.  Lena  Hall 's  mother  was  of  the  old  Vir- 
ginia family  of  Dewberry.  Samuel  Slate  and 
wife  both  lived  to  old  age. 

William  Slate,  who  was  born  in  Yadkin  Town- 
ship of  Stokes  County  in  1842,  learned  the  trade 
of  millwright  and  machinist.  He  also  acquired 
land  in  Yadkin  Township,  and  while  following  his 
trade  he  superintended  the  operation  of  his  farm 
and  with  marked  success.  He  married  Lurena 
Wall,  who  was  born  in  Halifax  County,  Virginia, 
a  daughter  of  Robert  Wall.  She  died  in  January, 
1915,  having  reared  seven  children:  Lena,  Nan- 
nie, Pinekney,  Agnes,  William,  Alice  and  J. 
Wesley. 

Doctor  Slate  was  well  'educated  and  spent  his 
early  life  on  his  father 's  farm  in  Yadkin  Town- 
ship. He  attended  the  district  schools,  the  Mount 
View  Institute,  and  for  one  term  was  a  teacher 
in  Quaker  Gap  Township.  He  attended  his  first 
medical  lectures  in  the  North  Carolina  Medical 
College  at  Davidson,  and  afterward  entered  the 
LTniversity  of  Medicine  at  Richmond,  Virginia, 
where  he  was  graduated  M.  D.  in  1900.  Doctor 
Slate  at  once  began  practice  in  Yadkin  Township 
and  soon  had  a  large  practice  throughout  that 
community.  He  gave  his  time  and  best  energies 
to  his  profession  until  1912,  when  he  engaged  in 
banking  at  Winston-Salem  as  cashier  of  the 
Farmers  Union  Bank.  He  has  been  very  influen- 
tial in  making  that  institution  a  bank  of  strength 
and  of  extended  service  over  this  part  of  the  state. 

Doctor  Slate  was  married  December,  1900,  to 
Martha  Meadows,  who  was  born  in  Meadows  Town- 
ship of  Stokes  County,  a  daughter  of  WiUiam  and 
Jane  (Boles)  Meadows.  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Slate 
have  six  children:  Ralph,  Frank,  Marion,  Wil- 
bur, Esmond  and  Myron.  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Slate 
are  active  members  of  the  Missionary  Baptist 
Church,  in  which  he  is  a  member  of  the  board  of 
deacons,  and  he  is  fraternally  affiliated  with  Wal- 
nut Cove  Lodge  No.  629,  Ancient  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons,  with  the  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  with 
Smith  River  Lodge  of  Knights  of  Pythias,  and 
with  Walnut  Cove  Council  of  the  Junior  Order 
of  United  American  Mechanics. 

William  Samuel  Clayton  has  been  well  known 
in  the  Federal  customs  service  both  in  South  anil 
North  Carolina,  and  in  July,  1914,  was  appointed 


special  dejiuty  collector  of  United  States  customs 
at  the  Port  of  Wilmington. 

He  comes  of  an  old  South  Carolina  family,  and 
was  born  at  Elirhardt,  South  Carolina,  September 
10,  1877.  His  parents  were  Charles  Rivers  and 
Sallie  (Pulaski)  Clayton.  His  father  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  war  between  the  states  and  spent  his 
life  as  an  active  farmer.  William  S.  Clayton 
gained  his  early  training  ia  public  schools  and  in 
1900  graduated  A.  B.  from  the  South  Carolina 
Military  College.  After  leaving  college  he  spent 
two  years  as  a  teacher  in  high  school,  and  from 
19a2"until  1906  was  a  clerk  in  the  Atlantic  Coast 
Line  Railway.  He  then  entered  the  United  States 
customs  service,  and  his  ability  secured  him  pro- 
motion until  he  was  appointed  to  his  present  of- 
fice, with  headquarters  at  Wilmington. 

Mr.  Clayton  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Order, 
is  a  deacon  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  is  adjutant 
of  the  George  Davis  Camp  No.  :i89  of  the  Sons  of 
Confederate    Veterans. 

On  May  26,  1902,  lie  married  Miss  Minnie  Smith 
Wescott,  of  Wilmington.  They  have  two  children, 
Minnie  Wescott  and  Emmett  Louise. 

D.  Rich  is  one  of  the  successful  men  of  North 
Carolina  today.  Success  In  his  case  has  involved 
a  long  and  steady  struggle  and  rise,  and  his  posi- 
tion as  treasurer  of  the  R.  J.  Reynolds  Tobacco 
Company  at  Winston-Salem,  North  Carolina,  means 
complicated  business  responsibilities  which  only 
a  man  of  bigness  and  breadth  in  mind  and  char- 
acter could  handle. 

Mr.  Rich 's  early  home  and  his  birthplace  was 
Mocksville  in  Davie  County,  North  Carolina.  His 
father,  Calvin  Updegrove  Rich,  was  born  on  a 
farm  in  Davie  County,  May  27,  1827.  He,  too, 
had  the  spirit  in  him  to  climb  over  handicaps  ajid 
difficulties,  and  first  acquired  such  education  as 
was  possible  in  the  local  schools,  and  then  came  to 
Salem,  North  Carolina,  where  he  became  clerk  in 
Edward  Belo's  store,  then  the  leading  mercantile 
establishment  in  this  part  of  the  state.  By  care- 
ful and  studious  attention  to  his  work  he  learned 
the  details  of  merchandising  and  after  a  few  years 
opened  a  general  store  of  his  own  in  Mocksville. 
He  made  a  success  of  his  business,  but  at  the  close 
of  the  Civil  war  in  1865  he,  with  his  neighbors 
and  friends,  sustained  a  severe  financial  loss,  due 
to  the  pressure  of  those  strenuous  times.  However, 
he  rallied  and  continued  his  mercantile  business  in 
a  small  way  for  a  number  of  years,  and  his  last 
days  were  spent  in  honored  retirement.  He  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-one.  C.  U.  Rich  married  Betty 
Tennessee  Williams.  She  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
Yadkin  County,  North  Carolina,  Her  father, 
Thomas  Williams,  was  a  well  known  early  citizen  of 
Yadkin  County,  a  farmer,  distiller  and  slave  owner. 
He  also  held  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  C.  V.  Rich  reared  five  children:  Louie, 
who  married  Judge  James  A.  Williamson,  of  Taco- 
ma,  Washington ;  Thomas  W.,  who  married  Emily 
G.  Hanes  and  lives  in  Pennsylvania:  Bessie,  wife 
of  H.  T.  Brenegar,  of  Mocksville;  Dee,  which  is 
Mr.  Rich's  first  name  as  completely  spelled  out, 
and  Lena  M.,  wife  of  C.  N.  Christian,  of  Halifax, 
North  Carolina. 

As  a  boy  in  his  native  Town  of  Mocksville, 
D.  Rich  had  instruction  in  the  primary  grades  of 
the  public  schools  and  also  attended  the  high  school 
taught  by  Prof.  A.  M.  Sterling.  He  was 
eighteen  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  Winston 


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HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


43 


and  entered  the  employ  of  Bvnum,  Gotten  &  Jones, 
tobacco  manufacturers.  He  was  with  them  for 
four  years,  and  next  transferred  his  serrices  to 
the  greatest  tobacco  manufacturer  of  them  all, 
B.  J.  Eeynolds.  The  more  positive  details  in  the 
career  of  Mr.  Rich  are  interestingly  described  in 
a  sketch  written  by  one  who  has  known  him  and 
which  was  published  in  the  "Open  Door."  From 
that  article  the  following  paragraphs  are  ab- 
stracted. 

' '  At  thirteen  years  of  age  young  Rich  was 
stemming  tobacco  in  a  factory  in  Mocks\'ille, 
North  Carolina,  at  ten  cents  a  day.  His  first  pay 
envelope  contained  the  not  very  munificent  sum  of 
forty  cents  for  four  full  days  of  strenuous  physi- 
cal labor.  He  later  became  associated  with  Mr. 
B.  J.  Reynolds  on  November  15,  1884,  as  manager 
of  the  rolling  and  casing  department.  At  that 
time  Mr.  Henry  Roan  was  bookkeeper.  Mr.  Roan 
subsequently  resigned  to  engage  in  business  for 
himself  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  W.  D.  Moore. 
During  the  incumbency  of  both  Mr.  Roan  and  Mr. 
Moore  it  was  Mr.  Rich's  habit  to  voluntarily  offer 
his  assistance  in  the  evening.  He  wanted  to  Jand 
in  the  bookkeeping  department,  so  availed  him- 
self of  every  opportunity  to  acquaint  himself  with 
all  of  the  intricate  details  involved  in  the  clerical 
end  of  the  business. 

"In  1893  Mr.  Moore  died  and  the  company 
began  casting  about  for  some  one  to  succeed  him. 
Mr.  Rich  applied  for  the  position  but  was  informed 
that  he  '  could  not  keep  books. '  However,  he  sur- 
prised Mr.  Reynolds  by  telling  him  he  was  fully 
competent  to  hold  down  the  job.  He  also  stated 
how  he  had  been  titting  himself  to  be  ready  to  seize 
iust  such  an  opportunity  when  it  developed.  He 
was  given  a  trial  and  gave  entire  satisfaction.  At 
that  time  he  did  practically  all  the  bookkeeping 
for  the  company.  Today  it  requires  over  five  hun- 
dred men  to  take  care  of  the  immense  volume  of 
details  connected  with  the  clerical  end  of  the  com- 
pany's affairs.  From  bookkeeping  Mr.  Rich  was 
promoted  to  cashier,  and  in  due  course  of  time  was 
made  treasurer  and  director  of  the  company,  both 
of  which  offices  he  holds  today. 

"Mr.  Rich  believes  first,  last  and  always  in 
holding  out  hope  to  the  aspiring  young  man.  He 
takes  a  special  delight  in  constantly  keeping  the 
door  of  opportunity  wide  open  for  them,  never 
once  forgetting  the  struggle  that  was  required  of 
him  to  climb  up  the  ladder  round  by  round.  His 
attitude  toward  the  men  under  him  is  far  more 
paternal  than  dictatorial ;  he  reasons  with  them — 
guides,  counsels  and  encourages  them  at  all  times. 
If  he  has  a  single  hobby  it  is  the  desire  to  help 
young  men  help  themselves  by  becoming  more  effi- 
cient. Whenever  asked  by  some  young  man  what 
are  the  chances  for  promotion  he  invariably 
replies,  'You  can  have  my  position  when  you  have 
proved  that  you  are  competent  to  till  it  satisfac- 
torily to  the  company. ' 

"Mr.  Rich  numbers  his  staunch  friends  simply 
by  the  number  of  people  he  knows,  and  he  knows 
thousands.  Genial,  optimistic  and  most  democratic 
in  manner,  not  to  mention  his  efficiency,  he  fills  his 
niche  with  the  R.  J.  Reynolds  Tobacco  Company 
with  every  degree  of  satisfaction. ' ' 

Mr.  Rich  is  an  active  member  of  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church  of  Winston-Salem,  is  affiliated  with 
Winston  Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons,  Winston  Chapter  No.  24,  Royal 
Arch  Masons,  and  Piedmont  Comniandery  No.  6, 
Knights   Templar.     He   is   also   on  the   Board   of 


Trade,  and  a  member  of  the  Twin  City  Club  and 
the  Forsyth  Country  Club.  Politically  he  is  a 
democrat. 

On  January  8,  1889,  he  married  Miss  Carrie 
Watkins.  She  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Forsyth 
County,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Sarah  (Hauser) 
Watkins.  The  long  and  close  companionship  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rich,  beginning  when  he  was  a  strug- 
gling young  man  in  the  business  world  and  grow- 
ing even  closer  and  more  affectionate  as  prosperity 
became  assured  to  him,  was  terminated  in  the  death 
of  Mrs.  Rich  on  January  17,  1916.  The  province 
of  this  work  is  to  make  known  not  only  the  repre- 
sentative men  of  North  Carolina  but  also  its  ster- 
ling and  true  hearted  women.  For  that  reason 
there  is  singular  appropriateness  in  quoting  a  trib- 
ute paid  to  Mrs.  Rich  by  her  intimate  friend  Mrs. 
Polly  Kerr  Spencer. 

"Early  Monday  morning,  January  17,  1916, 
there  passed  from  earth's  twilight  into  the  noon- 
day glory  of  God 's  summerland  the  spirit  of  Car- 
rie Watkins  Rich.  She  was  the  second  daughter 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  H.  Watkins  and  was  born  near 
Clemmons,  North  Carolina,  but  spent  practically 
all  her  life  in  Winston-Salem,  indeed  and  in  truth 
growing  up  with  the  town.  Educated  in  Salem 
College,  she  passed  her  happy  girlhood  as  a  flower 
that  cometh  up.  She  was  married  January  8, 
1889,  in  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  this  city,  to 
Mr.  D.  Rich,  and  for  twenty-seven  years  she  has 
been  to  that  consecrated  Christian  gentleman  truly 
a  helpmeet  and  power  of  strength,  through  every 
change  of  time  and  fortune,  and  though  she  has 
preceded  him  to  that  '  ain  countree '  yet  will  her 
gentle  spirit  hover  over  her  best  beloved  and  guide 
and  comfort  him  in  a  tenderer  and  more  subtle 
manner  than  has  ever  before  been  possible.  There 
are  also  left  three  sisters,  Mrs.  E.  F.  Coble,  Mrs. 
J.  P.  Jeffreys,  and  that  other  self — Mrs.  W.  J. 
Conrad — all  of  Winston-Salem,  and  one  brother, 
Mr.  P.  C.  Watkins,  of  Clemmons,  North  Carolina, 
to  all  of  whom  she  was  very  dear. 

' '  A  wonderfully  comprehensive  mind  enabled 
her  to  reach  out  and  grasp  every  avenue  of  good, 
throughout  the  community,  and  her  name  stood 
first  on  the  list  in  the  promotion  of  every  good 
cause.  By  right  of  innate  goodness  and  continual 
consecration  she  was  the  accepted  leader  in  her 
church  work,  and  always  the  strong  right  hand  of 
her  beloved  pastor  under  all  circumstances.  She 
was  the  vice  president  of  the  Woman  's  Missionary 
tTnion,  of  the  State  Baptist  Convention,  president 
of  the  Young  Woman's  Christian  Association,  and 
leader  of  the  Young  Woman's  Auxiliary  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  teacher  of  the  Fidelis  Class 
in  the  Sunday  school,  and  leader  of  the  Fannie 
Heck  Circle  of  the  Missionary  Society.  Always 
with  her  hands  full  of  work,  yet  ever  ready  to 
answer  another  call,  she  knew  the  poor  and  needy 
nf  the  community  as  no  other  person  did,  and  to 
know  them  was  to  help  them  and  uplift  them  and 
to  give  to  them,  besides  material  comforts,  the 
bread  of  life,  that  was  to  her  the  very  essence  of 
living. 

"Realizing  how  full  of  purity  and  goodness,  of 
self-sacrifice,  and  of  personal  service  was  her  life, 
when  the  quiet  shadows  gather  we  sit  and  think  of 
her  as  the  very  spirit  of  gentleness,  meekness  and 
of  Christ-likeness,  lent  to  us  by  a  kind  Father  to 
show  us  the  way  home.  Methinks  that  tonight 
•5VP  gee  her  gentle  spirit,  as  it,  listening,  heard  the 
call,  rise  from  its  earthly  tenement  of  clay  and 
step  forth   Vfith  outstretched   hands,   unafraid,   to 


44 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


enter  in  with  the  hosts  of  liglit,  for  truly  she  had 
walked  with  God.  We  see  the  same  old-time  sweet 
smile  linger  on  her  face  as  her  eves  rest  on  that 
one  whom  she  had  loved  through  the  years,  and 
who  was  enshrined  in  her  heart  of  hearts — her 
beloved  husband ;  and  again  we  seem  to  see  it  lin- 
ger for  a  moment  on  the  grief  stricken  forms  of 
all  her  loved  ones  and  pass  on  in  tender  pity  to  the 
myriad  of  friends  to  whom  she  was  so  dear ;  and 
with  that  self-same  sweet  smile,  so  much  a  part 
of  her — our  last  memory  of  her  beautiful  life — 
resting  like  a  benediction  on  us  all,  we  see  the 
gates  of  Heaven  open  to  receive  her  and  'Well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant,'  is  her  welcome 
home. 

' '  We  cannot  believe  that  thou  art  gone,  dear 
heart,  we  would  only  remember  that  thou  hast 
passed  into  God 's  other  room,  into  that  beautiful 
country  where  existence  is  eternal,  and  thanks 
be  to  God  thou  hast  left  for  us  the  gates  ajar, 
so  that  when  we,  like  you,  have  finished  our  work 
and  the  sands  of  life  have  run  out,  remem- 
bering Him  whom  thou  hast  loved  and  in  whose 
footsteps  we  would  follow,  may  we,  too,  close  our 
tired  eyes  and  step  into  Heaven,  where  thou  hast 
gone  to  await  us: 

' '  '  We  cannot  feel  that  thou  art  far, 
Since  near  at  hand  the  angels  are, 
And  when  the  sunset  gates  unbar. 
We  shall  surely  see  thee  waiting  stand 
And,  white  against  the  evening  star, 
The  welcoming  beckoning  of  thy  hand. ' 

"We  shall  miss  thee,  dear  heart,  miss  thee  more 
than  tongue  can  tell,  and  the  way  will  be  lonely 
without  thy  guiding  hand,  but  we  know  that  thou 
hast  grasped  that  knowledge  of  the  broader  vision 
for  which  we  have  so  often  heard  thee  pray,  and 
that  thou  art  satisfied.  Thou  hast  gloriously 
solved  the  problem  of  life  and  death  and  though 
the  pathway  seem  dark  to  the  loved  ones  left 
behind  without  thee,  we  know  that  always  we  are 
in  God's  hands  and  we  doubt  not  that: 

"  '  If  we  could  push  ajar  the  gates  of  life 
And  stand  within,  and  all  God  's  workings  see. 
We,  too,  could  interpret  all  our  doubts  and  fears, 
And  for  each  mystery  we  would  find  a  key. ' 

"Thou  art  not  dead,  beloved  one,  thou  can 'st 
not  die  so  long  as  the  memory  of  thy  beautiful 
life  and  thy  wonderful  influence  shall  live  in  the 
lives  of  thy  friends;  so  long  shalt  thou  live  upon 
the  earth  though  thy  spirit  rests  with  God. 

"So  we  say  not  to  thee  farewell,  but  au  revoir, 
for  we  know  that  somehow,  somewhere,  sometime, 
on  a  fairer  shore,  shorn  of  all  earth's  infirmities 
and  clad  in  garments  not  made  with  hands,  we 
shall  meet  thee  again  and  sit  with  thee,  around  that 
throne  eternal  in  the  heavens.  Once  again  we 
hear  thee  say  in  the  words  of  the  Master,  '  Peace 
I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you,  I  go 
away  and  come  again  unto  you.  If  ye  loved  me 
ye  would  rejoice,  because  I  go  unto  my  Father, ' 
then  beloved — 

"  'Only  good-night,  not  farewell. 

Until  we  meet  again  before  His  throne. 

Until  we  know  even  as  we  are  known, 

Good-night,  beloved,  good-night. 

Sleep  on  and  take  thy  rest. 

Only  good-night,  beloved ;  just  good-night. '  ' ' 


Major  Alexander  Hexdebson  Galloway,  who 
won  his  title  as  a  gallant  ofiicer  of  the  North 
Carolina  troops  during  the  war  between  the  states, 
has  spent  many  years  of  his  life  at  ReidsviUe  in 
Rockingham  County  and  has  been  variously  identi- 
fied with  business  and  civic  affairs  in  this  part  of 
North  Carolina  for  over  half  a  century.  Much 
of  the  history  of  Rockingham  County  revolves 
around  the  name  Galloway.  The  family  is  Scotch 
in  origin.  The  thrifty  virtues  of  Scotland  have 
predominated  in  the  Galloways  of  North  Carolina 
and  as  a  family  they  have  proved  themselves  com- 
petent in  business,  upright  citizens  and  workers 
for  the  general  welfare  in  every  direction. 

The  founder  of  this  branch  of  the  family  in 
North  Carolina  was  Robert  Galloway.  He  was 
a  native  of  Scotland,  and  immigrated  to  America 
about  1784,  two  years  after  the  close  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary war.  He  was  the  only  member  of  his 
immediate  family  to  come  to  this  country.  He 
chose  as  a  home  what  was  then  the  western  fron- 
tier of  North  Carolina,  Rockingham  County.  He 
brought  with  him  a  thorough  training  in  business 
affairs,  and  became  a  merchant  at  Wentworth 
and  established  branch  stores  in  several  other  lo- 
calities. The  surplus  of  his  success  he  invested  in 
extensive  tracts  of  land,  and  his  holdings  at  one 
time  amounted  to  twenty-two  thousand  acres,  all 
in  Rockingham  County,  besides  some  other  large 
tracts  in  Tennessee.  He  had  a  large  number  of 
slaves,  and  worked  them  on  the  plantation  raising 
tobacco.  Robert  Galloway  died  at  Valley  Field 
in  Rockingham  County  at  the  age  of  eighty-two 
years.  He  reared  a  family  of  four  sons  and 
two  daughters:  Robert,  Charles,  Thomas,  Rawley, 
Eliza  and   Mary. 

Hon.  Rawley  Galloway,  the  father  of  Major 
Galloway,  was  born  in  Rockingham  County  March 
8,  1811.  Besides  the  school  advantages  given  him 
on  his  father's  plantation  he  also  attended  Chapel 
Hill  College,  and  studied  law  under  the  eminent 
Judge  Ruffin,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  The 
law  as  a  career  was  not  to  his  liking,  and  he  chose 
instead  the  peaceful  pursuit  of  agriculture.  The 
lands  he  had  inherited  he  operated  profitably  with 
slave  labor,  and  kept  his  home  throughout  his  life 
at  Vallev  Field.  His  death  occurred  there  in 
April,   1872. 

Rawley  Galloway  married  Sarah  Henderson.  Her 
family  was  also  of  Scotland  and  was  established 
in  North  Carolina  even  earlier  than  the  Galloways. 
She  was  born  at  Milton  in  Caswell  County,  North 
Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Alexander  Henderson,  who 
was  born  at  Granville,  North  Carolina,  about  1780, 
a  granddaughter  of  Thomas  Henderson,  also  a 
native  of  Granville,  and  a  great-granddaughter  of 
Samuel  Henderson.  Samuel  Henderson  was  born 
in  Scotland,  came  to  America  in  Colonial  times, 
and  was  one  of  the  pioneers  at  Granville,  where  he 
kept  his  home  until  his  death.  His  son  Thomas 
Henderson  moved  to  Danbury  in  Guilford  County, 
and  upon  the  organization  of  that  county  became 
the  first  clerk  of  courts,  an  office  he  filled  several 
years.  Thomas  Henderson  married  Jane  Martin, 
of  Snow  Creek,  and  a  sister  of  Governor  Alex- 
ander Martin.  Alexander  Henderson,  father  of 
Mrs.  Raiwley  Galloway,  as  a  young  man  entered 
the  United  States  Federal  service  on  a  revenue 
cutter  commanded  by  Captain  Wallace,  whose 
daughter  he  afterwards  married.  On  leaving  the 
Federal  service  he  served  for  a  time  as  teller  in 
a  bank  at  Newbern,  then  removed  to  Milton, 
establishing  a  branch  of  the  bank  at  Newbern,  and 


'oMn^"^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


45 


from  there  came  to  Mount  Pleasant  in  Rocking- 
ham County,  where  he  put  in  several  years  as  a 
farmer.  Alexander  Henderson  finally  determined 
to  engage  in  the  foreign  trade  from  the  port  of 
Mobile,  and  became  an  extensive  buyer  and  ship- 
per of  cotton  to  Liverpool.  He  was  in  business 
there  about  eighteen  months  when  he  returned  to 
Mount  Pleasant  for  his  three  daughters.  His  wife 
had  died  in  the  meantime,  and  he  and  his  daugh- 
ters started  on  the  overland  journey  for  Mobile. 
At  Eskridge  on  the  National  Road  in  Tennessee 
he  was  stricken  with  fever  and  died.  His  wife 's 
maiden  name  was  Mary  Wallace.  One  of  their 
three  daughters  was  Mrs.  Rawley  Galloway,  who 
died   March   5,    1887. 

Rawley  GaJloway  was  a  man  of  prominence  in 
his  generation.  Politically  he  was  a  whig  and 
was  an  elector  from  North  Carolina  on  the  whig 
ticket  in  1848,  casting  his  vote  for  General  Taylor. 
He  also  represented  Rockingham  County  in  the 
Legislature  one  term.  He  and  his  wife  were  active 
members   of  the   Episcopal  Chureli. 

Alexander  Henderson  Galloway,  the  only  child 
of  his  parents,  spent  his  early  life  on  his  father's 
plantation  in  Rockingham  County.  He  had  the 
advantages  of  the  rural  schools  and  also  prepared 
for  college  under  private  tutors.  He  became  a 
student  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  but 
on  account  of  his  father 's  ill  health  left  before 
graduating.  He  then  took  charge  of  the  home 
farm,  and  was  thus  employed  when  the  war  broke 
out.  In  March,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  F 
of  the  Forty-fifth  Regiment,  North  Carolina 
Troops.  His  first  commission  was  as  first  lieu- 
tenant. He  was  promoted  to  captain  of  his  com- 
pany, and  led  it  in  many  important  battles  until 
he  resigned  to  accept  the  office  of  quartermaster 
of  Scales  Brigade.  He  remained  with  the  com- 
mand until  the  surrender  at  Appomattox,  and  then 
having  given  the  best  of  his  strength  and  service 
to  the  Southern  cause  he  accepted  the  decision 
of  arms  and  returned  home. 

For  two  years  after  the  war  he  traveled  over 
the  South  as  a  tobacco  salesman,  and  then  resumed 
farming  on  the  old  homestead.  In  1882  Major 
Galloway  removed  to  Reidsville,  operated  a  to- 
bacco warehouse  for  a  year  and  a  half,  and  after 
that  his  time  was  largely  taken  up  with  public 
and  official  affairs.  He  was  elected  sheriff  of 
Rockingham  County,  and  office  he  held  by  re-elec- 
tion for  six  years.  This  was  followed  by  three 
terms  as  mayor  of  Reidsville,  and  he  was  then 
appointed  postmaster.  After  four  years  as  post- 
master he  retired  and  has  since  looked  after  his 
private  affairs. 

On  October  26,  1858,  Major  Galloway  married 
Miss  Sally  Scales.  She  was  born  in  Rockingham 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Robert  and 
Jane  (Bethell)  Scales,  and  a  sister  of  General 
Scales,  the  old  commander  under  whom  Major 
Galloway  served  during  the  war.  Mrs.  Galloway 
died  in  1901.  Both  she  and  her  husband  were  very 
active  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Reids- 
ville, and  reared  their  family  in  the  same  faith. 
They  had  eight  children:  Mary  Wallace,  Robert 
Scales,  Jane  Bethell,  Alexander  Henderson,  Jr., 
Rawley,  Emma  Scales,  Annie  Irving  and  Alfred 
Scales. 

Robert  Scales  Galloway,  a  sou  of  Maj.  Alex- 
ander H.  Galloway,  of  Reidsville,  whose  career 
is  found  identified  through  the  greater  part  of  his 


business  career  with  Winston-Salem,  where  he  is 
now  serving  as  postmaster-  of  the  Twin  City. 

He  was  horn  at  Valley  Field  in  Rockingham 
County,  and  grew  up  in  that  county,  partly  on  the 
plantation  of  his  father  and  partiv  in  the  Town 
of  Reidsville.  His  first  instructor  was  his  aunt. 
Miss  Emma  Scales,  who  afterward  founded  the 
Reidsville  Female  Academy.  Later  he  was  a 
student  in  the  Boys'  School  at  Reidsville,  and 
there  he  was  under  the  instruction  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Currie,  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

His  first  work  after  leaving  school  was  a  clerk- 
ship at  Reidsville.  With  considerable  business 
experience  to  his  credit  he  came  to  Winston  as 
bookkeeper  for  Watt  &  Webb,  proprietors  of  the 
Orinoco  Warehouse.  He  remained  with  that 
firm  as  long  as  they  were  in  business  and  toward 
the  close  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  second  administration 
accepted  an  appointment  as  deputy  revenue  col- 
lector. From  the  Federal  service  he  entered  the 
employ  of  the  R.  J.  Reynolds  Tobacco  Company  as 
bookkeeper  and  remained  with  that  great  indus- 
trial organization  for  eight  years.  He  resigned  to 
go  into  business  for  himself,  organizing  the  Stand- 
ard Building  and  Loan  Association,  of  which  he 
became  director,  secretary  and  treasurer.  He  was 
one  of  the  officials  most  actively  identified  with 
that  organization  until  1913.  In  that  year  Mr. 
Galloway  was  appointed  postmaster,  and  was  the 
first  official  to  occupy  the  handsome  new  Postoffice 
Building  at  Winston-Salem. 

On  December  7,  1905,  he  married  Miss  Ida 
Miller.  Mrs.  Galloway  was  born  in  Indian  Terri- 
tory, now  the  State  of  Oklahoma,  a  daughter  of 
Frank  and  Ida  (Wharton)  Miller,  both  of  whom 
were  from  Forsyth  County,  North  Carolina.  Frank 
Miller  for  some  years  engaged  in  business  in 
Indian  Territory  ijut  finally  returned  to  Forsyth 
County,  North  Carolina.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Galloway 
have  two  children :     Ida  Clifton  and  Louisa  Scales. 

The  family  are  active  members  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  in  which  Mr.  Galloway  is  a  vestryman. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Twin  City  Club,  the  Rotary 
Club,  and  of  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order 
of  Elks.  His  first  presidential  ballot  was  given  to 
Grover  Cleveland,  and  he  has  been  a  steadfast 
and  loyal  democrat  ever  since. 

Conner  J.  Cottinghaji.  To  be  financially  in- 
terested in  the  prominently  identified  with  both 
railroad  and  lumber  interests  in  a  prosperous  com- 
munity indicates  a  large  mea.sure  of  business 
.sta)iility,  and  such  is  a  fact  in  regard  to  Conner 
J.  Cottingham,  a  leading  citizen  of  Alma,  North 
Carolina,  who  is  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
Alma  Lumlier  Company,  and  secretary  and  general 
manager  of  the  Maxton,  Alma  &  Southbound  Rail- 
road. While  Mr.  Cottingham  is  not  a  native  of 
Robeson  County,  almost  his  entire  life  has  been 
spent  here. 

Conner  J.  Cottingham  was  born  in  Marion 
County,  South  Carolina,  December  24,  1872.  His 
parents  were  A.  J.  and  Annie  (Jackson)  Cotting- 
ham, the  latter  of  whom  is  deceased.  In  1875 
A.  J.  Cottingham  moved  with  his  family  from 
Marion  County,  South  Carolina,  to  Maxton,  Robe- 
son County,  North  Carolina,  and  established  him- 
self there  in  the  mercantile  business,  becoming  in 
time,  one  of  the  leading  merchants  in  the  county, 
doing  an  extensive  business  witli  farmers  over 
a  wide  territory.  Since  retiring  from  merchandis- 
ing he  has  devoted  himself  to  farm  pursuits  and  to 
large  lumber  interests. 


46 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


The  Maxtou  public  schools  provided  Conner  J. 
Cottingham  with  his  educational  training.  As  a 
boy  he  began  to  learn  the  first  principles  of  busi- 
ness in  assisting  his  father  in  his  store,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  associated  with  liim  until  two  years 
after  he  was  married.  For  about  four  years  after- 
ward he  was  employed  by  his  l:irother,  L.  T.  Cot- 
tingham. In  the  meanwhile  he  had  become 
otherwise  interested,  finding  a  promising  business 
opportunity  in  the  great  lumber  industry,  and  in 
1906  became  an  official  of  the  Alma  Lumber  Com- 
pany of  Alma,  two  miles  from  Maxton.  This 
company  since  then  has  been  developed  into  one 
of  the  largest  manufacturing  agencies  in  this 
section  of  the  state.  The  president  of  the  company 
is  Maj.  A.  J.  McMinnon,  and  its  secretary  and 
treasurer  is  Conner  J.  Cottingham.  The  Lumber 
Veneer  Company  was  incorporated  May  1,  1918, 
and  three  fourths  of  the  stock  is  owned  by  the 
Alma.  Lumber  Company,  Major  McKinnon  being  its 
president,  J.  H.  Taylor  its  secretary  and  manager, 
and  Conner  J.  Cottingham  its  treasurer. 

Mr.  Cottingham  has  been  associated  for  some 
years  also  witli  Major  McKinnon,  a  capitalist  and 
most  enterprising  and  progressive  business  man, 
in  a  railroad  enterprise,  the  building  and  operat- 
ing of  the  Maxton,  Alma  &  Southbound  Railroad, 
of  which  Major  McKinnon  is  president  and  Mr. 
Cottingham  is  secretary  and  general  manager. 
This  road  was  built  under  Mr.  Cottingham 's 
management  and  direction  and  began  operation  on 
November  4,  1912.  It  is  a  local  enterprise  of 
which  the  citizens  of  this  section  are  justly  proud. 
It  has  a  mileage  of  fifteen  miles  and  extends  from 
Alma,  where  it  connects  with  the  Seaboard  Air- 
line to  Rowland,  on  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line  Road. 
It  has  proved  a  successful  venture  as  it  traverses 
a  rich  and  prosperous  agricultural  and  lumber 
manufacturing  section,  and  does  a  general  freight 
and  passenger  business.  Its  affairs  have  always 
been  well  and  honestly  managed  and  much  credit 
is  due  Mr.  Cottingham. 

Mr.  Cottingham  married  Miss  Mamie  McCallum, 
who  is  a  member  of  one  of  the  old  and  prominent 
Scotch  families  of  the  county,  and  they  have  six 
children :  Annie  Montgomery,  Henry  M.,  Conner 
J.,  Angus  F.,  Margaret  and  Graham  Kirkpatrick. 

Alexander  Stephens  Holden,  who  was  long 
favorably  known  as  a  salesman  at  Wilmington, 
has  since  1905  been  in  the  insurance  business  as 
district  agent  for  the  Mutual  Benefit  Life  Insurance 
Company,  of  Newark,  New  Jersey,  with  head- 
quarters  at  Wilmington. 

Mr.  Holden,  who  has  been  a  factor  in  the  civic 
and  social  life  of  his  home  city,  was  born  at  Wil- 
mington November  2,  1861,  a  son  of  Samuel  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  Ann  (Barlow)  Holden.  His  father 
was  for  many  years  a  machinist  with  the  Atlantic 
Coast  Line  Railroad  Company.  After  an  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  at  Wilmington,  Alex- 
ander S.  Holden  found  his  first  opportunity  as 
clerk  in  a  dry  goods  store.  Later  for  twenty-five 
years  he  was  in  the  shoe  business,  and  part  of 
that  time  was  a  traveling  salesman  with  territory 
in  all  the  southern  states.  He  finally  gave  uji 
mercantile  lines  to  accept  the  district  agency  of 
the  Mutual  Benefit  Life. 

He  has  long  been  prominent  in  Masonry,  is  now 
serving  as  secretary  of  St.  John's  Lodge  No.  1, 
Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons,  at  Wilmington, 
and  is  secretary  of  the  Sepia  Grotto  No.  79,  M.  O. 
V.  P.  E.  R.     He  is  also  chairman  of  the  Credential 


Committee  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  Ancient  Free  ifc 
Accepted  Masons.  In  191-t  the  county  commis- 
sioners of  New  Hanover  County  unanimously  chose 
him  county  coroner,  and  he  has  filled  that  office 
with  credit  ever  since.  In  1916  he  was  elected 
by  popular  vote  to  the  office.  That  was  almost 
a  unanimous  declaration  in  favor  of  his  official 
conduct  and  an  evidence  of  his  high  standing 
in  the  community.  Mr.  Holden  is  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Wilmington,  is 
chorister  of  the  Sunday  school,  and  has  sung 
in  the  choirs  of  the  leading  churches  of  the  city 
for  the  past  twenty-five  years. 

January  17,  1884,  he  married  Miss  Josephine 
Taylor,  daughter  of  Joseph  W.  and  Flora  Ann 
(Perry)  Taylor.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holden  have  tliree 
children.  Ethel  Clarice  married  M.  E.  Graham, 
bookkeeper  for  a  lumber  plant  at  Green  Cove 
Springs,  Florida,  and  they  have  two  children,  Mar- 
ion E.  and  Josephine.  Bessie  Morrison  is  the  wife 
of  Alva  H.  Standlaud,  bookkeeper  for  a  lumber 
plant  at  Newbern,  North  Carolina,  and  their  three 
children  are  Alva  H.,  Jr.,  Josephine  and  Bettie 
Patterson.  Arnold  Willey,  the  youngest  child  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holden,  is  now  attending  private 
school. 

Edwin  Llewellyn  Travis.  One  of  the  most 
important  positions  in  the  State  Government  is 
held  by  Edwin  Llewellyn  Travis  as  chairman  of 
the  Corporation  Commission,  an  office  he  has  held 
for  the  past  six  years.  Mr.  Travis  is  a  lawyer  by 
profession,  and  a  man  of  wide  experience  in  state 
polities.  For  a  number  of  terms  he  was  in  the 
State  Senate,  and  took  a  very  prominent  part  in 
securing  the  adoption  of  the  suffrage  amendment 
to  the  constitution,  a  few  years  ago. 

A  native  of  Virginia,  born  in  Brunswick  Coun- 
ty June  6,  1866,  he  has  lived  in  North  Carolina 
since  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age  and  has  made 
his  own  way  in  the  world.  His  parents  were  Ed- 
ward W.  and  Mary  Harrison  (Clark)  Travis.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  and  also  a  surveyor. 

Mr.  Travis  after  leaving  the  public  schools  had 
to  use  his  wits  and  industry  to  contrive  means  of 
self  support  and  it  was  the  self  reliance  developed 
by  overcoming  obstacles  that  proved  an  invaluable 
resource  to  him  in  his  later  professional  career. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  lived  at  Halifax,  North 
Carolina,  wliere  he  took  up  the  study  of  law  in 
the  office  of  Robert  O.  Burton.  Admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1890,  the  next  three  years  he  was  in  prac- 
tice with  his  former  preceptor  as  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Burton  &  Travis.  After  that  he  practiced 
alone  in  Halifax. 

Mr.  Travis  was  elected  and  served  in  the  State 
Senate  from  Halifax  during  the  sessions  of  1899, 
1901,  1903  and  1909.  It  was  in  1909  that  he  was 
chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  which  prepared 
the  suffrage  amendment  to  the  constitution,  and 
afterwards  he  was  unanimously  selected  to  make 
the  speech  for  the  measure  representing  the  ma- 
jority party.  Later  the  Senate  presented  him  with 
the  pen  which  had  been  used  to  ratify  the  measure, 
and  that  is  a  token  of  appreciation  and  service 
which  he  greatly  cherishes.  Mr.  Travis  is  a  keen 
debater,  and  that  fact  has  been  made  apparent 
through  all  phases  of  his  legal  and  political  career. 
He  has  proved  a  forceful  campaigner,  and  in  1898 
and  again-  in  1900  was  chairman  of  the  Demo- 
cratic Committee  and  has  been  a  factor  in  other 
campaigns  in  the  state. 

Governor    W.   W.    Kitchen  first   appointed   Mr. 


i     VilZ  f:Z".''  YORK 


TILDE 


ARY 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


47 


Travis  a  member  of  the  Corporation  Commission  of 
North  Carolina,  and  in  1914  he  was  elected  to  that 
oHice  for  the  regular  term  of  six  years.  He  has 
been  chairman  of  the  board  since  1913.  He  is  a 
Knight  Templar  Mason  and  Shriner,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Country  and  Capital  clubs  at  Ealeigh. 

In  August,  1894,  Commissioner  Travis  married 
Miss  Jennie  Outlaw  Grady,  daughter  of  Rev.  Louis 
G.  and  Mary  (Ruffin)  Grady.  Her  father  was  a 
minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Travis  have  two  sons:  Kdward  L.  and 
Louis  G.,  both  of  whom  are  now  students  in  the 
University  of  North  Carolina. 

William  Thomas  Pfohl,  deceased,  was  long 
and  prominently  known  in  business  affairs  at  Win- 
ston-Salem. He  is  kindly  and  affectionately 
remembered  by  his  surviving  comrades  of  the  war 
between  the  states,  and  especially  in  Norfleet  Camp 
of  the  United  Confederate  Veterans,  in  which 
he  was  an  active  member  for  many  years.  He  did  a 
soldier's  duty,  and  in  civil  life  and  in  those  rela- 
tions which  brought  him  into  contact  with  his 
leUovraien  he  proved  equally  loyal,  just,  upright 
and  honorable.  The  original  name  Pfohl  was 
spelled  "Phole." 

The  Pfohl  family  has  many  associations  with 
the  old  Town  of  Salem  and  also  of  the  City  of 
Winston-Salem.  His  grandfather,  Rev.  Christian 
Thomas  Pfohl,  was  born  in  Germany  in  1759.  He 
was  reared  in  the  old  country  and  liberally  edu- 
cated. When  a  young  man  he  came  to  America 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  charge  of  the  Boys ' 
School  at  Salem,  North  Carolina.  For  several 
years  he  remained  as  an  instructor  in  that  insti- 
tution, and  then,  having  been  ordained  for  the 
ministry,  became  pastor  of  the  Moravian  Church 
at  Bethania,  which  he  served  upwards  of  twenty 
years.  His  death  occurred  in  1838,  when  nearly 
eighty  years  old. 

Gottlieb  Pfohl,  father  of  the  late  William  T. 
Pfohl,  was  born  in  what  is  now  Forsyth  County 
and  as  a  young  man  learned  the  jeweler's  trade. 
He  was  in  the  jewelry  business  and  also  in  music 
merchandise  at  different  places.  For  a  time  he 
was  located  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  afterward  at 
New  Orleans,  where  he  spent  his  last  years.  He 
married  Anna  Janette  Grenshaw,  of  the  prominent 
Virginia  family  of  that  name.  She  also  died  in 
New  Orleans.  Her  three  sons  were  Theodore, 
Henry  and  William  Thomas,  and  her  three  daugh- 
ters, Eetta,  Susan  and  Sally. 

The  late  William  Thomas  Pfohl  was  born  Sep- 
tember 17,  1840.  At  the  time  of  his  birth  his 
mother  was  on  the  steamer  Annie  Calhoun,  of 
which  his  uncle  was  captain,  off  the  coast  of 
Florida.  When  he  was  a  boy  of  tender  years  he 
was  sent  to  Salem  to  be  educated,  and  while  ther« 
attended  the  Salem  Boys'  School.  He  had  hardly 
attained  his  years  of  majority  when  the  war  broke 
out  between  the  states,  and  he  enlisted  as  a  drum- 
mer in  Companies  D  and  L  of  the  Twenty-first 
Regiment  North  Carolina  Troops.  He  went  with 
that  regiment  through  all  its  numerous  campaigns. 
He  bore  himself  bravely  in  the  face  of  the  enemy 's 
bullets  and  never  faltered  in  any  emergency  or 
danger.  He  was  twice  wounded.  A  minie  ball 
struck  the  end  of  his  finger  and  penetrated  his  arm, 
and  at  another  time  he  was  wounded  in  the  ankle. 
His  name  appears  in  the  oflBcial  list  of  those 
paroled  at  Appomattox. 

After  the  war  he  returned  to  Winston  and  was 
collector  of  taxes  for  the  town  ten  years.     For  six 


years  he  was  in  the  grocery  business.  Much  of  his 
time  was  spent  in  some  official  duties,  and  he 
served  as  city  detective  until  the  World  's  Fair  at 
Chicago  in  1893,  and  was  assigned  to  similar  duty 
on  tlie  grounds  of  the  exposition  in  that  city. 
On  returning  to  North  Carolina  he  was  given  a 
place  on  the  state  detective  force  of  South  Caro- 
lina, but  after  a  while  returned  to  Winston-Salem. 
For  several  years  he  was  a  collector  of  rents,  and 
then  engaged  in  the  general  advertising  and  bill 
posting  business,  which  he  developed  to  success- 
ful proportions.  He  was  still  active  in  this  busi- 
ness at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
November  6,  1913. 

He  was  survived  by  his  widow  and  one  daugh- 
ter. Mrs.  Pfohl  still  lives  in  Winston-Salem  and 
she  continues  the  business  as  manager  of  the 
Dixie  Poster  Advertising  Company  with  home 
oflSce  in  Richmond,  Virginia.  She  is  one  of  a  few 
lady  managers  of  that  kind  of  business.  Before 
her  marriage  she  was  Roxana  Lutitia  Farabee. 
They  were  married  July  19,  1882.  Mrs.  Pfohl  is  a 
native  of  Winston.  Her  father,  Samuel  Wesley 
Farabee,  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Davidson  County, 
and  his  parents  were  natives  of  England  and  of 
English  lineage,  being  early  settlers  in  Davidson 
County.  Mrs.  Pfohl 's  father  was  reared  on  a 
farm,  but  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  moved  to  Salem. 
He  arrived  in  that  town  dressed  in  homespun  and 
had  had  practically  no  experience  except  that  of  a 
farmer  boy.  He  had  neither  friends  nor  money, 
but  soon  acquired  both,  and  he  became  one  of  the 
steadiest  and  most  reliable  workmen  in  the  Phillip 
Nissen  wagon  factory  at  Waughtown.  After 
learning  the  trade  he  bought  some  property  on 
Liberty,  Sixth  and  Trade  streets  in  Winston  and 
built  up  a  business  of  his  own  as  a  wagon  manu- 
facturer. His  output  was  calculated  to  win 
increased  favor  with  passing  years,  and  in  time  he 
found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  highly  profitable 
business.  He  remained  a  resident  of  Winston  until 
his  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Mary  Riggs,  who  was  born  in  Surrey  Coimty, 
North  Carolina.  Her  first  husband  was  Thomas 
Highland  of  Utica,  New  York,  who  died  leaving 
three  daughters,  named  Julia,  Maggie  and  Adelia. 
Mrs.  Pfohl  was  her  father 's  only  daughter  and 
inherited  his  estate,  including  the  fine  old  home- 
stead at  the  corner  of  Liberty  and  Sixth  Street. 
That  was  her  own  home  until  1917,  when  she  sold 
part  of  the  property  and  bought  the  home  on  South 
Main  Street  where  she  now  resides.  Mrs.  Pfohl 
is  an  active  and  helpful  member  of  the  Centenary 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  She  is  the  mother  of 
one  daughter,  Robah  Janette,  now  the  wife  of 
Beimon  Ora  Jones,  Winston-Salem. 

Thomas  Perbin  Harrison,  an  educator  of 
twenty-five  years'  experience  and  now  dean  of  the 
North  Carolina  State  College  of  Agriculture  and 
Engineering  Arts  at  West  Raleigh,  was  born  at 
Abbeville,  South  Carolina,  October  11,  1864,  son 
of  Francis  Eugene  and  Mary  Eunice  (Perrin)  Har- 
rison. His  youth  was  spent  on  his  father's  plan- 
tation at  Aii'dersonville  in  Anderson  County,  South 
Carolina.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  entered  the 
South  Carolina  Military  Academy  at  Charleston, 
from  which  after  the  regular  four  years '_  college 
course  he  was  graduated  Bachelor  of  Science  in 
1886. 

After  graduation  he  was  appointed  to  an  in- 
structorship  of  English  in  his  alma  mater,  and  at 
once   began   his   duties.     After  two  years   he   re- 


48 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


signed  in  order  to  take  advanced  courses  at  Johns 
Hopkins  University  at  Baltimore.  While  there 
the  university  honored  him  with  a  scholarship  and 
a  fellowship,  and  in  1891  conferred  upon  him 
the  degree  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 

Doctor  Harrison  has  occupied  the  following  posi- 
tions: At  the  South  Carolina  Military  Academy, 
instructor  in  English,  1886-1888;  at  Clerason  Co"l- 
lege,  South  Carolina,  assistant  professor  and  sub- 
sequently associate  professor  of  English,  1891-96; 
at  Davidson  College,  professor  of  English,  1896- 
1909;  at  the  North  Carolina  State  College  of  Agri- 
culture and  Engineering,  professor  of  English, 
1909,  and  dean  of  the  college  since  1910. 

In  1894  he  married  Adelia  Lake,  daughter  of 
Rev.  Dr.  James  Turner  Leftwich  of  Baltimore. 
They  have  three  sons  and  a  daughter. 

Doctor  Harrison  is  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  of  the  Kappa  Alpha  Fraternity,  of 
the  State  Farmers'  Union  and  the  Teachers'  As- 
sembly, the  Raleigh  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  of 
the  International  Association  of  Teachers  of  Eng- 
lish. He  and  his  family  reside  at  160;i  Hillsboro 
Street  in  Raleigh. 

Thornwell  Gibsox  Fukr.  Possessing  to  a 
marked  degree  the  abilities  which  have  made  him 
a  thorough  and  exact  scholar  in  many  branches 
of  the  law,  Thornwell  G.  Furr,  of  Salisbury,  just- 
ly occupies  a  place  of  note  in  the  legal  circles 
of  Rowan  County.  He  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
Atwell  Townshipj  Rowan  County,  of  German  an- 
cestry, his  line  of  descent  being  as  follows: — 
Henry,  Henry,  John,  Samuel  Monroe,  and  Thorn- 
well  Gibson. 

Henry  Furr  was  born,  reared  and  married  in 
Germany.  Immigrating  to  America  in  colonial 
days,  he  landed  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
after  a  tedious  ocean  voyage  of  several  weeks. 
Soon  after,  with  his  wife  and  infant  son,  whose 
birth  had  occurred  during  the  voyage  across  the 
ocean,  he  made  his  way  by  wagon  to  what  is 
now  Cabarrus  County,  North  Carolina,  becoming 
one  of  its  earliest  pioneers.  Securing  a  tract  of 
wild  land  on  Gold  Water  Creek,  six  miles  south- 
east of  the  present  site  of  Concord,  he  began  the 
improvement  of  a  homestead,  and  there  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  life. 

Henry  Furr,  born  on  board  ship  while  his 
parents  were  en  route  to  America,  grew  up  on  the 
home  farm  in  Cabarrus  County,  and  when  but  six- 
teen years  of  age  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary war,  and  fought  bravely  with  the  colo- 
nists in  tlieir  struggle  for  liberty.  An  ardent  pa- 
triot, and  a  fluent  speaker,  he  was  afterwards 
called  upon  to  deliver  the  oration  at  a  Fourth  of 
July  celebration.  He  was  a  man  of  physical  and 
mental  vigor,  and  lived  to  the  venerable  age  of 
ninety-six  years.  He  married,  and  reared  a  fam- 
ily of  nine  children,  six  sons  and  three  daughters. 

John  Furr  spent  his  entire  life  of  three  score 
years  in  Township  No.  2,  Cabarrus  County, 
throughout  his  active  life  having  cafried  on  gen- 
eral farming  with  slave  help.  He  married,  April 
28,  1808,  Sarah  Boger.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
Daniel  Boger,  who  owned  and  operated  Soger's 
Mill,  which  is  now  known  as  Boss  Mill.  They 
were  the  parents  of  eleven  children,  eight  of  them 
being  sons,  as  follows:  Allison,  Henry,  Daniel, 
John  Simpson,  Tobis,  William  A.,  James  Burton, 
and  Samuel  Monroe. 

Samuel  Monroe  Furr  was  born  February  ?>. 
1828,  in   Township  No.   2,  Cabarrus   County,   and 


was  there  reared  to  agricultural  jiursuits.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-two  years,  he  bought  a  tract  of 
land  on  Coddle  Creek,  Atwell  Township,  Rowan 
County,  erected  a  comfortable  house,  and  with 
the  assistance  of  his  slaves  began  to  cultivate  the 
land.  During  the  Ci^l  war,  he  served  as  captain 
of  the  Home  Guard.  He  was  quite  successful  as 
an  agriculturist,  and  having  purchased  a  farm  ad- 
joining his  own,  he  lived  upon  it  until  1902.  He 
then  removed  to  Mocksville,  Iredell  County,  where 
he  is  now  living,  retired  from  active  pursuits.  On 
November  3,  18.5.3,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Lucilla  McNeeley,  a  native  of  Iredell  County,  be- 
ing a  daughter  of  .Joel  McNeeley,  a  well-known 
farmer.  Her  mother  was  a  great-granddaughter  of 
Capt.  William  Gilbert  Falls,  who  was  killed  in  the 
Battle  of  Ramsouers  Hill,  June  20,  1780.  Mrs. 
Samuel  M.  Furr  is  still  living,  being  eighty-seven 
years  of  age.  To  her  and  her  husband  eight  chil- 
dren were  liorn,  namely :  Alice  Elizabeth,  Chal- 
mers Victor,  Sarah  Isabelle,  -Junius  Monroe,  James 
Edgar,  deceased;  Walter  Espey,  Thornwell  Gib- 
son, and  Clarence  L. 

Thornwell  Gibson  obtained  the  rudiments  of  his 
education  in  the  district  schools,  and  after  com- 
pleting a  course  of  study  in  the  high  school  earned 
enough  money  by  teaching  school  to  enable  him 
to  enter  the  law  department  of  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in 
1907,  having  in  the  meantime  paid  his  college  ex- 
penses by  spending  his  vacations  as  a  teacher  in 
the  public  schools.  Being  licensed  by  the  Superior 
Court  to  practice  law,  Mr.  Furr  located  in  Salis- 
bury, where  his  legal  talent  and  skill  are  recog- 
nized and  appreciated. 

Hox.  Hugh  G.  Chatham.  Possessing  in  a  large 
measure  the  energy,  force  of  character  and  pro- 
gressive spirit  necessary  for  the  successful  con- 
duct of  business  affairs  of  importance  and  magni- 
tude, Hon.  Hugh  G.  Chatham,  of  Winston-Salem, 
Forsyth  County,  has  contributed  appreciably  to- 
ward the  development  and  advancement  of  the 
manufacturing,  railway  and  financial  interests  of 
Western  North  Carolina,  his  influence  being  felt 
in  public  affairs  and  in  private  enterprises.  A 
native  of  Surry  County,  he  was  born  on  a  plan- 
tation on  the  present  site  of  Elkin,  a  son  of  Hon. 
Alexander  Chatham  and  grandson  of  Martin  Chat- 
ham, a  pioneer  of  Wilkes  County,  North  Caro- 
lina. He  comes  of  English  ancestry,  his  great- 
grandfather on  the  paternal  side  having  emigrated 
from  England  to  America  when  yonng,  settling  in 
Virginia,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
life. 

Martin  Chatham  was  born  in  Augusta  County, 
Virginia,  in  1803,  and  there  learned  the  trade  of 
a  blacksmith  and  machinist.  In  1828,  in  company 
with  Major  Finley,  General  Patterson  and  others, 
he  came  to  Wilkesboro,  North  Carolina,  and  having 
purchased  a  tract  of  land  established  a  black- 
smith's shop,  which  he  operated  until  his  death, 
at  the  age  of  three  score  and  ten  years.  The  maid- 
en name  of  his  wife,  grandmother  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  Elizabeth  Cass.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Moses  and  Elizabeth  (Jones)  Cass. 
She  reared  thirteen  children,  and  five  of  her  sons 
enlisted  in  the  Confederate  army,  two  of  thenj 
being  killed  while  in  service. 

Hon.  Alexander  Chatham  was  born  January  14, 
1834,  in  Wilkesboro,  North  Carolina,  and  as  a  lad 
of  ten  years  began  working  in  his  father  's  smithy. 


^  I  ■  / 


r       /O' 


C-A^-^-^'H.yL. 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


49 


Being  a  natural  meelianic,  he  soon  became  an  ex- 
pert in  the  use  of  tools  and  very  piroticient  as  a 
workman.  Removing  to  Elkin,  Surry  County,  when 
about  twenty-five  years  old,  he  entered  the  employ 
of  the  Elkin  Manufacturing  Company,  which  was 
then  operating  with  about  thirty  hands,  and  con- 
tinued with  that  concern  until  after  his  marriage, 
when  he  embarked  in  mercantile  and  agricultural 
pursuits.  In  1878,  in  company  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  Thomas  Gwyn,  he  built  a  small  woolen  mill 
on  Elkin  Creek,  and,  under  the  firm  name  of  Gwyn 
&  Chatham,  operated  it  successfully  for  twelve 
years,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  nearest  rail- 
road was  forty  miles  away.  About  that  time  his 
sons,  Hugh  G.,  Richard  and  Paul,  and  Capt.  G. 
T.  Roth  purchased  Mr.  Gwyn  's  interest  in  the  firm 
and  incorporated  it  under  the  name  of  the  Chat- 
ham Manufacturing  Company,  with  Mr.  Alexander 
Chatham  as  president.  Three  years  later  he  re- 
signed the  presidency  and  organized  the  Elkin 
National  Bank,  to  the  affairs  of  which  as  presi- 
dent, he  has  devoted  his  time  and  energies. 

Hon.  Alexander  Chatham  has  been  twice  mar- 
ried. The  maiden  name  of  his  first  wife  was  Mary 
Elizabeth  Gwyn.  She  was  born  in  Elkin,  Surry 
County,  in  1840,  a  daughter  of  Richard  Gwyn. 
Her  grandfather,  James  Givyn,  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia, came  to  North  Carolina  at  an  early  day,  set- 
tling in  Wilkes  County.  Buying  an  estate  neai; 
Bonda,  he  erected  a  fine  mansion,  which  he  occu- 
pied many  years,  and  which  is  still  standing,  be- 
ing one  of  the  landmarks  of  the  county.  He  was 
an  extensive  planter,  operating  with  slave  labor. 
James  Gwyn  married  Martha  Lenoir,  whose  father, 
Thomas  Lenoir,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
war,  and  being  captured  by  the  British  was  con- 
fined as  a  prisoner  in  Camden,  South  Carolina. 
His  daughter  Martha,  then  a  brave  little  girl  of 
twelve  summers,  visited  him  in  prison,  carrying 
him  clothes  and  food,  making  the  journey  on  horse- 
tiack,  and  being  accompanied  by  a  negro  servant. 
She  met  Lord  Cornwallis,  who,  after  hearing  of 
her  perilous  trip,  released  her  father,  who  returned 
home  with  her.  Mr.  Lenoir  was  a  large  land- 
owner, his  estate  comprising  upwards  of  two  thou- 
sand acres  of  land. 

Richard  Gwyn,  the  maternal  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  at  the  Gwyn  home- 
stead, "Green  Hill,"  near  Ronda,  Wilkes  County. 
Inheriting  a  part  of  the  parental  estate,  he  man- 
aged it  with  the  help  of  slaves,  and  from  time 
to  time  added  to  his  landed  possessions,  by  pur- 
chase, until  he,  too,  was  owner  of  more  than  two 
thousand  acres.  He  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of 
four  score  and  four  years.  An  active  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  he  served 
as  class  leader  and  as  steward.  He  was  prominent 
in  public  affairs,  and  represented  Wilkes  County 
in  the  State  Legislature.  He  married  Elizabeth 
Hunt,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Hunt,  of  Jonesville, 
Yadkin  County.  Mrs.  Mary  Elizabeth  (Gwyn) 
Chatham  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-five  years, 
leaving  three  sons,  namely,  Hugh  G.,  the  special 
subject  of  this  sketch;  Richard  M. ;  and  Paul. 
After  the  death  of,  his  first  wife,  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Chatham  married  Miss  Alice  Hickerson,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Lytle  Hickerson,  who  served  as  a  major  in 
the  Mexican  war.  Of  this  union  four  children 
liave  been  born,  namely,  Alexander,  Jr.,  Raymond, 
Daniel  and  Myrtle. 

Hugh  Chatham  acquired  his  elementary  educa- 
tion in  the  Elkin  public  school,  and  after  his  grad- 
uation  from   the  Jonesville   High   School  took  an 


advanced  course  of  study  at  Vanderbilt  Univer- 
sity in  Nashville,  Tennessee,  remaining  as  a  stu- 
dent in  that  institution  two  years.  Beginning 
work  then  in  his  father's  woolen  mill,  which 
had  just  been  completed,  he  operated  the  first 
loom  in  the  mill.  He  learned  the  entire  process 
of  making  cloth  from  the  raw  material  to  the  fin- 
ished product,  and  when  perfect  in  the  details  of 
manufacturing  turned  his  attention  to  the  busi- 
ness part  of  that  industry,  mastering  that  also. 
Upon  tlie  organization  of  the  Chatham  Manufac- 
turing Company,  Mr.  Chatham  was  made  president 
of  the  concern,  and  has  continued  in  that  respon- 
sible jiosition  to  the  present  time,  the  business 
under  his  judicious  management  being  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition.  Soon  after  he  assumed  the  presi- 
dency the  mill  was  transferred  from  Elkin  Creek 
to  a  site  on  the  railroad,  and  a  small  brick  build- 
ing was  erected.  The  business  grew  with  remark- 
able rapidity,  requiring  large  additions  to  the 
original  mill,  and  in  1906  the  company,  owing  to 
its  increased  business,  established  a  factory  in 
Winston-Salem,  where  Mr.  Chatham  is  now  resid- 
ing, being  not  only  one  of  the  more  active  and 
successful  business  men  of  the  city,  but  prominent 
in  its  social  life. 

Mr.  Chatham  married,  in  1894,  Miss  Martha 
Lenoir  Thurmond.  She  was  born  in  Ripley,  Mis- 
sissippi, a  daughter  of  Richard  Jackson  and  Mar- 
garet (Miller)  Thurmond.  Two  children  have 
blessed  their  union,  Richard  Thurmond  Chatham 
and  De  Witt  Chatham. 

Officially  connected  wdth  various  organizations, 
Mr.  Chatham  is  a  director  of  the  Wachovia  Bank 
and  Trust  Company.  In  1901  he  was  appointed 
president  of  the  North  Carolina  Railroad  Company 
by  Governor  Aycoek,  and  was  reappointed 
to  the  same  responsible  position  by  Gover- 
nor Glen,  his  executive  ability  and  busi- 
ness acumen  eminently  fitting  him  for  the  office. 
He  was  also  one  of  the  promoters  of  the  Elkin 
and  Alleghany  Railroad  Company,  which  he  is 
now  serving  as  vice  president.  Mr.  Chatham  has 
always  taken  a  deep  interest  in  public  matters, 
and  in  1913  had  the  honor  of  being  elected  to  the 
State  Senate.  While  there  he  served  as  chairman 
of  the  Finance  Committee  and  as  a  member  of 
several  committees  of  minor  importance. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Chatham  is  a  member  of  Win- 
ston Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Order  of  Masons;  of  Elkin  Lodge  of  the  Knights 
of  Pythias;  and  of  the  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics.  He  also  belongs  to  the  Twin 
City  Club  and  to  the  Forsyth  Country  Club. 

Hon.  John  Fewel  Reynolds  of  Winston-Salem 
has  long  been  prominent  both  in  the  business  and 
official  life  of  that  city,  and  for  many  years  held 
the  position  of  deputy  internal  revenue  collector 
at  Winston.  He  also  served  in  the  State  Legis- 
lature and  as  a  republican  has  done  much  to  build 
up  the  strength  of  that  party  in  Western  North 
Carolina. 

Mr.  Reynolds  was  born  September  14,  1858,  at 
Leaksville  in  Rockingham  County,  North  Carolina. 
While  the  exact  facts  concerning  the  earlier  gen- 
erations are  not  ascertainable,  it  is  believed  that^ 
his  great-grandfather,  George  Reynolds,  was  a' 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  from  which  state  he 
became  a  pioneer  in  Pittsylvania  County,  Virginia. 
Mr.  Reynolds'  grandfather,  Pryor  Reynolds,  was 
probably  born  in  Pittsylvania  County,  but  after 
reaching  manhood  he  moved  across  the  state  line 


50 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


into  North  Carolina  and  bought  the  land  in  the 
locality  known  as  The  Meadows  in  Rockingham 
County,  near  the  present  site  of  Draper.  There 
he  was  a  substantial  farmer  for  many  years.  He 
married  Prudence  Morehead,  sister  of  Governor 
Morehead. 

Thomas  Reynolds,  father  of  John  F.,  was  born 
at  The  Meadows  in  Rockingham  County,  North 
Carolina  or  Eastern  Tennessee,  April  19,  1819. 
He  was  well  educated,  subsequently  took  up  the 
study  of  medicine,  at  first  with  a  physician  at 
Greensboro  and  then  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  Col- 
lege at  Philadeljihia,  where  he  was  graduated  with 
his  degree.  He  began  practice  at  Madison,  North 
Carolina,  but  in  1850  removed  to  Leaksville,  where 
he  commanded  a  large  clientage  until  his  death. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Sarah  J.  Fewel, 
her  death  occurring  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-nine. 
She  was  a  native  of  Madison,  Rockingham  County, 
and  daughter  of  William  and  Mrs.  (Wall)  Fewel. 
The  children  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  Reynolds  were: 
Charles  A.,  former  lieutenant  governor  of  North 
Carolina;  Lelia,  who  died  when  quite  young; 
Elizabeth  D.,  Thomas  E.  and  John  F. 

John  F.  Reynolds  after  his  early  education  in 
the  district  schools  and  Mount  Airy  Academy 
entered  the  noted  law  school  conducted  by  Judges 
Dick  and  Dillard  at  Greensboro,  and  completed  his 
law  course  in  1883.  Though  well  qualified  for  the 
law  Mr.  Reynolds  has  never  practiced.  Removing 
to  Winston,  he  became  a  tobacco  manufacturer  in 
company  with  his  brothers,  and  was  in  that  busi- 
ness until  the  jianic  of  1894.  In  1897  he  was 
appointed  dejiuty  internal  revenue  collector  at  the 
branch  office  in  Winston,  and  filled  the  office  con- 
tinuously for  sixteen  years  and  four  months.  Dur- 
ing that  time  forty-three  milion  dollars  worth  of 
revenue  stamps  were  sold  through  his  office  and 
vrithout  the  loss  of  a  single  cent  to  the  Govern- 
ment. Mr.  Reynolds  is  a  thoroughly  competent  and 
efficient  business  man,  and  has  proved  capable  and 
just  in  every  relationship  of  life. 

He  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  in  1880  for 
James  A.  Garlield.  He  has  always  been  a  con- 
sistent supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  repub- 
lican party  and  on  its  ticket  was  elected  a  repre- 
sentative in  the  State  Legislature  in  1898  and  was 
elected  to  the  State  Senate  in  1901. 

Mr.  Reynolds  was  married  May  7,  1890,  to 
Maude  Wall.  Mrs.  Reynolds  is  of  a  prominent 
North  Carolina  family,  though  she  was  born  in 
Henry  County,  Missouri.  Her  grandfather.  Mason 
Wall,  owned  and  occupied  a  plantation  in  Rock- 
ingham County,  North  Carolina,  but  in  1844  he 
sold  his  land  and  moved  to  Missouri.  For  the 
purpose  of  finding  homes  in  what  was  then  the  far 
West,  a  colony  of  Rockingham  County  people  was 
made  up,  consisting  of  members  of  the  Wall, 
Fewel,  Garrett  and  Allen  families.  They  went 
West  with  teams  and  wagons.  They  took  along 
their  slaves  and  drove  a  large  number  of  livestock. 
It  was  a  journey  of  much  hardship  but  on  the 
whole  was  also  one  of  many  pleasant  incidents. 
They  had  ample  provisions  in  their  wagons,  and 
they  camped  out  by  the  roadside.  At  that  date 
Missouri  did  not  have  a  single  mile  of  railroad,  and 
much  of  the  land  was  still  owned  by  the  Govern- 
ment and  could  be  bought  at  $1.25  per  acre.  The 
woods  and  prairies  were  filled  with  wild  game, 
consisting  of  buffalo,  deer,  wolves  and  panthers. 
In  Henry  County,  where  the  colony  located,  Mason 
Wall  secured  a  large  tract  of  Government  land,  the 


greater  part  of  which  was  prairie  and  situated  in 
the  north  part  of  the  county.  For  a  time  the 
nearest  convenient  market  was  at  Boonville,  & 
100  miles  distant.  The  various  families  lived  th« 
simple  frontier  life,  cooking  their  meals  by  th« 
open  fire,  while  the  slaves  did  th«  carding,  spinning 
and  weaving,  and  homespun  cloth  provided  all  the 
clothing.  The  first  home  of  the  Wall  family  was 
a  log  house.  Mason  Wall  was  a  very  thrifty  and 
successful  business  man  and  farmer,  and  in  time 
he  assisted  each  of  his  children  in  securing  homes 
of  their  own.  He  lived  in  Henry  County  until 
his  death.     His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Walker. 

Mrs.  Reynolds '  father  was  Dr.  James  Walker 
Wall,  who  was  born  on  a  plantation  in  Rocking- 
ham County  November  20,  1816.  On  completing 
his  literary  education  he  took  up  the  study  of 
medicine  going  to  Philadelphia  and  graduating 
from  the  Jefferson  Medical  College.  In  1844, 
then  a  young  physician,  he  joined  the  colony 
bound  for  Henry  County,  Missouri,  and  arriving  in 
that  section  he  bought  land  in  the  northern  part  o< 
the  county  near  his  father  's  home.  His  residence 
was  about  three  miles  from  Leeton,  across  the  line 
in  Johnson  County.  His  services  as  a  physician 
were  in  great  demand  in  that  pioneer  community, 
and  he  built  up  a  large  and  extensive  practice  and 
continued  it  until  his  death  on  May  10,  1875. 
Wliile  he  was  in  active  practice  several  young  men 
studied  medicine  under  him  and  also  made  their 
mark  in  the  profession.  Doctor  Wall  married 
Mary  Frances  Fewel,  who  was  born  in  Madison, 
Rockingham  County,  North  Carolina,  March  28, 
1829.  Her  father,  William  Fewel,  was  probably  a 
native  of  Greensboro,  but  in  1844  was  living  in 
Rockingham  County,  at  which  time  he  joined  the 
Missouri  Colony  and  in  Henry  County  improved  a 
farm  with  the  aid  of  his  slaves.  William  Fewel 
married  a  Miss  Wall,  and  both  lived  to  a  good 
old  age.  Mrs.  Reynolds  was  one  of  six  children: 
James  W.,  Mary  Elizabeth,  Corinna  Alice,  Sarah 
Lelia,  Maude  Ella  and  Robert  Lee. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reynolds  have  one  daughter, 
Maude  Edwin.  She  is  a  graduate  of  the  Salem 
Academy  and  College  and  for  two  years  was  a  stu- 
dent in  St.  Mary's  College  at  Raleigh.  She  is  a 
very  gifted  woman,  especially  in  music,  and  has  a 
large  private  class  in  piano,  violin  and  vocal. 

.\LESANDER    BOTD   ANDREWS   is    a   SOn   of   Col.    A. 

B.  Andrews  (1841-1915)  one  of  North  Carolina's 
prominent  men,  whose  biography  is  found  on  other 
pages. 

Born  at  Henderson,  North  Carolina,  February 
2,  1873,  Alexander  Boyd  Andrews  attended"  the 
Raleigh  Male  Academy  and  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  where  he  took  the  full  four  years 
course  and  was  graduated  in  1893.  He  continued 
his  studies  in  the  university  in  the  Law  Depart- 
ment during  1893-94,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  September  of  the  latter  year.  Since  then 
for  over  twenty  years  he  has  been  in  general 
practice  at  Raleigh.  He  is  a  member  of  the  North 
Carolina  and  American  Bar  associations.  From 
1900  to  1904  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  of  the  City  of  Raleigh. 

Mr.  Andrews  is  prominent  in  North  Carolina 
Masonry.  During  1916  he  served  as  grand  master 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  state,  and  in  1906  was 
srand  coniniaiuler  of  the  Knights  Templar  of 
North  Carolina.  He  is  also  a  Thirty-second  degree 
Scottish  Rite  Mason  and  a  member  of  the  Shrine. 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


51 


On  November  5,  1908,  he  married  Miss  Helen  May 
Sharpies  of  Media,  Pennsylvania.  Her  father  was 
the  late  Walter  M.  Sharpies. 

Tudor  Frith  Winslow.  An  honored  old  Caro- 
linia  name  comes  forward  in  respectfully  calling 
attention  to  one  of  Perquimans  County 's  best 
known  men,  Tudor  Frith  Wiuslow,  a  name  that 
for  generations  has  represented  sterling  character 
and  good  citizenship. 

Tudor  Frith  Win.slow  was  born  in  Perquimans 
County,  North  Carolina,  November  28,  1857.  His 
parents  were  Francis  Edward  and  Mary  Talcm 
(Jordan)  Winslow.  His  father  was  a  man  with 
numerous  business  interests,  mainly  agricultural, 
and  after  comjileting-  his  education  in  Randolph- 
Macon  College,  Tudor  Frith  Winslow  assisted  in 
conducting  oiierations  on  the  large  farms  and 
managing  the  stores  that  had  to  be  established 
to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  hundreds  of  em- 
ployes. He  thus  had  considerable  business  exper- 
ience prior  to  his  father 's  death,  after  which 
he  and  his  brother,  E.  D.  took  over  the  entirt; 
management. 

Mr.  Winslow  had  been  conducting  his  own  farms 
for  but  two  years  when  he  was  first  elected  sheriff 
of  Perquimans  County,  in  which  he  served  with 
the  utmost  satisfaction  for  two  years  and  then 
resumed  his  personal  management  of  his  farm  and 
stock  interests.  He  operates  220  acres  which 
adjoin  the  City  of  Hertford,  and  an  additional 
250  acres,  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Winslow  & 
White.  Mr.  Winslow  has  numerous  other  interests, 
his  active  participation  in  the  developing  of  local 
enterprises  being  a  proof  of  his  public  spirit,  as 
well  as  his  business  judgment  and  keen  fore- 
sight. Mr.  Winslow  is  vice  president  of  the  Hert- 
ford Banking  Company;  was  one  of  the  organizers 
of  the  Cotton  Oil  Company;  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Fisheries  Commission  Board  of  the  state,  an 
important  body  that  looks  after  the  interests  of 
one  of  the  most  invaluable  industries  of  North 
Carolina. 

Mr.  Winslow  was  married  December  27,  1882, 
to  Miss  Mary  Elizabeth  Wood,  of  Hertford,  and 
they  have  the  following  children:  Mary  Wood, 
Katherine  Leight,  Francis  Edward  and  Elizabeth 
Blount. 

Mr.  Winslow  lias  always  been  a  sound  and  loyal 
democrat  and  on  numerous  occasions  his  party 
has  called  upon  him  to  accept  offices  of  responsi- 
bility. After  serving-  several  terms  as  mayor  of 
Hertford,  in  1900  he  was  a  second  time  elected 
sheriff  of  the  county  and  served  four  years  more 
in  that  office,  retiring  with  an  unblemished  public 
record.  At  present  he  is  giving  his  services  to 
his  country  as  chairman  of  the  local  board  of  ex- 
emption in  reference  to  the  army  draft  for  the 
World  war.  Mr.  Winslow  and  his  family  are 
members  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  he  has 
served  for  years  in  the  office  of  junior  warden. 
In  all  things  he  commands  the  trust  and  respect 
of  his  fellow  citizens. 

SiHON  A.  Ogbdrn  has  been  a  resident  of  Win- 
ston-Salem more  than  half  a  century.  His  presence 
there  has  been  one  of  varied  usefulness  to  the 
community.  He  has  been  a  successful  merchant, 
and  has  extended  his  influence  to  the  betterment 
and  improvement  of  the  city.  The  Ogburn  family 
is  one  of  the  oldest  in  Western  North  Carolina. 
It  was  established  here  more  than  a  century  ago, 
and  the  name  is  intimately  associated  with  various 
pioneer  undertakings. 


The  pioneer  Ogburn  to  locate  in  tliis  part  of 
Use  state  was  Edmund  Ogburn,  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, where  he  grew  up  and  married.  About 
1810  he  brought  his  family  to  North  Carolina, 
coming  over  the  hills  and  trails  from  Virginia 
with  wagon  and  team.  He  located  about  seven 
miles  from  Salem,  in  what  was  then  Stokes  County. 
His  beginning  was  made  with  the  purchase  of  a 
tract  of  timbered  land.  That  land  and  all  the  sur- 
rounding country  was  tliea  a  rugged  wilderness. 
Game  of  all  kinds  roamed  through  the  woods  and 
over  the  hills,  and  it  was  possible  to  gain  a  living 
by  hunting  the  deer  and  bear  that  were  so  plenti- 
ful, not  to  mention  many  other  species  of  the 
wild  game.  Edmund  Ogburn  had  the  mental  and 
physical  equipment  for  enduring  the  vicissitudes 
of  pioneer  existence.  He  was  skillful  with  the 
ax,  was  an  unerring  marksman,  and  after  he  had 
cleared  a  portion  of  his  land  anil  put  it  into  cul- 
tivated crops  he  was  able  to  sustain  his  family 
with  all  the  necessary  comforts.  He  and  his  wife 
lived  on  the  old  homestead  until  they  passed  away 
at  a  good  old  age.  Their  remains  were  laid  to 
rest  on  the  home  farm. 

Sihon  A.  Ogburn  is  a  native  of  the  same  county 
to  which  his  grandparents  came  more  than  a  cen- 
tury ago.  He  was  born  in  the  log  house  that  stood 
five  miles  north  of  Salem,  in  what  was  then  Stokes 
but  is  now  Forsyth  County.  His  liirth  occurred 
there  March  17,  1840.  His  father,  James  E.  Og- 
burn, was  born  in  Brunswick,  A^irginia,  in  1809, 
and  was  only  a  few  months  old  when  the  family 
came  to  North  Carolina.  Naturally  enough  he  had 
very  meager  advantages  in  the  way  of  schools. 
He  grew  up  in  close  touch  with  nature  in  its  vir- 
gin state,  learned  all  the  arts  and  crafts  of  the 
frontier,  and  became  sturdy  and  cajjable,  and  by 
experience  rather  than  from  books  acquired  the 
culture  of  the  true  gentleman.  At  the  time  of 
his  marriage  he  bought  some  land  near  his  father's 
place  and  erected  the  log  house  in  which  his  son 
S.  A.  Ogburn  first  saw  the  light  of  day.  This 
couple  began  housekeeping  with  no  floor  but  the 
bare  earth,  while  overhead  the  roof  was  covered 
with  rough  boards  and  the  chimney  was  built  of 
hewn  timbers  and  rived  boards  lined  from  the  in- 
side with  a  thick  coating  of  clay.  The  mother  of 
Mr.  Ogburn  had  grown  up  proficient  and  wise 
in  all  the  housewifely  arts  of  her  time.  She  knew 
how  to  spin  and  weave,  and  for  years  she  dressed 
her  children  in  homespun  garments  cut  and  fash- 
ioned with  her  own  hands.  Nearly  all  the  cook- 
ing was  done  by  the  open  fire. 

The  fact  that  Winston-Salem  is  now  one  of 
the  greatest  tobacco  centers  in  the  South  gives 
special  interest  to  the  pioneer  enterprise  of  James 
E.  Ogburn  as  a  tobacconist.  In  the  early  days  he 
raised  a  crop  of  tobacco,  though  only  on  a  small 
scale.  Forsyth  County  was  then  isolated  from 
railroads  and  only  a  few  rough  highways  led 
down  into  the  more  populous  districts  of  the  state. 
Thus  there  was  little  market  for  the  leaf,  and 
there  was  not  a  factory  in  the  county.  With  the 
assistance  of  his  sons,  James  E.  Ogburn  stemmed 
the  tobacco  and  twisted  it  up  into  some  of  the 
pigtail  twists  which  were  such  a  familiar  form  of 
tobacco  manufacture  to  an  older  generation.  After 
thus  putting  his  crop  into  a  merchantable  form  he 
carried  it  to  Salem,  where  his  limited  crop  found 
a  ready  sale  for  home  consumption.  Thus  was 
established  the  first  tobacco  factory  in  Forsyth 
County.  At  the  beginning  the  family  stemmed  the 
tobacco  in  the  house,  but  with  the  growth  of  the 


52 


HLSTOKY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


enterprise  a  special  building  was  erected  for  that 
purpose.  James  Ogburn  also  installed  a  tobacco 
press,  operated  with  wooden  screws.  In  a  few 
years  the  Ogburns  were  manufacturing  the  entire 
crop  of  tobacco  leaf  raised  in  Forsyth  County. 
At  that  time  the  business  was  not  one  of  surpass- 
ing proportions,  since  the  county  produced  a  very 
small  crop  in  the  aggregate.  Manufacturing  op- 
erations were  usually  begun  in  the  month  of  .Tune 
and  were  continued  until  fall.  The  product  was 
then  taken  in  wagons  to  the  southern  counties  and 
sold  to  the  dealers  and  individuals.  James  Og- 
burn and  wife  lived  on  the  old  farm  until  late  in 
life,  when  they  moved  to  Winston  and  had  their 
home  with  their  son  Sihon  A.  at  the  time  of  their 
death.  They  reared  eight  children:  Eddie,  Rufus, 
Marcellus,  Sihon  A.,  Charles  J.,  John  W.,  Martha 
E.  and  Edward  W.  Martha  E.  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  Masten  and  lives  four  miles  east  of  Win- 
ston-Salem. 

The  old  farm  in  the  country  north  of  Winston- 
Salem  afforded  the  environment  where  Sihon  A. 
Ogburn  spent  his  childhood  years.  He  wisely  im- 
proved all  his  opportunities  to  secure  an  education. 
To  the  limit  of  his  strength  and  ability  he  assisted 
in  the  varied  work  of  the  farm  and  the  tobacco 
factory.  It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  recall  the 
earliest  commercial  transaction  in  which  Mr.  Og- 
burn was  a  party.  This  occurred  when  he  was 
about  eight  years  of  age.  In  the  process  of  strip- 
ping the  tobacco  leaf  usually  some  small  fragments 
were  left  on  the  stem.  Young  Ogburn  busied  him- 
self for  several  days  with  picking  off  these  small 
pieces,  and  as  a  reward  of  his  industry  he  found 
himself  possessed  of  a  small  sack  full  of  tobacco 
leaf.  This  sack  he  carried  to  Mr.  Winkler,  who 
kept  the  confectionei-y  and  cigar  store.  To  the 
merchant 's  question  as  to  how  much  the  boy 
wanted  for  his  tobacco,  the  answer  was  given,  "I 
will  take  it  all  in  ginger  cakes. ' '  The  bargain 
was  closed  immediately  on  those  terms  and  the 
purchaser  was  well  satisfied  and  so  was  the  seller. 
How  many  ginger  cakes  he  received  is  not  recorded, 
and  nothing  is  known  as  to  the  discomfort  he  suf- 
fered consequent  upon  the  sale  and  the  consump- 
tion of  the  cakes. 

The  years  came  and  went,  and  about  the  time 
he  reached  his  majority  the  North  and  South  were 
involved  in  the  life  and  death  struggle  of  civil  war. 
In  1862  Mr.  Ogburn  volunteered  his  services  and 
enlisted  in  Company  D  of  the  Fifty-seventh  Regi- 
ment, North  Carolina  troops.  He  was  soon  at  the 
front,  and  on  December  1.3,  1862,  he  was  a  par- 
ticipant in  the  great  battle  of  Fredericksburg.  In 
the  course  of  that  engagement  he  was  three  times 
severely  wounded,  and  he  carries  the  deep  sears 
of  his  wounds  even  to  the  present  time.  He  was 
then  sent  to  a  hospital,  where  he  remained  four 
months,  and  was  then  given  a  furlough  home,  where 
he  spent  nine  months  convalescing.  Having  re- 
covered somewhat,  he  reported  for  duty  and  was 
assigned  to  work  as  assistant  in  the  quartermas- 
ter's department.  Later  he  was  appointed  quar- 
termaster of  the  regiment,  and  gave  service  in 
that  way  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  surren- 
dered with  his  command  at  Appomattox,  and  on 
receiving  his  parole  started  home  on  foot,  being 
three  weeks  in  making  the  journey. 

In  the  fall  after  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Ogburn 
married,  and  he  and  his  wife  located  at  Winston. 
At  that  time  the  greater  part  of  the  present  site 
of  Winston   was  a  wilderness.     He  and   his  wife 


occupied  a  house  on  the  site  now  covered  by  the 
Kress  store  in  the  block  across  the  street  east 
of  the  courthouse  building.  Their  house  was  then 
the  only  building  in  that  entire  block,  and  it  was 
owned  by  Mrs.  Ogburn 's  father.  At  Winston  the 
young  soldier  engaged  in  merchandising  with  his 
father-in-law,  but  after  four  years  he  left  the 
town  and  bought  a  farm  five  miles  north  of  the 
city.  He  was  busied  with  the  operation  of  his 
farm  for  two  years,  and  then  returning  to  Win- 
ston he  bought  the  block  of  land  upon  which  the 
O  'Hanlon  ofSce  building  now  stands.  At  the  time 
of  his  purchase  the  block  had  only  one  building 
upon  it.  Here  Mr.  Ogburn  engaged  in  the  grocery 
trade,  continuing  it  for  several  years,  and  then 
formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother,  C.  J.  Og- 
burn and  W.  P.  Hill  for  the  manufacture  of 
tobacco.  After  two  years  Mr.  Ogburn  sold  his 
interest  in  the  tobacco,  factory  and  then  set  up  in 
business  for  himself,  continuing  for  eighteen  years. 
Since  retiring  from  active  commercial  pursuits  he 
has  given  his  time  to  the  management  of  his  pri- 
vate affairs. 

On  October  17,  186.5,  Mr.  Ogburn  married  Mary 
Jane  Tise.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ogburn  had  the  very 
happy  experience  of  celebrating  on  October  17, 
1915,  the  golden  wedding  anniversary  of  their 
marriage.  It  was  an  occasion  of  much  interest  to 
the  entire  community,  and  was  made  happy  and 
joyous  by  the  presence  of  their  children,  grand- 
children and  a  great  host  of  friends  who  at  that 
time  took  the  opportunity  to  render  special  honor 
to  this  old  couple  who  have  lived  in  the  city  for 
more  than  half  a  century. 

Mrs.  Ogburn  was  born  at  Winston  September 
26,  1847.  Her  father  was  Jacob  Tise,  who  was 
born  December  13,  1817.  The  Tise  grandparents 
spent  their  last  years  in  Winston.  Jacob  Tise  was 
an  early  comer  to  Salem,  where  he  served  an  ap- 
prenticeship at  the  carriage  making  and  black- 
smithing  trade.  His  apprenticeship  over,  he 
engaged  in  business  for  himself  at  Winston.  His 
shop  occupied  the  flatiron  lot  at  the  junction  of 
Liberty  and  Main  streets,  his  home  being  just 
across  the  street  from  his  shop.  He  was  a  very 
successful  business  man,  and  in  time  acquired  a 
large  amount  of  town  property.  Many  years  ago 
he  erected  a  dwelling  house  on  the  site  now  occu- 
pied by  the  great  Reynolds  tobacco  factory.  After 
his  sons  had  grown  to  years  of  usefulness  he 
engaged  in  merchandising,  and  continued  a  resi- 
dent of  Winston  until  his  death  at  the  age  of 
eighty-six  years.  Under  his  eyes  Winston  had 
expanded  from  a  mere  settlement  in  the  wilder- 
ness to  a  thriving  city,  and  he  himself  had  been  a 
not  unimportant  factor  in  that  building  and  prog- 
ress. Jacob  Tise  married  Margaret  Kiser.  She 
was  born  November  19,  1825,  a  daughter  of  Henry 
and  Betty  (Ripple)  Kiser,  and  a  granddaughter 
of  Tandy  Kiser.  Tandy  Kiser  in  the  early  part 
of  the  last  century  operated  a  very  large  planta- 
tion near  Rural  Hill  in  the  northern  part  of  For- 
syth County,  and  kept  a  retinue  of  about  a  hun- 
dred slaves  in  the  fields  and  about  the  house. 
Henry  Kiser,  the  father  of  Margaret  Kiser,  was 
also  a  large  planter,  his  farm  being  about  five 
miles  from  Germanton  in  Stokes  County.  Betty 
Ripple,  who  married  Henry  Kiser,  was  born  in 
Davidson  County,  North  Carolina,  and  both  she 
and  her  husband  lived  to  be  upwards  of  ninety 
years  of  age.  Mrs.  Margaret  Tise  died  in  1915, 
when  eighty-nine  years  of  age.     She  and  her  hus- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAR0LI^\1 


"53 


band  reared  four  children:  Mary  J.;  Martha  Ann, 
who  married  John  Henry  Masten;  Charles  H.,  de- 
ceased; and  Jacob  Cicero. 

Mr.  and  Mra.  S.  A.  Ogburn  are  the  parents  of 
ten  children,  named  Robert  Lee,  Minnie  V.,  Bufua 
H.,  Cicero,  Ella,  Mary,  John  F.,  Carrie,  Paul  and 
Daisy.  Robert  Lee  has  six  children,  two  by  his 
lirst  wife,  Emma  Mickey,  Clyde  and  Lillian,  and 
by  his  second  marriage,  to  Ida  Fulcher,  his  four 
children  are  Thomas,  Gene,  Lena  and  Nina.  The 
daughter  Minnie  married  Francis  B.  Efird,  and 
their  five  children  are  Oscar,  Ida,  Francis,  Mary 
and  Bahson.  Rufus  H.,  by  his  marriage  to  Dena 
Newton,  has  three  children,  named  Henry,  Celestie 
and  Ada  Gray.  Cicero  married  Emma  Kapp,  and 
their  four  children  are  Cicero,  Cleo,  Kapp  and 
Thomas  Linn.  Ella  became  the  -nife  of  John  Mc- 
Creary  and  has  a  daughter  named  Margaret.  Mary 
married  J.  M.  Peden,  and  their  one  daughter  is 
Mary  Frances.  John  F.  married  Sally  Griffith  and 
has  a  son,  John  Francis.  Carrie  is  unmarried. 
Paul  died  at  the  age  of  twenty  years.  Daisy  is 
the  wife  of  S.  C.  Clark  and  lives  at  High  Point. 
She  married  on  her  parents'  fifty-second  anni- 
versary and  was  twenty-five  years  old  when  she 
married. 

Mr.  Ogburn  had  three  brothers,  all  of  whom 
went  through  the  Civil  war  and  all  are  living  at 
this  writing. 

Raymond  Gay  Pakker.  A  successful  member  of 
the  Winston-Salem  bar,  Mr.  Parker  is  a  native  of 
North  Carolina  and  is  a  graduate  in  law  from  the 
University  of  North  Carolina. 

His  early  environment  was  a  farm  in  Wiecacanee 
Township  in  Northampton  County,  North  Carolina. 
His  father  was  Israel  Putnam  Parker,  who  was 
born  in  the  same  townjhip.  The  grandfather, 
Jesse  Parker,  was  a  farmer  and  spent  his  last 
years  in  that  section  of  North  Carolina.  Jesse 
Parker  married  Miss  Joyner,  who  lived  to  be 
eighty-three  years  of  age.  Israel  Putnam  Parker 
grew  up  on  a  farm  and  subsequently  bought  a 
place  near  the  old  homestead  and  was  success- 
fully engaged  in  general  farming  there  until  his 
death  at  the  age  fifty-three.  He  married  Miss 
Sue  Gay.  She  was  born  in  Jackson  Township  of 
Northhampton  County,  daughter  of  Jeremiah  and 
Adelia  (Staneell)  Gay.  Jeremiah  Gay  was  a  Con- 
federate soldier.  Mrs.  Sue  Parker  is  now  living 
in  the  Village  of  Jackson,  and  was  the  mother  of 
three  sons,  named  Walter,  Raymond  G.  and  Carl  P. 

Raymond  G.  Parker  attended  the  rural  schools 
first  and  afterwards  the  Warrenton  High  School. 
For  two  years  he  was  in  the  academic  department 
of  Wake  Forest  CoUege,  and  from  there  entered 
the  law  department  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1910.  Mr. 
Parker  has  had  a  thorough  experience  as  a  lawyer 
and  was  in  active  practice  at  Jackson  near  his  old 
home  until  1915.  He  then  moved  to  Winston- 
Salem,  and  since  January,  1916,  has  been  asso- 
ciated in  the  handling  of  a  large  legal  clientage 
with  John  Cameron  Buxton. 

Mr.  Parker  was  married  in  1911  to  Miss  Julia 
RaOey.  Mrs.  Parker,  who  died  ten  months  after 
her  marriage,  was  born  in  Northampton  County, 
daughter  of  R.  E.  and  Alma  Railey. 

Mr.  Parker  is  an  active  member  of  the  Brown 
Memorial  Baptist  Church,  belongs  to  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  at  Winston-Salem,  and 
is  a  member  of  the  Twin  City  Club.  He  has  always 
been  fond  of  athletic  sports  and   while  in  college 


played  center  on  the  football  team  of  1907.  Fra- 
ternally he  is  afliliated  with  Winston  Lodge  No. 
167,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  Winston 
Chapter  No.  24,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  Piedmont 
Commandery  No.  6,  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  Oasis 
Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine  at  Charlotte. 

Charles  Alexander  Hartman.  Occupying  a 
finely  improved  and  well  managed  farm  in  Far- 
mington,  Charles  A.  Hartman  is  actively  identified 
with  the  promotion  of  the  agricultural  prosperity 
of  I)a\-ie  County,  and  is  held  in  high  regard  as 
a  man  and  a   citizen.     He  was   born,   September 

17,  1854,  about  one  mile  south  of  Farmington,  his 
present  home,  being  a  son  of  George  A.  Hartman, 
who  was  born  in  the  same  locality. 

Mr.  Hartman 's  grandfather,  Charles  Hartman, 
it  is  supposed,  was  born  in  Germany,  and  was  the 
only  member  of  his  father's  family  to  cross  the 
ocean.  Coming  to  North  Carolina,  he  located  in 
Davie  County,  and  having  bought  a  tract  of  land 
lying  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  Farm- 
ington he  lived  there  a  number  of  years.  In  1853 
he  migrated  to  Illinois,  and  having  purchased  vil- 
lage property  resided  there  until  his  death.  He 
married,  and  reared  a  family  of  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, the  names  of  his  sons  having  been  George 
A.,  Elam,  Moses,  and  James.  George  A.  and 
two  of  the  daughters  remained  in  North  Carolina, 
while  the  remainder  of  the  family  accompanied 
him  to  Illinois. 

When  ready  to  settle  in  life,  George  A.  Hartman 
bought  laud  situated  a  mile  south  of  Farmington, 
Davie  County,  and  began  life  as  a  farmer.  Dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  Civil  war,  he  enlisted  in 
the  Confederate  Army  and  served  until  the  close 
of  the  conflict.  Returning  to  his  home  after  be- 
ing paroled,  he  resumed  his  agricultural  labors, 
remaining  on  the  home  farm  during  the  rest  of 
his  life. 

Tlie  maiden  name  of  the  first  wife  of  George 
A.  Hartman  was  Elizabeth  Etchison.  She  was 
born  1^4  miles  southeast  of  Farajington,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Shadrach  Etchison.  She  died  in  1856,  leav- 
ing but  one  child,  Charles  Alexander,  of  this 
sketch.  The  second  wife  of  George  A.  Hartman, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Sally  Williams,  was  born 
about  two  miles  southeast  of  Farmington,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Martin  and  Julia  (Howard)  Williams.  She 
liore  him  two  children,  Bettie  and  Hattie. 

Spending  his  early  life  on  tlie  home  farm, 
Charles  A.  Hartman  obtained  his  education  in  the 
district  schools,  and  while  assisting  his  father  be- 
came well  versed  in  agricultural  lore.  About  1879, 
he  located  in  Farmington,  where  he  resided  for 
nine  years,  having  been  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  tobacco  until  1883,  and  the  following  five 
years  in  the  wholesale  liquor  business.  Removing 
then  to  Shore,  Yadkin  County,  he  continued  there 
two  years,  and  for  three  years  thereafter  was  a 
resident  of  Fremont,  Wayne  County.  Going  from 
there  to  Onslow  County,  Mr.  Hartman  resided  in 
Jacksonville  for  two  years,  and  then  returned  to 
Farmington,  locating  on  the  farm  he  now  occupies, 
and  the  management  of  which,  in  addition  to  at- 
tending to  his  private  affairs,  he  superintends. 

Mr.  Hartman  was  united  in  marriage,  December 

18,  1879,  with  Maggie  Maria  Brock.  She  was 
born  near  Farmington,  December  17,  1859,  a 
daughter  of  James  Nathaniel  Brock,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Enoch  Brock.  Her  great-grandfather, 
Nathaniel  Brock,  was  born  in  Virginia,  coming,  it 
is  said,  from  German  ancestry.     A  local  preacher 


54 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  he  came  to 
North  Carolina  during  the  later  years  of  his  life, 
locating  in  what  is  now  Farmington  Township, 
Davie  County,  but  was  then  Rowan  County,  and 
on  the  farm  that  he  purchased  he  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life. 

Enoch  Brock  was  born  and  bred  in  Princess 
Anne  County,  Virginia.  Becoming  a  pioneer  set- 
tler of  Davie  County,  he  was  engaged  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits  in  Farmington  for  a  number  of 
years.  Disposing  then  of  his  farm,  he  moved  to 
Weakley  County,  Tennessee,  and  tliere  resided  un- 
til his  death.  He  married  Miss  Huddleston,  and 
they  reared  four  sons,  among  them  having  been 
the  father  of  Mrs.  Hartman.  He,  James  Na- 
thaniel Brock,  was  born,  in  1810,  near  Norfolk, 
Virginia,  and  was  a  child  when  he  came  with 
his  parents  to  North  Carolina.  A  farmer  by  occu- 
pation, he  was  for  a  few  years  located  on  land 
that  his  wife  had  inherited  from  her  father,  but 
later  assumed  possession  of  land  that  he  had  pur- 
chased near  Farmington,  and  there  carried  on  gen- 
eral farming  until  his  death,  when  seveuty-si.x 
years  old.  He  was  twice  married.  He  married 
first  Maria  Maxwell,  who  died  in  1848.  The 
maiden  name  of  Mr.  Brock 's  second  wife,  the 
mother  of  Mrs.  Hartman,  was  Margaret  Cuthrell. 
She  was  born  near  Norfolk,  Virginia,  a  daughter 
of  Maximilian  Cuthrell,  a  native  of  Virginia,  and 
a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  who  came  to  Davie 
County,  North  Carolina,  about  1829,  and  spent 
his  last  years  in  the  vicinity  of  Farmington. 

Five  children  have  been  born  of  the  union  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hartman,  namely:  Charles  Cecil, 
who  died  in  the  twenty-first  year  of  his  age;  Guy 
L. ;  Marjorie;  George;  and  Mary  Nell.  George 
and  Guy  are  both  members  of  the  Masonic  Fra- 
ternity. Guy  L.  married  Sally  McGregor,  and  they 
have  one  daughter,  Elizabeth.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hart- 
man are  both  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  generous  supporters  of  the  same,  con- 
tributing their  full  share  toward  its  maintenance. 
Fraternally  Mr.  Hartman  is  a  member  of  Farm- 
ington Lodge  No.  265,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Order  of  Masons. 

W1LL1.A.M  Stewart  Blanch.\rd.  One  of  Hert- 
ford's foremost  citizens,  prominent  in  political  and 
active  in  business  life  for  many  years,  is  William 
Stewart  Blanchard,  a  memlier  of  the  old  Blanch- 
ard  family  stock  of  Eastern  North  Carolina  of 
many  generations  back.  Mr.  Blanchard  was  born 
in  Perquimas  County,  North  Carolina,  at  Blanch- 
ard's  Bridge,  an  old  landmark,  October  23,  184.5. 
His  parents  were  William  Bawles  and  Cassandra 
(Deans)    Blanchard. 

The  excellent  public  schools  of  the  present  day 
were  not  in  operation  in  Perquimans  County  in  Mr. 
Blanchard 's  youth,  but  there  were  many  private 
schools  of  superior  merit,  and  after  attending  for 
some  years  he  entered  Hertford  Academy  and  there 
completed  his  academic  course.  In  the  meanwhile 
the  war  between  the  states  had  been  precipitateil 
and  was  in  progress,  and  when  Mr.  Blanchard 
had  little  more  than  passed  his  eighteenth  birth- 
day he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  A, 
Thirteenth  Battalion,  North  Carolina  Light  Artil- 
lery, Confederate  Army,  and  served  from  Decem- 
ber, 186.3,  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  returned 
home  practically  'unharmed  and  immediately 
turned  his  attention  to  the  peaceful  pursuits  of 
agriculture. 

For  two  years  Mr.  Blanchard  assisted  his  father, 


who  was  a  merchant,  by  operating  the  home  farm. 
In  1868  he  was  married  and  then  engaged  in  farm- 
ing for  himself  and  continued  his  agricultural 
activities  for  thirteen  years  and  then  came  to 
Hertford.  Here,  in  association  with  his  brother, 
Thomas  Crowder  Blanchard,  he  embarked  in  a 
general  mercantile  business  on  Eighteenth  Street. 
Subsequently  his  son,  Joseph  Carroll  Blanchard, 
bouglit  an  interest  and  Mr.  Blanchard  continued 
active  in  the  business  until  1913,  when  he  retired. 
Mr.  Blanchard  is  president  of  the  Hertford  Bank- 
ing Company.  His  public  services  have  been  numer- 
ous and  important,  and  his  fellow  citizens  fre- 
quently having  shown  appreciation  of  his  business 
ability  and  his  high  personal  character  by  calling 
him  to  offices  of  great  responsibility.  He  has 
served  the  city  worthily  and  lienefieially  as  mayor, 
and  also  has  represented  his  district  in  the  State 
Legislature  with  signal  usefulness. 

Mr.  Blanchard  was  married  in  December,  1868, 
to  Miss  Artemesia  Towe,  and  they  have  the  fol- 
lowing children:  William  Martin,  Joseph  Carroll, 
.Julian,  Lawrence  E.,  Margaret  Deanes,  Annie,  who 
is  the  wife  of  Rev.  R.  H.  Willis,  a  minister  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Alice  and  Eugenia 
Winnifred.  Mr.  Blanchard  and  his  family  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and 
he  is  a  memljcr  of  the  board  of  stewards. 

Joseph  Carroll  Blanchard,  second  son  of  Wil- 
liam Stewart  Blanchard,  and  manager  and  part 
)iroi'rietor  of  the  mercantile  house  of  Blanchard 
iSr  Son,  Hertforii,  is  one  of  the  progressive  young 
business  men  of  Hertford.  He  was  born  in  this 
county,  June  8,  1880.  After  attending  Hertford 
Academy  he  entered  Trinity  College  at  Durham, 
North  Carolina,  where  he  remained  until  1901, 
when  he  returned  to  Hertford  and  entered  the 
mercantile  business  with  his  father  and  uncle. 
In  1912  he  purchased  a  half  interest  in  the  busi- 
ness  and   became  general  manager. 

Mr.  Blanchard  was  married  October  .5,  1910,  to 
Miss  Lillian  Ferguson,  of  Waynesville,  North 
Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Judge  G.  S.  Ferguson,  and 
they  have  two  children,  Sarah  Ferguson  and  Lil- 
lian Carroll.  Mr.  Blanchard  and  wife  are  active 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in 
which,  he  is  a  steward,  and  they  have  a  wide  social 
acquaintance  and  maintain  a  hospitable  home.  Mr. 
Blanchard  takes  a  deep  interest  in  his  city  and  is 
particularly  concerned  in  regard  to  the  public 
schools.  He  has  never  been  very  active  in  politics 
and  has  cared  little  for  public  office,  l)ut  has 
willingly  consented  to  accept  the  chairmanship  of 
the  county  board  of  education,  a  position  for  which 
he  is  admirably  qualified. 

Samuel  Franklin  Vance,  of  Winston-Salem, 
has  played  a  noteworthy  part  in  business  and  pub- 
lic life  in  Forsyth  County  for  many  years,  still 
keeps  in  touch  with  commercial  affairs  as  a  director 
in  the  Merchants  National  Bank  of  Winston-Salem 
and  is  a  stockholder  in  various  corporations,  but 
for  the  most  part  is  content  to  reside  on  his  farm 
and  look  after  his  duties  as  state  secretary  of  the 
Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics,  an 
office  he  has  held  for  a  number  of  years. 

Mr.  Vance  was  born  on  a  plantation  in  Belews 
Creek  Township  of  Forsyth  County.  His  ancestry 
is  Scotch.  His  grandfather,  John  Vance,  was  born 
in  1799  and  is  thought  to  have  been  a  native  of 
Forsyth  County.  He  owned  and  occupied  a  farm 
in  Belews  Creek  Township,  and  died  there  when 
about  eighty  years  of  age.    He  married  Mary  Mar- 


<^^^U4A/^iCUUi. 


^CU4.AL >^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


55 


shall,  who  was  also  born  in  1799  and  survived  her 
husband  about  six  years.  They  reared  eight  chil- 
dren, named  Betsy,  Lucretia,  Martin,  John  Frank- 
lin, Nathaniel  D.,  Jane,  Aulena  and  Mary.  They 
are  all  now  deceased,  but  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact 
that  the  sons  all  lived  to  be  more  than  eighty  years 
of  age. 

John  Franklin  Vance,  father  of  Samuel  Frank- 
lin, was  born  in  Belews  Creek  Township  March  25, 
1825.  He  was  distinguished  as  a  natural  mechanic. 
He  had  what  amounted  to  a  genius  in  the  handling 
of  tools  and  in  the  making  of  things  usually  the 
product  of  skilled  trades.  While  he  followed  farm- 
ing as  his  principal  vocation,  he  could  and  did 
work  successfully  as  a  carpenter,  bricklayer,  shoe- 
maker and  in  other  lines.  His  life  was  spent  in 
his  native  township,  and  he  died  there  when  in  his 
ninetieth  year.  He  married  Sarah  Barham.  She 
was  born  in  the  same  section  of  Forsyth  County 
November  1,  18.31,  and  died  in  her  seventy-third 
year.  Thus  both  sides  of  the  family  are  remark- 
able for  longevity.  Her  jiarents  were  Balaam  and 
Matilda  Barham.  John  F.  Vance  and  wife  reared 
seven  children:  Samantha,  Walter  Burton,  Au- 
gusta, Samuel  Franklin,  Arcelia,  Virginia  and 
Carrie. 

Samuel  F.  Vance  spent  his  early  life  in  the 
country  districts  of  Forsyth  County.  He  attended 
school  there.  The  first  school  he  attended  was  helil 
in  a  log  cabin  with  a  complete  equipment  of  home- 
made furniture.  The  seats  were  made  of  slabs 
with  wooden  pins  for  legs,  and  there  was  not  a 
tithe  of  the  splendid  equipment  which  school  chil- 
dren of  the  present  day  enjoy.  Limited  as  was 
the  curriculum,  he  wisely  imjiroved  all  the  advan- 
tages offered  him,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  was 
qualified  as  a  teacher  himself.  His  first  term  was 
taught  in  the  Vance  schoolhouse,  and  he  taught  and 
attended  school  alternately  for  seven  years.  He 
finally  completed  a  course  in  the  Kernersville  High 
School.  His  last  three  years  as  a  teacher  were  in 
Middle  Fork  Township. 

From  teaching  Mr.  Vance  turned  to  commercial 
employment  as  a  worker  for  the  Spach  brothers, 
and  for  five  years  had  charge  of  their  lumber 
department.  He  then  accepted  a  call  to  public 
service,  when  appointed  deputy  clerk  of  the  Supe- 
rior Court,  an  olBce  he  filled  six  years.  He  was 
next  appointed  assistant  postmaster  of  Winston- 
Salem,  and  filled  that  office  for  twelve  years,  until 
he  resigned.  Mr.  Vance  then  became  vice  presi- 
dent and  treasurer  of  the  Carolina  Coal  &  Ice 
Company  and  the  Crystal  lee  Company,  but  after 
a  year  gave  up  these  positions  requiring  a  great 
deal  of  executive  detail  and  removed  to  his  farm  at 
Guthrie  Station,  5i4  miles  east  of  the  courthouse. 
He  has  an  attractive  country  home,  and  takes  much 
delight  in  looking  after  his  farm. 

Mr.  Vance  is  a  member  of  Fairview  Council  No. 
19,  Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics, 
the  largest  council  of  that  order  in  the  state. 
Hei  was  elected  state  secretary  of  the  order  in 
1899,  and  has  been  continued  in  the  office  by 
repeated  elections  ever  since.  Through  that  office 
his  name  is  known  throughout  North  Carolina. 
He  is  also  affiliated  with  Damon  Lodge  No.  41, 
Knights  of  Pythias,  and  with  Twin  City  Camp  No. 
27,  Woodmen'  of  the  World. 

Mr.  Vance  was  married  December  19,  1901,  to 
Sally  E.  Fulton.  She  was  born  in  Belews  Creek 
Township,  daughter  of  .John  W.  and  Martha  E. 
Fulton.       Mr.    and    Mrs.    Vance    have    two    sons, 


Samuel    Franklin,    Jr.,    and    Fred    Fulton.      The 
family  are  members  of  the  Moravian  Church. 

George  W.  Coan  has  long  been  prominently 
identified  with  the  business  affairs  of  Winston- 
Salem  and  is  also  prominent  in  social  and  civic 
atfairs.  Until  he  retired  from  business  he  was 
officially  identified  with  the  great  R.  J.  Reynolds 
Tobacco  Company. 

Mr.  Coan 's  success  in  life  has  been  due  less  to 
influential  circumstances  than  the  determination 
and  ambition  of  his  own  character.  He  had  a  high 
aim  as  a  young  man  and  succeeded  in  realizing 
many  of  the  more  substantial  ambitions  of  his 
youth.  He  was  born  on  a  plantation  in  Henry 
County,  Virginia,  but  his  family  were  long  identi- 
fied with  South  Carolina.  William  Coan,  Sr.,  was 
a  native  of  Scotland,  and  on  coming  to  America 
settled  in  Spartansburg,  South  Carolina,  where  he 
spent  the  rest  of  his  life.  His  son,  William  Coan, 
Jr.,  became  a  planter  in  South  Carolina,  had  a 
number  of  slaves,  and  was  a  man  of  substantial 
character  and  position  in  Spartansburg  County. 
He  died  at  his  old  home  there  while  the  war 
between  the  state  was  in  progress.  He  married 
Polly  Otts,  who  was  of  Scotch-Irish  stock.  They 
reared  three  sons:  Andrew,  James  and  John,  and 
a  daughter  named  Ann. 

John  Coan,  father  of  George  W.,  was  born  on 
the  plantation  in  Spartansburg,  South  Carolina,  in 
1833.  He  finished  his  education  in  the  old  War- 
ford  College,  located  near  Spartansburg,  and  hav- 
ing completed  his  course  he  moved  to  Henry 
County,  Virginia,  and  became  a  teacher.  He  was 
thus  engaged  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  soon 
afterward  he  enlisted  and  went  to  the  front  with 
a  Virginia  regiment.  He  served  the  cause  of  the 
South  faithfully  and  well  until  the  close  of  the 
struggle.  On  returning  to  Henry  County  he 
engaged  in  farming,  a  vocation  he  followed  until 
his  death  in  1910.  He  never  attained  large 
wealth,  but  was  a  man  of  fine  character  and  exer- 
cised an  influence  for  good  in  his  community.  He 
married  Mary  Jones,  a  native  of  Henry  County, 
Virginia,  and  daughter  of  George  K.  and  Ann 
(King)  Jones,  both  of  whom  were  of  Colonial 
ancestry.  Mrs.  John  Coan  still  occupies  the  old 
home  farm  in  Henry  County,  Virginia.  She  reared 
six  children :  Bettie,  wife  of  Leon  Sheffield,  Lulie, 
George  W.,  Posey,  wife  of  J.  J.  Cox,  Birdie,  and 
John  O.,  Jr. 

Mr.  George  W.  Coan  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  Henry  County,  Vir- 
ginia. At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  engaged  in 
business  life  as  a  bookkeeper  in  his  native  county. 
He  continued  similar  duties  until  he  was  twenty- 
four,  when  he  was  made  cashier  of  the  Farmers 
Bank  at  Martinsville,  Virginia.  He  had  three 
years  of  practical  experience  as  a  banker,  and 
resigned  to  engage  in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco 
at  Martinsville.  His  big  opportunity  came  when 
he  accepted  the  position  of  private  secretary  to 
Mr.  R.  J.  Reynolds  at  Winston.  He  remained  Mr. 
Reynolds'  secretary  two  years,  and  then  took  a 
more  active  part  in  the  great  Reynolds  tobacco 
industry.  He  was  elected  a  director  and  the 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  company.  He  car- 
ried many  of  the  heaviest  responsibilities  of  the 
detailed  management  of  the  business  for  fifteen 
years,  until  he  resigned  April  1,  1915.  Since  then 
he  has  lived  retired,  merely  looking  after  his 
private  affairs. 


56 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


In  1890  Mr.  Coaii  married  Miss  Lula  Brown. 
She  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Virginia,  daugh- 
ter of  William  A.  and  Susan  (Finney)  Brown. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coan  have  two  children:  George 
W.,  Jr.,  and  May. 

Mr.  Coan  is  now  serving  as  president  of  the 
Twin  City  Club  of  Winston-Salem  and  is  a 
director  of  the  Forsyth  Country  Club.  He  is  a 
demitted  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity.  He 
and  his  wife  are  active  in  the  social  life  of  the  city. 
,  Mrs.  Coan  and  her  daughter  are  members  of  tha 
Christian  Church,  while  he  remains  faithful  to  the 
church  of  his  ancestors,  the  Presbyterian  denomi- 
nation. 

William  H.  H.  Gregory.  Civilization  will  hail 
riches,  prowess,  honors,  popularity,  but  it  will 
bow  humbly  to  sincerity  in  its  fellows.  The  ex- 
ponent of  known  sincerity,  of  singleness  of  honest 
purpose,  has  its  exemplification  in  all  bodies  of 
men.  He  is  known  in  every  association  and  to 
him  defer  the  highest  honors.  Such  an  exemplar, 
whose  daily  life  and  whose  life  work  have  been 
dominated  as  their  most  conspicuous  character- 
istic by  sincerity  is  Capt.  William  H.  H.  Gregory, 
of  Statesville,  North  Carolina. 

Captain  Gregory,  a  farmer  and  a  retired  cotton 
merchant,  was  born  at  Drury 's  Bluff,  Virginia, 
between  Richmond  and  Petersburg,  the  date  of 
his  nativity  being  1844.  He  is  a  son  of  Dr.  Wil- 
liam W.  and  Elizabeth  (Taylor)  Gregory,  both 
deceased.  The  Gregory  family  is  of  Scotch  origin 
and  the  founders  of  the  name  in  America  came 
hither  with  the  Gaits  and  settled  on  the  James 
River,  in  Virginia.  The  family  is  of  historic 
ancestry,  bearing  the  blood  of  a  number  of  the 
oldest  and  most  renowned  families  of  the  Old 
Dominion  commonwealth.  Captain  Gregory 's  fa- 
ther was  a  planter  and  physician  and  a  man  of 
large  affairs.  His  mother  was  the  daughter  of 
Col.  Thomas  P.  Taylor,  of  Richmond,  and  a  cousin 
of  President  Zachary  Taylor.  One  of  her  brothers 
married  a  daughter  of  President  William  Henry 
Harrison,  in  whose  honor  Captain  Gregory  was 
named.  Robert  Pegram,  of  Virginia,  who  com- 
manded the  famous  Confederate  gunboat.  The 
Nashville,  was  a  first  cousin  of  Captain  Gregory  of 
this  review,  on  the  paternal  side. 

Captain  Gregory  is  an  exceptionally  well  edu- 
cated and  highly  cultured  gentleman.  In  his  youth 
he  attended  the  Rappahannock  Military  School, 
Georgetown  College,  Emory  &  Henry  College,  and 
Richmond  College,  of  Richmond.  He  had  not 
reached  his  fifteenth  year,  when,  a  boy  at  Rich- 
mond, he  was  a  member  of  Company  F,  a  local 
military  organization  in  that  city.  In  1859,  at 
the  time  of  tlie  threatened  invasion  of  Virginia 
by  John  Brown,  Governor  Wise  immediately  called 
Company  F  into  service  to  go  to  Harper 's  Ferry 
to  resist  that  raid.  However,  John  Brown  was 
captured  by  Captain  (afterward  General)  Robert 
E.  Lee  an  hour  prior  to  the  arrival  of  Company 
F  at  that  place.  Captain  Gregory  relates  many 
interesting  incidents  of  this  historic  affair,  of 
which  he  is  one  of  the  very  few  survivors. 

In  1861  Doctor  Gregory  and  his  family  located 
in  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  and  there  they  re- 
sided at  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war. 
Though  but  seventeen  years  of  age  at  the  time.  Cap- 
tain Gregory  volunteered  his  services,  and  as  a  re- 
sult of  his  military-school  training  and  actual  ex- 
perience, he  was  selected  for  drill  master  and  as- 
signed to  duty  in  Virginia.     Subsequently  he  re- 


turned to  Charlotte  and  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
regular  Confederate  service,  later  becoming  adju- 
tant of  the  Forty-second  North  Carolina  Regiment 
of  Infantry  and  eventually  achieving  the  rank  of 
captain.  He  was  a  courageous  and  high-spirited 
young  soldier  and  was  wounded  in  battle  at  Port 
Walthall  Junction. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  Captain  Gregory 
returned  to  Charlotte  and  there  engaged  in  the 
general  mercantile  business,  later  becoming  a  cot- 
ton trader  in  that  city.  In  1886  he  removed  to 
his  present  place  of  abode,  Statesville,  county 
seat  of  Iredell  County,  and  here  engaged  in  the 
cotton  business.  Of  late  years  he  has  been  re- 
tired from  active  business  life  and  he  is  now  de- 
voting his  time  to  the  management  of  his  attrac- 
tive farm  of  about  one  hundred  acres,  adjoining 
Statesville  on  the  Northwest.  This  beautiful 
country  estate  is  located  on  the  Wilkesboro  Road 
and  as  a  result  of  natural  advantages  is  well 
drained,  therefore  producing  excellent  crops.  The 
residence  stands  on  a  high  elevation,  in  a  grove 
of  giant  oak  trees,  and  is  attractive  and  homelike 
in  every  respect.  It  boasts  many  valuable  and 
interesting  relics  and  mementos  of  the  Confederacy 
and  among  other  antiquities  is  a  sterling  ■  silver 
egg-boiler  that  belonged  originally  to  the  old 
Harrison  family  of  Virginia. 

Captain  Gregory  has  been  twice  married. 
November  14,  1866,  he  wed  Miss  Dora  Brown, 
of  Wilmington,  a  daughter  of  Frank  Brown,  of 
the  old  firm  of  Brown  &  DeRossett,  of  that  city. 
Two  children  survive  this  marriage:  Miss  Mary 
Armstead  Gregory,  at  home ;  and  Caroline,  wife  of 
R.  A.  Lackey,  of  Oklahoma.  Mrs.  Gregory  was 
summoned  to  the  life  eternal  March  26,  1878,  and 
for  his  second  wife  Captain  Gregory  married  on 
October  12,  1880,  Miss  Mittie  Lou  Ramsey,  of 
Columbus,  Mississippi,  a  daughter  of  the  late 
John  Calhoun  Ramsey,  originally  of  Fayetteville, 
North  Carolina,  and  prior  to  his  demise  a  promi- 
nent manufacturer  and  business  man  in  Missis- 
sippi. This  union  was  prolific  of  four  children, 
concerning  whom  the  following  brief  data  are 
here  incorporated :  Marie  Taylor  is  the  wife  of 
Ernest  B.  Moore,  of  Atlanta;  Rylina  Harrison 
married  H.  C.  Evans  and  they  make  their  home 
in  Raleigh,  North  Carolina;  Lieut.  Harry  Gregory 
is  an  ofScer  in  the  United  States  Army  and  served 
at  the  Mexican  border  in  the  summer  of  1916;  and 
Richard  K.  Gregory  is  a  resident  of  Baltimore, 
Md. 

Under  Gen.  Julian  E.  Carr  Captain  Gregory 
held  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  United 
States  Confederate  Veterans,  Department  of 
North  Carolina,  and  at  the  great  reunion  of  that 
organization  at  Washington,  in  June,  1917,  he 
commanded  the  first  brigade  of  North  Carolina 
veterans.  Captain  Gregory  is  a  man  of  high  im- 
pulses, strong  moral  filler,  fine  judgment  and  keen 
foresight.  He  has  helped  to  build  up  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  resides  and  here  he  is  well 
known  and  is  held  in  high  esteem  by  everyone. 

Addie  Archie  Paul  began  business  life  at  a 
very  early  age  and  by  hard  work  and  a  rather 
unusual  degree  of  persistency,  mixed  with  exper- 
ience and  native  talent,  has  achieved  that  degree 
of  success  accorded  him  by  his  friends  and  asso- 
ciates at  Washington,  where  he  is  one  of  the 
highly  esteemed  citizens. 

Mr.  Paul  was  born  in  Craven  County,  North 
Carolina,    June   24,    1882,   a   son   of   Beverly   and 


TKK  KF:Vj'  YORK 


]4r:<J^r)€^£e. 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


57 


Martha  (Rowe)  Paul.  His  father  was  a  mecliauic 
and  farmer.  After  an  education  in  tlie  public 
schools  of  his  native  county,  Mr.  Paul  hcgan  work 
in  a  grocery  store  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  Later 
he  was  with  a  dry  goods  establishment  at  Newbern, 
North  Carolina,  and  from  that  got  into  business 
for  himself  as  a  furniture  dealer  and  undertaker 
at  Wilson,  North  Carolina.  He  was  in  business 
at  Wilson  for  nine  years.  Since  then  most  of  his 
work  has  been  in  the  field  of  real  estate,  for  a 
time  he  operated  in  Sampson  and  Bladen  counties, 
but  in  1917  opened  his  main  offices  in  Washington. 
Mr.  Paul  is  affiliated  with  the  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Knights  of  Harmony,  and  the 
Patriotic  Sons  of  America.  He  and  his  family 
attend  worship  in  the  Baptist  Church. 

His  first  wife  was  Mary  Barber,  who  died 
August  1,  1908,  leaving  no  children.  On  Sep- 
tember 1,  1909,  he  married  Lillie  Belle  Willis,  of 
Washington,  North  Carolina.  They  have  three 
children,   Beverly,  Callie  and  Arthur  Atwood. 

William  Poindexter  Hill  has  spent  the 
greater  part  of  his  active  career  in  Winston-Salem, 
and  for  years  has  been  one  of  the  sustaining 
factors  in  the  commercial  affairs  of  that  city.  He 
was  a  boy  soldi(  r  of  the  Confederate  army  and 
life  has  opened  up  to  him  a  great  variety  of 
experience  and  opportunity. 

Ho  is  a  great-grandson  of  a  gallant  officer  of 
the  Revolutionary  war.  This  ancestor  was  Major 
Robert  Hill,  who  was  born  in  Caroline  County, 
Virginia,  a  son  of  William  Hill,  who  probably 
spent  all  his  life  in  Virginia.  Major  Hill  was 
in  the  War  of  the  Revolution  with  "VEtEginla/, 
troops,  and  won  his  title  by  valiant  service  iji 
behalf  of  the  cause  of  freedom.  "After  tlie  war  he 
moved  to  North  Carolina,  and  bought  land  near 
Germanton  in  Stokes  County.  With  the  aid  of 
his  slaves  he  improved  a  fine  plantation,  on  which 
he  lived  until  his  death. 

Joel  Hill,  grandfather  of  William  P.,  was  born 
in  Stokes  County,  North  Carolina,  and  after  grow- 
ing to  manhood  succeeded  to  the  ownership  of  a 
portion  of  the  old  plantation.  He  also  employed 
slaves  in  it.s  operation,  and  lived  a  quiet  and 
useful  life  there  until  his  death  in  1856.  Joel 
Hill  married  Mildred  Golding.  Her  father  John 
Golding  came  to  North  Carolina  from  Virginia, 
was  an  early  settler  in  Stokes  County  and  had  a 
plantation  near  Germanton  on  which  he  spent 
his  last  years.  Mrs.  .Joel  Hill  died  in  1869.  She 
had  a  family  of  eleven  children. 

John  Gideon  Hill,  father  of  the  Winston-Salem 
business  man,  was  born  near  Germanton  October 
11,  1817.  He  was  a  product  of  rural  environment 
and  of  rural  schools  in  his  youth.  He  was  satis- 
fied to  follow  the  example  of  his  ancestors  and 
cultivated  his  fields  and  was  an  earnest  participant 
in  the  life  of  his  community.  Before  his  mar- 
riage he  served  a  term  as  Sheriff  of  Stokes  County, 
which  then  included  Forsyth  County.  When 
Forsyth  County  was  organized  he  was  elected 
sheriff  of  the  new  county.  He  married  Susan 
Frances  Poindexter.  She  was  born  near  German- 
ton  in  Stokes  County,  October  9,  1828.  Her 
father.  Colonel  William  Poindexter,  was  a  native 
of  the  same  locality.  Her  grandfather,  David 
Poindexter,  came  from  Virginia,  and  was  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  being  in  Washington's 
army  and  a  witness  of  the  surrender  of  Lord 
Cornwallis    at    Yorktown.      On    coming    to    North 


Carolina  he  developed  a  plantation  in  Stokes 
County,  not  far  from  Germanton,  and  that  was 
the  scene  of  his  last  years.  This  Revolutionary 
veteran  married  Frances  Johnson.  Her  mother 
was  named  Poe,  and  she  was  also  related  to  the 
Chisholm  and  Fox  families.  Colonel  William 
Poindexter  remained  a  resident  of  Stokes  County 
all  his  life  and  conducted  a  large  plantation  there. 
He  derived  his  title  from  service  in  the  state 
militia.  Colonel  Poindexter  married  Eliza  Nelson, 
a  native  of  Stokes  County,  daughter  of  a  promi- 
nent planter  Isaac  Nelson.  Mrs.  John  G.  Hill 
was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  She  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-one,  having  reared  eight 
children,  William  Poindexter,  Ann  Eliza,  Mary 
Mildred,  Joel,  Sarah  Josephine,  David  Jasper, 
Francis  Gideon  and  Alice. 

William  Poindexter  Hill  was  born  on  a  farm 
near  Germanton  in  Stokes  County  October  8, 
1847.  Owing  to  the  turbulent  state  of  the  country 
during  his  youth  he  had  rather  limited  advantages 
in  the  way  of  schooling.  He  was  only  fourteen 
when  the  war  broke  out,  and  he  shortly  after- 
ward enlisted  in  the  Junior  Reserve,  serving  under 
Lieutenant  Neal.  The  first  work  to  which  he 
directed  his  attention  after  the  war  was  teaching 
in  Henry  County,  Virginia,  and  he  also  taught 
in  Stokes  and  Forsyth  Counties,  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Hill  has  been  a  resident  of  Winston  since 
1878.  While  he  is  now  endeavoring  to  free  him- 
self from  some  of  the  heavier  cares  of  business 
he  was  for  many  years  a  vigorous  and  active 
participant  in  the  commercial  life  of  the  city. 
He  was  one  of  the  organizers  and  vice  president 
of  Oakland  Manufacturing  Company,  now  the  B. 
P.  Huntly  Furniture  Company.  He  was  also  an 
organizer  of  the  Huntly-Hill-Stockton  Company, 
which  has  built  up  a  business  that  makes  it  one 
of  the  largest  furniture  houses  in  the  entire  state. 
Mr.  Hill  still  retains  the  vice  presidency  in  this 
company.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  also  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Ogburn,  Hill  &  Company, 
tobacco  manufacturers. 

He  married  Elizabeth  Ogburn.  Mrs.  Hill  is  a 
native  of  Winston,  daughter  of  Cliarles  B.  and 
Tabitha  (Moir)  Ogburn.  For  the  record  of  her 
family,  long  a  prominent  one  in  this  section  of 
Nortli  Carolina,  the  reader  is  referred  to  other 
pages  of  this  publication.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hill  have 
reared  five  children:  Charles  G.,  William  P., 
Elizabeth,  Eugene  D.,  and  Edward  Ashton. 
Cliarles  married  Mary  Ella  Cannon,  and  has  three 
children  Ella  Cannon,  Charles  G.,  and  Susan 
Frances.  Eugen»  married  Minnie  Lee  Henry. 
Elizabeth  is  the  wife  of  Agnew  Hunter  Bahnson, 
and  has  a  son  Agnew  Hunter,  Jr.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hill  have  long  been  sustaining  members  of  the 
Centenary  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Oscar  Rodolph  Keiger,  M.  D.  A  young 
physician  of  thorough  ability  and  wide  training 
and  experience,  Doctor  Keiger  has  recently  located 
at  Winston-Salem  and  is  in  the  enjoyment  of 
high  professional  standing  and  a  large  practice 
iu  that  community. 

He  represents  some  of  the  very  old  and  promi- 
nent names  in  this  section  of  North  Carolina.  He 
was  born  on  a  farm  in  Tadkin  Township  of  Stokes 
County,  a  son  of  John  Wesley  Keiger,  who  was 
born  on  the  satie  farm  December  12,  1849,  and  a 
grandson  of  John  Keiger.    The  grandfather  owned 


58 


HISTORY  OF  XORTIi  CAROLINA 


and  occupied  a  farm  in  Yadkin  Township  and 
spent  his  last  days  there.  He  married  Sally 
Winfrey. 

Doctor  Keiger  's  father  grew  up  on  a  farm  and 
succeeded  to  the  ownership  of  the  old  homestead. 
He  spent  his  active  career  as  a  farmer,  and  his 
son  had  the  farm  as  his  early  environment  and 
playground.  John  "Wesley  Keiger  married  Martha 
Louise  Schaub.  She  was  a  native  of  Yadkin 
County,  and  she  and  her  husband  reared  eight  chil- 
dren, named  Charles  Edwin,  Numa  Fletcher, 
James  Arthur,  Oscar  Rodolph,  Cyrus  Clifton, 
Georgia  Beatrice,  Annie  Gray  and  Lelia  Blanche. 

Doctor  Keiger  's  maternal  ancestry  deserves  some 
particular  mention.  His  mother's  great-grand- 
father was  John  Frederick  Schaub,  a  native  of 
Switzerland,  where  he  was  born  in  1717.  On  com- 
ing to  America  he  lived  a  while  in  Pennsylvania, 
but  in  1756  came  to  North  Carolina  and  was  a  pi- 
oneer in  what  is  now  Forsyth  County.  He  died  at 
Oldtown  in  1801.  His  family  consisted  of  four 
sons  and  one  daughter.  His  son  John  Jacob 
Schaub,  grandfather,  of  Mrs.  John  W.  Keiger,  was 
born  in  Forsyth  County  December  29,  177.5.  He 
refused  to  allow  the  Moravian  Church  to  select  a 
wife  for  him,  but  married  the  lady  of  his  own 
choice,  Miss  Maria  Salome  Nissen.  They  were 
married  by  Squire  Stuckberger.  For  this  dis- 
obedience to  the  church  mandate  they  were 
dropped  from  the  membership,  but  subsequently 
were  taken  back  into  the  fold.  John  Jacob 
Schaub  was  a  tailor  by  trade.  William  Samuel 
Schaub,  maternal  grandfather  of  Doctor  Keiger, 
was  born  near  Bethania,  in  what  is  now  Forsyth 
County,  January  17,  1S05.  Though  he  learned 
the  trade  of  tailor  he  followed  it  only  a  short 
time.  Buying  a  farm  near  Dalton,  he  was  engaged 
in  its  cultivation,  'and  at  the  same  time  operated  a 
saw  and  grist  mill.  He  was  an  honored  and  useful 
citizen  in  that  community,  where  he  died  Novem- 
ber 5,  1892.  William  S.  Schaub  married  Eliza 
Hauser,  who  was  born  October  3,  1810,  and  is 
supposed  to  have  been  a  lineal  descendant  of 
Martin  Hauser,  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  what 
is  now  Forsyth  County.  William  S.  Schaub  and 
wife  were  reared  in  the  Moravian  Church,  but  in 
the  absence  of  a  convenient  church  of  that  denomi- 
nation they  joined  the  Methodist  and  were  active 
members  of  the  congregation  until  they  died.  He 
served  many  years  as  trustee,  steward  and  class 
leader.  Their  oldest  son,  Winborn  Benjamin 
Schaub,  enlisted  soon  after  the  commencement  of 
the  war  in  Company  F  of  the  Twenty-first  Regi- 
ment, North  Carolina  Troops,  -and  was  commis- 
sioned first  lieutenant.  When  the  company  's  cap- 
tain resigned  he  took  command,  and  at  the  second 
battle  of  Manassas,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1862, 
he  fell  while  gallantly  leading  his  company  in  a 
charge. 

Doctor  Keiger  secured  his  early  education  in 
the  district  schools  and  in  the  Booneville  High 
School.  When  eighteen  years  of  age  he  began 
teaching.  His  first  term  was  taught  at  Donnaha 
and  the  second  in  the  Hauser  or  Rocky  Spring  dis- 
trict. He  left  the  school  room  to  take  up  the 
study  of  medicine  in  1907  in  tlie  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  where 
he  was  graduated  in  1909.  For  further  prepara- 
tion he  entered  the  University  College  of  Medicine 
at  Richmond,  where  he  completed  the  course  and 
was  granted  his  degree  in  1911. 

Before  beginning  active  practice  Doctor  Keiger 


served  four  months  as  an  interne  in  the  Danville 
General  Hospital.  He  was  successfully  engaged 
in  a  general  practice  at  King  in  Stokes  County 
until  1916.  After  a  post  graduate  course  in  the 
Polyclinic  Hospital  at  New  York  City  he  resumed 
practice  at  Winston-Salem.  He  is  a  member  in 
high  standing  of  the  Forsyth  County  and  North 
Carolina  State  Medical  Societies,  and  also  belongs 
to  the  American   Medical   Association. 

Doctor  Keiger  was  married  December  30,  1915, 
to  Sally  Maude  Fulton.  She  was  born  at  Walnut 
Cove,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of  James  Fulton 
and  gi-anddaughter  of  Jacob  Fulton.  Her  father 
was  for  several  years  a  commercial  traveler  but  is 
now  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  at  Greens- 
boro. Doctor  Keiger  is  an  active  member  of  the 
Centenary  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
while  Mrs.  Keiger  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  He  is  affiliated  with  Fairview  Council  No. 
19,  Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics, 
and  Lodge  No.  5_8  of  the  Masonic  order. 

Lauren  Osborne  Gib.son,  M.  D.  A  talented 
physician  and  surgeon,  practicing  at  StatesvUle, 
the  home  of  his  youth.  Doctor  Gibson  has  given 
to  that  city  one  of  its  most  promising  institu- 
tions, the  Gibson  Sanitarium,  of  which  he  is 
owner  and  proprietor.  Doctor  Gibson  was  born 
near  Statesville  in  Iredell  County  in  1883.  His 
grandfather  was  the  late  Rufus  Gibson,  one  of 
the  pioneer  settlers  of  Iredell  County.  Doctor 
Gibson  is  a  son  of  William  B.  and  Octie  (Gibbs) 
Gibson,  whose  home  is  now  in  States^'ille.  His 
father  was  born  in  Iredell  County  in  1853,  and 
has  been  a  lifelong  farmer.  His  old  home  place 
was  at  Loray,  northwest  of  Statesville,  but  for 
some  years  he  lived  below  Statesville  in  ,the 
Bethany  community,  where  Doctor  Gibson  was 
born.  Now  for  several  years  his  home  has  been 
in  Statesville.  He  has  long  been  prominently 
identified  with  the  Farmers'  L^nion  and  other 
farmers  movements.  He  is  chairman  of  the 
Executive  Committee  ■  of  the  Iredell  County 
Farmers '  Union,  is  chairman  of  the  Fertilizer 
Committee  of  the  state  organization  of  the 
Farmers '  Union,  and  is  vice  president  and  man- 
ager of  the  Farmers '  Union  Warehouse  for  Ire- 
dell County.  A  special  illustration  of  his  promi- 
nence in  this  part  of  the  state  was  his  appoint- 
ment in  August,  1917,  by  Governor  Bickett  as 
chairman  of  the  Exemption  Board  for  the  Western 
District  of  North  Carolina,  to  pass  upon  exemp- 
tions under  the  Selective  Draft  Act. 

Doctor  Gibson  received  his  early  education  in 
the  local  schools,  and  graduated  from  Davidson 
College  with  the  class  of  1910.  He  then  entered 
the  Medical  School  of  the  North  Carolina  Medical 
College  at  Charlotte,  and  received  his  M.  D. 
degree  in  1913.  The  following  year  was  spent  in 
the  Kensington  Hospital  at  Philadelphia,  and  in 
191-1  he  returned  to  Statesville  and  began  practice. 

Doctor  Gibson  established  the  Gibson  Sanitarium 
in  November,  1916.  It  is  a  hospital  well  equipped 
for  handling  medical  and  surgical  cases  of  women 
and  for  obstetrics.  The  hospital  was  opened  under 
the  most  favorable  auspices,  and  with  Doctor  Gib- 
son as  director  its  facilities  and  serrice  have 
brought  it  a  justified  place  among  the  important 
institutions  oif  Iredell  County.  Besides  looking 
after  the  hospital  management  Doctor  Gibson  still 
attends  to  his  large  private  practice  in  States- 
ville  and   surrounding  territory. 


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HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


59 


Beverly  Gillim  Moss  began  his  business  career 
at  a  very  early  age  and  tliough  still  eomijaratively 
a  young  man  has  had  the  experience  of  a  veteran 
in  a  numlier  of  important  enterprises  in  and  around 
Washington. 

Mr.  Moss  was  born  in  Chesterfield  County,  Vir- 
ginia, January  19,  1875,  but  in  1886  his  parents 
moved  to  "Washington,  North  Carolina,  where  he 
grew  up.  He  is  a  son  of  Beverly  Turpin  and 
Mary  Elizabeth  (MorgaiiJ  Moss.  His  father  was 
for  many  years  a  leading  lumber  manufacturer. 
Mr.  B.  G.  Moss  received  his  early  education  under 
private  tuition  in  Virginia,  and  after  1886  at- 
tended the  high  school  at  Washington,  North 
Carolina.  He  had  been  out  of  school  only  a  short 
time  when  he  engaged  in  business  for  himself 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty  established  the  Moss 
Planing  Mill  Company  in  1895,  and  has  since 
been  owner  of  this  considerable  industry  at  Wash- 
ington, including  a  large  and  well  equipped  plant 
and  employing  twenty-five  skilled  operators.  In 
1904  Mr.  Moss  organized  the  Savings  &  Trust 
Company  at  Washington  and  has  since  been  its 
president.  This  company  has  a  capital  of  .$50,000, 
surplus  of  $20,000,  while  its  deposits  average 
$275,000. 

Many  other  business  affairs  claim  his  ability  and 
time.  He  is  a  director  of  the  Beaufort  County 
Iron  Works,  of  the  Home  Building  &  Loan  Asso- 
ciation, and  is  owner  of  farm  lands  aggregating 
about  2,100  acres. 

He  became  interested  in  public  affairs  almost 
as  soon  as  in  business,  and  from  the  age  of 
twenty-two  to  thirty-one  he  served  as  an  alder- 
man of  Washington,  a  period  of  nine  years,  and 
has  ever  since  been  active  in  matters  of  civic 
betterment.  He  is  vice  president  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  is  a  Knight  Templar  Mason  and 
Knight  of  Pythias,  is  deacon  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  superintendent  of  its  Sunday  school. 

July  14,  1909,  Mr.  Moss  married  Emma  Alline 
Carter,  daughter  of  Jesse  Carter,  a  druggist  in 
Aberdeen,  North  Carolina.  Mrs.  Moss  is  descended 
from  Sir  Thomas  Carter,  a  historic  figure  in  the 
early  days  of  Virginia.  Mr.  and  Mrs..  Moss  have 
three  children:  Beverly  Gillim,  jr.,  Jesse  Carter 
and  Frank  Graham. 

Ch.\rles  D.  Ogburn  is  one  of  a  prominent 
family  that  has  been  identified  with  Forsyth 
County  since  pioneer  times.  His  own  career  has 
been  chiefly  identified  with  tobacco  manufacture, 
though  he  also  has  extensive  interests  in  banking 
and  other  affairs  of  Winston-Salem. 

He  was  born  in  Forsyth  County,  April  25,  1861. 
His  grandfather,  Edward  Ogburn,  was  born  in 
Virginia,  came  to  the  State  of  Nortli  Carolina 
early  in  the  last  century,  buying  a  tract  of  land 
about  seven  miles  north  of  the  present  site  of 
Winston.  There  he  i-nproved  a  farm  and  kept  his 
residence  there  until  his  death.  Charles  B.  Ogburn, 
father  of  Charles  D.,  was  born  on  the  old  farm 
about  five  miles  from  Winston  in  Forsyth  County 
and  had  the  training  of  a.  country  boy  in  this 
section  of  North  Cr.rolina  in  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  He  was  in  vigorous  young 
manhood  when  the  United  States  went  to  war  with 
Mexico  in  1846,  and  he  enlisted  in  Company  G  of 
the  First  Regiment,  North  Carolina  troops.  He 
was  soon  appointed  first  sergeant,  went  to  Mexico 
with  his  command,  and  was  with  his  regiment  in 
all  its  movements  and  battles.  He  was  promoted 
to  seeond-lieutenant   and  at  the  close  of  the  war 


returned  home.  About  the  close  of  the  Mexican 
war  the  news  came  of  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
California.  Charles  B.  Ogburn  was  one  of  those 
who  joined  the  great  rush  to  the  Eldorado,  and  in 
1849  traveled  across  the  plains  with  a  large  party 
of  men  to  California.  He  had  considerable  expe- 
rience in  the  gold  fields  tliere  but  in  a  year  or  so 
returned  home.  Then  after  an  interval  of  another 
year  or  two  he  went  back  to  California,  making 
the  .iourney  this  time  by  way  of  the  Isthmus. 
Again  there  followed  the  experience  and  excite- 
ment of  life  in  a  mining  district,  and  on  return- 
ing to  North  Carolina  he  invested  his  savings  and 
earnings  in  a  farm  in  Kernerville  Township.  He 
became  a  general  farmer  and  after  the  close  of 
the  Civil  war  he  was  associated  with  N.  D. 
Sullivan  in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco  near 
Walkertown.  He  continued  that  business  until 
his  death  in  1875.  Charles  B.  Ogburn  married 
Tabitha  Moir.  She  was  born  in  Eockingham 
County,  North  Carolina.  Her  father,  Robert 
Moir,  arrived  in  America  after  a  journey  of  many 
weeks  on  a  sailing  vessel  from  Scotland,  which 
was  his  native  country.  In  Eockingham  County, 
North  Carolina,  he  bought  a  tract  of  land,  and 
became  a  very  extensive  planter  and  also  a  tobacco 
manufacturer.  He  had  fifty  or  more  slaves 
employed  in  his  fields  and  around  his  factories 
and  house.  Eobert  Moir  continued  a  resident  of 
Rockingham  County  until  his  death.  Mrs.  Cliarles 
B.  Ogburn  died  in'l862,  mother  of  three  children: 
Robert  E.,  Elizabeth,  who  married  William  P.  Hill, 
»nd  Charles  D. 

Charles  D.  Ogburn  has  spent  his  life  in  and 
around  Winston-Salem,  attended  the  public  schools 
of  Winston,  and  after  leaving  high  school  had  a 
course  in  the  Baltimore  Business  College  at  Balti- 
more, Maryland.  He  then  returned  to  his  native 
precinct  aiid  took  up  the  manufacture  of  tobacco. 
In  1885  he  became  associated  in  a  partnership  with 
C  J  Ogburn  and  W.  P.  Hill  under  the  firm  name 
Ogburn,  Hill  &  Company.  This  company  did  a 
large  business  as  tobacco  manufacturers  until  191— 
Since  then  Mr.  Charles  D.  Ogburn  has  been  a 
member  of  the  firm  N.  D.  Sullivan  Co.,  whose 
factory  is  near  Walkertown. 

Besides  his  tobacco  interests  Mr.  Ogburn  is  a 
director  of  the  Wachovia  Bank  &  Trust  Company 
of  Winston-Salem,  of  the  Washington  MiUs  at 
Fries  Virginia,  of  the  Crystal  Ice  Company  and 
the  Home  Real  Estate  Loan  Insurance  Company, 
and  large  land  interests  in  Eastern  North  Caro- 
lina besides  other  interests  in  North  Carolina.  He 
is  a  charter  member  of  the  Twin  City  Club  of 
Winston-Salem,  director  Forsyth  Rolling  Mills. 
Mr  Ogburn  and  his  family  are  members  of  the 
Calvary  Moravian  Church.  He  was  married  in 
1895  to  Carrie  Shelton.  Mrs.  Ogburn  was  born 
in  Davidson  County,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of 
Doctor  and  E.  E."  (Belo)  Shelton.  She  died  in 
1897  Mr.  Ogburn  has  two  sons,  Carl  DeWitt  and 
Ralph  Belo.  Carl  is  now  in  the  Aviation  Section, 
United  States  army,  and  Ralph  is  at  University 
of  North  Carolina. 

William  C.  Perrt.  In  days  when  much  adverse 
criticism  of  public  officials  and  general  unrest  of 
all  kinds  prevails,  it  is  particularly  gratifying  to 
he  aide  to  chronicle,  together  with  his  personal 
hi.story,  the  universal  satisfaction  that  attends 
the  administration  of  William  C.  Perry,  as  super- 
intendent of  the  Iredell  County  Home.  Whatever 
has  been  possible  in  the  way  of  making  the  home 


60 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


entirely  self-supporting,  Mr.  Perry  has  doue  since 
he  came  here  in  1906,  for  he  is  not  only  a  con- 
scientious, reliable  man,  but  a  thoroughly  expe- 
rienced farmer. 

William  C.  Perry  was  born  in  Iredell  County, 
North  Carolina,  in  1870.  He  comes  of  some  of  the 
finest  old  stock  in  the  state.  His  paternal  grand- 
mother was  a  Haithcock.  His  parents  were  L.  C. 
and  Mary  A.  (Boger)  Perry,  both  of  whom  are 
deceased.  The  father  of  Mr.  Perry  was  born  in 
Cabarrus  County,  North  Carolina,  and  accom- 
panied his  parents  to  Iredell  County  prior  to  the 
war  between  the  states.  The  grandfather  settled 
near  Arthur 's  Mill,  about  five  miles  east  of  Barium 
Springs,  and  followed  an  agricultural  life  there. 
L.  C.  Perry  assisted  his  father  on  the  home  place 
until  the  war  broke  out  and  then  entered  the 
Confederate  service  and  remained  in  the  army  un- 
til the  end  of  the  struggle,  returning  to  peaceful 
pursuits  without  his  good  right  arm.  He  sur- 
vived until  1900.  He  married  Mary  A.  Boger, 
who  belonged  to  an  old  Pennsylvania  Dutch  family 
that  had  settled  in  Cabarrus  County  before  the 
Eevolutionary  war.     Her  mother  was  a  Steiwalt. 

William  C.  Perry  was  reared  on  the  home  farm 
and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools.  He  has 
always  taken  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  farm 
development  and  judging  by  the  high  state  of 
cultivation  to  which  he  has  brought  his  own  farm 
of  thirty-four  acres,  lying  a  half  mile  west  of 
the  county  home,  his  neighbors  estimate  that  he 
is  the  best  farmer  in  Iredell,  seems  a  just  one. 
His  land  lies  in  the  heart  of  the  Piedmont  region 
and  is  worth  at  least  $100  per  acre. 

Without  doubt,  Iredell  has  the  finest  county 
accommodations  for  its  indigents,  in  North  Caro- 
lina. Mr.  Perry  has  had  charge  since  1906  but 
the  plant  was  not  completed  until  1913.  The 
farm  contains  240  acres  and  extensive  farming 
operations  are  carried  on  by  Mr.  Perry,  who  takes 
pride  in  the  fact  that  this  is  one  of  the  few  county 
homes  in  the  state  that  are  self  sustaining. 
Modern  brick  buildings  of  beautiful  architecture, 
have  been  erected  at  a  cost  of  $40,000,  and  they 
have  been  equipiped  with  electric  -lights  and  a 
water  system  that  includes  sanitary  sewerage. 
Good  judgment,  in  which  Mr.  Perry 's  voice  was 
heard,  prevailed  in  the  erection  of  the  different 
buildings  and  their  appropriate  use.  Separate 
and  equally  comfortable  buildings  have  been  pro- 
vided for  the  white  and  the  colored  dependents, 
and  there  are  separate  buildings  for  infectious 
diseases,  for  the  tubercular  and  those  of  unsound 
mind.  The  care  and  management  of  such  an  in- 
stitution, aside  from  the  responsibility  of  the 
inmates,  would  tax  the  strength  and  vitality  of 
many  men,  but  in  Mr.  Perry  tlie  county  has 
found  an  ideal  superintendent.  In  addition  to 
being  a  well  informed  and  jiraetical  farmer,  he  is 
a  good  business  man  and  in  addition  to  this  he 
is  gifted  with  tact,  and  a  genial  disposition  that 
enables  him  to  keep  up  his  admirable  system  of 
management  without  any  friction. 

Mr.  Perry  has  been  twice  married,  first  to  Miss 
Fannie  Dry,  and  five  children  were  born  to  them, 
namely:  Mrs.  Alice  Jones,  and  Ada,  Clayton, 
Malla  and  Irene  Perry. 

William  M.  Nissen.  The  story  of  one  of  North 
Carolina's  oldest  manufacturing  industries  might 
be  woven  about  tlie  name  Nissen.  It  is  a  name 
that  signifies  character.  For  eighty  years  or  more 
many  thousands  of  Nissen  wagons  have  been  in 
service,  and  the  buyers  of  these  vehicles  have  long 


since  taken  it  for  granted  that  not  only  the  best 
of  material  entered  into  their  construction,  but  also 
that  the  highest  quality  of  skill  and  the  other 
qualities  which  stand  for  stability  and  reliability 
are  represented  in  their  timbers.  The  present 
proprietor  of  the  Nissen  Wagon  Works  at  Winston- 
Salem  is  William  M.  Nissen,  a  son  of  the  founder 
of  the  business. 

The  name  is  also  one  that  belongs  to  the  colonial 
annals  of  North  Caroling.  The  founder  of  the 
family  in  this  state  was  Rev.  Tyco  Nissen,  who  was 
born  in  Holstein,  Denmark,  March  14,  1732.  He 
was  the  great-grandfather  of  William  M.  Nissen. 
He  came  to  America  when  the  Atlantic  colonies 
still  gave  allegiance  to  Great  Britain,  in  1770. 
Some  time  later  he  arrived  in  North  Carolina  and 
settled  near  Salem,  where  he  bought  a  tract  of  land 
and  developed  it  as  a  farm  or  plantation.  Accord- 
ing to  the  records  found  in  Clewell  's  ' '  History  of 
North  Carolina,"  the  cornerstone  of  a  church 
was  laid  in  1772  at  Friedland  and  the  house  was 
consecrated  February  18,  1775,  and  Rev.  Tyco 
Nissen  was  introduced  as  the  first  minister.  He 
continued  active  in  the  ministry  there  until  1780. 
His  death  occurred  in  Salem  February  20,  1798. 
His  remains  now  repose  in  the  Moravian  grave- 
yard in  Salem.  He  married  Salome  Meuer,  who 
was  born  in  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  January 
20,  1750,  and  died  at  Salem  May  4,  1821.  Her 
father,  Philip  Meuer,  was  born  in  Alsace  March 
25,  1708,  and  died  in  Bethlehem  April  15,  1759. 

Christian  Nissen,  a  son  of  Rev.  Tyco  Nissen, 
was  born  in  Forsyth  County,  North  Carolina,  grew 
up  on  a  farm  and  followed  farming  as  his  active 
vocation.  He  remained  a  resident  of  his  native 
county  untU  his  death.  He  reared  three  daughters 
and  two  sons,  named  Betsy,  Lucinda,  Sally,  John 
Philip  and  Israel. 

John  Philip  Nissen  was  the  founder  of  the  Nissen 
wagon  industry  at  Winston-Salem.  He  was  born 
on  a  farm  in  Broad  Bay  Township  of  Forsyth 
County  in  1813.  A  genius  for  mechanics  was 
apparently  an  inheritance.  Before  he  had  reached 
his  majority,  while  living  on  the  farm  and  with 
only  such  tools  as  were  usually  found  about  a 
farm  in  the  early  half  of  the  last  century,  he  built 
a  wagon  complete  from  tongue  to  endgate.  It  Y'as 
a  wagon  that  saw  many  years  of  hard  service.  It 
was  his  first  masterpiece  and  attracted  much  admi- 
ration and  naturally  excited  a  demand  for  others 
like  it. 

In  1834  John  P.  Nissen  bought  a  lot  in  Waugh- 
fown.  Erecting  a  log  building,  he  made  that  his 
pioneer  wagon  shop.  With  an  equipment  of  hand 
too's,  and  supplying  all  the  labor  himself,  he  began 
making  wagons  for  sale.  There  was  a  customer 
for  every  wagon  before  it  was  finished.  The  cus- 
tom came  from  the  immediate  locality,  but  the  fame 
of  the  Nissen  wagons  steadily  grew,  and  every 
year  the  output  went  to  markets  more  and  more 
distant  from  the  place  of  manufacture.  The  log 
building  was  replaced  by  a  frame  structure,  and 
power  machinery  was  installed.  This  frame  fac- 
tory was  converted  into  a  government  workshop 
during  the  war  between  the  states  and  the  Nissen 
wagons  were  made  in  great  numbers  for  the  Con- 
federate army.  John  Philip  Nissen  had  an  almost 
unerring  judgment  as  to  materials,  and  practically 
until  the  close  of  his  life  took  the  greatest  of 
pains  and  gave  his  personal  supervision  to  nearly 
every  detail  of  manufacture.  It  was  on  the  firm 
foundation  of  his  individual  integrity  and  char- 
acter that  the  fame  of  the  Nissen  wagons  became 


RK 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


61 


widespread.  He  continued  actively  engaged  in  the 
business  which  he  had  founded  until  his  death  in 
1874. 

John  P.  Nisseu  married  Mary  Vawter.  She 
was  born  in  Virginia,  and  came  with  her  father, 
Bradford  Vawter,  from  that  state  to  a  home  a  few 
miles  south  of  Salem.  Bradford  Vawter  bought 
a  farm  there  and  lived  on  it  until  his  death.  Mrs. 
John  Philip  Nissen  died  in  1884.  She  reared  a 
family  of  ten  children,  named  Jane,  George  E., 
John,  Betty,  Reuben,  Frank,  Hattie,  Alice,  William 
M.  and  Samuel. 

William  M.  Nissen  was  born  at  Waughtown, 
which  is  now  a  rural  station  of  the  Winston-Salem 
postoffiee,  and  has  spent  his  life  practically  in 
that  one  locality.  He  attended  the  Boys '  School  at 
Salem  and  than  became  a  youthful  apprentice  in 
his  father  's  factory.  He  studied  all  the  details  of 
wagon  manufacturing  and  knows  the  business  thor- 
oughly from  the  workshop  to  the  counting  room. 
After  he  became  of  age  he  and  his  brother  George 
E.  succeeded  their  father  in  business  and  con- 
ducted the  factory  along  the  same  lines  which  had 
been  emphasized  by  their  honored  father.  In  1909 
William  Nissen  bought  the  interest  of  his  brother, 
and  has  since  been  sole  proprietor.  As  already 
noted,  the  business  was  begun  in  a  log  house,  that 
was  succeeded  by  a  frame  building,  and  in  recent 
years  a  large  brick  factory  has  been  erected,  con- 
taining all  the  modern  appliances  and  machinery 
for  turning  out  finished  wagons,  and  where  his 
father  eighty  years  ago  would  spend  many  days 
on  one  wagon,  the  factory  now  has  an  output  of 
many  vehicles  each  day.  At  times  upwards  of 
200  men  have  been  employed  in  the  plant,  and  it  is 
not  only  one  of  the  oldest  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments under  one  continuous  family  ownership 
in  the  state,  but  also  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
and  one  of  the  chief  assets  of  the  industrial  life  of 
Winston-Salem. 

In  1898  Mr.  Nissen  married  Ida  W.  Wray.  She 
was  born  at  Reedsville,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter 
of  Richard  and  Lucy  (Burton)  Wray.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Nissen  have  two  children,  George  W.  and 
Richard. 

Charles  J.  Ogbuen  is  not  only  a  veteran  of  the 
business  and  commercial  life  of  Winston-Salem. 
His  enterprise  and  special  ability  have  long  been 
a  factor  in  the  growth  of  that  community  and  a 
record  of  those  chiefly  responsible  for  the  building 
up  of  this  comparatively  new  city  of  Western 
North  Carolina  could  not  properly  omit  mention 
of  Cliarles  J.  Ogburn. 

Mr.  Ogburn  was  born,  on  a  farm  about  five  miles 
from  Winston-Salem  May  6,  1842.  His  family 
have  long  been  prominent  in  this  section.  His 
grandfather,  William  Ogburn,  was  a  native  of 
Mecklenberg,  Virginia,  and  removed  to  Stokes 
County,  North  Carolina,  locating  a  few  miles  north 
of  Salem,  where  he  bought  land  and  spent  the 
rest  of  his  days  farming.  James  Ogburn,  father 
of  Charles  J.,  was  born  in  Mecklenberg,  Virginia, 
and  was  very  young  when  brought  to  North  Caro- 
lina by-  his  parents.  Having  grown  up  on  a 
farm,  he  took  up  farming  as  his  regular  vocation, 
but  was  also  one  of  the  first  in  this  region  of 
North  Carolina  to  manufacture  tobacco.  He 
bought  land  about  two  miles  from  his  father 's 
home  and  lived  there  until  his  death. 

Charles  J.  Ogburn  had  such  advantages  as  were 
to  be  found  in  the  rural  schools  of  Forsyth  County 
sixty  or  seventy  years  ago.     A  better  preparation 


for  life  were  the  habits  of  industry  and  honesty 
which  were  early  instilled  into  hmi.  He  lived  at 
home  assisting  his  father  in  farming  and  tobacco 
manufacturing  until  he  was  twenty  years  of  age. 

His  military  service  began  in  1862  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Company  D  Fifty-seventh  Regiment  North 
Carolina  troops.  With  that  regiment  he  was  a 
participant  in  all  its  movements  and  battles  up  to 
and  including  tlie  great  conflict  at  Chancellorsville. 
There  on  May  4,  1863,  he  was  severely  wounded, 
and  two  days  after  the  battle  his  foot  was  ampu- 
tated. He  spent  five  weeks  in  a  hospital  at  Rich- 
mond, was  then  sent  home,  but  as  soon  as  he  was 
able  to  do  so  he  reported  for  duty.  Being  inca- 
pacitated for  field  service  he  was  assigned  to  the 
quartermaster's  department,  and  in  that  capacity 
gave  all  the  service  he  could  to  the  Confederacy 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  After  the  war  he 
supplemented  his  somewhat  meager  education  by 
attending  a  private  school  in  Grayson  County, 
Virginia,  taught  by  Robert  Masten  of  Winston. 
After  this  schooling  he  returned  to  North  Carolina 
and  entered  the  employ  of  his  brother,  Sihon  A. 
Ogburn  and  Mr.  Tice.  He  was  clerk  in  their  busi- 
ness eight  months,  and  then  went  on  the  road  as 
a  traveling  salesman.  Subsequently  he  became 
tobacco  buyer  and  salesman  for  N.  D.  Sullivan, 
and  remained  in  his  employ  seven  years.  Mr. 
Ogburn  then  formed  a  partnership  with  W.  P.  Hill 
under  the  firm  name  of  Ogburn  &  Hill.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  a  very  large  and  influential 
enterprise.  S.  A.  Ogburn  subsequently  became  a 
member  of  the  firm  for  two  years  and  Robert 
Ogburn  was  also  a  partner.  Charles  D.  Ogburn 
later  purchased  an  interest  and  Mr.  Hill  retired. 
Through  different  changes  the  firm  went  on  as 
Ogburn,  Hill  &  Company  until  the  plant  was 
burned  and  the  affairs  of  the  corporation  were 
the  wound  up.  Since  then  Mr.  Charles  J. 
Ogburn  has  lived  retired. 

He  married  Annie  L.  Lindsay.  Mrs.  Ogburn 
was  born  at  High  Point,  North  Carolina,  daughter 
of  Dr.  Robert  Lindsay,  and  she  died  at  Winston- 
Salem  July  9,  1916.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ogburn  reared 
two  children.  The  only  son,  Lindsay,  died  when 
fourteen  years  of  age.  The  daughter,  Anna,  now 
presides  over  the  household  of  her  father.  Mr. 
Ogburn  is  a  member  of  the  Centenary  Methodist 
Church,  of  which  his  wife  was  also  a  faithful 
member.  He  belongs  to  Norfleet  Camp  of  the 
United  Confederate  Veterans. 

James  M.  Butler.  As  cotton  manufacturer, 
merchant,  extensive  farmer,  banker  and  capitalist, 
James  M.  Butler  is  one  of  the  leading  men  of 
Robeson  County,  and  in  association  with  Alexander 
R.  McEachern,  has  organized  and  been  identified 
with  business  enterprises  in  the  past  decade  that 
have  brought  unexampled  prosperity  to  St.  Pauls 
and  other  sections  of  the  county. 

.lames  M.  Butler  was  born  in  Gray's  Creek  Town- 
ship, Cumberland  County,  North  Carolina,  in  1868. 
Like  many  of  the  representative  men  of  the  county, 
Mr.  Butler  is  of  Scotch  ancestry,  the  Butlers  hav- 
ing come  to  North  Carolina  from  Scotland  at 
the  time  of  one  of  the  earliest  Scotch  colonization 
movements,  possibly  in  the  days  of  his  great- 
grandfather, and  they  established  themselves  in 
Cumberland  County.  The  paternal  grandfather 
bore  the  name  of  Daniel  Butler,  and  his  plantation 
was  located  in  the  southern  part  of  Cumberland 
County.      The   parents   of   James   M.   Butler  were 


62 


HISTOKY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


William  and  Sarah  (ilelvin)  Butler,  both  of  whom 
are  now  deceased.  William  Butler  sjjent  his  entire 
life  in  Southern  Cumberland  County  and 
served  four  years  in  the  Coitfederacy.  The"  mother 
of  James  M.  Butler  was  of  English  ancestry. 
The  early  Melvins  located  at  Wilmington  and 
from  there  moved  into  Bladen  County  and  became 
identified   with   its   history. 

James  M.  Butler  grew  to  manhood  on  the  home 
plantation,  attending  school  as  opiiortunity  of- 
fered, and  has  always  retained  an  interest  in 
agriculture,  although  "his  other  interests  have  be- 
come unusually  extensive.  He  came  to  Eobeson 
County  in  1889  and  started,  in  a  small  way,  in  a 
farming,  mercantile  and  manufacturing  business 
in  the  community  that  is  known  as  Tolarsville,  in 
the  extreme  northern  part  of  Howellsville  Town- 
ship and  adjoining  St.  Pauls  Township.  Through 
industry  and  close  attention  to  business  and  Ijy 
the  adoption  of  honorable  methods  in  dealing 
with  his  customers  Mr.  Butler  gradually  built 
up  a  good  mercantile  business  and  was '  ranked 
as  one  of  the  leading  and  most  trustworthy 
country  merchants  in  this  section  of  the  state. 
He  remained  in  active  business  in  that  community 
until  1912.  Having  become  tinancially  interested 
in  the  development  of  St.  Pauls,  he  came  to  .this 
place  and  has  resided  here  ever  since.  He  still 
retains,  however,  his  extensive  farm  interests  in 
the  Tolarville  community,  owning  several  iina 
jiroperties  and  being  a  heaxn-  cotton  planter. 

After  coming  to  St.  Pauls  Mr.  Butler  was  asso- 
ciated in  a  successful  mercantile  business  for 
some  years  with  Alexander  R.  McEachern  and 
others,  but  since  their  manufacturing  enterprises 
have  grown  to  such  large  proportions,  the  partners 
have  been  gradually  retiring  from  the  purely 
mercantile  field.  While  they  have  numerous  enter- 
prises under  way,  Mr.  Butler  and  Mr.  McEachern 
are  best  known,  perhaps,  in  the  cotton  mill  in- 
dustry, for  it  was  through  their  enterprise  and 
capital  that  mills  of  importance  have  been  estab- 
lished here  and  also  at  Fayetteville,  and  Red 
Springs,  which  give  employment  to  hundreds  of 
workers  and  thereby  give  an  impetus  to  other  lines 
of  business.  Mr.  Butler  is  president  of  the  St. 
Pauls  Cotton  Mills  Company,  of  which  Mr.  Mc- 
Eachern is  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  Mr.  Butler 
is  also  secretary-treasurer  of  the  Cape  Fear 
Cotton  Mills  at  Fayetteville.  At  Fayetteville  also 
there  has  been  completed  and  put  in  operation 
the  Advance  Manufa<'turing  Company,  a  modern 
plant  especially  designed  for  the  manufacture  of 
olive  <lrab  cloth  for  the  Government.  This  mill 
is  under  Mr.  Butler 's  personal  management,  and 
is  owned  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Williamson,  of  Fayetteville, 
Mr.  A.  R.  McEachern  and  himself.  Mr.  Butler  is 
also  secretary-treasurer  of  Red  Springs  Cotton 
Mill  Company  of  Red  Springs,  North  Carolina, 
which  has  now  under  construction  a  very  fine  and 
up   to   date  hosiery  yarn  mUl. 

Mr.  Butler  is  prominent  also  in  the  financial 
field  and  in  politics.  He  is  a  vice  president  of  the 
Bank  of  St.  Pauls  and  is  mayor  of  the  young  city, 
which  within  a  very  few  years  has  been  developed 
from  a  village  into  a  busy,  prosperous  and  beauti- 
ful town.  For  some  time  Mr.  Butler  was  a  member 
of  the  board  of  county  road  commissioners  of 
Robeson  County,  and  in  that  office,  as  in  others,  his 
business  capacity  and  good  .iudgment  have  been 
of  the  greatest  value  to  his  fellow  citizens. 

Mr.  Butler  married  Miss  Annie  Regan,  who  was 
born  in  Howellsville  Township,  Robeson  County, 
a   daughter   of   Mr.   W.    J.    Regan    and   a    grand- 


daughter of  the  latf  Colonel  Regan.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Butler  have  seven  children,  namelv:  Mrs. 
James  T.  King,  Berta,  W.  Joseph,  Julian,  Ed- 
ward K.,  Annie  Grace  and  James  M.,  Jr.  Mr. 
Butler  and  family  belong  to  the  Baptist  Church. 

James  Ales.\xder  Gray.  First  vice  president 
of  one  of  the  largest  banks  in  North  Carolina, 
the  Wachovia  Bank  &  Trust  Company  of  Winston- 
Salem,  James  A.  Gray  represents'  one  of  the 
earliest  families  established  at  Winston.  He  saw 
active  service  as  a  boy  soldier  in  the  war  between 
the  states  and  has  been  prominent  in  banking  and 
business  affairs  in  Forsyth  County  for  upwards  of 
a  half  a  century. 

Mr.  Gray  has  just  arrived  at  that  point  in  life 
where  he  can  claim  the  Psalmist 's  allotted  span  of 
years,  three  score  and  ten.  He  was  born  January 
2,  1846.  His  birthplace  was  a  farm,  located 
about  ten  miles  southwest  of  Greensboro,  but  just 
across  the  line  in  Randolph  County,  North  Caro- 
lina. His  grandfather,  Samuel  Gray,  was  a  farmer 
and  so  far  as  known  spent  his  entire  life  in  the 
limits  of  Randolph  County.  The  father  was 
Robert  Gray,  and  was  born  in  Randolph  County 
December  17,  1814.  Thus  the  Grav  family  ha"s 
been  located  in  Western  North  Carolina  for  con- 
siderably more  than  a  century.  Robert  Gray, 
though  a  farmer,  also  engaged  in  merchandising  in 
Randolph  County.  Soon  after  Forsyth  County  was 
formed,  the  Village  of  Winston  was  platted  and 
Robert  Gray  attended  the  first  auction  of  lots. 
He  had  the  distinction  of  buying  the  first  lot 
offered.  Its  situation  was  the  southwest  corner 
of  Third  and  Main  streets,  and  the  ground  is  now 
occupied  by  the  Wachovia  Bank  &  Trust  Company, 
of  which  his  son  is  vice  president.  On  that  piece 
of  ground  Robert  Gray  erected  a  small  frame 
building.  He  introduced  one  of  the  first  stocks  of 
merchandise  in  the  new  town.  Having  become 
well  situated  and  with  prospects  for  continuing 
success,  he  brought  his  family  to  Winston  in  18-52. 
His  business  went  on  successfully  commencing  in  a 
frame  building  and  ending  in  a  three-story  brick 
building,  when  he  was  compelled  to  suspend  opera- 
tions for  a  time  during  the  progress  of  the  war. 
Later  he  resumed  business.  His  death  occurred 
January  17,  1881. 

Robert  Gray  married  Mary  Millis  Wiley.  She 
was  born  in  Guilford  County.  North  Carolina,  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary  (Millis)  Wiley. 
Samuel  Wiley's  mother  was  a  Shannon,  whose 
father  (a  great-great-grandfather  of  James  A. 
Gray)  was  one  of  four  brothers  coming  to  America 
in  Colonial  times.  One  of  these  brothers  located  in 
Pennsylvania,  another  in  South  Carolina,  another 
in  Ohio  and  the  fourth,  the  ancestor  of  the  line 
now  under  consideration  in  North  Carolina.  Wil- 
liam Shannon,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  brothers, 
was  governor  of  Ohio  and  United  States  senator. 
Samuel  Wiley  was  a  farmer  in  Guilford  County 
and  spent  his  last  days  there.  Robert  Gray  and 
wife  reared  nine  children:  Samuel  Wiley,  Martha, 
James  A.,  Robert  T..  Mav  Belle,  Eobah  F.,  Eugene 
E.,  Emory  S.  and  Will'T.  The  oldest  of  these, 
Samuel  W.,  left  his  studies  at  the  State  University 
to  enlist  on  July  5,  1862,  in  Company  D  of  the 
Fifty-seventh  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops. 
He  was  appointed  first  sergeant  and  for  gallant 
and  meritorious  service  was  promoted  to  captain 
in  December,  1862.  He  was  with  his  command 
in  all  its  campaigns  and  battles  up  to  and  includ- 
ing the  three  days "  struggle  at  Gettysburg.     On 


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THE  ?:LV''  vork 
PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


ASTOR,  ; 

TiLDLN  f c:;.-  J.   :      :"    J 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


63 


the  second  day  of  that  great  battle  he  was  killed, 
July  2,  1863. 

James  A.  Gray  was  six  years  of  age  when  the 
family  moved  to  Winston,  and  some  of  his  earliest 
recollections  are  of  that  city,  then  a  wilderness 
hamlet.  He  attended  the  free  school  and  Winston 
High  School,  and  also  the  Boys '  School  at  Salem, 
and  also  had  the  advantages  of  a  course  in  Trinity 
College.  As  a  boy  he  assisted  his  father  in  the 
store,  but  when  he  was  still  young  he  volunteered 
his  services  toward  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
enlisted  in  Company  C  of  the  Thirty-sixth  Regi- 
ment, North  Carolina  Troops.  He  was  in  the 
army  eight  months.  At  Fort  Fisher  he  was  cap- 
tured, and  spent  two  months  as  a  prisoner  of  war 
at  Elmira,  New  York. 

With  the  close  of  the  war  he  lent  his  individual 
energies  to  the  upbuilding  and  progress  of  Winston 
as  a  commercial  center  and  became  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  Wachovia  National  Bank.  He 
was  assistant  cashier  of  that  institution,  subse- 
c|uently  casliier  and  finally  president.  Wlieu  the 
Wachovia  National  Bank  and  the  Wachovia  Loan 
&  Trust  Company  were  consolidated,  taking  the 
new  name  Wachovia  Bank  &  Trust  Company, 
Mr.  Gray  became  its  first  vice  president  and  has 
filled  that  post  to  the  present  time.  The  Wachovia 
Bank  &  Trust  Company  has  a  capital  of  $1,250,000 
and  its  deposits  and  general  resources  are  pro- 
portionate to  its  large  capitalization. 

Mr.  Gray  married  Miss  Aurelia  Bowman  of 
High  Point,  North  Carolina.  She  was  born  at 
Oak  Ridge  in  Guilford  County,  North  Carolina. 
Her  father,  Wyatt  Bowman,  was  the  first  president 
of  the  Wachovia  National  Bank  of  Winston.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Gray  were  the  parents  of  four  children: 
Bowman,  Mary,  Bessie  and  James  A.,  Jr.  Bow- 
man is  now  a  vice  president  of  the  R.  J.  Reynolds 
Tobacco  Company,  and  by  his  marriage  to  Nathalie 
Lyon  has  two  children  named  Bowman  and  Gordon. 
Mary  is  the  wife  of  Alexander  H.  Galloway,  and 
their  two  children  are  James  Bowman  and  Alex- 
ander H.  Bessie  married  Charles  E.  Plumly  and 
has  three  children  Elizabeth,  Lindsay  and  Aurelia. 
James  A.,  Jr.,  married  Pauline  L.  Bahnson. 

Mrs.  Gray  died  in  August,  1914.  She  and  Mr. 
Gray  were  active  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South.  He  is  trustee  of  the  Chil- 
dren 's  Home,  the  Methodist  Orphanage,  aud  was 
one  of  the  contributors  to  that  splendid  institu- 
tion. He  is  also  a  trustee  of  Trinity  College,  and 
he  together  with  Gen.  J.  S.  Carr  of  Durham,  and 
Col.  J.  W.  Alsjiaugh  of  Winston,  contributed  to  the 
maintenance  of  the  college  for  three  years  at  Old 
Trinity  in  Randolph  County  before  its  removal  to 
Durham.  Mr.  Gray  throughout  his  citizenship  in 
Winston-Salem  has  been  one  of  the  liberal  con- 
tributors to  all  worthy  objects  claiming  his  atten- 
tion, and  his  career  has  been  guided  by  high  ideals 
and  firm  principles  of  right.  He  is  chairman  of 
the  board  of  stewards  of  the  Centenary  Methodist 
Church  and  a  member  of  the  Twin  City  Club  aud 
the  Forsyth  Country  Club. 

Hon.  James  Alexander  Gray,  Jr.,  youngest  son 
and  child  of  James  A.  Gray  elsewhere  referred  to, 
is  for  a  man  still  in  his  twenties  one  of  the  most 
prominent  citizens  of  North  Carolina  in  respect  to 
his  various  associations  and  interests. 

He  was  born  in  Winston-Salem,  August  21,  1889, 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools,  graduated  from 
high  school,  and  in  1908  received  the  A.  B.  degree 
from  the  University  of  North  Carolina.     Thus  he 


has  had  only  ten  years  in  which  to  achieve  a  posi- 
tion and  name  for  himself.  His  first  employment 
after  leaving  the  University  was  in  the  Wachovia 
National  Bank  as  manager  of  the  savings  depart- 
ment. In  1911  when  Wachovia  National  and  the 
Wachovia  Loan  aud  Trust  Company  were  consoli- 
dated as  the  Wachovia  Bank  &  Trust  Company,  Mr. 
Gray  was  elected  Assistant  Treasurer,  and  in 
January,  1915,  came  to  his  present  responsibility  as 
Treasurer  of  that  great  institution,  the  largest 
banking  house  in  the  State.  Mr.  Gray  for  three 
years  was  Vice  President  of  the  North  Carolina 
State  Bankers'  Association,  and  in  1918  was 
elected  President.  On  April  18,  1918,  Mr.  Gray 
was  married  to  Miss  Pauline  Lizette  Bahnson, 
daughter  of  Mrs.  Henry  T.  Bahnson. 

Mr.  Gray  was  elected  in  the  fall  of  1916  to  the 
North  Carolina  State  Senate  from  the  Twenty- 
sixth  District,  and  during  the  following  sessions 
was  chairman  of  the  finance  committee  of  the 
Senate.  During  1915-6  he  served  as  chairman  of 
the  Forsythe  County  Board  of  Highway  Commis- 
sioners. Since  191.3,  by  action  of  the  Legislature, 
he  has  served  as  a  Trustee  of  the  University  of 
North  Carolina. 

Hon.  Erastus  Beverly  Jone.s  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  North  Carolina  bar  for  over  thirty-five 
years.  Much  of  his  time  has  been  spent  in  public 
service.  He  filled  with  distinction  the  office  of 
circuit  judge,  and  for  several  terms  represented 
Forsyth  and  adjoining  counties  in  the  Legislature. 
For  yeai-s  his  name  has  been  closely  associated  with 
the  public  and  professional  life  of  Western  North 
Carolina. 

He  was  born  on  a  plantation  near  Bethania  in 
Forsyth  County.  His  paternal  lineage  goes  back 
to  Wales.  The  immigrant  ancestor  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  colonial  times  and  settled  on  what  became 
known  as  Jones  Ch-eek  in  the  city  of  Baltimore. 
While  living  there  he  operated  a  grist  mill  but 
subsecpiently  moved  to  Pittsylvania  County,  Vir- 
ginia. Judge  Jones'  grandfather  was  Gabriel 
Jones,  who  probably  spent  all  his  life  in  Virginia. 

Dr.  Beverly  Jones,  father  of  Judge  Jones,  was 
born  on  a  farm  in  Henry  County,  Virginia,  and 
acquired  his  medical  education  in  Jefferson  Medi- 
cal College  at  Pliiladelphia.  After  completing  his 
course  there  he  removed  to  North  Carolina,  and 
for  five  or  six  years  practiced  at  Germauton  in 
Stokes  County.  For  his  permanent  home  he  set- 
tled on  a  farm  near  Bethania,  and  looked  after  his 
plantation  while  attending  to  his  large  country 
practice.  His  was  a  notable  life,  and  one  of 
unceasing  service  to  his  fellow  man.  His  prac- 
tice extended  for  many  miles  around  his  plan- 
tation, and  he  was  obliged  to  keep  several  horses 
since  he  was  almost  constantly  riding  and  driv- 
ing. During  much  of  his  practice  he  rode 
horseback,  carrying  his  instruments  aud  medicines 
in  saddle  bags  after  the  fashion  of  the  old  time 
practitioner.  Though  his  life  was  a  strenuous  one, 
he  lived  to  the  age  of  ninety-two.  Doctor  Jones 
married  Julia  A.  Conrad.  She  was  born  at 
Bethania,  North  Carolina,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven.  Her  parents  were  Abraham  and 
Phillipiua  (Lash)  Conrad.  Abraham  Conrad  was 
born  in  Berks  County.  Pennsylvania,  and  his  father 
became  a  pioneer  settler  at  Bethania,  North  Caro- 
lina. He  was  both  a  farmer  and  merchant. 
Abraham  Conrad  followed  farming  as  his  regular 
vocation,  and  had  a  number  of  slaves  to  cultivate 
his  plantation.     His  death  occurred  at  the  age  of 


64 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


eighty-four  and  his  wife  passed  away  at  sixty-five. 
Phillijiina  Lash  was  born  at  Bethania,  North 
Carolina.  Her  father,  Christian  Lash,  was  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  after  coming  to  North 
Carolina  lived  for  a  time  at  Bethabia  and  then 
removed  to  Bethania,  wliere  he  followed  mer- 
chandising and  fanning.  His  son,  Israel  Lash, 
at  one  time  represented  this  district  in  Congress. 

Doctor  and  Mrs.  Jones  were  the  parents  of  ten 
children:  Abraham  G.,  James  B.,  Alexander  C, 
Robert  H.,  Erastus  B.,  Ella  M.,  Virginia  E.,  Julia 
P.,  Catherine  E.  and  Lucian  G.  Abraham  G.  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Confederate  service  and  is  now  a 
practicing  physician.  James  B.  was  also  a  Con- 
federate soldier  and  is  now  president  of  the 
Williams  Woods  College  at  Fulton,  Missouri.  Alex- 
ander C.  left  college  to  enter  the  Confederate 
army  and  died  in  service  in  his  eighteenth  year. 
Robert  H.  is  a  practising  dentist  at  Winston- 
Salem. 

Erastus  Beverly  Jones  had  the  good  fortune  to 
be  reared  in  a  home  of  high  ideals,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  parents  were  such  that  they 
could  afford  him  the  advantages  of  a  liberal  edu- 
cation. He  was  graduated  from  Wake  Forest 
College  in  1877,  and  then  took  up  the  study  of 
law  with  Judge  T.  J.  Wilson  and  afterwards 
studied  under  Dick  &  Dillard.  He  was  licensed 
to  practice  by  the  Superior  Court  in  1880.  His 
first  work  as  a  lawyer  was  done  at  Taylorsville  in 
Alexander  County.  In  1884  Judge  Jones  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature.  'In 
1890  he  came  to  Winston,  and  here  formed  a  part- 
nership with  R.  B.  Kerner  under  the  name  Jones  & 
Keruer.  His  services  have  always  been  in  much 
demand  in  the  important  litigation  tried  in  the 
courts  of  this  district  and  in  the  state  at  large. 

In  1892  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State 
Senate  to  represent  Forsyth,  Davidson  and  Rowan 
counties.  While  in  the  Senate  he  was  chairman 
of  the  judiciary  committee.  A  prominent  demo- 
crat. Judge  Jones  has  been  one  of  the  leaders  of 
his  party  in  the  western  part  of  the  state.  In 
1896  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  National  Democratic 
Convention,  and  a  member  of  the  organization  com- 
mittee. From  the  first  he  was  a  strong  advocate 
of  the  Nebraska  statesman  William  J.  IJryan,  and 
he  took  an  active  part  in  the  strategy  by  which 
that  orator  was  nominated  in  Cliicago  in  1896. 
Realizing  that  his  favorite's  chances  for  the  nomi- 
nation would  be  lessened  should  he  be  made  chair- 
man of  the  convention.  Mr.  Jones  gave  his  vote 
and  influence  to  Senator  White  of  California,  as 
chairman.  In  1898  Judge  Jones  was  a  candidate 
for  solicitor  of  the  Eleventh  District.  His  de- 
feat was  accomplished  by  only  thirty-four  votes. 
In  1902,  without  being  a  candidate,  he  was  elected 
to  the  bench  and  gave  seven  and  a  half  years  of 
competent  and  dignified  service  in  that  capacity. 
He  finally  resigned  from  the  bench  in  order  to 
resume  his  legal  practice. 

In  1912  Judge  Jones  was  again  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Senate  from  the  Twenty-sixth  District. 
During  the  following  session  he  was  chairman  of 
the  railroad  committee  and  was  a  member  of  the 
appropriation  and  finance  committees. 

Judge  Jones  was  first  married  in  1886,  but  his 
wife  died  in  the  following  year.  In  1889  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Susie  Barber.  They  have  one  daughter, 
Hervey  Louise.  Mrs.  Jones  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  and  Mr.  Jones  is  a  member 
of  the  Disciples  Church,  and  he  is  affiliated  with 


Winston  Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons. 

Mrs.  Jones  comes  from  a  long  line  of  prominent 
ancestors  who  played  a  distinctive  part  in  the 
early  history  oi  Kentucky.  Her  mother  was 
Emeline  (Hauser)  Barber.  Mrs.  Jones  was  born 
at  Falmouth,  Kentucky,  and  that  was  also  the 
birthplace  of  her  mother.  Her  mother  was  born 
June  6,  1830.  The  Hauser  family  in  North  Caro- 
lina goes  back  to  Martin  Hauser,  who  was  born 
in  Alsace  in  1696  and  afterwards  came  to  America 
with  a  colony  of  Moravians.  He  lived  in  Pennsyl- 
vania until  1752,  when  he  came  to  North  Carolina, 
locating  at  Bethabia,  which  was  then  in  Surry, 
later  in  Stokes  and  now  in  Forsyth  County.  That 
was  his  home  but  a  short  time  until  he  removed 
to  the  present  site  of  Bethania.  He  died  there 
in  1761.  Martin  Hauser  married  Margaretta,  who 
was  born  November  4,  1702,  and  died  January  12, 
1775. 

Their  son  George  Hauser  was  born  February  17, 
1730,  and  was  past  his  majority  when  he  came  to 
North  Carolina  with  his  parents.  He  died  at 
Bethania  in  1801.     His  wife  was  Barbara  Elrod. 

Their  son  Lieut.  George  Hauser  was  born  at 
Bethania  August  28,  1755.  He  was  the  great- 
grandfather of  Mrs.  Jones.  Lieut.  George  Hauser 
made  a  notable  record  as  a  soldier  during  the 
Revolutionary  war.  In  August,  1776,  he  enlisted 
in  Captain  Henry 's  company  and  was  commis- 
sioned lieutenant.  This  company  was  attached  to 
Col.  James  Williams  Regiment.  With  the  com- 
mand he  was  first  employed  in  pursuing  the  hos- 
tile Cherokee  Indians,  being  away  from  home  on 
that  campaign  about  four  months.  In  March, 
1777,  he  was  married  at  Germanton  to  Magdalena 
Shore.  He  was  already  member  of  a  company  of 
minute  men,  and  soon  after  his  marriage  was  called 
out  for  service.  The  troops  marched  to  the 
Blue  Ridge  to  look  for  some  troublesome  Tories. 
Crossing  the  mountains,  for  a  time  they  guarded 
the  lead  mines  and  escorted  the  wagons  carrying 
that  invaluable  element  in  the  making  of  muni- 
tions for  the  patriot  armies  to  Salisbury.  Arriving 
at  Salisbury  the  lead  was  delivered  to  General 
Rutherford.  After  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain 
Lieutenant  Hauser  with  others  was  sent  to  Salem, 
Virginia,  to  guard  British  prisoners.  He  subse- 
quently was  employed  in  guarding  a  train  trans- 
porting ammunition  to  Salem.  When  Cornwallis' 
soldiers  were  overrunning  this  section  of  North 
Carolina,  Lieut.  George  Hauser  was  home  at 
Bethania.  He  and  others  were  compelled  to  drink 
to  the  health  of  King  George.  While  his  glass  was 
poised  in  the  air  he  spoke  what  was  supposed  to 
be  the  health  of  the  King  but  in  realty  meant  ' '  to 
hell  with  the  king."  He  escaped  condign  pun- 
ishment for  this  merely  because  he  was  not  under- 
stood, having  uttered  the  words  in  a  mixture  of 
German  and  English  that  was  somewhat  unin- 
telligible to  the  redcoats.  For  his  services  as  a 
soldier  the  state  gave  Lieutenant  Hauser  large 
tracts  of  land  in  Obion  County,  Tennessee.  After 
the  war  he  continued  to  be  prominent  in  public 
affairs,  and  represented  his  district  in  the  State 
Legislature  seven  times.  His  death  occurred  No- 
vember 3,  1818.  His  wife  survived  him  and  for 
a  number  of  years  drew  a  pension  from  the  Fed- 
eral government. 

Samuel  Thomas  Hauser,  grandfather  of  Mrs. 
.Tones,  was  born  at  Bethania  in_1794.  He  was 
liberally  educated.     When  a  young  man  he  started 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


65 


on  horseback  for  the  West  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
vestigating tlie  lands  granted  to  his  father  in 
Tennessee.  He  also  had  some  business  matters  re- 
quiring his  attention  in  Kentucky.  In  tlie  course 
of  his  journey  he  visited  Palmoiith.  While  there 
he  was  induced  to  teach  a  term  of  school,  and  the 
locality  attracted  him  so  much  that  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  and  opened  an  oiEce  and  began 
the  practice  of  law.  He  continued  one  of  the 
honored  members  of  the  Kentucky  bar  until  his 
death  in  1865.  He  also  served  as  circuit  judge. 
He  was  married  at  Falmouth,  Kentucky,  to  Mary 
Ann  Kennett.  Slie  was  the  daughter  of  William 
and  Euphemia  (Hall)  Kennett,  natives  of  Mary- 
land, and  early  settlers  in  Kentucky.  The  Ken- 
netts  are  of  colonial  ancestry  and  have  taken  part 
in  the  pioneer  life  of  several  states  in  the  West. 
One  of  them  was  actively  identified  with  the  found- 
ing of  the  City  of  St.  Louis. 

The  motlier  of  Mrs.  Jones  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated at  ralmouth,  Kentucky,  and  spent  all  her 
life  there.  She  married  Dr.  James  Henry  Barber. 
Doctor  Barber  was  born  at  New  Eiclimond,  Ohio, 
February  29,  1824.  He  was  educated  at  Marietta 
College,  graduated  from  the  Ohio  Medical  College 
at  Cincinnati,  and  soon  afterward  located  at  Fal- 
mouth, Kentucky,  where  he  continued  the  active 
practice  of  medicine  until  his  death  in  September, 
1912.  Doctor  Barber  was  a  son  of  Nathaniel  and 
Hannah  (Ashburn)  Barber.  The  Barber  ancestors 
were  early  settlers  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
and  in  the  various  generations  were  prominent  in 
public  life  and  some  of  them  were  soldiers  in  the 
Kevolution. 

Hon.  Leroy  Campbell  Caldwell.  Prominent 
among  the  distinguished  citizens  of  Iredell 
County  is  found  Hon.  Leroy  Campbell  Caldwell, 
who  for  more  than  thirty  years  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  North  Carolina  bar,  among  whose  mem- 
liers,  by  his  learning,  his  industry,  his  ability  and 
his  character,  he  has  attained  a  high  place.  In 
no  less  degree  is  he  valued  in  his  home  community 
of  Statesville  as  a  public  otScial  who  has  done 
much  to  advance  the  interests  of  his  city  and  as 
a  liberal-minded   and   enterprising   citizen. 

Mayor  Leroy  Campbell  Caldwell  of  Statesville 
was  iiorn  in  tlie  eastern  part  of  Mecklenburg 
County,  North  Carolina,  in'  1858,  his  parents  being 
Charles  A.  and  Louise  (Cochran)  Caldwell.  His 
grandfather  was  John  Caldwell,  and  he  is  a  de- 
scendant of  those  bearing  the  name  who  were  the 
first  in  settling  in  Mecklenburg  County  with  the 
other  Scotch-Irish  pioneers.  Those  bearing  this 
name  have  ever  since  been  prominent  in  the  his- 
tory and  development  of  North  Carolina,  particu- 
larly in  Mecklenburg  County  and  other  Western 
sections  of  the  state.  Charles  A.  Caldwell  was 
a  machinist  by  trade,  although  the  Caldwells  of 
the  earlier  generations  had  been,  as  a  rule,  planters. 
He  remained  in  Mecklenburg  County  with  his 
family  until  1862,  when  he  removed  to  Concord, 
the  county  seat  of  Cabarrus  County,  and  there 
passed  the  remaining  years  of  his  life.  During 
the  war  between  the  South  and  the  North,  he 
worked  at  his  trade  for  the  Confederate  govern- 
ment, assisting  in  that  department  of  mechanics 
which  plays  such  an  important  part  in  warfare, 
that  of  machinery  making.  He  was  an  industrious 
and  hard-working  man  who  held  the  respect  of 
his  fellow-townsmen  by  his  energy,  integrity  and 
good  citizenship.  Mrs.  Caldwell's  people,  the 
Cochrans,  were  also  among  the  eai'ly  Scotch-Irish 
settlers  of  this  part  of  the  state. 
Vol.  rv—s 


Leroy  Campbell  Caldwell  prepared  for  college 
under  the  late  B.  F.  Rogers,  of  Concord,  a  nation- 
ally known  educator  of  his  day,  subsequently  spent 
three  years  at  Erskine  College,  South  Carolina, 
aiul  took  his  senior  year  of  college  work  at  Trinity 
College,  Durham,  North  Carolina.  He  read  law 
under  the  tutelage  of  Judge  W.  J.  Montgomery, 
of  Concord,  and  in  the  famous  law  school  of 
Judges  Dillard  &  Dock,  at  Greensboro,  where  he 
spent  a  year.  He  was  licensed  to  practice  in 
1879,  but  did  not  begin  to  enter  seriously  upon  the 
duties  of  his  calling  until  six  years  later,  in  1885, 
when  he  established  himself  in  law  practice  at 
Statesville,  Iredell  County,  which  has  since  been 
his  home  and  field  of  operation.  He  was  for  sev- 
eral years  a  partner  of  the  late  Major  Bingham. 
Mr.  Caldwell 's  legal  attainments  are  solid.  He 
is  thoroughly  grounded  in  elementary  principles 
and  possessed  of  a  fine  discrimination  in  the  ap- 
plication of  legal  precedents.  He  is  a  fluent 
speaker  and  his  style  is  notable  for  its  purity  and 
accurate  use  of  words.  In  addition  to  faithfully 
caring  for  the  duties  of  a  large  and  representative 
law  practice  in  the  courts  of  North  Carolina' and 
the  federal  tribunals,  he  has  been  for  a  number 
of  years  a  prominent  figure  in  public  life.  In 
1896  he  was  first  elected  mayor  of  Statesville, 
serving  in  that  office  for  two  years  at  that  time, 
and  in  1910  was  again  elected  mayor,  since  which 
time  he  has  served  continuously  in  the  ofiice,  by 
virtue  of  reelections  in  1912  and  1914.  He  is  an 
able  and  efiicient  city  officer  and  during  his  ad- 
ministrations Statesville  has  grown  healthfully  in 
its  commercial  and  industrial  life,  and  many  pub- 
lic improvements  of  importance  have  been  com- 
pleted as  a  result  of  his  executive  energy  and 
clean  and  business-like  handling  of  affairs  in  the 
civic  government.  He  has  proven  a  most  accept- 
able and  efiicient  ofiicial,  and  is  very  popular  with 
tlie  people  of  his  adopted  city.  He  has  been  suc- 
cessful in  a  material  way,  and  at  the  present  time, 
in  addition  to  being  identified  with  a  number  of 
business  interests,  he  holds  much  city  realty,  and 
is  likewise  the  owner  of  two  farms,  one  in  Iredell 
(Jounty,  about  two  miles  east  of  Statesville,  and 
one  in  Fairfield  County,  South  Carolina. 

Mayor  Caldwell  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  who  is  now  deceased,  was  Miss  Maggie 
Youngue  before  her  marriage,  a  native  of  South 
Carolina  of  Huguenot  descent.  Six  children  were 
born  to  this  union:  Kittie  Youngue  wife  of  Jno 
P.  Planigan,  deceased,  Louise  Campbell,  wife  of 
E.  P.  Clampitt,  Dallas  Brice  deceased,  Julian 
Campbell  deceased,  an  infant  daugliter  deceased, 
and  Joe  Youngue.  The  latter  is  a  lawyer  prac- 
ticing in  association  with  his  father,  and  a  young 
man  of  excellent  education  and  far  greater  than 
ordinary  talents.  He  is  a  graduate  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina,  Bachelor  of  Arts  and  a 
graduate  in  law  of  Columbia  Law  School,  New 
York. 

The  first  wife  of  Judge  Caldwell  died  in  190.3, 
and  he  was  subsequently  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Edna  Love,  of  Taylorsville,  North  Carolina. 
They  have  one  daughter,  Ellen,  and  two  boys,  both 
of  whom  are  dead. 

Charles  M.  Townsend,  M.  D.  A  physician  an.l 
surgeon  of  high  attainments  and  large  experience. 
Doctor  Townsend  has  done  little  practice  in  recent 
years,  and  has  surrendered  himself  to  that  calling 
"and  vocation  which  has  been  strongest  in  the  blood 
of  the  Townsend  family,  agriculture.  He  has 
some  of  the  finest  land  and  is  one  of  the  leading 


66 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


crop    growers,    especially    cottou,    at   Eajmliam    iu 
Eobesou  County. 

It  was  ill  this  part  of  Eobesou  Couuty  that 
Doctor  Towusend  was  born  in  18(56.  The  Town  of 
Eayuham  is  ou  the  Couway  branch  of  the  Atlantic 
Coast  Line  Kailway  iu  Thompson  Township  of 
Eobesou  County.  The  name  was  given  it  by 
Doctor  Townseud  from  the  fact  that  Eayuham, 
England,  was  the  home  of  the  Towusend  family 
ancestor,  Sir  Charles  Towusend. 

The  Towusends  have  been  distiuguished  iu  many 
states  of  America  from  the  early  Colonial  period. 
There  is  a  well  founded  tradition  that  the  first 
of  the  name  came  over  in  the  Mayflower.  The 
southern  branch  of  the  family  has  lived  iu  Eobe- 
sou County,  North  Carolina,  since  about  the  time 
of  the  Eevolutiou;  Doctor  Townseud 's  grand- 
father, Alexander  Townseud,  owned  a  large 
amount  of  land  in  Eobeson  County.  His  honie 
was  on  Bear  Swamp,  where  General  F.  A.  Bond's 
"Hunter's  Lodge"  is  now  located.  David  Town- 
send,  father  of  Doctor  Towusend,  was  born  ou 
Bear  Swamp  and  on  reaching  mauhood  he  and  two 
of  hig  brothers  settled  on  what  was  then  known 
as  Aar-on's  Swamp,  the  present  location  of  Eayu- 
ham. The  Towusends  are  a  race  of  land  owners 
and  agriculturists,  and  for  several  generations 
have  been  among  the  leaders  in  planting  and 
farming  enterprises  iu  this  part  of  North  Caro- 
lina, ranking  also  as  wealthy  and  substantial 
citizens.  Taking  the  family  as  a  whole  in  Eobe- 
son County  they  own  estates  comprising  several 
thousand  acres  of  land  in  Back  Swamp,  Eaft 
Swamp,  Pembroke  and  Thompson  townships. 
Doctor  Towusend 's  mother  was  a  Thompson,  and 
member  of  the  family  for  whom  Thompson  Town- 
ship iu  Eobeson  County  was  named. 

Charles  M.  Townseud  was  well  educated  and 
had  all  the  opportunities  and  advantages  derived 
from  good  social  position  and  material  prosperity. 
He  atteuded  the  local  schools  and  took  his  literary 
work  in  the  University  of  Virginia,  where  he  also 
began  the  study  of  medicine.  In  1893  he  grad- 
uated from  the  medical  department  of  Tulane 
University  at  New  Orleans.  The  next  two  or  three 
years  he  spent  in  building  up  a  promising  ]>rivate 
practice  in  his  old  home  community  and  then 
interrupted  it  to  go  abroad  and  pursue  post- 
graduate courses  in  Queen  Charlotte  Hospital  at 

London. 

Since  giving  up  medical  jiractiee  Doctor  Town- 
seud has  gained  the  reputation  of  being  and  well 
deserves  to  be  called  one  of  the  best  farmers  in 
North  Carolina.  He  is  vice  president  for  this 
state  of  the  National  Farmers  Congress.  For 
many  years  he  has  been  identified  with  farmers 
organizations  in  the  state,  and  has  put  himself 
iu  the  lead  in  all  movements  for  the  advancement 
of  agriculture,  for  the  improvement  of  country 
life,  for  the  securing  of  better  markets  and  market- 
ing'conditions  and  a  more  equitable  distril)ution  of 
advantages  to  all  who  make  their  living  from  tlie 
soil.  Doctor  Towusend  is  a  close  student  of  agri- 
cultural science,  is  perhaps  as  well  read  in  agri- 
cultural literature  as  any  man  in  his  part  of  the 
state,  and  never  neglects  an  opportunity  t-o  get 
into  closer  touch  with  improved  methods  in  the 
field  or  in  stock  husbandry,  and  is  constantly  seek- 
ing to  improve  his  own  business  and  get  better 
methods  introduced  into  the  business  of  his 
neighbors  in  the  way  of  putting  farming  on  a 
businesslike  basis. 

Doctor  Towusend 's  plantation  at  Eaynham 
comprises  about  fourteen  hundred  acres.     He  also 


has  under  his  charge  several  hundred  acres  in 
tarms  belonging  to  other  members  of  the  Towu- 
send family.  Ou  his  own  place  he  usually  works 
from  twenty  to  twenty-five  plows,  and  is  one  of  the 
leading  cotton  producers  iu  this  section.  Other 
financial  interests  connect  him  with  various  busi- 
ness institutions.  He  is  a  stockholder  in  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Lumberton,  the  Merchants  and 
Farmers  Bank  of  Eowland,  and  is  a  director  of 
the  National  Cotton  Mills  at  Lumberton.  Doctor 
Towusend  married  Miss  Meta  Warncll.  She  is 
now  deceased,  and  left  no  children. 

Joseph  A.  Bitting,  now  deceased,  was  for  many 
years  prominently  identified  with  business  affairs 
at  Winston-Salem,  and  throughout  the  relations  of 
a  long  life  was  entitled  to  the  splendid  respect 
and  esteem  pa'd  him. 

He  was  a  native  of  Stokes  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, where  his  ancestors  were  among  the  first  set- 
tlers. His  father  John  Bitting  was  a  farmer  and 
spent  his  entire  career  in  Stokes  County.  Joseph 
A.  Bitting  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm,  and  after 
reaching  manhood  bought  a  plantation  of  his  own 
in  Yadkin  Couuty.  There  he  became  a  success- 
ful general  farmer  and  tobacco  raiser  and  while 
there  set  up  a  plant  for  the  manufacture  of 
tobacco.  When  the  war  was  raging  between  the 
states  he  did  his  part  for  the  Confederate  cause 
and  was  detailed  to  look  after  the  families  of  sol- 
diers and  provide  for  their  comfort.  He  devoted 
himself  conscientiously  and  self-sacrificingly  to 
this  duty  and  those  at  the  front  felt  more  security 
and  were  better  able  to  carry  on  their  duties  as 
soldiers  because  they  knew  their  families  had  as 
friends  and  counselor  and  a  help  in  time  of  need 
such  a  man  as  Mr.  Bitting. 

After  the  war  he  removed  his  tobacco  plant  to 
Augrusta,  Georgia,  where  he  became  actively 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco.  He 
finally  transferred  his  operations  to  Winston- 
Salem  and  was  one  of  the  older  men  in  the 
tobacco  industry  of  that  city. 

Mr.  Bitting  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-one,  known 
and  respected  all  over  Western  North  Carolina. 
He  married  Miss  Louisa  Wilson,  who  still  lives  at 
Winston-Salem  and  is  mentioned  iu  succeeding 
paragraphs.  Mr.  Bitting  was  an  active  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Mrs.  Louisa  Wilson  Bitting,  widow  of  the  late 
Joseph  A.  Bitting,  has  long  been  prominent  in 
social,  religious  and  philanthro)iic  affairs  at  Win- 
ston-Salem. 

She  represents  an  old  and  honored  family  name 
in  this  section  of  the  state.  She  was  born  at 
Bethania  in  Stokes  County,  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
George  Follet  and  Henrietta  (Hauser)  Wilson. 
Her  father  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  a  son 
of  George  T.  Wilson,  who  went  from  Massachu- 
setts to  the  State  of  Miehiagn  as  a  pioneer  and 
spent  his  last  years  there.  Doctor  Wilson  was 
reared  and  was  given  his  academic  advantages  in 
Massachusetts  and  subsequently  entered  the  Jef- 
ferson Medical  College  at  Philadelphia,  where  he 
was  graduated  with  his  degree  Doctor  of  Medicine. 
His  choice  of  location  was  in  North  Carolina,  and 
at  Bethania  he  quickly  acquired  a  splendid  reputa- 
tion as  a  physician  and  enjoyed  a  large  practice 
until  the  time  of  his  death.  He  died  at  the  age  of 
fifty-one.  Doctor  Wilson  married  Henrietta 
Hauser.  She  was  born  at  Bethania,  daughter  of 
Henry   and   Phillipena   Christina    (Lash)    Hauser. 


o 

w 

O 


I. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


67 


Her  granjfather,  George  Hauser,  Jr.,  was  a  Eevo- 
lutiouary  soldier,  was  a  son  of  George  Hauser,  Sr., 
and  a  grandson  of  Martin  Hauser,  a  prominent 
cliaracter  in  Western  North  Carolina,  who  settled 
at  Bethunia  in  1753.  Mrs.  Bitting 's  mother  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five,  after  rearing  seven  uhil- 
dreu:  Henry,  Virgil,  Louisa,  Eeuben,  George 
Mary  and  Julia.  The  son  Keuben  served  as  a 
major  in  the  Twenty-third  Regiment,  North  Caro- 
lina Troops  during  the  war  between  the  states. 
He  was  twice  wounded,  the  last  wound  causing  the 
amputation  of  one  ol  the  lower  limbs.  Mrs.  Bit- 
ting's  mother  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Moravian  Church,  and  her  father,  while  not  a 
member  of  any  church,  was  a  man  of  the  most 
moral  and  uprigut  character,  and  widely  known 
and  trusted  as  a  friend  as  well  as  a  physician. 

Mrs.  Bitting  was  reared  and  educated  at 
Bethania  and  became  the  wife  of  Joseph  A.  Bit- 
ting. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bitting  reared  nine  children: 
Anna,  Susie,  Louisa,  Henry,  George,  Lillie,  Sadie, 
Alexander  and  Casper.  Mrs.  Bitting  is  an  active 
member  of  the  Christian  Church.  She  takes  much 
interest  in  church  affairs,  being  connected  with 
the^  Ladies'  Aid  and  the  Foreign  Missionary 
Society.  She  is  also  a  member  of  the  Civic  League 
and  the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy. 

W.  Ledoux  Siewers  is  a  prominent  manufac- 
turer and  business  man  of  Winston-Salem.  While 
his  achievements  have  lain  in  the  commercial  field, 
many  members  of  his  family  gained  eminence  in 
the  professions.  His  father  was  for  many  years  a 
leading  physician  in  Western  North  Carolina, 
though  his  enterprise  also  extended  to  railway 
building  and  industrial  development.  Many  of 
tlie  family  have  been  oflScials  and  ministers  of  the 
Moravian  Church. 

His  great-grandfather  was  R«v.  Henry  Fred- 
erick Siewers,  who  was  born  in  Lehre,  Germany, 
July  11,  1757.  In  1770  he  was  confirmed  in 
the  Lutheran  Church,  and  in  1787  went  to  Herrn- 
hut,  Germany,  where  he  was  received  into  active 
membership  by  the  Moravian  Church.  As  a  mis- 
sionary for  that  denomination  he  was  sent  to  the 
West  Indies  and  labored  among  the  natives  on  the 
Islands  of  St.  Kips,  St.  Jan  and  St.  Thomas. 
In  1822  he  came  to  the  United  States,  locating 
at  Nazareth,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  died  February 
4,  1845.  He  married  Dorothea  Margaretta  Wrang. 
She  was  born  April  25,  1774,  on  an  island  in 
the  Duchy  of  Schleswig.  She  united  with  the 
Moravian  Church.  Her  death  occurred  December 
6,  1855.     They  reared  eight  children. 

John  Daniel  Siewers,  grandfather  of  W.  Ledoux, 
was  born  on  the  Island  of  St.  Thomas  in  the 
West  Indies  December  4,  1818.  He  was  educated 
at  Nazareth,  Pennsylvania,  and  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  came  to  Salem,  North  Carolina.  Here 
he  served  an  apprenticeship  and  learned  the  cabi- 
net making  trade.  He  took  up  the  manufacture 
of  furniture  and  developed  a  considerable  industry, 
most  of  his  employes  being  his  slaves.  He  con- 
tinued that  business  at  Salem  until  the  outbreak  of 
the  war,  and  then  suspended  business  and  after- 
ward lived  retired  until  his  death  August  4,  1890. 
He  was  married  December  12,  1844,  to  Rebecca 
Paulina  Shober.  She  died  one  year  after  the 
marriage,  leaving  one  son,  Nathaniel  Shober.  For 
his  second  wife  he  married  Hannah  Hanes,  who 
died  December  31,  1912,  leaving  a  daughter 
Gertrude. 

Dr.    Nathaniel    Shober    Siewers     was    born     at 


Winston-Salem  in  November,  1845.  During  his 
youth  he  attended  the  Boys'  School  at  Salem  and 
also  had  the  instruction  ot  private  tutors.  In  1863, 
at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  enlisted  as  a  musician  in 
a  baud  organized  at  Salem  and  went  to  the  front 
with  the  First  North  Carolina  Battalion  of  Sharp 
Shooters.  He  was  with  this  command  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  On  being  released  he  returned 
home  and  put  into  execution  a  plan  and  ambition 
he  had  formulated  while  in  the  army  to  become  a 
physician.  Entering  the  medical  department  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania  he  pursued  his 
course  of  studies  until  graduating.  He  also  spent 
two  years  in  universities  in  Europe.  Doctor 
Siewers  then  took  up  practice  at  Salem,  and  by 
reason  of  his  ability  and  attainments  and  his 
family  connections  he  soon  acquired  a  large  prac- 
tice.^ He  was  one  of  the  early  physicians  in  this 
section  to  have  the  advantages  of  a  thorough  col- 
lege education  in  medicine,  aud  his  life  thencefor- 
ward represented  a  large  and  beneficent  service  to 
his  fellow  men.  He  practiced  not  only  in  Salem, 
but  over  a  wide  stretch  of  surrounding  country. 
He  did  not  give  up  iiraetiee  until  his  death  on 
January  12,  1901.  However,  other  affairs  inter-^ 
ested  and  commanded  part  of  his  time  and  atten- 
tion. Ho  was  one  of  the  promoters  and  builders 
of  the  Roanoke  &  Soutliern  Railroad,  the  second 
railroad  to  enter  Winston-Salem.  He  was  also 
among  the  organizers  of  the  Wachovia  Loan  & 
Trust  Company.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Pro- 
visional Elders  Conference  of  the  Southern  Prov- 
ince of  the  Moravian  Cliurch  aud  was  a  trustee  of 
Salem  Academy. 

Doctor  Siewers '  widow  now  occupies  the  fine  old 
homestead  which  he  built  on  Church  Street  in 
Winston-Salem.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
residences  of  the  city,  and  is  appropriately  named 
Cedarlmrst.  Doctor  Siewers  married  Eleanor 
Elizabeth  de  Sehweinitz.  She  was  born  in  Salem 
December  23,  1853,  daughter  of  Bishop  EmU 
Adolphus  and  Sophia  Amelia  (Hermann)  de 
Sehweinitz.  Her  maternal  grandparents  were 
Bishop  John  Gottlieb  and  Anna  Paulina  Hermann. 
Doctor  and  Mrs.  Siewers  reared  six  children: 
Charles  S.,  Agnes,  wife  of  Henry  A.  Shaffner, 
Ralph  de  S.,  W.  Ledoux,  Ruth,  who  married  W. 
C.  Idol,  and  Grace,  who  remains  at  home  with  her 
mother. 

W.  Ledoux  Siewers  was  born  at  Winston-Salem, 
attended  the  Boys'  School  at  Salem  and  took 
advanced  studies  in  Columbian  University,  now 
the  George  Washington  University,  at  Washing- 
ton, District  of  Columbia.  While  equipped  with  a 
liberal  education  and  well  fitted  to  enter  any  pro- 
fession he  might  have  chosen,  Mr.  Siewers  deter- 
mined to  make  business  his  career.  Returning 
home,  he  entered  the  Arista  cotton  mills  and  as  a 
workman  in  the  operating  department  learned 
every  detail  of  cotton  manufacture.  He  continued 
his  upward  jjorgress  until  in  1905  he  was  made 
president  and  treasurer  of  the  Maline  Mills.  He 
has  done  a  great  deal  and  is  still  doing  much 
to  build  up  and  maintain  the  cotton  manufac- 
turing industry  of  Western  North  Carolina.  Mr. 
Siewers  is  president  and  treasurer  of  the  Carolina 
Mills  and  of  the  Indera  Mills. 

In  1905  he  married  Miss  Lucy  Vance,  a  native 
of  Salem.  Her  parents  were  Joseph  A.  and 
Adelaide  Fogle  Vance.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Siewers 
have  three  children :  Dorothy  Louise,  Marjorie 
Vance  and  Rose  Adelaide.  The  family  are  mem- 
bers   of    the    Home    Moravian    Church,    and    Mr. 


68 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Siewers  has  served  as  a  member  of  the  board  of 
trustees.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Twin  City 
Club. 

Hakdy  Lucien  Pennell.  In  a  city  like  Wil- 
miugtoii,  where  wealth,  leisure  and  climate  all 
combine  to  make  the  automobile  not  only  a  luxuri- 
ous adjunct  of  daily  life  but  a  business  necessity, 
it  is  not  only  desirable  but  necessary  that  automo- 
bile accommodations  and  supplies  should  be  readily 
available.  To  this  public  demand  Hardy  Lucien 
Fenuell  resjionded  wlien  he  establishefl  his  modern 
garage  and  supply  business,  providing  storage 
facilities  and  acting  as  agent  for  some  of  the 
leading  cars  manufactured.  Mr.  Fennell  is  one 
of  the  reliable  citizens  of  Wilmington,  one  who 
has  had  business  experience  in  other  lines,  and 
he  has  a  wide  and  substantial  acquaintance 
throughout   this   section. 

Hardy  Lucien  Fenuell  was  born  at  Clinton,  in 
Sampson  County,  North  Carolina,  December  6, 
1864.  His  parents  were  Owen  and  Charlotte  C. 
(Beaman)  Fenuell,  both  of  whom  were  born  at 
Wilmington,  North  Carolina.  The  father  was  in 
business  at  Wilmington  as  a  dealer  in  cotton  and 
naval  stores. 

In  one  of  the  first  class  private  schools  of  Wil- 
mington, of  which  there  are  many,  Hardy  L. 
Fennell  was  prepared  for  college  and  later  became 
a  student  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 
His  first  business  engagement  was  in  the  capacity 
of  bookkeeper  in  a  large  commercial  house  at 
Wilmington  and  after  one  year  he  became  a  ship- 
jiing  clerk,  but  subsequently  left  that  concern  to 
go  into  business  for  himself  and  for  fifteen  years 
he  carried  on  a  retail  business  in  harness  and 
buggies.  Mr.  Fennell  then  turned  his  attention 
to  life  insurance  and  continued  in  that  field  for 
ten  years.  In  19113  he  established  the  H.  L. 
Fennell  Auto-Storage  Garage,  one  of  the  largest 
and  best  arranged  in  the  city.  Mr.  Fennell  is  the 
agent  here  for  the  Overland,  the  Franklin  and 
the  Peerless  automobiles  and  Federal  Trucks, 
probably  the  most  satisfactory  machines  now  on 
the  market,  and  is  enjoying  a  prosperous  line  of 
trade. 

Mr.  Fennell  was  marrried  to  Miss  Mamie  B. 
James,  who  was  born  March  22,  1871,  at  Green- 
ville, North  Carolina,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Dr.  J. 
G.  James.  They  have  three  children :  Charlotte 
S.,  James  G.  and  Mamie  James. 

While  not  very  active  in  jiolitics,  Mr.  Fennell 
is  never  unmindful  of  the  demands  of  good  citizen- 
ship and  is  ever  alert  concerning  anything  tliat, 
in  his  judgment,  will  add  to  the  good  name  and 
prosperity  of  his  city.  For  many  years  he  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity. 

Henry  Wesley  Foltz.  One  of  the  oldest  and 
most  interesting  families  of  Forsyth  County  is  rep- 
resented by  Henry  Wesley  Foltz,  real  estate  and 
insurance  man  at  Winston-Salem.  The  Foltz 
family  came  to  this  section  of  North  Carolina  in 
early  colonial  days  and  were  pioneers  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Moravian  community,  and  its  de- 
scendants have  as  a  rule  remained  faithful  to  the 
Moravian  church. 

The  orignial  center  of  settlement  of  the  family 
was  Friedberg  in  Forsyth  County,  where  Henry 
Wesley  Foltz  was  born  July  21,  1853.  His  great- 
grandfather was  Peter  Volz,  as  the  name  was 
spelled  during  the  first  generation.  Peter  Volz 
was  born  in  Alsace,  Germany,  in  1726.  He  immi- 
grated   to    North    Carolina    in    1768,    locating    at 


Friedberg.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Moravian. 
Church.  The  first  Moravian  Church  was  completed 
at  Friedberg  in  1769,  and  Peter  Volz  was  one  of 
the  fourteen  married  men  who  pledged  support  to 
a  resident  minister.  The  church  was  consecrated 
in  March,  1769.  Peter  Volz  acquired  a  large  tract 
of  land  at  Friedberg,  and  was  extensively  engaged 
in  farming  there  until  his  death. 

Jacoli  Foltz,  son  of  Peter  and  grandfather  of 
Henry  W.,  was  born  at  the  Friedberg  community 
in  North  Carolina,  was  reared  on  the  farm  and 
eventually  succeeded  to  the  ownership  of  the  old 
homestead,  where  he  spent  his  youthful  years.  He 
married  a  Miss  Zimmerman,  and  they  reared  a 
large  family  of  cluldren. 

Edward  Foltz,  father  of  Henry  W.,  was  born 
in  Forsyth  County  February  13,  1818.  His  early 
life  was  spent  on  a  farm,  and  he  subsequently 
bought  land  near  the  old  homestead  and  operated 
it  until  his  death  at  the  age  of  sixty-six.  Edward 
Foltz  married  Lucinda  Sides.  She  was  born  in 
Forsyth  County,  the  daughter  of  Jacob  Sides,  a 
native  of  the  same  county,  and  the  granddaughter 
of  John  Michael  Seiz,  as  the  name  was  originally 
speUed.  John  M.  Seiz  was  born  in  Wuertemberg, 
Germany,  in  1737,  and  on  coming  to  America  first 
settled  at  Broad  Bay  in  Maine,  in  1759,  but  in 
1770  came  to  North  Carolina,  locating  at  Friedland 
in  Fon^iyth  County.  He  lived  there  until  his  death 
at  a  good  old  age  in  1817.  Jacob  Sides  spent  his 
entire  life  at  Friedland  as  a  farmer.  He  married 
Mary  Spach,  a  granddaughter  of  Adam  Spach,  who 
was  born  in  Alsace,  Germany,  in  1720,  came  to 
North  Carolina  in  1756,  and  was  one  of  the  very 
first  settlers  at  Friedberg.  Mrs.  Jacob  Sides  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 

Mrs.  Edward  Foltz  died  when  forty-five  years  of 
age.  She  reared  four  children:  Anna,  Maria, 
Mary  and  Henry  Wesley. 

Henry  Wesley  Foltz  acquired  his  early  education 
in  the  rural  schools  of  Forsyth  County.  He 
was  well  trained  in  habits  of  industry  and  he  has 
always  felt  that  he  owes  a  great  deal  to  his  early 
environment  and  the  example  and  precepts  of  his 
parents.  He  learned  farming  as  a  boy,  doing  his 
part  on  the  homestead,  and  before  leaving  home 
he  had  taught  a  term  of  school. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  came  to  Winston, 
entering  the  employ  of  Pfohl  &  Stockton,  as  a 
clerk  in  their  general  store.  Here  he  proved  him- 
self a  competent  and  ambitious  employe  and  in 
time  was  promoted  and  had  charge  of  the  fruit 
and  produce  department.  He  was  connected  with 
that  old  and  substaintial  firm  for  eight  years.  He 
resigned  to  take  a  position  in  a  tobacco  factory. 
He  learned  the  details  of  the  business  in  the  office 
of  the  factory,  and  then  went  on  the  road  as  a 
salesman.  In  1897  Mr.  Foltz  left  the  tobacco 
business  to  engage  in  insurance,  a  line  which  he 
has  continued  to  the  present  time.  He  is  asso- 
ciated with  Mr.  H.  W.  Spaugh  under  the  firm  name 
of  Foltz  &  Spaugh.  They  deal  extensively  in  city 
and  suburban  property  as  well  as  insurance. 

In  1878  Mr.  Foltz  married  Miss  Carrie  Johnson, 
who  was  born  in  Forsyth  County,  daughter  of  Dr. 
John  L.  and  Eliza  (Gafford)  Johnson,  and  a 
granddaughter  of  Charles  Johnson,  whose  original 
home  was  in  Philadelphia,  from  which  city  he 
moved  to  Virginia  and  then  to  North  Carolina. 
Mrs.  Foltz'  father  practiced  his  profession  as  a 
physician  at  Union  Cross  for  a  number  of  years. 

Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foltz  were  reared  in  tlie  Mo- 
ravian Church  and  still  hold  to  that  faith.  He  is 
affiliated   with   Winston   Lodge   No.   167,   Ancient 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


69 


The  Rock  House 


One  of  the  most  interesting  relies  of  pre-Revolutionary  days  in  the  Piedmont 
section  of  North  Carolina  is  the  Rock  House,  built  by  Adam  Spacli  in  1774. 

Spach  settled  near  the  upper  line  of  Davidson  County  in  1754,  and  soon  made 
friends  with  the  Moravians  who  were  building  the  Village  of  Bethabara  ten  miles 
north  of  his  farm.  He  invited  them  to  preach  at  his  home,  which  they  soon  began 
to  do,  and  this  led  to  the  organization  of  Priedberg  Congregation. 

During  the  Indian  War  of  1759  Spach  and  his  family  took  refuge  in  the  Beth- 
abara stockade,  as  did  many  other  settlers  from  the  surrounding  country.  When 
he  decided  later  to  erect  a  substantial  house  on  his  farm  he  planned  it  of  a  type 
which  could  be  defended  against  quite  an  opposing  force.  It  stands  about  one 
mile  from  Friedberg  Church,  and  is  built  of  uncut  stone,  laid  up  without  mortar, 
except  for  inside  plastering.  It  is  30  by  36  feet,  and  is  of  one  story,  with  full 
basement  and  a  small  attic.  It  was  built  over  a  spring  of  water ;  and  an  outside 
entrance  to  the  basement  made  it  possible  to  drive  in  the  cattle  for  protection  in 
case  of  need.  The  windows  are  of  the  Flemi.sh-Bond  type  and  each  room  has  its 
loopholes,  through  which  the  defenders  could  fire,  and  they  still  remain  in  the 
walls.  The  cut  shows  the  rear  of  the  house,  with  the  loopholes,  and  the  basement 
entrance. 

Adam  Spach  had  five  sons  and  four  daughters;  the  sons  all  married  and  raised 
large  families,  so  there  are  many  descendants  in  North  Carolina.  About  1862 
some  branches  of  the  family  began  to  spell  the  name  Spaugh,  while  others  re- 
tained the  original  form  of  Spach,  but  all  trace  back  to  Adam  Spach  of  the  Rock 
House. 


■70 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Free  and  Accepted  Masons.  Mr.  Foltz  has  a 
niimber  of  interesting  relics  of  the  earlier  genera- 
tions of  his  family.  At  his  home  is  a  swonl  which 
was  carried  by  an  ancestor  in  one  of  the  earlier 
wars  of  our  nation.  He  also  has  a  canteen"  which 
saw  service  in  the  Civil  war.  Another  article 
found  in  his  collection  recalls  the  old  days  of  the 
feeble  illumination  furnished  by  grease  and  tal- 
low lamps.  This  is  what  is  known  as  a  grease 
lamp,  and  it  was  made  by  his  grandfather.  In  con- 
sists of  an  iron  receptacle  or  vessel,  holding  a 
small  quantity  of  grease.  He  also  has  an  old  one- 
burner  tin  lamp  in  which  either  lard  or  sperm  oU 
was  burned.  Another  object  of  interest  is  a  pair 
of  the  old  fashioned  candle  snuffers.  Along  with 
the  sword  and  canteen  is  another  relic  of  earlier 
years  in  the  shape  of  a  flintlock  revolver,  still  in 
good  condition. 

John  H.  Grubbs  is  a  native  of  Forsyth  County 
and  in  his  mature  years  has  built  up  a  large  busi- 
ness as  a  building  contractor  at  Winston-Salem. 

Mr.  Grubbs  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Middlefort 
Township  of  Forsyth  County,  and  liis  family  have 
been  residents  of  this  section  of  the  state  for  a 
century  or  more.  The  records  of  the  United  States 
census  of  1790  mentioned  the  names  of  George, 
Conrad  and  Elizabeth  Grubbs,  as  heads  of  families 
in  Rowan  County.  It  is  possible  that  Mr.  Grubbs' 
grandfather  was  a  member  of  one  of  these  house- 
holds. Grandfather  Grubbs  was  named  Ensley. 
He  became  a  planter  in  Middlefort  Township  of 
Forsyth  County,  conducted  a  plantation  there,  but 
spent  his  last  years  in  Salem  Cliapel  Township. 
He  married  Nancy  Coffer.  The  only  representa- 
tive of  that  name  in  the  1790  census  was  Joshua 
Coffer  of  Rockingham   County. 

John  Grubbs,  father  of  ,Tohn  H.,  was  born  in 
Middlefort  Township  in  1847,  grew  up  on  a  farm, 
learned  those  lessons  imparted  by  the  local  schools 
of  the  time,  and  in  the  course  of  years  succeeded 
to  the  ownership  of  the  old  homestead.  He  made 
that  the  scene  of  his  successful  efforts  as  a  farmer 
xmtil  1903,  when  he  removed  to  Walkertown,  where 
he  lived  retired  until  his  death  in  1916.  John 
Grubbs  married  Flora  Jones.  She  was  horn  in 
Kernersville  Township  of  Forsyth  County,  a 
daughter  of  Martin  and  Billie  Jones.  She  is  now 
living  at  Walkertown.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Grubbs 
reared  six  children  named  William  F.,  Thomas  F., 
John  H.,  Elizabeth,  wife  of  William  E.  Jones, 
Josie,  wife  of  D.  L.  Disher,  and  J.  Walter. 

John  H.  Grubbs  lived  on  the  home  farm  until 
he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  The  public  schools 
were  his  source  of  education,  and  he  also  gained 
both  health  and  a  vigorous  constitution  by  his 
experience  as  a  farm  boy.  On  leaving;  the  farm 
he  learned  the  machinist's  trade,  at  which  he  was 
employed  for  ten  years.  He  then  set  up  in  busi- 
ness as  a  building  contractor  and  is  one  of  the 
most  competent  and  reliable  men  in  that  business 
in  Winston-Salem.  In  1910  Mr.  Grubbs  built  a 
large  modern  home  three  miles  north  of  the  city, 
and  lives  there  with  comforts  and  surroundings 
almost  ideal. 

In  1900  he  married  Ida  M.  Cobler.  Mrs.  Grubbs 
was  born  in  Surrey  County,  North  Carolina,  daugh- 
ter of  A.  A.  and  Ellen  VMarshall)  Cobler.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Grubbs  are  members  of  the  Middle 
Spring  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  South,  and  he 
is  one  of  its  stewards.  Fraternally  he  is  affiliated 
with  Fairview  Council  No.  19.  Junior  Order  of 
Vnited  American  Mechanics  and  Twin  City  Camp 


Nn.  27,  Woodmen  of  the  World.  In  polities  he  is 
when  national  interests  are  considered  a  republi- 
can, but  in  local  affairs  he  chooses  the  man  for 
the  ofHee  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  best 
..judgment. 

Edtvakd  Knox  Powe  is  an  old  and  experienced 
cotton  mOl  man,  and  for  fully  a  quarter  of  a 
century  has  been  identified  with  the  great  Erwin 
Cotton  Mills  Company  at  West  Durham.  He 
assisted  iri  building  this  extensive  plant,  was  mill 
superintendent  for  a  number  of  years,  and  in  1900 
became  general  manager  of  The  Erwin  Cotton 
Mills  Company  at  West  Durham.  The  president 
of  this  conipany  is  B.  N.  Duke,  vice  president 
George  W.  Watts,  and  secretary  and  treasurer  W. 
A.   Erwin. 

Mr.  Powe  came  to  this  and  other  large  business 
responsibilities  from  the  ranks  of  labor  and  serv- 
ice. He  was  born  at  Salisbury,  North  Carolina, 
January  19,  186.^,  a  son  of  William  E.  and  Katie 
Elvira  (Tate)  Powe.  While  his  father  was  a 
farmer,  he  was  almost  constantly  in  public  life, 
was  a  magistrate  of  note,  chairman  of  the  Board 
of  County  Commissioners  of  Burke  County  for 
many  years,  and  identified  with  other  places  of 
trust  and  responsibility.  Edward  Knox  Powe  re- 
ceived his  early  education  in  private  schools. 
When  seventeen  years  old  in  1880  he  began  work 
with  Holt,  Gaut  &  Holt  at  Altamahaw,  North 
Carolina,  in  their  stores,  doing  bookkeeping  and 
other  clerical  work,  and  for  twelve  years  was  a 
valuable  assistant  in  these  mills.  Then  in  January, 
1893,  he  became  connected  with  The  Erwin  Cot- 
ton Mills  Company  in  starting  that  plant  at  West 
Durham. 

Besides  his  work  as  general  manager  of  this 
plant  he  is  a  director  of  the  Alpine  Cotton  Mills 
Conipany,  at  Morganton,  North  Carolina,  a  direc- 
tor of  the  Fedelity  Bank  of  Durham,  a  director 
of  the  Bank  of  Harnett. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  West  Durham  schools,  member  of  the  County 
Board  of  Health,  and  for  years  has  been  relied 
upon  for  leadership  and  personal  effectiveness  in 
all  movements  to  raise  the  standards  of  life  among 
mill  people  and  in  securing  the  best  of  modern 
privileges  in  sanitary  conditions  around  the  fac- 
tories and  homes.  At  West  Durham  in  particular 
he  has  done  much  to  give  concrete  reality  to  many 
ideals  of  the  city  beautiful,  and  has  helped  to 
transform  many  bare  spaces  around  the  factories 
and  homes  into  grass  plots  adorned  with  flowers, 
and  has  furnished  some  of  that  atmosphere  which 
is  such  an  important  and  valuable  element  in  pro- 
ducing confpiitment  and  happiness  in  individual 
lives.  Mr.  Powe  owns  considerable  real  estate  and 
has  some  farminsr  interests.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  at  various  times  has 
served  as  vestryman  and  junior  and  senior  warden 
of  Saint  Philip's  Episcopal  Church  at  Durham.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina  Chapter  of  the 
Sons  of  the  American  Revolution  and  also  of  the 
Society  of  the  Mayflower  Descendants. 

October  14,  1886,  he  married  Claudia  Josephine 
Erwin,  daughter  of  Col.  Joseph  J.  and  Elvira  J. 
(Holt)  Erwin.  They  have  two  children,  Edward 
Knox,  Jr.,  born  October  28,  1888,  and  Oaudia 
Erwin,  born  October  23,  1898.  The  son  is  now  in 
college  at  the  University  of  Virginia. 

L.u>MX  L.  TiLLET.  One  of  the  younger  mem- 
bers of  the  Durham  Bar,  Laddin  L.  Tilley  in  his 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


71 


eight  years  of  ]iraetice  has  demonstrated  natural 
ability  for  the  law  and  his  talents  have  brought 
him  recognition  and  a  very  satisfactory  clientage. 

He  was  horn  in  Durham  County  April  28,  1881, 
a  son  of  Haywood  and  Louetta  (Vaughan)  TU- 
ley.  His  father  was  a  farmer  and  also  operated 
a  corn  mill.  The  son  was  educated  in  the  Carey 
schools,  and  from  1905  to  1909  was  a  student 
both  in  the  law  and  academic  departments  of 
Wake  Forest  College.  On  his  admission  to  the 
bar  he  began  general  practice  at  Durham.  Mr. 
Tilley  is  a  member  of  the  Missionary  Baptist 
Church. 

December  22,  1912,  he  married  Florence  Powell 
of  Wake  County,  North  Carolina.  They  have  two 
sons,  Edward  Bruce  and  Norwood  Carlton. 

SnioN  Everett  Koonce,  M.  D.  During  the 
past  fifteen  years,  Dr.  Simon  Everett  Koonce  has 
been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine  at  Wil- 
mington, and  by  his  devotion  to  the  duties  of  his 
profession,  his  close  study  and  his  pronounced 
skill,  has  won  a  liberal  and  representative  practice. 
His  talents  have  gained  him  recognition  especially 
as  a  sjiecialist  in  diseases  of  the  eye,  ear,  nose  and 
throat,  to  which  field  of  medical  service  he  has 
devoted  his  activities  since  1908. 

Doctor  Koonce  was  born  in  Jones  County, 
North  Carolina,  May  14,  1870,  and  is  a  son  of 
Simon  E.  ajid  Orpah  (Brock)  Koonce.  His  father, 
a  well  known  merchant,  was  prominent  in  public 
affairs  of  .Jones  County,  serving  as  sheriff  for  eight 
years  and  as  county  recorder  for  two  years,  in 
addition  to  holding  numerous  minor  offices.  Simon 
E.  Koonce  was  given  private  instruction  in  his 
youth,  and  after  this  preparation  entered  Trinity 
College  a't  Durham,  North  Carolina,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1890.  For  the  following  three 
years  he  was  a  teacher  in  private  schools,  and 
then  entered  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons, from  which  he  graduated  in  1896,  with  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  He  commenced  his 
professional  duties  at  Polloksville,  Jones  County, 
where  he  remained  until  1902,  in  which  year, 
desiring  a  broader  field,  he  came  to  Wilmington. 
In  1908  he  began  specializing  in  the  diseases  of 
the  eye,  ear,  nose  and  throat,  and  in  this  branch 
has  won  an  enviable  reputation  and  a  large  and 
representative  practice.  Doctor  Koonce  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  New  Hanover  County  Medical  Society, 
the  North  Carolina  State  Medical  Society,  the 
Southern  Medical  Association  and  the  American 
Medical  Association.  He  holds  to  the  highest  of 
ideals  in  his  ju'ofessional  service  and  his  work  is 
characterized  by  a  conscientious  devotion  to  duty 
and  a  display  of  knowledge  that  is  remarkable. 
His  work  has  brought  him  before  the  peojde  of 
Wilmington  in  a  way  that  will  not  soon  be  for- 
gotten. As  a  fraternalist  he  belongs  to  the  Masons 
and  the  Royal  Arcanum.  Doctor  Koonce  has  been 
found  identified  witli  public-spirited  movements, 
and   his  charities  have  been  man}-. 

On  May  10,  1899,  Doctor  Koonce  was  married 
at  Polloksville,  North  Carolina,  to  Miss  Lila  Ward, 
of  that  city,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  four 
children,  namely:  Lila  Ward,  Edwin  E.,  Donald 
Brock  and  Carroll  Hunter. 

Charles  A.  Vogler  has  been  in  the  practice  of 
law  at  Winston-Salem  long'  enough  to  prove  his 
ability  in  the  different  branches  of  the  profession 
and  to  justify  his  choice  of  that  as  a  vocation. 
He  represents  one  of  the  old  and  prominent  fam- 
ilies of  North  Carolina.     He  is  a  branch  of  tliat 


"Vogler  family  that  came  into  Western  North  Caro- 
lina before  the  Revolutionary  war  and  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  Moravian  settlements  in 
Forsyth  and  adjoining  counties.  Various  refer- 
ences to  the  Vogler  name  in  the  pioneer  annals  of 
Western  North  Carolina  will  be  found  on  other 
pages. 

Charles  A.  Vogler  was  born  at  Salem  January 
27,  1886,  a  son  of  Charles  W.  Vogler,  a  native  of 
Salem,  and  a  grandson  of  Elias  and  great-grand- 
son of  John  Vogler.  Elias  Vogler  obtained  a  good 
education  and  became  a  surveyor.  The  plats  of 
Salem  which  he  made  are  still  in  use.  He  was 
also  a  merchant  at  Salem  and  lived  there  until  his 
death. 

Charles  W.  Vogler  grew  up  in  Salem,  attended 
the  Boys'  School,  and  became  a  merchant  there  in 
early  life.  He  married  Elizabeth  D.  Brown,  who 
was  born  at  Davidson  in  Mecklenberg  County, 
North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  William  A.  and 
Sarah  Brown.  She  is  still  living,  with  her  home 
at  Salem.  There  were  two  children:  Charles  A. 
and  Herbert  A. 

Charles  A.  Vogler  after  his  early  training  in  the 
public  schools  of  Winston-Salem  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  where  he  was  gradu- 
ated Bachelor  of  Arts  iu  1909.  Following  that  he 
became  an  instructor  in  the  University  for  two 
years,  and  in  1912,  having  in  the  meantime  carried 
on  his  law  studies,  was  admitted  to  practice.  In 
order  to  have  the  broadest  possible  qualifications 
for  his  career,  he  then  entered  the  law  department 
of  Columbia  University  at  New  York  City  and 
was  graduated  in  1913.  Since  then  he  has  been  in 
active  practice  at  Winston-Salem. 

On  November  15,  1915,  Mr'  Vogler  married 
Martha  W.  Drake.  She  was  bom  at  GriflSn, 
Georgia,  daughter  of  Roswell  H.  and  Annie  W. 
Drake.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vogler  are  members  of  the 
Home  Moravian  Church  at  Winston-Salem.  He  is 
active  in  the  Winston  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  the  Twin  City  Club,  the  Forsyth 
Country  Club,  and  the  Winston-Salem  Board  of 
Trade. 

As  solicitor  of  the  Municipal  Court  of  Winston- 
Salem  Mr.  Vogler  made  an  excellent  record,  and 
in  the  fall  of  1916  was  elected  judge  of  the  City 
Court,  succeeding  Judge  Stephenson,  who  had 
resigned. 

WiLLUM  Joseph  Griswold  has  been  a  substan- 
tial and  responsible  business  man  of  Durham  for 
thirty  years  in  the  real  estate  and  general  insur- 
ance business,  and  his  name  has  also  been  identi- 
fied with  many  movements  that  reflect  the  public 
spirit  of  the  community. 
I  He  was  born  near  Goldsboro,  North  Carolina, 
August  10,  1858,  son  of  Benjamin  J.  and  Ann 
(Hatch)  Griswold.  His  early  life  was  spent  on 
his  father 's  farm  and  he  was  educated  largely  in 
private  schools.  His  first  business  experience  was 
acquired  as  clerk  in  a  dry  goods  store,  and  in 
1887  he  came  to  Durham  and  since  that  date  has 
been  in  the  insurance  business.  In  1905  he  estab- 
lished the  Griswold  Insurance  and  Real  Estate 
Company,  of  which  he  is  president  and  general 
manager,  and  is  also  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  New  Hope  Realty  Company,  and  formerly 
president  and  did  much  of  the  development  work 
in  the  West  End  Land  Company. 

Much  of  his  time  through  all  these  years  has 
been  taken  up  with  civic  matters.  He  served  two 
years  as  alderman  and  two  years  as  mayor  of 
Durham,   and   was   one   of   the   organizers   of   the 


72 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Chamber  of  Commerce,  which  he  served  as^  vice 
president  aud  director.  He  is  president  of  the 
local  Bankhead  Highvpay  Association,  which  has 
under  its  supervision  a  local  portion  of  the  trans- 
continental highway  between  Wasliington  and 
Los  Angeles.  Mr.  Griswold  was  also  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  Country  Club  of  Durham,  is  a 
former  vestryman  of  St.  Philip 's  Episcopal  Church, 
and  is  a  Knight  Templar  Mason,  an  Elk  and  a 
Knight  of  Pythias. 

September  20,  1888,  he  married  Miss  Laura 
Bryan,  of  Kinston,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of 
Dr.  James  P.  and  Mary  (Biddle)  Bryan.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Griswold  have  tliree  children:  William 
Shepard,  who  is  a  second  lieutenant  in  the  Na- 
tional Army;  Mary  Bryan  and  James  Bryan. 

John  Edwin  Purcell  is  a  resident  of  Eed 
Springs  in  Robeson  County.  His  is  a  name  spoken 
with  honor  and  respect  in  that  community,  where 
he  has  lived  a  long  and  useful  life  of  three  quarters 
of  a  century.  Mr.  Purcell  is  a  veteran  of  the  great 
war  between  the  states,  and  for  upwards  of  half 
a  century  has  devoted  his  energies  and  mind  to 
agriculture  on  an  estate  that  has  been  part  of  the 
family   possessions   through   several   generations. 

The  old  Purcell  place  where  he  was  born  in 
1842  is  located  ten  miles  northwest  of  Red  Springs 
in  wliat  is  now  Hoke  County.  Hoke  County  was 
formed  in  recent  years  out  of  portions  of  Robesou 
and  Cunilierland   counties. 

This  branch  of  the  Purcell  family  is  of  ancient 
Norman  origin.  The  remote  ancestors  identified 
themselves  with  England  and  Scotland  for  a  num- 
ber of  generations,  until  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  when  they  immigrated  to 
America  and  located  in  Virginia.  Of  this  Ameri- 
can branch  some  descendants  went  west  and 
established  homes  in  the  Scioto  Valley  of  Ohio. 

It  was  Mr.  Purcell 's  great-grandfather,  Mal- 
colm Purcell,  who  founded  the  family  in  North 
Carolina.  He  made  settlement  here  prior  to  the 
Revolutionary  war.  His  location  was  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Cape  Fear  River  in  Cumberland  County. 
A  man  of  strong  patriotic  sentiments  and  activi- 
ties, he  incurred  the  active  hostility  of  the  Tories 
and  during  the  war  was  killed  by  a  band  of  men 
in  sympathy  with  the  British  government.  His 
son  John  Purcell  was  a  native  of  Virginia  and 
was  a  small  child  when  brought  to  North  Carolina. 
It  was  he  who  subsecjuently  established  his  home 
on  the  land  above  referred  to,  ten  miles  north  of 
Red  Springs  in  what  was  then  Robeson  County. 
John  Purcell  married  Beatrice   Torrey. 

John  E.  Purcell  is  a  son  of  Alexander  and 
'Harriet  (Molntyre)  Purcell.  His  father  was 
born  on  the  old  homestead,  which  has  been  in  thef 
family  now  for  three  generations. 

On"  this  farm  John  E.  turcell  spent  his  early 
youth.  In  1861,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he 
enlisted  for  service  in  the  Confederate  Army.  He 
had  been  a  student  for  a  year  and  a  half  in  the 
University  of  North  Carolina  and  left  the  quiet 
halls  of  that  institution  to  engage  in  a  very 
interesting  and  adventurous  career  on  the  battle- 
fields of  the  South.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
First  Battalion  of  North  Carolina  Heavy  Artillery. 
Most  of  his  service  was  in  Eastern  North  Carolina. 
On  account  of  special  fitness  he  was  assigned  to 
many  tasks  involving  bridge  construction  and  en- 
gineering. Thus  his  service  was  often  one  of 
detached  and  detailed  duty,  and  he  rendered  many 
important  services  to  the  Confederacy.     Mr.  Pur- 


cell was  also  engaged  in  the  strenuous  defense  of 
Fort  Fisher  at  Wilmington,  and  was  one  of  the 
brave  and  valiant  defenders  that  kept  that  post  in 
spite  of  the  terriiic  and  long  continued  fire  of  an 
immense  Federal  Heet.  When  Fort  Fisher  fell 
he  was  fortunate  to  escape  capture. 

After  the  war  he  reentered  the  University  of 
Chapel  Hill  in  1866  and  continued  his  work  there 
until  graduating  in  1868.  Though  liberally  edu- 
cated, Mr.  Purcell  chose  agriculture  rather  than 
a  profession  and  soon  settled  on  the  old  home- 
stead to  take  up  farming.  His  career  as  a  farmer 
covers  fifty  years  and  has  brought  him  the  sub- 
stantial competence  which  he  now  enjoys.  He 
still  owns  a  part  of  the  original  plantation  where 
he  was  born  and  has  developed  it  as  a  splendid 
farm. 

Chiefly  to  accommodate  his  children  with  better 
educational  advantages  he  moved  his  residence  to 
Red  Springs  in  1898.  Mr.  Purcell  was  honored  by 
his  fellow  citizens  by  election  in  1887  to  the  State 
Senate  as  representative  of  Robeson  and  Colum- 
bus counties. 

Mr.  Purcell  married  Miss  Margaret  Cornelia 
MacCallum.  They  have  a  fine  family  of  five 
children,  four  daughters  and  one  son.  The 
daughters  are  Mrs.  Ina  Purcell  MacEachern,  Mrs. 
Hattie  Bethea,  Miss  Louise  Purcell,  Mrs.  Margaret 
K.  Smith.  The  son,  Rev.  John  Edwin  Purcell,  Jr., 
has  distinguished  himself  as  a  minister  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  though  still  young  in  years 
He  was  liberally  educated,  having  attended  the 
Quackeubush  School  at  Laurinburg,  and  is  a 
graduate  of  Davidson  College  and  of  the  Union 
Theological   Seminary   of   Richmond,   Virginia. 

William  C.  Greene,  M.  D.  Now  living  retired 
at  Wilkesboro,  Doctor  Greene  has  had  a  long  and 
notable  career  both  as  a  physician  and  as  a  dentist. 
He  practiced  the  profession  upwards  of  sixty 
years.  Among  other  distinctions  he  is  a  surviving 
veteran  of  the  great  war  between  the  states  and 
did  his  duty  gallantly  and  well  as  an  officer  in  the 
Confederate  army. 

He  was  born  on  a  plantation  in  Alexander  Coun- 
ty, North  Carolina,  December  3,  1842.  His  grand- 
father was  a  Massachusetts  Yankee,  but  came  to 
North  Carolina  and  bought  a  farm  eight  miles  east 
of  Rutherfordton,  where  he  had  his  slaves  and  cul- 
tivated his  land  according  to  the  southern  fashion. 
He  lived  there  until  his  death.  John  B.  Greene, 
father  of  Doctor  Greene,  was  born  on  a  plantation 
in  Rutherford  County,  North  Carolina,  grew  up  on 
a  farm,  subsequently  returned  to  Alexander  Coun- 
ty and  was  there  a  merchant  in  partnership  with 
his  brother,  Cromwell.  He  also  bought  land  and 
engaged  in  farming.  He  owned  a  number  of 
slaves  and  with  them  operated  three  separate 
farms.  When  the  war  closed  there  were  still 
twenty-two  slaves  on  his  plantations.  He  told 
them  they  were  free,  but  they  refused  to  leave 
him  for  several  years,  and  some  of  them  hung 
around  the  plantation  and  their  beloved  master 
for  years.  .Tohn  B.  Greene  died  when  nearly  eighty 
years  old.  His  wife,  who  was  named  Jane  Redman, 
was  born  in  Iredell  County,  North  Carolina,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  ninety-one.  Her  parents  were 
Hosea  and  Lueretia  (Williams)  Redman.  There 
were  five  children:  Lueretia  Adeline,  William  C, 
Martha  Jane,  Emma  and  Arthur  Judson. 

Doctor  Greene  grew  up  on  the  old  family  plan- 
tation and  had  liberal  advantages  both  at  home 
and  in  the  schools  of  the  state.  He  attended  dis- 
trict school  and  was  a  student  at  Wake  Forest  Col- 


^  &  ■  ^UiC^^T^UL^ 


PUBLIC  ...^-    --I 


b 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


73 


lege  when  in  1861  the  war  broke  out.  He  raised 
a  company  of  his  friends  and  neighbors  and  this 
was  mustered  in  as  Company  K  of  the  7th  Eegi- 
ment,  North  Carolina  Troops.  Given  a  commission 
as  second  lieutenant,  he  went  with  his  command 
through  its  long  and  arduous  service  and  was  in 
the  war  almost  to  the  end.  Several  times  his 
clothing  was  pierced  by  bullets,  but  he  escaped 
actual  wounds  and  was  never  captured  nor  sur- 
rendered. At  the  time  of  the  final  surrender  it 
chanced  that  he  was  home  on  a  furlough. 

Doctor  Greene  also  had  some  part  in  the  restora- 
tion of  law  and  order  during  the  reconstruction 
period.  Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  a  gang 
of  outlaws,  most  of  them  natives  of  the  sur- 
rounding country,  but  under  the  leadership  of  an 
ex-federal  soldier,  undertook  to  terrorize  the  in- 
habitants of  Alexander  and  the  adjoining  counties. 
The  headquarters  was  a  log  house  on  an  eminence 
in  Wilkes  County.  It  bore  the  appropriate  name 
of  Fort  Hamby.  One  time  the  gang  visited  the 
Greene  homestead.  The  family  was  pirepared  and 
gave  them  a  warm  reception  and  the  outlaws  re- 
treated after  one  of  their  number  had  been 
wounded.  Doctor  Greene  was  thoroughly  aroused 
and  got  together  a  number  of  the  old  soldiers  in 
the  neighborhood,  went  in  pursuit  and  followed 
the  gang  to  the  very  doors  of  their  stronghold. 
This  practically  put  an  end  to  their  depredations. 

Doctor  Greene 's  first  ambition  was  to  become  a 
lawyer.  He  attended  Judge  Pearson 's  Law  School 
at  Rockford,  but  soon  afterward  on  account  of  his 
father 's  disability  returned  to  take  charge  of  the 
farm.  He  then  began  the  study  of  medicine  under 
Doctor  Hackett  and  subsequently  attended  medical 
lectures  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Doctor 
Greene  began  practice  at  Wilkesboro  and  attended 
a  large  clientage  for  fifteen  years.  He  subsequent- 
ly studied  dentistry  in  the  Maryland  Dental  Col- 
lege at  Baltimore,  and  after  being  qualified  he 
gave  his  time  to  the  practice  of  that  profession  in 
Wilkesboro  and  continued  it  many  years  until  he 
finally  retired. 

Doctor  Greene  was  married  July,  1865,  to  Laura 
Gray.  She  was  born  in  Davie  County,  North 
Carolina,  May  21,  1841.  Her  father,  Joseph 
Gray,  was  also  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and 
losing  his  father  when  quite  young,  he  went  with 
his  mother  and  his  brothers  to  Davie  County.  His 
mother  spent  her  last  years  there.  After  his 
marriage  in  Davie  County,  Mrs.  Greene's  father 
moved  to  Yadkin  County,  but  during  the  war  sold 
his  farm  and  bought  the  Governor  Stokes  farm  in 
Wilkes  County.  On  that  plantation  he  spent  the 
rest  of  his  days,  dying  at  the  age  of  ninety-six. 
He  married  Mary  Kelley,  who  was  born  near 
Rockford  in  Surry  County,  a  daughter  of  William 
and  Elizabeth  (Coson)  Kelley.  Mrs.  Greene's 
mother  died  when  about  fifty  years  of  age.  Her 
children  were  five  daughters  and  one  son:  Wil- 
liam, Elizabeth,  Juliet,  Mary  Lou,  Laura  and  Jo- 
sephine. 

Doctor  and  Mrs.  Greene  had  two  children,  both 
now  deceased,  Herbert  and  Ida.  Herbert  attended 
public  schools  at  Wilkesboro,  prepared  for  college 
under  private  tuition,  and  then  took  the  literary 
course  in  the  I'niversity  of  North  Carolina.  He 
studied  law  under  Colonel  Folk  in  Yadkin  Valley 
Law  School  and  on  being  admitted  to  the  bar  took 
up  active  practice  at  Wilkesboro  and  was  one  of 
the  very  successful  lavpyers  there.  He  also  served 
a  term  in  the  State  Legislature.  Herbert  Greene 
married  Davie  Willbern.  At  his  death  he  left  four 
children:     Gray,  Louise,  Mary  and  Ida. 


Doctor  Greene's  daughter,  Ida,  was  educated  in 
the  Greensboro  College,  was  especially  talented  in 
niusic^  and  became  a  teacher  of  that  art.  She  mar- 
ried Robert  Stafford,  and  at  her  death  left  one 
daughter,  Ida.  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Greene  are  mem- 
bers  of   the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Hon.  John  Fr.\nklin  Griffith  is  one  of  the 
veteran  business  men  of  Winston-Salem.  Taking 
his  experience  as  clerk,  partner  and  individual 
proprietor  he  has  put  in  more  than  forty  years 
as  a  merchant,  and  has  sold  goods  to  two  genera- 
tions of  people  in  that  section  of  the  state.  His 
place  in  the  community  is  also  one  of  heightened 
esteem  on  account  of  his  long  and  varied  partici- 
pation in  public  affairs.  He  has  almost  con- 
tinuously been  connected  ofBcially  and  as  a 
worker  with  some  of  the  public  organizations  and 
institutions. 

The  GriflSth  family  has  long  been  identified  with 
North  Carolina  and  there  is  extant  a  puljlieation 
showing  the  genealogy  of  this  branch  of  the  Grif- 
fiths, tracing  the  North  Carolina  members  of  the 
family  to  Wales.  For  a  number  of  years  the 
family  lived  in  Rowan  County,  North  Carolina,  and 
from  there  the  grandfather  removed  to  Davie 
County,  buying  a  farm  in  Farmington  Township, 
where  he  spent  his  last  years.  The  father  of  the 
Winston-Salem  merchant  was  Charles  Frank  Grif- 
fith, a  native  of  Rowan  County  but  reared  in 
Davie  County.  After  reaching  manhood  he 
bought  a  farm  in  Farmington  Township  of  Davie 
County,  and  is  still  living  there,  being  now  at  the 
venerable  age  of  ninety-one  years.  He  married 
Sarah  Taylor,  who  was  born  in  Davie  County  and 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty-one.  She  was  the  mother 
of  two  sons:  John  Franklin  and  William  Wallace. 

John  Franklin  GrifSth  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
Farmington  Township  of  Forsyth  County  May  23, 
18.52.  With  the  farm  as  his  early  environment  he 
had  the  instruction  afforded  by  the  rural  schools 
and  he  also  attended  the  school  at  Winston  taught 
by  Col.  A.  B.  Gorrell. 

On  leaving  school  he  found  an  opening  in  the 
commercial  life  of  Winston  as  clerk  with  the  old 
firm  of  Hodgin  &  Sullivan.  He  remained  with 
that  organization  seven  years.  Having  mastered 
the  details  of  merchandising  and  having  acquired 
a  modest  capital  through  his  thrift,  he  then 
engaged  in  a  partnership  with  Frank  Moore,  under 
the  firm  name  Griffith  &  Moore.  They  conducted 
a  general  store  in  the  building  formerly  occupied 
by  the  veteran  merchant  S.  A.  Ogburn,  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  West  Fourth  and  Trade  streets. 
After  four  years  there  the  firm  closed  out  and 
Mr.  Griffith  then  bought  the  stock  and  good  will 
of  the  Alliance  Store,  also  on  Trade  Street.  In 
that  location  he  has  continued  in  business  ever 
since  and  his  store  and  his  individual  name  stand 
as  a  guaranty  of  reliability  and  efficient  service. 

Mr.  Griffith  served  several  years  as  president  of 
the  Piedmont  Savings  Bank  until  that  institution 
was  merged  with  the  People  's  Bank.  He  has  been 
mayor  of  Winston,  for  twenty  years  has  been  a 
member  of  the  County  Board  of  Education  and 
chairman  of  the  hoard,  was  county  treasurer  six 
years,  and  is  now  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Man- 
agers of  the  Reformatory.  He  and  his  wife  have 
long  been  identified  with  the  Centenary  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  Griffith  has  been  one  of  the 
stewards  of  the  church  for  nearly  thirty  years  and 
has  been  superintendent  of  its  Sunday  School 
equally  as  long.  Fraternally  he  is  affiliated  with 
Salem  Lodge  No.  36,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 


74 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Fellows,   of  which   he   is  past   grand  master,   and 
with  Salem  Encampment  No.  20. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  married-  Mary 
Virginia  Miller.  Mrs.  Griffith  was  born  in  David- 
son County,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of  John  and 
Eliza  Miller.  Mr.  Griffith  takes  proper  pride  in 
his  household  of  children,  seven  having  grown  up 
under  liis  roof  and  having  benefited  by  the  ample 
provision  he  has  made  for  them.  Their  names  are 
Oscar,  Pearl,  Sally,  William  Wallace,  Myrtle,  John 
Wesley  and  Mary.  Oscar  married  Mabel  Johnson, 
their  three  children  being  Robert,  Frank  and 
Geraldine.  Pearl  is  the  wife  of  J.  M.  Lentz  and 
has  a  daughter,  Gwendolen.  Sally  married  John 
F.  Ogburn,  and  has  a  son  John  F.,  Jr.  The  son, 
William  Wallace,  is  also  married  and  has  a  daugh- 
ter, Mary  Virginia.  Myrtle  is  the  wife  of  W.  Bay 
Johnson,  their  two  children  being  W.  Eay,  Jr., 
and  John  Griffith.  Mary  is  the  wire  of  David  S. 
Beid,   Jr. 

Grover  Clevel.\nd  Lovill.  Since  colonial 
times  the  family  of  Lovill  with  their  connections, 
the  Franklins  and  the  Taliaferros,  have  been  iden- 
tified with  Surry  County  and  particularly  with 
that  section  known  as  Stuarts  Creek  Township. 
Grover  Cleveland  Lovill,  a  successful  young  busi- 
ness man  of  Mount  Airy,  represents  the  present 
generations  of  these  well  known  names. 

His  Lovill  ancestry  goes  back  to  County  Kent, 
England,  which  was  the  native  place  of  Edward 
Lovill.  Edward  and  three  brothers  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  colonial  times.  Two  of  them  settled  in 
New  York,  one  in  Virginia,  while  Edward  was 
the  pioneer  of  Surry  County,  North  Carolina.  He 
was  here  before  the  Revolution  and  when  that 
war  came  on  commanded  a  company  of  colonists 
in  the  struggle  for  independence.  He  married  a 
Miss  Carmichael. 

Their  son,  James  LovUl,  was  born  on  a  farm 
that  bordered  the  Yadkin  in  Surry  County  and 
subsequently  bought  land  on  Grassy  Creek  in 
Shoals  Township  and  was  busy  with  its  cultiva- 
tion and  management  until  upwards  of  eighty 
years  of  age  when  he  joined  a  son  living  near 
Centerview,  Missouri,  and  there  spent  his  last 
days.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Sally 
Poindexter,  who  was  of  the  early  French  Huguenot 
stock  in  this  part  of  North  Carolina.  She  spent 
her  last  days  on  a  farm  in  Grassy  Creek  Town- 
ship. They  reared  four  children  named  Thomas, 
Edward,  William  and  James  Alexander. 

James  Alexander  Lovill,  grandfather  of  Grover 
C,  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Surry  County,  liought 
land  in  Grassy  Creek,  Shoals  Township,  and  culti- 
vated it  with  the  aid  of  his  slaves.  When  the 
war  came  on  he  entered  the  Confederate  army 
as  a  member  of  Captain  Gilmer's  Company  of 
the  Twenty-first  Regiment  North  Carolina  Troops. 
He  went  to  the  front  and  got  up  from  a  sick 
bed,  where  he  lay  ill  with  the  measles,  to  partici- 
pate in  the  battle  of  Manassas.  After  that  fight 
he  suffered  a  relapse,  and  a  few  days  later  died 
at  the  age  of  thirty-six. 

Francis  Jones,  maternal  grandfather  of  Grover 
Lovill,  served  four  years  in  the  Confederate  army, 
being  in  a  Virginia  regiment.  After  the  war  he 
settled  in  Stuarts  Creek  Township  and  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-six. 

James  Alexander  Lovill  married  Betty  Frank- 
lin, and  with  her  the  other  two  families  mentioned 
above  come  into  this  record.  She  was  born  in 
Stuart's  Creek  Township  of  Surry  County,  a  daugh- 
ter  of    Wiley    and   Mary    (Taliaferro)    Franklin. 


Mary  Taliaferro  was  a  daughter  of  Charles  Talia- 
ferro who  married  a  Burrough.  Charles  Taliaferro 's 
father,  Dr.  John  Taliaferro,  was  probably  a  native 
of  Albemarle  County,  Virginia,  and  as  a  surgeon 
he  administered  to  the  w-ounded  at  the  battle  of 
Guilford  Coutt  House  in  the  Eevolution.  A  short 
time  before  the  Eevolution  he  had  come  to  Surry 
County  and  bought  a  farm  in  Stuart 's  Creek  Town- 
ship where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  days.  Wiley 
Franklin  was  a  son  of  Shadrach  and  Judith 
(Taliaferro)  Franklin.  Shadrach  Franklin  was  a 
son  of  Bernard  and  Mary  (Cleveland)  Franklin, 
and  a  brother  of  Governor  Jesse  Franklin.  Mary 
Cleveland  was  a  sister  of  Col.  Benjamin  Cleveland 
who  led  a  regiment  at  King's  Mountain.  Ber- 
nard Franklin 's  father  was  John  Franklin,  a 
native  of  Virginia.  Jesse  Franklin  served  as 
captain  in  the  Eevolution  and  it  is  said  that  at  the 
battle  of  King's  Mountain  his  colonel  became  ex- 
hausted and  he  h>d  tlie  regiment  in  its  last  charge. 
He  was  later  governor  of  North  Carolina  and  was 
also  United  States  senator  for  sixteen  years,  dur- 
ing a  part  of  which  time  he  was  president  pro 
tem  of  the  Senate.  One  of  the  Franklin  family 
owned  and  occupied  the  land  where  Grover  C. 
■  Lovill  was  born.  Betty  (Franklin)  Lovill  died 
about   1868. 

Walter  Wiley  Lovill,  father  of  Grover  C,  was 
the  only  child  of  his  parents  to  grow  up.  He 
was  born  at  the  foot  of  Pilot  Mountain  in  Surry 
County  September  19,  IS-S;!.  He  made  his  home 
with  his  grandfather,  Wiley  Franklin,  until  the 
age  of  twenty  and  then  spent  four  years  in  Ten- 
nessee. Eeturning  to  North  Carolina  he  bought 
the  interests  of  the  other  heirs  in  his  grandfather's 
estate  and  has  been  successfully  engaged  in  gen- 
eral farming  there  until  the  present  time.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-four  he  married  Martha  Eliza- 
beth Jones,  who  was  born  in  Carroll  County,  Vir- 
ginia, daugliter  of  Francis  and  Mary  (Copeland) 
Jones.  Walter  W.  Lovill  and  wife  have  reared 
eight  children :  Wiley  Franklin,  James  Walter, 
William  Shadrach,  Joseph  Poindexter,  Grover 
Cleveland,  Eoliert  Jones,  Mary  Elizabeth  and  Sally 
Matilda.  Of  these  Joseph  P.  is  now  deceased. 
Their  mother  is  an  active  member  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Baptist  church. 

Grover  Cleveland  Lovill  was  born  on  the  old 
Franklin  farm  in  Stuart's  Creek  Township  Decem- 
ber 2,  1884.  He  acquired  his  early  education  in 
rural  schools  and  subsequently  attended  Woodlawn 
Academy  in  Virginia.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
began  his  business  career  as  clerk  in  a  general 
store  at  Mount  Airy.  Then  in  190.5,  having  at- 
tained his  majority,  he  took  up  the  brokerage 
business  which  was  continued  until  1910,  when  he 
enlarged  the  scope  of  his  enterprise  and  became 
a  wholesale  grocery,  feed  and  produce  dealer. 
That  business  he  has  built  up  to  large  and  suc- 
cessful proportions. 

Mr.  Lovill  also  takes  an  active  part  in  social 
and  civic  affairs  at  Mount  Airy.  He  is  a  member 
of  Granite  City  Lodge,  No.  322,  Ancient  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons;  Mount  Airy  Chapter,  No.  68, 
Eoyal  Arch  Masons;  Piedmont  Commandery,  No. 
6,  Knight  Templars,  and  Oasis  Temple  of  the  Mys- 
tic Shrine  at  Charlotte.  As  a  voter  he  is  a  demo- 
crat and  is  now  serving  as  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Town  Commissioners  and  mayor  pro  tem. 

JoHX  Joseph  Bruner  attained  the  highest  rank 
in  the  profession  of  journalism  and  letters.  The 
editors  acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to  Beulah 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


75 


Stewart   Moore    for   the    following    sketch    of   his 
career. 

John  Joseph  Bruner  was  born  in  Rowan  County 
on  the  Yadkin  River  about  seven  miles  from  Salis- 
bury. He  was  the  only  son  of  Henry  Bruner,  a 
gunsmith  by  trade,  and  the  third  generation  of 
the  name — the  first  Henrieh  having  immigrated  to 
America  in  1731  with  John  Jacob  Bruner,  pre- 
sumably his  father,  as  he  was  then  a  mere  lad  of 
less  than  sixteen  years  of  age.  Whether  or  not 
the  trade  of  gimsmith  was  handed  down  from 
father  to  son  is  not  positively  known,  but  a  few  of 
the  Bruner  flint  lock  rifles  are  still  in  existence 
and  are  evidently  the  work  of  Henry,  the  father 
of  the  Henry  named  above.  From  wills  dated  1769 
and  1803  respectively,  it  is  known  however,  that 
they  were  landowners  and  men  of  substance. 

On  September  29,  1814,  Henry  Bruner  married 
Edith,  youngest  daughter  of  Col.  West  Harris  of 
Montgomery  County  and  his  wife,  Edith  Ledbet- 
ter  of  Anson.  Colonel  Harris  was  a  native  of 
Virginia,  coming  to  North  Carolina  with  his  fa- 
ther, West  Harris,  Sr.,  who  was  first  a  citizen  of 
Granville  County — "serving  there  as  a  vestry -man 
of  St.  .John 's  Parish  in  1746  and  in  1756  he  is 
one  who  long  refused  to  qualify  as  a  justice  of 
the  peace. ' '  Subsequently  he  settled  with  his 
family  in  that  section  now  known  as  Montgomery. 
The  history  of.  this  family  is  of  interest,  as  it 
covers  a  period  of  more  than  200  years,  going 
back  to  the  first  settlement  of  the  country.  The 
ancestor  of  the  North  Carolina  branch  was  one 
Thomas  Harris,  the  date  of  whose  will,  as  record- 
ed in  Isle  of  Wight  County,  Virginia,  is  October 
ye  9th,  1688,  and  that  of  his  son  Edward,  dated 
March  2.5,  1734.  Both  father  and  son  leave  land 
granted  them  by  patent  to  their  posterity.  West 
Harris,  Sr.,  was  the  son  of  Edward  and  father  of 
Col.  West  Harris,  who  "on  the  breaking  out  of 
hostilities  with  the  mother  country,  enlisted  in 
the  North  Carolina  Line  of  the  Continental  Army 
— Ninth  Regiment — as  Lieutenant,  and  notvrith- 
standing  his  youth,  by  patriotism,  zeal  and  intre- 
pidity, was  advanced  before  the  end  of  the  war,  to 
the  rank  of  Colonel.  After  the  peace  he  repre- 
sented his  fellow  citizens  for  a  number  of  years  in 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  State.  And  such  was 
the  confidence  of  the  people  in  his  probity  and  in- 
telligence, that  any  ofBce  in  their  gift  was  at  his 
command.  In  the  private  walks  of  life  he  was 
equally  esteemed :  he  was  benevolent  to  the  poor, 
and  honorable  in  all  his  dealings  with  the  world." 
(Western  Carolinian,  August  7,  1826.)  He  died 
July  19,  1826,  aged  sixty-nine  years  and  was  laid 
to  rest  in  the  private  burial  grounds  on  his  estate 
near  the  mouth  of  Beaverdam  Creek. 

Here  for  more  than  a  century  had  rested  the 
bodies  of  members  of  the  Harris  families,  but  ow- 
ing to  the  fact  that  when  the  big  dam  on  the  Yad- 
kin near  Badin,  then  under  construction — 1916 — 
was  finished  and  the  waters  turned  on,  practically 
submerging  ten  thousand  acres  of  land,  this  among 
others,  would  become  the  bed  of  a  vast  body  of 
water.  In  consequence  thereof,  steps  were  at  once 
taken  by  descendants  to  exhume  the  remains. 

During  his  life  Mr.  Bruner  had  seen  personally 
to  the  care  of  this  sacred  spot  and  had  made  pro- 
visions for  its  upkeep  after  his  demise,  hence  it  was 
deemed  but  fitting  that  the  ashes  of  his  beloved 
dead  should  lie  with  his  in  the  old  English  Ceme- 
tery, there  to  await  the  Resurrection  Morn. 

The  exhuming  of  these  remains,  of  which  seven 
in  number  were  brought  to   Salisl)ury,  goes  back 


into  the  history  of  the  family  in  North  Carolina 
]iearly  two  hundred  years,  the  eldest  being  West 
Harris,  Sr.,  born  August  13,  1715,  died  May  14, 
1795. 

To  Henry  Bruner  and  Edith,  his  wife,  two  chil- 
dred  were  Ijorn,  Salina  Williamson,  first  and  only 
daughter,  August  4,  1815,  and  .John  .Joseph,  March 
12,  1817.  When  the  latter  was  a  little  over  two 
years  old,  his  father  died  and  his  mother  with  her 
two  children  i-eturned  to  her  father's  residence  in 
Montgomery. 

In  1825  John  .loseph  came  to  Salisbury,  under 
the  care  of  the  Hon.  Charles  Fisher,  father  of  Col. 
Charles  F.  Fisher  who  fell  at  the  Battle  of  Bull 
Run.  His  first  year  in  Salisbury  was  spent  in  at- 
tending the  school  taught  by  Henry  Allemand  and 
was  about  all  the  schooling  of  a  regular  style  he 
ever  received,  the  remainder  of  his  education  being 
of  a  practical  kind,  gleaned  at  the  case  and  press 
of  a  printing  office. 

When  nine  years  of  age,  he  entered  the  printing 
office  of  the  Western  Carolina,  then  under  the 
editorial  control  of  the  Hon.  Philo  White,  late  of 
Whitestown,  New  York.  In  1830,  the  Carolinian 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Hon.  Burton  Craige, 
and  then  into  the  hands  of  Maj.  John  Beard,  late 
of  Florida,  Mr.  Bruner  continuing  in  the  ofiSce  until 
1836.  In  1839,  M.  C.  Pendleton  of  Salisbury  and 
Mr.  Bruner  purchased  the  Watchman,  a  whig 
and  anti-nullification  paper,  established  in  July, 
1832,  by  Hamilton  C.  Jones,  Esq.,  to  support 
Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  and  combat  the  nullifica- 
tion movement  of  that  time,  started  in  South 
Carolina  under  the  inspiration  of  .John  C.  Cal- 
houn and  others  of  the  distinguished  states- 
men of  the  Commonwealth.  Under  the  above 
firm  name  the  paper  was  continued  for  three  years, 
at  the  end  of  which  time  the  junior  partner  with- 
drew for  the  purpose  of  collecting  a  considerable 
amount  due  the  firm  and  paying  off  accummulated 
debts.  This  was  accomplished  in  the  course  of 
eighteen  months,  during  which  time  the  paper  was 
continued  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Pendle- 
ton as  editor  and  proprietor. 

In  1843  Mr.  Bruner  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Ann  Kincaid,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Kincaid,  Esq. 
The  mother  of  Mrs.  Bruner  was  Clarissa  Harlowe 
Brandon,  daughter  of  Col.  James  Brandon  of  Revo- 
lutionary fame,  close  kinsman  of  Matthew  Bran- 
don and  the  Lockes.  Colonel  Brandon  was  the 
son  of  William  Brandon  who  settled  in  Thyatira 
as  early  as  1752,  and  whose  wife  was  a  Miss 
Cathey  of  that  region.  For  nearly  a  century  the 
name  of  Brandon  was  noted  all  through  the  Yad- 
kin and  Catawba  valleys.  It  has  been  conspic- 
uous in  the  fights  of  I?amsom's  Mill,  Charlotte, 
King's  Mountain,  Cowpens  and  Cowan's  Ford. 
It  is  said  that  in  some  emergency  during  the  Revo- 
lution Col.  Francis  Locke  raised  a  strong  com- 
pany of  minute  men,  composed  mainly  of  Bran- 
dons and  Lockes.  They  came  originally  from  Eng- 
land, settled  in  Pennsylvania,  are  found  early  in 
Virginia  and  are  among  the  first  immigrants  to 
this  section,  one  date  going  back  to  1730. 

Having  married,  Mr.  Bruner  prepared  for  his 
life  work  by  repurchasing  the  Watchman  in  part- 
nership with  Samuel  W.  .Tames  in  1844.  After 
six  successful  years  this  partnership  was  dissolved 
and  Mr.  Bruner,  becoming  sole  owner  and  editor, 
continued  to  publish  it  until  the  spring  of  1865, 
when  Stoneman  's  raiders  took  possession  while 
here  on  the  12th  and  13th  of  April,  and  after 
jirintiug  an  army   sheet,  turned  the  office  upside 


76 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


down,  wrecked  the  principal  press  and  destroyed 
all  they  could.  Upon  the  arrival  of  the  Federal 
army  after  the  surrender,  the  commander  took 
possession  of  it,  detailed  printers  from  the  army 
to  gather  up  type  enough  to  print  a  daily  news 
slip  and  held  possession  until  about  the  4th  of  July, 
■when  they  turned  over  the  shattered  establishment 
to  the  owner. 

Three  years  later,  Lewis  Hanes,  Esq.,  of  Lex- 
ington, purchased  an  interest  in  the  paper  and 
it  was  called  the  Watchman  and  Old  North  State. 
Ill  health  caused  Mr.  Bruner  to  retire  from  busi- 
ness for  a  couple  of  years,  but  his  mission  was  to 
conduct  a  paper,  so  in  1871  he  repurchased  it,  and 
thereafter  it  made  its  regular  appearance  weekly 
until  his  death.  At  this  date  the  Watchman  was 
the  oldest  newspaper  and  Mr.  Bruner  the  oldest 
editor  in  North  Carolina.  He  was  one  of  the  few 
remaining  links  binding  the  ante-bellum  journalist 
with  those  of  the  present  day.  The  history  of 
Mr.  Bruner  's  editorial  life  is  a  history  of  the  prog- 
ress of  the  state.  He  was  contemporary  with  Ed- 
ward J.  Hale,  ex-Governor  Holden,  Wm.  J.  Yates 
and  others  of  the  older  editors.  When  he  began 
the  publication  of  the  Watchman,  there  was  not  a 
daily  newspaper  or  a  railroad  in  tlie  state.  In  1840 
the  Watchman  advertised  the  Great  Western  Stage 
Line  which  left  Salisbury  at  5  o'clock  A.  M.  one 
day  and  arrived  at  Asheville  at  8  P.  M.  on  the 
following  day.  The  advertisement  under  the  cut 
of  an  old-fashioned  stage  coach  read,  "For  speed 
could  not  be  surpassed."  At  the  time  of  his 
death  no  one  living  in  Salisbury  and  few  elsewhere 
in  the  state  had  such  an  extensive  personal  ac- 
quaintance and  knowledge  of  men  and  events  in 
the  early  years  of  the  last  century.  He  sat  under 
the  preaching  of  every  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  since  its  organization — Doctor  Freeman, 
Mr.  Rankin,  Mr.  Espy,  Doctor  Sparrow,  Mr. 
Frontis  (by  whom  he  was  married^  Mr.  Baker, 
and  Rev.  Dr.  Rumple,  who  was  his  pastor  and 
friend  for  more  than  thirty  years.  He  was  a 
scholar  in  the  Sunday  school  under  its  first  super- 
intendent and  was  afterwards  a  teacher  and  super- 
intendent himself.  The  Hon.  Philo  White,  his 
early  guardian,  was  a  high-toned  gentleman  of 
the  Presbyterian  faith  and  so  impressed  himself 
upon  his  youthful  ward  that  he  chose  him  as  his 
model,  emulated  his  example  and  held  his  memory 
in  cherished  veneration  to  the  end  of  his  life.  At 
seventeen  years  of  age,  Mr.  Bruner  joined  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Salisbury,  and  in  1846  he 
was  ordained  a  ruling  elder  and  continued  to  serve 
in  that  capacity  through  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  Ever  active  and  useful  in  its  ecclesiastical 
courts  his  opinions  were  often  sought  and  always 
received  with  deference  and  respect.  The  family 
altar  was  established  in  his  household  and  he 
reared  his  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord.  His  marriage  was  abundantly  blessed 
by  a  faithful,  diligent  and  affectionate  wife,  who 
bore  him  twelve  children,  seven  of  whom  preceded 
him  to  rest. 

Mr.  Bruner  died  after  a  lingering  illness,  March 
23,  1890.  His  end  was  peace.  As  he  gently  passed 
away — so  gently  that  it  was  ditiicult  to  tell  when 
life  ended  and  immortality  began — a  brother  elder 
by  his  bedside  repeated  the  lines, 

' '  How  blest  the  righteous  when  he  dies ! 
When  sinks  a  weary  soul  to  rest; 
How  mildly  beam  the  closing  eye. 

How   gently   leaves  the   expiring  breath !  ' ' 


His  memory  must  ever  shine  out  as  one  of  the 
purest,  sweetest,  best  elements  of  the  past.  His 
character  was  singularly  beautiful  and  upright,  and 
his  life  an  unwritten  sermon. 

He  was  emphatically  a  self-made  man.  His 
learning  he  acquired  by  his  own  unaided  efforts, 
his  property  he  earned  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow 
and  his  reputation  he  achieved  by  prudence,  wis- 
dom and  faithfulness  in  all  the  duties  of  life.  By 
his  paper  he  helped  thousands  of  men  to  honorable 
and  lucrative  office,  but  he  never  helped  himself. 

After  tlie  war  he  adhered  with  unwavering  fidel- 
ity to  the  democratic  party  which  he  believed  was 
the  only  hope  and  refuge  of  the  true  friends  of 
liberty  anywhere  in  America;  and  he  never  fal- 
tered in  his  allegiance  to  those  principles  which 
he  believed  every  true  southern  man  should  ad- 
here to.  Up  to  the  very  last  he  was  unflinching 
and  unwavering  in  his  love  for  the  South  and  in 
his  adherence  to  the  best  ideals  and  traditions  of 
the  land  of  his  nativity.  At  no  time  during  his 
life  did  he  ever  ' '  crook  the  pregnant  hinges  of  the 
knee  that  thrift  might  follow  fawning. ' '  In  the 
very  best  sense  of  the  word,  he  was  a  southern 
gentleman  of  the  old  school.  The  old  South  and 
the  new  was  all  one  to  him — the  same  old  land, 
the  same  old  people,  the  same  old  traditions — the 
land  of  Washington,  of  .Jefferson,  of  Calhoun  and 
Jackson,  of  Pettigrew  and  Fisher,  of  Graham  and 
Craige,  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  of  Robert  E.  Lee 
and  Jefferson  Davis. 

He  was  honest  and  economical,  always  living 
within  his  means.  He  was  not  only  honorable  in 
financial  matters,  but  the  soul  of  candor  and  hon- 
esty in  the  expression  of  his  opinions.  He  did  not 
needlessly  parade  his  convictions  of  men  and 
things,  but  when  he  did  express  a  judgment,  it  was 
an  honest  one.  It  is  probable  that  he  never  con- 
sciously flattered  a  man  in  his  life.  A  man  of 
great  moral  courage,  he  did  not  fear  to  face  and 
oppose  able  and  distinguished  men  if  he  thought 
they  weie  wrong.  Though  never  a  neutral  in  poli- 
tics, morals  or  religion,  but  having  strong  party 
affinities,  he  would  still  upon  occasion  throw  off  the 
trammels  of  party  and  speak  forth  his  independent 
convictions.  He  did  not  obtrude  himself  upon 
public  notice  and  was  willing  to  take  the  lowest 
seat  unless  there  was  a  call  for  his  appearance. 
He  eared  more  to  satisfy  his  own  conscience  and 
please  God,  than  to  have  honor  among  men. 

The  following  from  the  pen  of  the  late  John  S. 
Henderson  is  characteristic:  "Now  that  he  is 
gone,  he  will  be  appreciated  at  his  true  worth,  as 
one  of  this  world 's  true  noblemen.  I  knew  Mr. 
Bruner  all  my  life  and  I  always  admired  and 
revered  him.  Sometimes  I  disagreed  with  him 
in  opinion,  but  in  doing  so  I  always  felt  that  pos- 
sibly I  might  be  wrong,  knowing  as  I  did  that 
while  he  was  slow  in  coming  to  a  conclusion, 
when  once  his  opinion  was  formed,  he  adhered  to 
it  with  an  undeviating  and  inflexible  fixedness  of 
purpose.  He  was  a  just  man  in  all  his  dealings 
and  conscientious  and  truthful  always.  In  politics, 
he  was  always  true  to  his  convictions  and  to  his 
party  principles — but  he  was  anything  but  a  time- 
server.  He  had  a  perfect  horror  of  duplicity.  As 
an  instance  of  this,  I  remember  once,  when  I  was 
in  the  Legislature,  a  petition  had  been  forwarded 
to  the  Governor  requesting  the  appointment  of  a 
certain  man  to  an  important  public  position.  Mr. 
Bruner  was  importuned  to  sign  the  petition,  and 
did  so  reluctantly,  but  being  convinced  that  he 
had   made  a  mistake  and  that  the  man   was   un- 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


1 1 


■worthy,  he  would  not  be  satisfied  uutil  he  had 
cleared  his  skirts  of  all  responsibility  iu  the  mat- 
ter. He  notified  the  friends  of  the  candidate  that 
he  wished  to  withdraw  his  signature  from  the 
petition.  The  reply  was  that  it  was  too  late,  the 
petition  had  been  sent  to  the  Governor.  He  then 
wrote  to  me  to  call  ujjou  the  Governor  and  ask  him 
to  erase  his  name  from  the  list  of  petitioners.  I 
complied  with  the  request,  and  I  now  remember 
that  the  Governor  was  very  courteous  and  made  the 
erasure  instantly  with  his  own  hand. ' ' 

For  more  than  half  a  century  Mr.  Bruner  was 
at  the  head  of  the  Watchman.     A  bold  and  fear- 
less advocate  of  the  rights  of  the  people,  he  wrote 
with   great   force   and   fidelity   of   expression,    and 
always   with   conservatism   and  great  good   sense. 
The  highmindeduess,  the  infiexible  and  universally 
recognized  integrity  of  the  man,  added  to  his  pru- 
dence and  fine  judgment,  gave  weight  to  his  coun- 
sels  and   rendered  him   always   an   individual   and 
an   editor   of   influence.      A   person   of   pronounced 
views  and  great  decision  of  character,  he  was  yet 
the  most  amiable,   genial  and  kindly  of   men,  at 
all  times   characterized   by   a  degree  of  liberality 
and  conservatism  that  won  him  respect  and  friend- 
ship even  from  those  who  might  differ  with  him  in 
matters  of  church  or  state.     With  but  one  hope  or 
purpose — to  serve  his  people  and  state  faithfully 
and  honestly — he  steered  his  journal  from  year  to 
year,  from  decade  to  decade,  from  the  morning  of 
one    century    almost    to    the    morning    of    another, 
until  he  made  himself  and  his  paper  honored  land- 
marks not  only  of   his  own  town,  but   throughout 
North  Carolina.     The  editor  of  the  Manufacturers' 
Record    has    said :     "No    other    North    Carolina 
journalist   of   earlier   days   had   the   prescience   to 
see   and  the   ability  to  set  forth  what   the   future 
of  that  State  might  be  made  because  of   its  im- 
mense  and    varied   natural   resources.      Living   in 
the  center  of  a  natural  district  surrounded  by  vast 
forests  and  by  fertile  lands,  Mr.  Bruner  saw  that 
the  State  had  within  itself  every  needed  natural 
material  for  the  creation  and  continuance  of  di- 
versified industries,  and  while  a  young  editor  he 
began  to  study  these  intelligently,  and  to  give  such 
publicity    to    them    as    his    circulation    permitted. 
Scrupulously  honest,  he  never  permitted  any  state- 
ment to  lie  made  that  he  did  not  believe  to  be  true, 
and  so,  in  the  course  of  years,  the  '  Carolina  Watch- 
man' came  to  be  widely  recognized  as  a  safe  and 
accurate  authority  on  all  such  subjects.  > '     *     *     * 
"Among  all  the   Southern   newspaper  men  whose 
acquaintance  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  make, 
none  has  seemed  to  me  so  near  perfection  in  all 
that  constitutes  a  true  journalist  and  a  true  man 
as  John  Joseph  Bruner."     He  recorded  truthfully 
and  without  envy  or  prejudice  the  birth  and  down- 
fall of  political  parties.    He — inspired  by  a  united 
effort  to  Americanize  and  weld  together  every  sec- 
tion of  this  great  union — grew  eloquent  in  praise 
of  wise  and  sagacious  leaders,  and  he  blotted  with 
a  tear  the  paper  on  which  he  wrote  of  sectional 
strife    and    discord.      He    chronicled    with    sober 
earnestness  the  birth  of   a  new   republic,  and  like 
other  loyal  sons  of  the  South,  raised  his  arm   and 
pen  in   its   defense.      He   watched   with   unfeigned 
interest  its  short  and  stormy  career,  and  then  wrote 
dispassionately  of  the  furling  of  its  blood  stained 
banner.     He  was  ever  found  fighting  for  what  he 
believed  to  be  the  best  interests  of  his  people,  and 
advocating  such  men  and  measures  as  seemed  to 
him  just  and  right.     An  old  time  whig  before  the 
war,  he  aspired  not  to  political  preferment  or  posi- 


tion, but  only  to  an  honored  stand  in  the  ranks 
of  a  loyal  and  beneficent  citizenship.  Joining  in 
witli  the  rank  and  file  of  the  white  men  of  the 
conquered  South  he  was  content  to  lend  all  his 
talent  and  energy  iu  aiding  them  in  the  upbuilding 
of   an  imjjoverished  section. 

The  greater  portion  of  his  compositions  were 
editorials  upon  political  or  practical  themes  of  a 
public  nature.  They  were  plain,  pointed  and  in- 
telligible. He  did  not  pretend  to  the  graces  of 
rhetoric,  though  from  constant  reading  his  taste 
had  been  developed  in  the  line  of  a  transparent, 
simple  style.  He  could  distinguish  bombast  and 
fustian  from  pure  English  at  a  glance. 

But  aside  from  his  editorials,  Mr.  Bruner  some- 
times in  leisure  moments  indulged  in  writing  grace- 
ful little  poems  and  essays,  which  he  did  not  pub- 
lish but  put  into  his  drawer,  there  to  lie  for  years. 
These  were  evidently  jotted  down  at  a  sitting  and 
have  not  had  the  advantage  of  critical  filing  and 
resetting — and  yet  they  indicate  the  possession  of 
an  imagination,  which,  had  it  been  cultivated  might 
have  won  him  distinction  in  the  world  of  letters. 

Blameless  and  exemplary  in  all  the  relations  of 
life,    a   Christian    gentleman,    he    met    all    the    re- 
quirements   of   the   highest   citizenship,   and    what 
higher  eulogy  can  any  hope  to  merit? 
' '  The  great  work  laid  upon  his  three  score  years 
Is  done,  and  well  done.     If  we  drop  our  tears 
We  mourn  no  blighted  hope  or  broken  plan 
With  him  whose  life  stands  rounded  and  approved 
In  the  full  growth  and  stature  of  a  man." 

Nathaniel  Henry  Moore  is  a  prominent  young 
business  man  of  Washington,  one  of  the  executive 
otfieials  in  a  large  wholesale  grocery  Ijusiness  that 
has  been  developed  in  this  city,  and  in  a  public 
way   is   known  to   all  citizens  as   postmaster. 

He  was  born  at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  May  10, 
1886,  but  has  lived  in  Washington,  North  Carolina, 
since  189.5.  He  is  a  son  of  James  Bruer  and 
Apple  (Grist)  Moore.  His  father  was  a  whole- 
sale merchant  but  now  deceased.  Nathaniel  H. 
Moore  grew  up  in  Washington,  attended  private 
and  high  school,  and  acquired  his  early  experience 
in  a  wholesale  grocery  establishment.  He  is  vice 
president  and  secretary  of  the  Caroliim  Distribut- 
ing Company,  one  of  the  concerns  that  have  served 
to  make  Washington  an  important  wholesale  dis- 
tributing point  for  this  section  of  the  state.  Mr. 
Moore  was  aiijiointed  postmaster  of  AVashington 
on  March  3,  1915. 

He  is  an  active  member  of  St.  Peter's  Parish 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  is  a  vestryman,  and  is 
one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Brotherhood 
of  St.  Andrew. 

John  Hamlin  Polger.  A  widely  known  and 
highly  respected  attorney  of  Mount  Airy,  Surry 
County,  John  Hamlin  Polger  is  thoroughly  versed 
in  the  intricacies  of  the  law,  and  during  his  pros- 
perous professional  career  has  conducted  and  won 
nmny  cases  of  importance.  He  was  born  in  Rock- 
ford',  Surrv  County,  a  son  of  Thomas  Wilson  Fol- 
ger, 'and  grandson  of  Milton  Young  Folger,  for 
many  years  a  practicing  physician  of  Surry  Coun- 
ty. His  paternal  great-grandfather,  Reuben  Fol- 
ge'r,  was  a  son  of  Latham  Folger,  the  founder  of 
the'Polger  families  of  this  state.  He  is  of  substan- 
tial English  ancestry,  and  comes  from  the  very 
oldest  stock  that  peopled  the  Island  of  Nantucket, 
being  a  direct  descendant  of  one  of  two  brothers 
named  Folger,  who   were  among  the  original   pro- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


prietors  of  that  small  but  important  island,  im- 
migrating there  from  England  in  very  early 
Colonial  times. 

Eeuben  Folger  succeeded  to  the  occupation  of 
his  ^^ew  England  ancestors,  and  during  his  active 
career  owned  and  operated  a  plantation  near  the 
present  site  of  Kernersville,  Forsyth  County.  He 
married  Lydia  Wilson,  a  native  of  Eandolph  Coun- 
ty, North  Carolina,  and  to  them  six  sons  were 
born  and  reared,  as  follows:  Cyrus,  Alfred,  Eufus 
W.,  Benjamin  1\,  Jackson  and  Milton  Young. 

Milton  Young  Folger  was  born  on  the  home 
plantation,  near  Kernersville,  in  1819.  Entering 
the  medical  profession  as  a  young  man,  he  prac- 
ticed first  at  Brownsville,  Davidson  County,  from 
there  removing  with  his  family  to  Eockford,  Surry 
County,  where  he  continued  in  active  practice 
until  his  death,  in  1890.  Dr.  M.  Y.  Folger  was 
twice  married.  He  married  first  Elizabeth  Pegram, 
a  native  of  Guilford  County,  and  to  them  four 
children  were  born,  Eomulus  S.,  Eunice  M.,  Adrian 
Bush  and  Fanny.  The  doctor  married  for  his  sec- 
ond wife  Elizabeth  Gray,  who  was  born  in  Davie 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Mary  (Kelley)  Gray.  Of  their  union  seven 
children  were  born,  namely:  Joseph,  MoUie, 
Thomas  Wilson,  Maude,  Metta  Alice,  Ida  and 
Benjamin  F. 

Born  February  28,  1854,  in  Eockford,  Surry 
County,  Thomas  Wilson  Folger  received  superior 
educational  advantages  as  a  youth,  being  gradu- 
ated from  Trijiity  College,  and  later  being  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar.  Immediately  opening  a  law 
office  in  Dobson,  he  built  up  an  extensive  and 
remunerative  legal  practice,  and  was  there  a  resi- 
dent until  his  deatli,  in  1913,  at  the  early  age  of 
fifty-nine  years.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Ada  Dillard  Eobertson. 

John  "Hamlin  Folger  acquired  his  elementary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Dobson,  later 
continuing  his  studies  at  Guilford  College.  He 
subsequently  entered  the  law  department  of  the 
University  of  North  Carolina,  and  was  there  grad- 
uated with  the  class  of  1901.  Locating  in  Dob- 
son, Mr.  Folger  achieved  marked  success  in  liis 
legal  work,  carrying  it  on  in  that  place  for  four 
years.  In  190.5  he  came  to  Mount  Airy,  and  in 
this  vicinity  has  built  up  a  large  and  highly  satis- 
factory general  practice,  his  legal  skill  and  ability 
being  widely  recognized  and  appreciated. 

Mr.  Folger  married  November  5,  1899,  Miss 
Maude  Douglas,  wlio  was  born  and  brought  up  in 
Yadkin  County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of 
Henry  W.  and  Lulu  (Wilson)  Douglas,  and  into 
their  pleasant  home  four  chUdreu  have  been  born, 
namely:  Fred,  Nell,  Henry  and  Frances.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Folger  are  active  members  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  South,  of  which  Mr.  Folger 
has  served  as  a  member  of  its  board  of  trustees, 
and  as  a  steward. 

Mr.  Folger  is  prominently  identified  with  sev- 
eral of  the  leading  fraternal  organizations  of  Surry 
County,  being  a  member  of  Granite  Lodge,  No. 
207,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons; 
of  Mount  Airy  Chapter,  Eoyal  Arch  Masons;  of 
Mount  Airy  Council,  No.  73 ;  of  the  Junior  Order 
of  United  American  Mechanics,  and  of  Mount 
Airy  Tribe,  Improved  Order  of  Bed  Men. 

Alexander  Henderson  Galloway,  Jr.  Every 
community  realizes  sooner  or  later  the  need  not  so 
much  of  capital  or  of  material  resources  as  of  an 
effective  body  of  citizenship,  devoted  to  the  civic 
welfare,  willing  to  sacrifice  their  private  interests 


for  some  good  that  comes  to  the  community  as  a 
whole.  Winston-Salem  has  several  such  men,  and 
none  with  more  dynamic  energy  and  enthusiasm 
for  all  that  concerns  a  larger  and  better  city  than 
Alexander  H.  Galloway.  Mr.  Galloway  represents 
one  of  the  oldest  families  in  this  part  of  North 
Carolina,  being  a  son  of  Major  Alexander  H.  and 
Sally  (Scales)  Galloway,  of  Eeidsville.  The  family 
history  and  the  career  of  Major  Galloway  are 
sketched  on  other  pages  of  this  publication. 

Alexander  Galloway,  Jr.,  was  born  at  the  old 
home  of  his  father  at  Valley  Field  in  Bockingham 
County  September  15,  1870.  His  father  being  a 
man  of  ample  means  he  kept  a  private  tutor  for 
the  benefit  of  his  children,  and  besides  the  instruc- 
tion from  this  source  Alexander  H.  attended  the 
Eeidsville  public  schools,  and  also  had  a  course  in 
Eastman's  Business  College  at  Poughkeepsie,  New 
York. 

He  began  his  business  experience  as  clerk  in  a 
bank  at  Greensboro  for  two  years  and  from  there 
came  to  Winston-Salem.  For  several  years  he  was 
in  the  oflice  of  the  E.  J.  Eeynolds  Tobacco  Com- 
pany at  Winston,  but  resigned  to  become  teller 
m  the  Wachovia  Bank  &  Trust  Company.  He  left 
the  bank  to  take  up  the  real  estate  business.  Mr. 
Galloway  has  been  one  of  the  primary  factors  in 
giving  Winston-Salem  adequate  hotel  facilities. 
In  1906  he  organized  the  Forsyth  Hotel  Company, 
became  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  this  organiza- 
tion built  the  fine  Hotel  Zinzendorf.  In  1911  Mr. 
Galloway  personally  leased  this  hotel  and  has  since 
conducted  it  under  his  personal  supervision.  In 
1912  he  organized  the  Guilford  Hotel  Company, 
which  took  over  the  Guilford  Hotel,  and  that 
place  of  public  entertainment  has  also  been  under 
his  management. 

In  1916  Mr.  Galloway  was  elected  president  of 
the  Winston-Salem  Board  of  Trade,  and  under  his 
leadership  that  organization  is  making  a  record 
year  of  performance  for  the  development  of  the 
city  along  different  lines.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Twin  City  Club  and  the  Forsyth  County  Country 
Club. 

In  February,  1907,  Mr.  Galloway  married  Miss 
Mary  Gray,  member  of  a  prominent  family  of 
Winston-SaJera,  and  daughter  of  James  and 
Aurelia  (Bowman)  Gray.  They  are  the  parents 
of  two  sons,  James  Bowman  and  Alexander,  Jr. 

WrLLL\M  Arch  Bradsher,  M.  D.  The  profes- 
sion of  medicine  is  one  to  which  many  aspire,  but 
in  which  only  the  chosen  few  meet  with  any  com- 
parative degree  of  success.  Of  the  physicians  of 
Person  County  who  have  attained  distinction  and 
prosperity  in  their  profession,  one  of  the  best 
known  is  Dr.  William  Arch  Bradsher,  who  has  been 
engaged  in  pjractiee  at  Eoxboro  since  1904.  He 
began  his  career  as  a  public  instructor,  but  after 
several  years  of  teaching  turned  his  attention  to 
medicine,  with  the  result  that  today  he  occupies 
a  prominent  and  helpful  place  in  his  community. 

Doctor  Bradsher  is  a  native  son  of  Person  County, 
and  was  born  September  15,  1877,  his  parents 
being  D'Arcy  William  and  Mildred  (Satterfield) 
Bradsher.  His  father  was  well  known  in  the  lo- 
cality of  Eoxboro  and  for  many  years  occupied  the 
position  of  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Person 
County.  The  public  and  high  schools  of  the  county 
scat  furnished  the  basis  for  Doctor  Bradsher 's  edu- 
cation, following  which  he  attended  Wake  Forest 
College.  He  had  a  creditable  college  career,  and  in 
1898  and  1899  acted  as  manager  of  the  college 
paper,   the  Wake    Forest    College   Student,    which 


I'.'E 


f  ASTOP,  LENOX  i 


t-\^\ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


79 


prospered  aud  flourished  under  his  handling  of  its 
affairs.  He  was  graduated  in  1899  with  the  degree 
of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  secured  the  position  of 
principal  of  the  lioxboro  High  School,  which  he  re- 
tained from  1899  until  1901,  then  resigning  in 
order  to  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  his  chosen 
profession.  ,  He  entered  the  medical  department  of 
the  University  of  Maryland  at  that  time,  and 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine 
in  19U4.  When  he  was  licensed  to  practice,  in  the 
same  year,  he  was  one  of  three  to  be  mentioned 
with  honor  before  the  examining  board.  Doctor 
Bradsher  immediately  entered  upon  the  practice 
of  his  profession  at  Roxboro,  aud  his  professional 
business  has  grown  steadily  since  that  time.  He 
is  accounted  a  skilled  practitioner,  an  able  advisor 
and  a  thorouglily  competent  surgeon ;  aud  his  strict 
observance  of  professional  ethics  gives  him  an  ex- 
cellent standing  among  his  fellow-members  of  the 
fraternity.  Doctor  Bradsher  belongs  to  the  Person 
County  Medical  Society,  the  North  Carolina  State 
Medical  Society,  the  Southern  Medical  Society  and 
the  American  Medical  Association.  He  has  had  his 
full  share  of  public  service,  and  has  discharged 
faithfully  and  efficiently  the  duties  devolving  upon 
him  as  a  member  of  the  county  board  of  education, 
to  which  he  formerly  belonged;  as  county  physician 
for  ten  years;  and  at  present  as  a  member  of  the 
local  exemption  board. 

Doctor  Bradsher  was  married  July  6, 1910,  to  Miss 
Anna  Price  Merritt,  of  Person  County,  North  Car- 
olina, and  to  this  union  there  have  been  born  two 
children :  Kilcen  Merritt  and  Anne  Torian.  Doctor 
and  Mrs.  Bradsher  are  members  of  the  Missionary 
Baptist  Church. 

Henry  Clay  Carter.,  Jr.,  whose  position  as  a 
lawyer  is  among  the  leaders  of  the  profession,  has 
been  in  active  practice  at  Washington  since  his 
admission  to  the  bar. 

He  w)as  born  at  Fairfield,  North  Carolina, 
October  8,  1883,  a  son  of  Henry  Clay  and  Robeua 
(Spencer)  Carter.  His  father  was  a  farmer.  Mr. 
Carter  was  educated  in  the  Fairfield  Academy, 
took  his  academic  work  at  Trinity  College  at 
Durham,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1904,  and  in 
1906  completed  his  law  studies  in  the  Vniversity 
•;f  North  Carolina.  Mr.  Carter  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  February,  1906,  and  soon  afterward 
began  general  practice  at  Washington.  Here 
the  interests  of  a  growing  clientage  have  claimed 
his  time  and  attention  but  he  also  served  two  years 
as  county  attorney  and  for  the  past  eight  years 
iias  been  city  attorney  of  Washington. 

Mr.  Carter  is  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina 
Bar  Association,  belongs  to  the  Benevolent  and 
Protective  Order  of  Elks  and  is  quite  active  in 
di'mocratie  party  affairs,  having  served  as  presi- 
dential elector  in  1916. 

November  4,  1908,  he  married  Lucile  Thorn 
^icholson,  daughter  of  Dr.  Samuel  C.  and  Annie 
Elizabeth  (Lucas)  Nicholson,  of  Washington. 
They  have  three  children:  David  Nicholson,  Caro- 
line Virginia  and  William  Baker. 

William  J.  Byerly.  Endowed  by  nature  with 
far  more  than  average  business  capacity  and  judg- 
ment, William  J.  Byerly,  of  Mount  Airy,  the 
leading  financier  of  Surry  County,  has  been  the 
chief  moving  spirit  in  the  organization  of  banking 
institutions,  not  only  in  his  own,  but  in  various 
other  counties.  Officially  connected  with  each  of 
the  banks  that  he  has  helped  establish,  whose  ag- 
gregate  deposits  now  amount  to  over   $2,500,000, 


his  wise  counsel  and  far-seeing  financial  vision 
has  ever  been  at  their  service,  and  his  personal 
reputation  invariably  inspires  the  public  with  con- 
fidence in  their  stability  and  worth.  A  native  of 
North  Carolina,  Mr.  Byerly  was  born  at  Yadkin 
College,  Davidson  County,  which  was  likewise  the 
birthplace  of  both  his  father,  John  F.  Byerly,  and 
of  his  grandfather,  Frank  Byerly. 

Peter  Byerly,  the  great-grandiather  of  William 
J.,  was  born  aud  reared  in  Germany.  Immigi'ating 
to  America,  he  came  directly  to  this  state,  settling 
as  a  pioneer  in  Davidson  County.  Securing  title 
to  a  large  tract  of  land  bordering  on  the  Yadkin 
Eiver,  he  improved  the  waterpower,  and  there 
erected  one  of  the  first  flour  mills  established  in 
this  part  of  the  country.  Clearing  a  goodly  por- 
tion of  the  land,  he  was  there  engaged  in  farming 
and  milling  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Inheriting  a  plantation,  Frank  Byerly,  gi-and- 
father  of  William  J.  Byerly,  carried  on  general 
farming  with  slave  labor,  and  there  spent  the  ma- 
jor part  of  his  long  life  of  eighty-nine  years.  He 
married  a  Miss  Phillips,  and  they  reared  a  family 
of  five  children,  as  follows:  Wesley,  Fanny,  John 
F.,  Lindsay  and  Ephraim. 

John  F.  Byerly,  father  of  W.  J.  Byerly,  was 
educated  at  Yadkin  College,  and  at  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Civil  war  enlisted  in  the  regiment  com- 
manded by  Col.  .James  A.  Leach,  and  went  to  the 
front.  He  was  twice  wounded  in  battle,  but,  with 
the  exception  of  three  months  spent  in  recuperating 
from  his  injuries,  continued  in  service  until  the 
close  of  the  conflict,  being  in  Appomattox  at  the 
surrender.  Returning  home,  he  resumed  liis  agri- 
cultural labors.  He  continued  as  a  farmer  until 
his  death,  in  1912.  He  married  Elizabeth  Hartley, 
who  was  born  at  Yadkin  College,  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  W.  and  Martha  (Gobble)  Hartley.  She 
survived  her  husband,  and  is  now  living  with  a 
daughter  in  Advance,  Davie  County,  this  state. 
She  has  reared  seven  children,  namely:  William 
J.,  the  special  subject  of  this  sketch ;  Nora,  wife 
of  C.  M.  Sheets,  of  Wilkesboro ;  Georgina,  wife  of 
C.  J.  Taylor,  of  Advance;  Tullia,  wife  of  William 
Poindextcr,  of  Winston  Salem;  Thomas  J.,  a  well 
known  lianker  of  National  City  Bank  of  New  York 
City;  Guler,  aud  May. 

After  leaving  Y'adkin  College,  where  he  was  edu- 
cated, William  J.  Byerly,  in  1892,  went  to  Lexing- 
ton, Davidson  County,  where  he  was  em]iloyed  as 
a  bookkeeper  in  the  Bank  of  Lexington  for  three 
years.  Going  from  there  in  1895  to  Louisburg, 
iSTorth  Carolina,  and  accepted  the  position  of  cash- 
ier. He  organized  the  Farmers  &  Merchants  Bank, 
and  gained  an  experience  that  has  since  been  of 
inestimable  value  to  him.  Locating  at  Mount  Airy 
in  1905  Mr.  Byerly  made  good  use  of  the  knowl- 
edge he  had  iireviously  obtained  by  organizing 
the  Bank  of  Mount  Airy,  of  which  he  has  since 
been  the  president,  in  that  capacity  managing  its 
affairs  with  wisdom  and  discretion.  He  had,  how- 
ever, before  that  year,  organized  two  institutions 
of  a  similar  nature,  in  1901  having  established  at 
Mocksville  the  Bank  of  Davie  and  Bairk  of  French 
Broad  at  Marshall  in  which  he  is  a  director,  and 
in  1902  having  organized,  at  Taylorsville,  the  Bank 
of  Alexander,  which  he  has  since  served  as  vice 
president. 

Mr.  Byerly  is  likewise  president  of  the  Bank  of 
Yadkin,  at  Y'adkinville,  which  he  organized  in 
1905,  and  is  a  director  in  several  other  banking 
institutions,  including  the  Bank  of  Stokes  County, 
at  Danbury,  and  the  Bank  of  Wilkes,  at  Wilkes- 
boro,  both   of   which  he   organized   in   1907;   and 


80 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


the  Commercial  and  Farmers  Bank  at  Rural  Hall, 
and  the  Commercial  and  Savings  Bank  at  Boone- 
v-ille,  both  of  which  he  organized  in  1908.  Mr. 
Byerly  is  also  a  director  of  the  North  Carolina 
Granite  Corporation,  and  as  a  stockholder  is  finan- 
cially interested  in  various  other  corporations. 
Faithful  to  the  trusts  and  confidence  reposed  in 
him,  he  gives  his  personal  attention  to  the  various 
organizations  with  which  he  is  connected,  allowing 
nothing  to  escape  his  observation  that  would  ad- 
vance their  financial  status  and  prosperity. 

Mr.  Byerly  married  Miss  May  E.  Leonard,  of 
Lexington,  in  1898,  a  daughter  of  W.  C.  B.  and 
MoUie  Leonard.  Mrs.  Byerly  died  in  1916.  Mr. 
Byerly  is  a  member  of  the  Central  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South,  in  which  he  is  serving  as 
steward. 

Jacob  Cicero  Tise.  At  an  early  hour  on  Octo- 
ber 1.3,  1917,  the  lifework  of  Mr.  Jacob  Cicero  Tise 
of  Winston-Salem  came  to  its  close.  But,  as  one 
who  has  known  him  long  wrote  at  the  time,  ' '  this 
is  not  the  end.  The  good  which  he  has  done  will 
live  on.  How  much  useful  work  he  has  done  and 
what  influences  for  good  have  found  their  source  in 
his  mind  and  heart  will  appear  greater  in  the 
years  to  come  when  viewed  in  distant  retrospec- 
tion. ' ' 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  resident  of  North  Carolina 
entered  business  at  an  earlier  age  then  Jacob 
Cicero  Tise.  He  was  a  bona  fide  merchant  when 
only  ten  years  of  age.  His  father  was  backing 
him,  and  of  course  exercising  more  or  less  super- 
vision over  his  activities.  However,  he  showed 
keen  business  instincts  from  the  start  and  for  a 
great  many  years  occupied  one  of  the  leading 
mercantile  establishments  of  Winston.  He  long 
ago  retired  from  the  role  of  merchant  and  after- 
wards concerned  himself  with  extensive  real  estate 
interests,  becoming  proprietor  of  the  famous  Vade 
Mecum  Spring  and  tourist  resort  north  of  Winston- 
Salem. 

His  life  and  growth  were  almost  contempor- 
aneous with  that  of  his  native  and  beloved  city. 
Born  at  Winston  October  24,  1855,  he  had  been  an 
important  factor  in  its  activities  for  more  than 
half  a  century.  Although  the  meridian  seemed 
hardly  passed  he  had  left  little  undone  to  complete 
the  life  task  of  a  real  man. 

By  birth  and  training  he  was  weU  endowed  for 
a  career  of  usefulness.  His  parents  made  for 
themselves  and  their  children  a  typical  American 
home  of  their  day,  from  which  most  of  our  strong 
men  have  come — a  home  where  industry,  economy, 
integrity  and  religion  were  taught  and  practiced. 

His  father,  Jacob  Tise,  was  born  in  Davidson 
County,  North  Carolina,  December  1.3,  1817,  came 
to  Salem  when  a  young  man,  and  there  served  an 
apprenticeship  at  the  blacksmith  and  carriage 
making  trade.  After  becoming  a  master  workman 
he  bought  property  in  the  new  Town  of  Winston. 
He  put  up  his  shop  on  the  forks  at  the  junction 
of  Main  and  Liberty  Street.  That  shop  was  the 
home  of  high  class  workmanship  and  many  well 
built  wagons  and  carriages  were  made  there.  His 
home  was  directly  across  Main  Street  from  the 
shop,  and  the  old  house  is  still  standing,  though  it 
has  been  removed  from  its  original  location.  Jacob 
Tise,  Sr.,  was  a  very  successful  business  man  and 
one  o'f  the  pioneers  of  Winston.  Out  of  the  pro- 
ceeds of  his  business  he  bought  property,  including 
the  block  east  of  and  across  Main  Street  from  the 
postolfice.  At  that  time  only  two  buildings  stood 
on  this  block.     Besides  wagon  and  carriage  build- 


ing he  was  a  merchant,  and  he  continued  his  use- 
ful and  honorable  career  in  the  city  until  his  death 
at  the  age  of  eighty-seven.  Jacob  Tise  married 
Margaret  Kiser.  She  was  born  November  19,  1825, 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Betty  (Ripple)  Kiser. 
Henry  Kiser  was  a  son  of  Tandy  Kiser,  wno 
operated  an  extensive  plantation  and  had  upwards 
of  a  100  slaves  in  his  service.  His  last  years 
were  spent  on  his  farm  near  Rural  Hall  in  Forsyth 
County.  Henry  Kiser  also  owned  and  occupied  a 
large  farm  five  miles  from  Germanton  in  Stokes 
County.  He  and  his  wife  lived  there  until  death 
overtook  them  when  upwards  of  ninety  years  of 
age.  Mrs.  Jacob  Tise  died  in  March,  19i5,  when 
eighty-nine  years  old.  She  was  a  greatly  beloved 
woman  and  one  of  the  oldest  residents  of  Winston 
at  the  time  of  her  death.  She  reared  four  chil- 
dren: Mary  J.,  who  married  Sihon  A.  Ogburn,  of 
Winston  Salem,  Martha  Ann,  who  became  the  wife 
of  John  H.  Masten,  Charles  H.,  now  deceased,  and 
Jacob  Cicero. 

The  school  from  which  Jacob  Cicero  Tise 
received  most  of  his  early  instruction  was  known 
as  Liberty  Academy.  Its  sessions  were  held  in  a 
log  cabin.  The  seats  were  made  of  slab  benches 
and  as  the  furnishings  throughout  were  most  primi- 
tive, the  instruction  was  also  confined  to  the  funda- 
mentals. 

His  entrance  into  merchandising  at  the  age  of 
ten  years  has  already  been  referred  to.  Probably 
wishing  to  encourage  good  business  practices  in 
his  boy,  his  father  set  aside  a  small  portion  of  a 
building  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Liberty  and 
Third  streets,  and  the  stock  presided  over  by 
young  Tise  consisted  of  ginger  cakes  and  beer. 
The  beer  was  made  by  his  mother  from  molasses. 
The  cakes  ana  beer  were  of  excellent  quality,  and 
the  boy  had  no  diiBculty  in  disposing  of  the  entire 
stock  every  day.  It  was  a  money  making  institu- 
tion and  in  a  short  time,  when  more  room  was 
required,  a  partition  was  removed  and  the  busi- 
ness took  its  first  step  of  progress.  A  stock  of 
general  merchandise  was  installed  and  afterwards 
the  trade  was  extended  to  farm  implements.  The 
father  shared  in  the  profits  with  his  boy,  but  the 
latter  was  in  active  charge,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two  became  an  independent  merchant. 
After  that  he  sold  goods  in  Winston  on  a  very 
successful  scale  until  1892.  In  that  year  he  retired 
from  merchandising  and  gave  all  his  attention  to 
the  handling  of  real  estate.  He  bought,  improved 
and  sold  both  city  and  suburban  lots,  and  was 
successful  himself  and  did  much  to  develop  some 
hitherto  neglected  portions  of  Winston-Salem. 

In  1900  he  organized  a  stock  company  and 
bought  the  Vade  Mecum  Springs  property  of  3,000 
acres,  located  in  Stokes  County.  A  few  years  later 
Mr.  Tise  became  sole  proprietor,  and  thereafter 
expended  upwards  of  $100,000  in  improving  and 
beautifying  this  wonderful  springs  resort,  which 
travelers  far  and  wide  have  visited  and  which  is 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  places  of  its  kind  in 
North  Carolina. 

On  November  5,  1884,  Mr.  Tise  married  Miss 
Laura  Ellen  Miller  at  Riverside,  North  Carolina. 
Their  lives  blended  into  a  union  of  perfect  help- 
fulness, congeniality  and  happiness.  A  cultivated 
voice,  rich  in  expression  of  sacred  music,  which 
she  possessed,  had  its  influence  in  leading  him  to 
her  own  church.  He  loved  music  and  had  appre- 
ciation for  the  beautiful  in  art  and  nature  alike. 
Mrs.  Tise  was  born  in  Ciemmons  Township  of 
Forsyth  County,  a  daughter  of  John  W.  Miller, 
who  was  bom  on  the  same  farm,  a  granddaughter 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


81 


of  John  Miller,  and  a  great-granddaughter  of  John 
Miller,  a  native  of  Germany.  This  last  John  Miller 
moved  to  England  and  spent  the  rest  of  his  live 
there.  He  reared  three  children,  John,  Frederick 
and  Elizabeth.  They  inherited  considerable  prop- 
erty from  their  father  and  all  of  them  came  to 
America  and  located  in  North  Carolina.  Mrs. 
Tise  's  grandfather,  John  Miller,  bought  some 
large  tracts  of  land  bordering  Yadkin  Eiver  in 
what  was  then  Stokes  County.  Many  slaves  were 
employed  to  operate  this  laud.  He  also  im- 
proved the  power  on  the  Yadkin  Eiver,  erecting 
a  flour  and  saw  mill  whose  wheels  were  kept  turn- 
ing many  years  and  gave  a  notable  service  in  fur- 
nishing provision  and  lumber  for  a  large  district. 
The  John  Miller  residence  in  Clemmons  Township 
overlooked  the  Yadkin  River,  and  that  was  his 
home  until  his  death  at  an  advanced  age.  Grand- 
father John  Miller  married  Elizabeth  McBride, 
also  a  native  of  England.  They  reared  eight  chil- 
dren :  Nicholas,  Jonathan,  Elizabeth,  Mary,  Patty, 
Nancy,  John  and  Thomas.  John  W.  Miller,  father 
of  Mrs.  Tise,  grew  up  in  Clemmons  Township, 
attended  the  public  schools,  and  succeeded  to  the 
ownership  of  the  old  homestead.  He  also  had 
numerous  slaves  until  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 
He  operated  his  land  for  general  farming  and  also 
conducted  the  mills  established  by  his  father.  He 
remained  in  that  community  until  his  death.  John 
W.  Miller  married  Eliza  Ward,  who  was  born  in 
Davie  County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Levin 
Ward.  Levin  Ward  was  a  native  of  England,  came 
to  America  when  a  young  man,  and  settled  in 
Davie  County  and  acquired  some  large  tracts  of 
land,  which  were  operated  with  slave  labor.  He 
continued  a  resident  of  Davie  County  until  his 
death.  Levin  Ward's  first  wife,  the  grandmother 
of  Mrs.  Tise,  was  a  Miss  Brook,  who  died  in  early 
life,  leaving  just  one  daughter.  Mrs.  John  W. 
Miller  died  when  ninety-one  years  of  age.  She 
reared  ten  children:  Elizabeth,  Thomas,  Minnie, 
Weslev,  Martha,  William,  Virginia,  Cenie,  Laura 
E.  (M'rs.  Tise),  and  Dora.  Mrs.  Tise 's  father  was 
a  member  of  the  Moravian  Church  while  her  mother 
was  a  Methodist. 

While  it  is  important  that  the  above  facts 
should  be  incUuled  as  the  main  essentials  of 
biographical  outline,  it  remains  to  describe  more 
adequately  the  personal  character  of  the  late  Mr. 
Tise.  Fortunately  this  has  been  well  done  by  one 
whose  words  have  already  been  quoted.  This 
sketch  may  well  conclude  with  the  appreciation 
penned  by  the  same  writer: 

"Few  indeed  are  men  gifted  with  a  mind  more 
alert,  a  memory  more  accurate,  a  judgment  better 
balanced,  or  a  comprehension  more  complete  than 
he  possessed.  Equally  facile  with  mind  or  hand 
he  could  organize,  direct  or  execute  works  of  great 
variety  and  importance.  Early  in  life  he  was  a 
merchant,  and  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  the 
most  successful  salesman  of  his  day.  Later  he 
turned  to  manufacturing  and  achieved  success 
equally  marked.  Still  later  he  saw  the  need  of 
broadening  the  markets  of  his  city  and  turned  to 
the  building  of  warehouses  and  threw  his  wonder- 
ful persojiality  and  rare  gifts  of  trade  into  our 
near  and  remote  territory,  where  he  is  today  best 
remembered  as  the  farmers  friend  at  the  great 
tobacco  market  of  Winston-Salem. 

"His  faith  in  the  growth  of  his  city  and  Pied- 
mont, North  Carolina,  was  instinctive  and  without 
faltering  grew  with  passing  years.  By  acquiring 
and  improving  real  estate,  he  early  in  life  laid  a 
foundation  for  a  fortune.  No  city  ever  had  a 
Vol.  IV—    « 


more  loyal  supporter  nor  one  who  enjoyed  its 
growth  more  thoroughly.  Fortunate  in  his  own 
undertakings,  he  was  equally  happy  over  the  suc- 
cess of  others;  and  if  ever  one  to  whom  he  has 
given  disinterested  advice  had  accepted  his  clear 
vision  of  the  future,  hundreds  of  us  would  gather 
at  his  bier  today  to  acknowledge  him  our  benefac- 
tor. 

' '  Since  he  has  passed  away  there  is  a  void  in  our 
community  which  will  not  soon  be  filled.  We  shall 
miss  the  genial  smile  and  cordial  greeting  he  had 
for  all — the  rich  and  poor  alike;  we  shall  miss  his 
fluent  and  sparkling  conversation,  his  warm  wel- 
come in  the  home,  and  his  familiar  presence  in 
the  channels  of  our  city  's  life,  where  business  and 
pleasure  meet  and  mingle  together. 

' '  A  perfect  f aitli  in  God  sustained  him  to  the 
end  and  made  his  last  days  his  happiest  and  best. 
His  was  a  well  rounded  career;  but  until  the  veil 
shall  be  withdrawn,  it  will  seem  to  those  who 
knew  him  and  loved  him  that  his  life  was  far 
too  short. ' ' 

James  Anderson  Long.  One  of  the  most  prom- 
inent and  influential  citizens  of  Roxboro,  James 
Anderson  Long,  Jr.,  still  belongs  to  the  younger 
generation  of  business  men.  He  lielongs  to  that 
class  of  representative  men  who  while  promoting 
their  individual  interests  also  advance  the  general 
welfare,  and  who,  while  energetic  and  enterprising 
in  business  life  also  give  freely  of  their  energies 
and  assistance  in  public  matters.  While  his  career 
has  not  been  a  lengthy  one,  it  has  been  featured  by 
a  quick  rise  to  leadership,  and  at  the  present  Mr. 
Long  is  president  of  the  Roxboro  Cotton  Mill  and 
vice  president  of  the  Peoples  Bank. 

Mr.  Long  was  born  at  Roxboro,  North  Carolina, 
August  15,  1885,  and  is  a  son  of  James  Anderson 
and  Laura  Rebecca  (Thompson)  Long.  His  father 
was  born  in  Person  County,  North  Carolina,  May 
2.3,  1841,  a  son  of  Ratliff  and  Mary  (Walters) 
Long.  He  was  given  a  common  .school  education 
and  began  life  as  a  farmer,  but  the  Civil  war  came 
on  to  interrupt  his  career  and  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany H,  Twenty-fourth  North  Carolina  Regiment, 
C.  S.  A.,  in  which  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  sergeant. 
Later  in  life  he  became  major  on  the  staff  of  Gen. 
Julian  S.  Carr,  United  Confederate  Veterans.  When 
the  war  closed  he  resumed  his  farming  operations, 
but  his  interests  gradually  extended  to  other  fields, 
he  becoming  president  of  the  Peoples  Bank  of  Rox- 
boro and  of  the  two  Roxboro  Cotton  Mills,  and 
owner  of  the  Loch  Lily  Roller  Flour  and  Grist 
Mills,  Saw  Mills  and  Planing  Mills.  Mr.  Long  has 
been  prominently  before  the  public  in  many  posi- 
tions of  civic  trust.  As  early  as  1885  he  was  a 
member  of  the  North  Carolina  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives from  Person  County,  and  in  1889,  1901, 
1905  and  1909  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate.  He 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Kitchin  a  member  of 
the  State  Building  Commission  to  supervise  the 
erection  of  the  State  Administration  Building  pro- 
vided for  by  the  Legislature  of  1911,  and  was 
elected  by  Col.  Ashley  Home  as  a  member  of  the 
committee  to  supervise  the  erection  of  the  monu- 
ment to  the  North  Carolina  Women  of  the  Con- 
federacy, presented  by  Colonel  Home  to  the  State, 
to  be  erected  in  Capitol  Square,  Raleigh.  He  be- 
longs to  the  Methodist  Church,  is  a  trustee  of  the 
Methodist  Orphanage,  belongs  to  the  board  of  trus- 
tees of  Trinity  College,  and  is  chairman  of  the 
board  of  trustees  of  Greensboro  Female  College. 
In  1882  he  married  Laura  Rebecca  Thompson,  and 
tliey  became  the  parents  of  three  children. 


82 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


James  Anderson  Long,  Jr.,  received  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Roxboro,  follow- 
ing -n-hieh  he  became  a  student  at  Trinity  College, 
from  which  institution  he  was  graduated  in  1905 
with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  In  that  same 
year  be  was  tendered  and  accepted  a  position  as 
assistant  cashier  of  the  Peoples  Bank  of  Eoxboro 
and  remained  with  that  banking  house  during  the 
remainder  of  1905  and  a  part  of  1906.  He  then 
transferred  his  services  to  the  Roxboro  Cotton  Mill, 
as  assistant  treasurer,  and  in  January,  1916,  was 
elected  to  the  presidency  and  still  continues  therein. 
He  has  discharged  the  duties  of  his  post  in  a  man- 
ner that  has  caused  the  business  to  flourish  and 
develop,  and  in  the  meantime  has  also  retained  an 
interest  in  the  Peoples  Bank,  of  which  he  is  now 
vice  president.  Among  the  civic  labors  accom- 
plished by  Mr.  Long  may  be  mentioned  those  in 
connection  with  his  position  as  a  member  of  the 
toard  of  education  of  Person  County,  a  post  which 
he  fill?  at  this  time. 

Mr.  Long  was  married  November  9,  1912,  to  Ann 
!Elizabeth  (Bickford)  of  Lock  Haven,  Pennsyl- 
vania. They  have  three  children :  James  Anderson 
III,  Roliert  Edgar  and  Max  Bickford.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Long  are  members  of  the  Edgar  Long  Me- 
morial Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  he  is 
serving  as  steward. 

William  LeBot  Vaughan's  record  as  a  lawyer 
has  been  a  brilliant  one,  and  has  brought  him 
steady  promotion  to  the  better  honors  and  rewards 
of  the  profession  and  of  public  life.  He  has  prac- 
ticed at  Washington  since  his  admission  to  the  bar. 

Mr.  Vaughan  was  born  in  Halifax  County, 
North  Carolina,  January  29,  1880,  a  son  of  William 
Thomas  and  Martha  Eleanor  (Gray)  Vaughan, 
who  were  substantial  farming  people  in  Halifax 
County.  Mr.  Vaughan  received  his  earlier  educa- 
tion in  the  grammar  and  high  schools  of  his 
native  county,  also  attended  Scotland  Neck 
Academy  and  Wake  Forest  College,  where  he 
graduated  as  Bachelor  of  Arts  with  the  class  of 
1902  and  in  1906  received  the  Master  of  Arts 
degree.  For  several  years  he  taught  school,  a  year 
and  a  half  of  that  time  being  instructor  of 
English  in  Wake  Forest  College.  He  took  his 
law  studies  at  Wake  Forest,  graduating  from  the 
law  department  in  August,  1907.  In  January, 
1908,  he  began  active  practice  at  Washington,  and 
devoted  himself  to  the  law  until  September,  1909. 
At  that  date  the  Board  of  Education  appointed 
him  county  superintendent  of  scliools  and  he  was 
again  in  educational  work  until  he  resigned  the 
oiiice  in  1913.  He  then  became  associated  with 
N.  L.  Simmons,  under  the  name  Simmons  & 
Vaughan,  but  in  November,  1914,  was  elected  to 
the  office  of  .iudge  of  the  county  recorder 's  court 
and  was  reelected  in  1916.  Besides  his  public 
duties  he  is  now  handling  a  general  legal  practice 
alone  and  is  attorney  for  the  Washington-Beaufort 
Land  Company,  the  Washington  Building  and 
Loan  Association  and  for  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Washington. 

Mr.  Vaughan  is  a  member  of  the  Beaufort 
County  Bar  Association,  is  deacon  in  the  First 
Baptist  Church  and  teacher  of  the  Baraca  Class, 
is  a  Knight  Templar  Mason  and  a  Shriner  and  a 
member  of  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order 
of  Elks.  On  December  20,  1910,  he  married  Miss 
Carolina  Virginia  Simmons,  of  Washington.  They 
have  two  sons:  William  LeRoy,  Jr.,  and  Enoch 
Simmons. 


Joseph  B.  Sparger.  An  able  and  worthy  repre- 
sentative of  the  horticultural  interests  of  Surry 
County,  Joseph  B.  Sparger  is  officially  identified 
with  two  of  the  most  extensive  and  successful 
business  organizations  of  this  part  of  the  state, 
being  a  director  and  general  manager  of  the  Spar- 
ger Orchard  Company  and  president  of  the  State 
Mountain  Orchard  Compiany.  He  is  a  resident  of 
Mount  Airy  but  was  born  on  a  farm  lying  four 
miles  east  of  Mount  Airy,  where  his  father,  Wil- 
liam Sparger,  Jr.,  was  also  born,  his  birth  having 
occurred  in  1833. 

WUliam  Sparger,  Sr.,  grandfather  of  Joseph  B. 
Sparger,  was  also  born  on  this  parental  homestead, 
the  farm  of  which  his  father  hewed  from  the  wil- 
derness, having  bought  this  tract  of  wild  land  soon 
after  coming  to  North  Carolina  from  Holland,  his 
native  country.  His  brothers  and  sisters,  of  whom 
he  had  many,  all  changed  their  surnames,  it  is  be- 
lieved, from  its  original  form,  ' '  Wolfenbarger ' '  to 
' '  Sparger, ' '  and  all  but  two  of  his  brothers  mi- 
grated to  Ohio.  William  Sparger,  Sr.,  continued  a 
resident  of  Surry  County,  and  after  reaching  man- 
hood settled  in  Mount  Airy.  There  were  at  that 
time  no  railroads  in  the  gtate,  and  he  embarked  in 
business  as  a  freighter,  with  teams  transporting 
produce  of  all  kinds  to  FayetteviUe,  then  known 
as  Cross  Koads,  on  the  return  trip  bringing  a  load 
of  merchandise.  While  thus  engaged,  in  1834,  he 
was  robbed  on  the  road,  and  murdered.  His  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Nancy  Bryson,  was  born, 
it  is  thought,  in  Virginia.  She  survived  him  more 
than  half  a  century,  living  to  be  nearly  ninety 
years  old.  She  was  the  mother  of  three  sons  and 
four  daughters,  as  follows :  James,  John,  WUliam, 
Sally,  Joyce,  Mary  and  Jane. 

William  Sparger,  Jr.,  a  little  lad,  scarce  a  year 
old  when  his  father  died,  was  brought  up  on  the 
home  farm,  and  early  in  life  served  an  apprentice- 
ship at  the  miller's  trade,  an  occupation  that  later 
exempted  him  from  service  in  the  Confederate 
army.  Accumulating  some  money,  he  subsequent- 
ly invested  in  land,  buying  land  which  included  a 
part  of  his  grandfather 's  original  estate,  situated 
four  miles  east  of  Mount  Airy.  During  the  prog- 
ress of  the  Civil  war,  he  operated  J.  W.  Brower's 
grist  mill  in  Hamburg,  continuing  its  management 
a  number  of  years.  Assuming  then  the  possession 
of  his  farm,  he  was  there  employed  in  agricultural 
pursuits  until  his  death,  July,  1915.  He  married 
Sarah  Witcher,  a  native  of  Carroll  County,  Vir- 
ginia. She  passed  to  the  life  beyond  in  1912,  leav- 
ing six  children,  namely:  Allen  L.,  William  S., 
Joseph  B.,  James  A.,  Mary  and  Joyce. 

Acquiring  his  early  education  in  the  district 
schools,  and  the  public  schools  of  Mount  Airy,  Jo- 
seph B.  Sparger  was  fitted  for  a  teacher  at  the 
Oak  Ridge  Institute,  in  Guilford  County.  Enter- 
ing upon  a  professional  career,  he  taught  school 
four  years,  and  then  decided  to  make  a  change  in 
his  occupation.  Locating  in  Mount  Airy,  Mr.  Spar- 
ger embarked  in  the  hardware  business,  and  in  ad- 
dition became  a  manufacturer  of  chairs,  and 
dressed  lumber.  Being  successful  in  the  manage- 
ment of  these  enterprises,  he  continued  both  until 
1909. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Sparger  had  become  ac- 
tively interested  in  the  culture  of  fruits,  a  branch 
of  horticulture  with  which  he  is  very  familiar,  and 
now,  as  director  and  general  manager  of  the  Spar- 
ger Orchard  Company  superintends  the  growing 
and  fruit  gathering  of  30,000  productive  apple  and 
peach  trees,  whUe  as  president  of  the  State  Moun- 


(y(^4vCUiaJJl 


-..„,  \ 


TIL" 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


83 


tain  Orchard  Company,  which  owns  800  acres  of 
mountain  fruit  land,  he  is  Isept  -busily  employed 
at  his  favorite  industry. 

Mr.  Sparger  married,  in  1892,  Miss  Bettie  Case, 
who  was  born  in  Guilford  County,  North  Carolina, 
a  daughter  of  Charles  and  Elizabeth  (Prathen) 
Case.  Of  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sparger  four 
children  have  been  born,  namely:  Margaret,  Ran- 
dall W.,  Collier  B.,  and  Eloise.  Both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Sparger  are  members  of  the  Central  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  South.  Politically  Mr. 
Sparger  is,  identified  with  the  republican  party, 
and  takes  an  active  interest  in  public  affairs.  He 
has  served  as  chairman  of  the  board  of  county 
commissioners,  and  as  a  delegate  to  numerous  dis- 
trict, county  and  state  conventions.  During  tlie 
time  that  he  was  chairman  of  the  board  of  county 
commissioners  the  county  voted  10  per  cent  for 
good  roads  and  built  one  of  the  best  courthouses 
in  the  state  at  the  cost  of  $120,000.  Seventy  steel 
and  concrete  bridges  were  also  built  in  the  county. 
Having  the  county  demonstrated  for  improved 
farming  industries  and  an  assistant  lady  county 
demonstrator  to  improve  such  industries  as  canning 
fruit,  etc.,  was  due  to  Mr.  Sparger 's  influence. 

Hon.  Gideon  Hill  Hastings.  One  of  the  fore- 
most members  of  the  Winston-Salem  bar,  Hon. 
Gideon  Hill  Hastings,  has  won  his  position  through 
no  happy  chance.  His  career  from  the  time  he  left 
college  halls  has  been  one  of  constant  apjilication 
and  sturdy  industry,  of  success  well  and  worthily 
won.  Besides  serving  a  large  clientage  he  has 
also  accepted  the  call  of  public  responsibilities  and 
made  an  efficient  record  while  a  member  of  the 
Legislature. 

He  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Abbotts  Creek  Town- 
ship of  Forsyth  County,  and  his  ancestors  came 
out  of  England,  first  locating  in  New  England, 
and  from  there  going  to  Pennsylvania.  Some  of 
the  later  generations  spelled  the  name  Hasten. 
Mr.  Hastings '  grandfather  was  born  either  in 
Pennsylvania  or  in  Granville  County,  North  Caro- 
lina. Prom  the  latter  locality  he  removed  to 
Stokes  County,  buying  land  in  Abbotts  Creek 
Township.  He  had  some  slaves  and  worked  his 
farm  with  their  labor.  In  that  community  he 
continued  to  live  the  rest  of  his  days.  He  mar- 
ried a  Miss  McElroy. 

John  Hastings,  father  of  Gideon  H.,  was  born 
in  1812.  He  became  a  man  of  substantial  means 
and  distinguished  himself  by  much  enterprise.  He 
bought  upwards  of  six  hundred  acres  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  roads  leading  from  Salisbury  to  Dan- 
bury  and  from  Winston  to  Greensboro.  To  accom- 
modate the  large  traffic  passing  this  crossroads 
point  he  kept  both  a  tavern  and  a  store.  In  1860 
he  sold  the  tavern  and  with  it  about  150  acres  of 
land.  Soon  afterward  he  built  a  large  country 
home  about  a  mile  northeast  of  the  old  tavern,  and 
there  applied  himself  entirely  to  farming.  This 
was  his  liome  until  his  death  in  1886,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-four.  His  first  wife  was  Susan  Payne, 
who  was  born  in  Guilford  County,  North  Carolina, 
daughter  of  Franklin  Payne.  She  died  in  1874. 
The  mother  of  Gideon  H.  Hastings  was  Louisa 
Whicker.  She  was  born  in  Forsyth  County,  daugh- 
ter of  Oliphant  and  Jane  (Wilson)  Whicker.  She 
died  in  1917.  They  reared  three  children:  Bertha, 
Gideon  H.  and  Raliah  L.  Bertha  is  the  wife  of 
C.  R.  Atkins.  Ral.iah  L.  now  occupies  the  old 
homestead  and  lives  with  his  mother.  By  his  first 
marriage  John  Hastings  had  five  children,  named 
Jane,   .lulia,   Almah,   Constantino   B.   and   John   R. 

The  early  environment  to  which  he  was  accus- 


tomed as  a  boy  Mr.  Hastings  found  in  tlie  rural 
district  where  his  father  had  his  farming  interests. 
There  he  attended  a  rural  school,  afterward  Ker- 
nerswlle  High  School,  and  his  education  was  con- 
tinued through  Yadkin  Valley  Institute  at  Boon- 
ville  and  in  Elon  College.  Teaching  was  one  of 
his  early  experiences,  and  by  that  vocation  he 
earned  some  of  the  means  which  enabled  him  to 
prepare  for  the  bar.  He  taught  his  first  term  of 
school  in  Abbotts  Creek  Township.  For  one  year 
he  had  charge  of  the  graded  schools  in  Kerners- 
ville. 

Mr.  Hastings  studied  law  at  Wake  Forest  Col- 
lege and  in  the  Nashville  Law  School.  He  gradu- 
ated from  the  latter  school  in  1900  and  was 
admitted  to  the  North  Carolina  bar  in  1901.  In 
1902  Mr.  Hastings  removed  to  Winston  and  since 
that  date  has  been  steadily  increasing  his  reputa- 
tion as  a  reliable  and  safe  counselor  and  a  lawyer 
who  gives  an  efficient  service  to  every  interest 
intrusted  to  his  charge. 

In  li)02,  the  year  he  began  practice  at  Winston, 
Mr.  Hastings  married  Miss  Betty  Linville.  Mrs. 
Hastings  was  born  at  Kernersville  in  Forsyth 
County,  daughter  of  William  S.  and  Mary  Lin- 
ville. Two  children  have  been  born  to  their  union, 
Louise  and  Elizabeth. 

For  years  Mr.  Hastings  has  been  a  leader  in 
the  democratic  party  in  his  section  of  the  state. 
He  was  chairman  of  the  executive  committee  in 
1907-08.  For  six  years  he  served  as  municipal 
judge  of  Winston-Salem,  and  in  1905  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  State  Legislature.  While  in  the 
Legislature  he  was  a  member  of  the  judiciary 
committee  and  the  committee  on  state  institutions 
and  of  several  minor  committees.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Salem  Lodge  No.  27,  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows,  of  Twin  City  Camp  No.  27,  Wood- 
men of  the  World,  and  Kernersville  Council  of  the 
Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics. 

William  Louis  Poteat.  A  scientist  and  Chris- 
tian educator,  William  Louis  Poteat  has  been  pres- 
ident of  that  old  and  honored  North  Carolina 
institution  of  higher  learning.  Wake  Forest  College, 
since  June  22,  1905.  He  has  been  identified  with 
the  college  in  some  capacity  beginning  as  a  tutor, 
for  over  thirty-five  years.  His  work  and  attaint 
ments  have  made  his  name  vridely  known  not  only 
over  his  native  state  but  in  various  American  cen- 
ters of  learning. 

He  was  born  in  Caswell  County,  North  Carolina, 
October  20,  1856,  a  son  of  Capt.  James  and  Julia 
A.  (McNeill)  Poteat.  His  father,  also  a  native  of 
Caswell  County,  was  a  substantial  planter  in  that 
section  of  the  state.  His  brother,  Edwin  McNeill 
Poteat,  1903-18  was  president  of  Furman  Univer- 
sity at  Greenville,  South  Carolina,  resigning  in 
June,  1918,  and  was  a  recognized  leader  in  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention.  His  sister.  Miss  Ida 
Poteat,  has  been  Professor  of  Art  in  Meredith 
College  since  its  founding  in  1899. 

As  a  boy  William  Louis  Poteat  was  instructed 
by  private  tutors  in  his  father 's  home.  He  was 
jirepared  for  college  in  Miss  Lowndes '  scho'ol  in 
Yanceyville,  and  from  1872  to  1877,  excepting  the 
session  187.''.-74,  was  a  student  in  Wake  Forest  Col- 
lege, where  he  graduated  in  the  classical  course 
and  witli  the  degree  B.  A.  In  1889  the  college  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  Master  of  Arts  degree.  Other 
scholastic  honors  have  come  to  him  in  later  years. 
Baylor  University  of  Waco,  Texas,  honored  him 
witli  the  degree  LL.  D.  in  1905,  and  he  received  a 
similar  honor  from  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina in  1906. 


84 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


His  first  intention  was  to  take  up  the  legal  pro- 
fession, and  he  began  the  stuily  of  law,  Imt  in  the 
year  following  his  graduation  from  Wake  Forest  he 
was  appointed  a  tutor,  in  1878,  and  since  that  year 
has  been  continuously  a  member  of  the  faculty 
of  instruction.  In  1880  he  was  made  assistant  pro- 
fessor of  natural  history,  and  in  1883  took  the  chair 
of  biology,  which  he  still  holds  in  addition  to  his 
executive  responsibilities  as  president. 

In  the  meantime  he  has  pursued  his  special 
studies,  spending  a  short  time  in  the  Zoological 
In.stitute  of  the  University  of  Berlin,  and  also  took 
courses  in  the  Marine  Biological  Laboratory  at 
Woods  Hole,  Massachusetts.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  North  Carolina  Academy  of  Sciences,  of  which 
he  was  president  in  1902,  and  is  author  of  ' '  Labora- 
tory and  Pulpit,"  published  in  1901,  and  of  "The 
New  Peace,"  published  in  1915.  For  years  he  has 
been  a  lecturer  on  scientific  and  religious  subjects. 

From  April,  1897,  to  May,  1899,  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  North  Carolina  State  Board  of  Ex- 
aminers and  in  1914  a  member  of  the  Special 
Freight  Rate  Commission.  In  March,  1900,  he 
was  lecturer  on  the  Gay  Foundation  at  the  Southern 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary  in  Louisville,  during 
1904-05  was  Brooks  lecturer  on  science  and  re- 
ligion in  the  Hamilton  Theological  Seminary  at 
Hamilton,  New  York,  and  in  1915  Lewis  Holland 
lecturer  in  the  Southwestern  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary,  Fort  Worth,  Texas.  In  1897  he  was 
president  of  the  North  Carolina  Teachers  Assembly, 
and  in  190.3  was  elected  president  of  the  North  Car- 
olina Literary  and  Historical  Association.  He  has 
contributed  a  number  of  his  writings  to  scientific 
and  religious  journals. 

On  June  24,  1881,  he  married  Miss  Emma  J. 
Purefoy  of  Wake  Forest,  a  daughter  of  Eev.  A.  F. 
Purefoy. 

James  Arthur  Springer  is  one  of  the  oldest 
men  from  the  standpoint  of  continuous  identifica- 
tion in  the  coal  industry  of  North  Carolina.  He 
has  had  his  home  at  Wilmington  for  many  years, 
and  is  widely  known  as  president  of  the  Springer 
Coal  Company,  and  is  also  actively  identified  with 
banks  and  other  enterprises. 

He  was  born  in  Aroostook  County,  Maine, 
December  16,  1847,  a  son  of  James  Hobart  and 
Clara  (Wat.son)  Springer.  His  father  was  a 
lumber  manufacturer,  and  from  Maine  brought 
his  family  to  North  Carolina  in  1855,  spending 
two  years  in  Martin  County,  and  again  coming  to 
the  state  in  1860. 

James  A.  Springer  was  educated  chiefly  in  the 
schools  of  North  Carolina,  and  after  the  war  he 
engaged  in  the  coal  business,  and  in  187.3  e.stab- 
lished  the  Springer  Coal  Company,  which  he 
incorporated  in  1905.  He  is  president  of  that 
company,  is  president  and  treasurer  and  was 
organizer  of  the  Independent  Ice  Company  of 
Wilmington,  a  business  that  was  estahlislied  in 
1901,  is  a  director  of  the  Mur^hison  National 
Bank,  of  the  People's  Savings  Bank,  of  the 
[Delgado  Mills,  and  is  secretary  of  the  Cape 
Fear  Machine  Works. 

His  active  co-operation  goes  with  every  civic  and 
benevolent  movement  in  his  home  city  and  state. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
Oakdale  Cemetery  Company  and  is  a  ruling  elder 
in  the  First  Presbyterian   Church   of  Wilmington. 

On  November  27,  1873,  Mr.  Springer  married 
Miss  Agnes  L.  Struthers,  of  Colnmbus  County, 
North  Carolina.  Their  two  sons  are  now  grown 
and    active    business    men.      Horace    David    is    in 


New  York  City,  while  Samuel  Jennings  is  with 
the  Sjjringer  Coal  Company  and  is  treasurer  of 
the  company. 

Charles  A.  Hines.  By  his  capable  service  as  an 
attorney  and  a  record  of  obligations  and  responsi- 
bilities fully  performed  and  capably  discharged 
Mr.  Hines  has  for  a  number  of  years  been  recog- 
nized as  one  of  Greensboro 's  most  useful  and 
honored  citizens.  He  is  a  native  of  Guilford 
County,  has  spent  all  his  active  career  here,  and 
represents  one  of  the  old  and  honored  family 
names. 

Mr.  Hines  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Madison  Town- 
ship of  Guilford  County.  The  earliest  genera- 
tions of  the  family  were  from  Virginia.  His 
great-grandfather  died  at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  while 
tlie  War  of  1812  was  in  progress  and  at  a  time 
when  that  city  was  quarantined  because  of  yellow 
fever.  The  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  William  Hines,  a  native  of  Norfolk, 
who  in  young  manhood  came  to  Guilford  County, 
and  developed  a  large  plantation  in  Madison  Town- 
ship. Eventually  his  accumulations  were  repre- 
sented by  hundreds  of  acres  of  land  and  prior  to 
the  war  he  owned  many  slaves  who  cultivated  his 
fields  and  did  the  various  industries  of  the  planta- 
tion. He  died  when  eighty  years  of  age.  Grand- 
father Hines  married  Mary  Lilly  DeVault.  Her 
name  suggests  French  origin,  but  her  immediate 
ancestors  must  have  lived  in  the  Netherlands, 
since  she  was  trained  to  speak  the  Dutch  lan- 
sniage  and  always  read  faithfully  her  Dutch  Bible. 
She  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight,  the  mother  of 
ten  sons  and  five  daughters.  Eight  of  the  sons 
srrew  to  maturity,  five  of  them,  Ezekiel  D.,  Gideon 
D.,  Alfred,  Newton  and  William,  being  soldiers 
in  the  Confederate  army.  Alfred  and  Newton 
gave  uT)  their  lives  as  sacrifices   to  the  cause. 

Ezekiel  DeVault  Hines  was  born  in  Madison 
Township  in  1836.  He  had  a  district  school  educa- 
tion, also  attended  Monticello  Academy,  but  in- 
stead of  adopting  a  profession  he  determined  to 
devote  himself  to  farming.  He  was  thus  engaged 
when  the  war  broke  out  and  he  enlisted  and  served 
in  a  Confederate  regiment,  as  did  his  other  four 
brothers,  and  added  something  to  the  luster  of 
the  family  military  record.  After  the  war  he 
resumed  farming,  buying  300  acres  from  his  father 
and  in  the  course  of  time  he  had  one  of  the  well 
improved  and  valuable  farms  of  Madi.son  Town- 
ship. He  erected  good  buildings,  kept  his  culti- 
vation up  to  the  most  advanced  standards  and 
methods,  and  enjoyed  high  repute  among  his 
neighbors  and  friends.  He  died  at  the  age  of 
sixty-four  years.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Isabel  Wright,  who  was  born  in  Bockingham 
County,  a  daushter  of  Josiah  T.  and  Mary  Jane 
(Moore)  Wright.  Mrs.  Isabel  Hines  is  now  living 
in  Raleigh.  She  reared  four  children,  named 
Charles  A.,  Lacy  D.,  Hattie,  wife  of  L.  R.  Fair, 
and   Paisley   T. 

Charles  A.  Hines'  earliest  recollections  are  all 
of  the  home  farm.  While  a  boy  he  attended  dis- 
trict schools,  was  a  student  in  Jefferson  Academy, 
at  Elon  Collese.  and  from  there  entered  the  law 
department  of  the  tlniversitv  of  North  Carolina. 
Mr.  Hines  was  licensed  to  practice  in  February, 
1908,  and  the  subsequent  ten  years  have  been  busy 
ones  and  fruitful  in  experience  and  have  brought 
him  to  a  position  of  leadership  in  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  the  state.  During  the  first  two 
years  of  his  law  practice  he  was  associated  with 
Judge  Shaw. 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


In  November,  1912,  Mr.  Hiues  married  Miss  Ida 
Edwards  Wiustead,  who  was  born  at  Koxboro, 
Person  County,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of  fcJ.  B. 
ami  Ida  (Satterlield)  Winstead.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hiues  have  oue  daughter,  Dorothy  Byrd. 

Along  with  the  hiw  Mr.  Hiues  has  combined  an 
active  interest  and  a  dutitul  attention  to  public 
affairs  and  politics.  He  is  chairman  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  democratic  party  in  Guilford 
County  and  is  a  member  of  the  State  Executive 
Committee.  Fraternally  he  is  affiliated  with  Cor- 
inthian Lodge  No.  o42,  Ancient  Eree  and  Accepted 
Masons;  Greensboro  Council  No.  13,  Junior  Order 
of  United  American  Mechanics;  Greensboro  Camp 
No.  26.  Woodmen  of  the  World,  and  is  commandant 
of  the  local  camp  of  the  Sous  of  Confederate 
Veterans. 

Cornelius  Monroe  Vanstory.  The  City  of 
Greensboro  has  long  recognized  in  Cornelius  Mon- 
roe Vanstory  one  of  its  ablest  and  public  spirited 
citizens  as  well  as  one  of  its  most  capable  busi- 
ness men.  Mr.  Vanstory  has  never  desired  to  figure 
iu  pubbc  life  through  the  medium  of  politics,  and 
has  rendered  his  chief  service  iu  those  positions 
and  capacities  which  are  usually  without  any  re- 
muneration and  involve  milimited'  work  whicli 
oftentimes  goes  absolutely  unappreciated.  Mr. 
Vanstory  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  Masons  of 
North  Carolina. 

He  was  born  in  Guilford  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, a  son  of  John  Henry  and  Kate  B.  (Gordon) 
Vanstory.  Grandfather  Dr.  Cornelius  M.  Vanstory 
was  for  many  years  a  practicing  physician  iu  Guil- 
ford County.  He  was  descended  from  a  family  of 
sturdy  Hollanders.  John  H.  Vanstory  was  a  North 
Carolina  farmer  and  spent  all  his  life  in  Guilford 
County.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Woodson 
and  Mary  (Greene)  Gordon.  Her  grandfather 
Gordon  served  as  a  general  in  the  Revolutionary 
war: 

Cornelius  M.  Vanstory  grew  up  in  the  atmos- 
]ihere  of  the  country,  had  a  good  business  educa- 
tion, and  when  a  young  man  sought  the  bigger 
and  broader  opportunities  of  commercial  life.  At 
Greensboro  he  entered  merchandising,  acquired  a 
thorough  experience  and  then  founded  the  Van- 
story clothing  business  which  has  grown  and  pros- 
pered and  is  now  one  of  the  largest  enterprises 
of  its  kind  in  Guilford  County.  Out  of  his  suc- 
cess as  a  merchant  Mr.  Vanstory  has  extended  his 
interests  to  other  fields  and  has  acquired  a  large 
amount  of  city  property.  He  is  a  director  of  the 
Greensboro  National  Bank,  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Examiners  of  the  Greensboro  Loan  and  Trust 
Company,  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Vanstory  & 
Balsley,  real  estate,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Mer- 
chants' and  Manufacturers'  Club  of  the  Young 
Men  's  Christian  Association. 

His  affiliations  with  Masonry  deserve  a  brief 
paragraph  by  themselves.  He  is  a  member  of 
Corinthian  Lodge  No.  .542,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  of  which  he  is  past  master;  of  Chorazen 
Cliapter  No.  13,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  of  which  he 
is  past  high  priest;  of  Greensboro  Council  No.  3, 
Royal  and  Select  Masters;  Ivanhoe  Commandery 
No.  S.  Knights  Templar,  of  which  he  is  past  grand 
commander;  Carolina.  Consistory  No.  1  of  the 
Scottish  Rite  at  Charlotte;  Oasis  Temple  of  the 
Mystic  Shrine  at  Charlotte  and  also  Haji  Mecca 
Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine  at  New  York.  In 
191.5-16  he  served  as  grand  commander  of  the 
National  Knights  Templar  of  the  United  States. 
He  is  chairman  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 


Masonic  and  Eastern  Star  Home  of  North  Caro- 
lina. 

Mr.  Vanstory  is  also  affiliated  with  Greensboro 
Lodge  No.  602,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
of  which  he  is  now  exalted  ruler,  and  is  a  past 
chancellor  of  the  local  lodge  of  Knights  of 
Pythias. 

As  a  public  spirited  citizen  there  has  been  noth- 
ing m  Mr.  Vanstory  's  lite  which  would  expose  him 
to  the  slightest  danger  of  being  held  up  as  a 
' '  slacker. ' '  He  has  always  been  willing  to  do  his 
part,  though  practical  politics  has  never  been  a 
really  congenial  field.  He  was  for  several  years 
a  member  of  the  City  School  Board,  and  during 
the  present  war  with  Germany  in  1917-18  he  holds 
a  position  through  appointment  and  commission 
from  Governor  Bickett  as  chairman  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Defense  for  Guilford  Coimty,  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  transportation,  and  chairman  of 
the  county  food  administration. 

November  17,  1887,  Mr.  Vanstory  married  Miss 
Cora  McLane  Moore.  She  was  born  in  Greens- 
boro, daughter  of  Maj.  James  Roljert  and  Nar- 
cisa  (Unthank)  McLane.  Her  father.  Major  Mc- 
Lane, was  an  attorney  and  for  several  years  a 
member  of  the  Greensboro  bar  and  prominent  iu 
public  affairs.  During  the  war  he  served  as  a 
member  of  the  Confederate  Congress.  Mrs.  Van- 
story was  the  adopted  daughter  of  W.  S.  Moore. 
To  their  marriage  have  been  born  the  following 
children:  Robert  Moore,  who  is  in  the  artillery 
service,  United  States  army,  at  Camp  Zachany 
Taylor;  Mary  Carolina,  Ruth  McLane,  Jennie 
Scales,  Cornelius  M.,  Jr.,  and  William  A.  Mary  is 
the  wife  of  E.  C.  Elzemeyer  and  Ruth  married  R. 
R.  King,  Jr.,  and  has  one  daughter,  the  only 
grandchild  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vanstory. 

Rev.  Ernest  Hall  Stockton  is  secretary  and 
treasurer  for  the  Southern  Province  of  the  Mora- 
vian Church  in  America  and  is  also  secretary  of 
the  congregation  of  the  United  Brethren  of  Salem 
and  vicinity.  He  has  spent  his  life  in  Western 
North  Carolina,  and  his  people  have  for  genera- 
tions been  actively  identified  with  the  Moravian 
Church  both  in  tins  state  and  in  Pennsylvania. 
Some  of  his  ancestors  were  among  the  pioneer 
Moravians  in  Western  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Stockton  was  born  at  Salem  on  August  28, 
1876.  His  great-grandfather,  Daughty  Stockton, 
was  born  probably  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey  of 
English  ancestry.  He  was  a  pioneer  in  North  Caro- 
lina, and  owned  and  occupied  a  farm  on  the  state 
road  between  Winston  and  Greensboro.  He  mar- 
ried a  Miss  Perkins.  Grandfather  John  Branch 
Stockton  was  born  on  the  old  farm  in  Forsyth 
County  and  became  a  merchant  at  Kernersville  iu 
that  county.  After  some  years  he  removed  to 
Winston-Salem  and  kept  a  general  store  there 
until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  He 
married  Martha  McGehee.  She  was  born  at  Farm- 
ville  in  Prince  Edward  County,  Virginia,  daugliter 
of  Micajah  and  Martha  (Venable)  McGehee.  Her 
parents  on  coming  to  North  Carolina  settled  near 
Madison  in  Rockingham  County.  John'  B.  Stock- 
ton and  wife  had  six  sons :  Joseph  H.,  William  D., 
Charles  B.,  Natlian  G.,  John  G.  and  Madison  D. 

John  Gilliam  Stockton,  father  of  Ernest  II. 
was  born  on  a  farm  near  Kernersville  in  Forsyth 
County  October  20,  1855.  From  the  farm  he 
came  in  early  youth  to  Salem  to  clerk  in  the 
store  of  his  brother,  and  after  a  few  years  engaged 
in  the  confectionery  business  for  himself  on  Main 
Street.    His  store  was  near  the  Court  House.  Later 


86 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


he  entered  the  emploj'  of  D.  H.  Kiug,  in  the  coal 
and  ice  business,  and  continued  to  be  associated 
with  Mr.  King  until  his  death  in  1893,  at  the  age 
of  thirty-eight.  He  was  married  in  1875  to 
Florence  Estelle  Hall. 

Florence  Estelle  Hall  was  born  at  Salem,  daugh- 
ter of  William  Henry  and  Ernestine  Augusta 
(Veirling)  Hall  and  sister  of  Eev.  James  Ernest 
Hall,  a  sketch  of  wliom  appears  in  this  work. 

Jolm  G.  Stockton  and  wife  reared  four  chil- 
dren: Ernest  Hall,  Gertrude  E.,  Florence  E. 
and  John  D. 

Ernest  Hall  Stockton  had  the  advantages  of  the 
public  schools  as  a  boy,  but  at  the  early  age  of 
fifteen  became  self  supporting.  He  was  employed 
by  the  Eoanoke  &  Southern  Railway  Company,  and 
later  was  with  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railroad. 
He  was  continuously  in  railroad  service  until  he 
resigned  to  accept  his  present  responsibilities  with 
the  Moravian  Church  of  North  Carolina. 

Rev.  Mr.  Stockton  was  married  December  14, 
1897,  to  Miss  Minnie  Louise  Tesh.  She  was  born 
at  SaJem,  daughter  of  Romulus  and  Louisa 
(Teague)  Tesh.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stockton  have  six 
children:  Flavella,  Blanche,  Edwin,  Carrie  May, 
Mary  and  Gertrude.  Mr.  Stockton  is  affiliated 
with  Salem  Lodge  No.  289,  Ancient  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons. 

William  Pepper  Phillips  has  been  identified 
with  the  cotton  mill  industry  in  North  Carolina 
si'nce  boyhood,  learning  it  as  a  boy  operative,  and 
for  the  past  twenty-five  years  has  been  identified 
with  The  Erwin  C5otton  Mills  Com"any  m  their 
extensive  plant  and  manufactories  at  West  Durha-n 

Mr.  Phillips  was  born  in  Alamance  County,  North 
Carolina,  November  2,  186:',  a  son  of  James  and 
Rebecca  (Turner)  Phillips.  His  father  was  a 
farmer.  The  son  grew  up  on  a  farm,  living  in  a 
country  community  until  he  was  twenty-one,  and 
his  education  was  largely  secured  through  a  private 
school  conducted  by  William  Thompson,  a  well 
known  educator  of  that  day.  He  entered  a  cotton 
mill  and  spent  three  years  in  the  carding  depart- 
ment and  from  there  entered  tlie  dye  house,  and  it 
has  been  in  the  dyeing  branches  of  the  business 
that  he  has  gained  his  chief  fame  as  an  expert.  He 
tas  been  and  for  twenty-five  years  was  an  overseer 
■of  dye  houses.  He  moved  to  Durham,  North  Car- 
olina, in  April,  189.3,  and  was  chief  dyer  for  the 
Erwin  Cotton  Mills  Company  until  1907,  when  he 
was  appointed  superintendent  of  Mill  No.  1.  His 
services  have  also  been  required  in  a  number  of  the 
other  mills  owned  by  The  Erwin  Company,  and  he 
is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  iirominent  men  in 
■cotton  mill  circles  in  North  Carolina  today. 

Mr.  Phillips  has  exerted  himself  in  a  public 
spirited  way  toward  the  upbuilding  of  his  com- 
munity at  West  Durham,  is  chairman  of  the  board 
of  deacons  in  the  Baptist  Church  there,  and  is  affil- 
iated with  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  the  Benevolent 
and  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  and  the  Junior  Order 
of  Tnited  American  Mechanics.  May  19,  1889,  he 
married  Mary  Elizabeth  Edwards  of  Orange 
County,  North  Carolina.  They  became  the  parents 
of  eight  children,  Lucile,  William  Pepper,  Jr., 
Callie  Rebecca,  Mary  Elizabeth,  Edward  L., 
Catherine,  Margaret  Jasemine,  and  Elmina,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  twelve  years. 

Henry  Clay  Stokes.  It  is  both  encouraging 
and  interesting  to  trace  a  career  fulfilling  ambi- 
tious holies  that  has  had  for  its  foundation  stones 
industry   and   business   integrity.      There   may   be 


little  of  romance  to  adorn  either,  but  the  satisfy- 
ing results  that  accrue  will  far  outdistance  those 
won  through  a  young  man 's  easier  choice,  or  his 
less  conscientious  attitude  in  relation  to  his  deal- 
ings with  his  fellow  men.  Among  Hartford's 
prominent,  useful  and  truly  representative  citizens 
none  are  held  in  higher  regard  tlian  Henry  Clay 
Stokes,  who  is  i>resident  of  the  Farmers  Bank  & 
Trust  Company  of  Hertford.  He  is  a  Hertford 
■ '  boy ' '  and  there  have  been  many  who  have 
watched  with  commendation  his  steady  advance 
from  a  minor  place  in  a  business  house  to  one  that 
places  him  at  the  liead  of  one  of  the  important 
financial  institutions  of  Eastern  North  Carolina. 

Henry  Clay  Stokes  was  born  at  Hertford,  North 
Carolina,  November  12,  1876.  His  parents  were 
Henry  Clay  and  Elizabetli  (Tow)  JStokes.  The 
father  has  been  engaged  in  business  at  Hertford 
for  many  years,  as  an  undertaker,  harness  manu- 
facturer and  in  other  lines,  one  of  the  city 's 
honorable,   dependable  men. 

Educational  facilities  have  never  been  lacliing 
in  Hertford  since  its  village  days  and  in  the  boy- 
hood and  youth  of  Mr.  Stokes  Hertford  Academy 
offered  many  advantages.  When  fifteen  years  old 
the  youth  accepted  a  clerkship  with  M.  H.  White 
&  Company,  general  merchants,  and  through  indus- 
try and  integrity  was  soon  promoted  as  his  busi- 
ness ability  became  more  and  more  evident  and 
finally  he  became  a  member  of  tlie  firm,  the  style 
later  becoming  White  &  Company.  Mr.  Stokes 
was  recognized  as  one  of  the  city 's  most  able 
merchants  and  an  important  factor  in  the  com- 
mercial life  of  Hertford. 

Later  Mr.  Stokes  turned  his  attention  to  the 
financial  field  and  with  other  capitalists  organized 
the  Farmers  Bank  &  Trust  Company,  of  which  he 
has  since  been  president.  He  is  interested  also  in 
the  Hertford  Hardware  &  Supply  Company,  of 
which  he  is  vice  president,  and  in  minor  enter- 
prises of  more  or  less  importance.  In  all  of  these 
ccncerns  and  in  his  activities  in  other  directions 
liis  actions  have  been  characterized  by  the  ad- 
lierence  to  principles  which  have  won  for  him  the 
unqualified  respect  and  confidence  of  his  fellow 
men. 

Mr.  Stokes  was  married  September  7,  1915,  to 
Miss  Ruth  A.  Clark,  who  was  born  in  Virginia. 
They  have  one  daughter,  whom  they  have  named 
J  oyee. 

While  Mr.  Stokes  has  been  closely  identified 
with  the  city's  important  business  interests,  he 
lias  always  been  an  active  citizen,  deeply  interested 
in  Hertford's  development  and  giving  his  support 
to  undertakings  which  he  has  deemed  beneficial  to 
tiie  community.  His  fellow  citizens  have  recog- 
nized his  sincerity  and  ability  by  electing  him  to 
responsible  offices,  and  he  served  five  years  as 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners, 
and  for  six  years,  or  until  he  resigned,  he  was 
a  memljer  of  the  Hertford  Town  Board,  and  at 
present  is  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Control. 

Hon.  Thomas  Lenoik  Gwtn.  A  man  of  in- 
defatigable enterprise  and  unciuestioned  business 
sagacity  and  foresight,  Hon.  Thomas  Lenoir  Gwyn, 
of  Elkin,  Surry  County,  has  accomplished  a  satis- 
factory work  as  farmer  and  miller,  and  is  now 
living  retired  from  active  pursuits,  enjoying  not 
only  the  comforts,  but  many  of  the  luxuries,  _  of 
modern  life.  He  was  born  in  Elkin,  November 
9,  1842,  son  of  Richard  Gwyn,  and  grandson  of 
James  Gwyn,  a  pioneer  settler  of  Wilkes  County. 


Uaa^  o^^iA.'^jvjy  vw 


1  '■ 


vAT'.ONi 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


87 


The  Gwyu  family  is  of  Welsh  origin,  the  irn- 
migraut  ancestor  having  euiigrated  from  Wales  to 
America  in  1610.  He  located  in  Virginia,  and, 
according  to  tradition,  while  exploring  the  coast 
along  the  Chesapeake  Bay  he  saved  the  beautiful 
Indian  maiden,  Pocahontas,  from  drowning  while 
she  was  attempting  to  swim  from  the  coast  to  an 
island.  Wishing  to  express  her  gratitude,  she,  in 
the  name  of  her  father,  Powhatan,  presented  to 
him  the  island,  which  for  many  years  thereafter 
was  known  as  Gn-yn  Island. 

Born  and  bred  in  Brunswick  County,  Virginia, 
James  Gwyu  came  from  there  to  North  Caro- 
lina, locating  in  Wilkes  County,  in  pioneer  times. 
Purchasing  a  large  tract  of  heavily  timbered  land, 
in  which  was  included  the  present  site  of  Bonda, 
he  erected  a  substantial  house,  and  with  the  aid 
of  his  slaves  cleared  and  improved  a  good  farm, 
on  which  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Martha  Leijoir,  was 
the  daughter  of  Thomas  Lenoir,  a  soldier  in  the 
Eevolutionary  army. 

Born  in  Wilkes  County,  North  Carolina,  near 
the  present  site  of  Eonda,  in  1796,  Richard  Gwyn 
■was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  early  became 
familiar  with  farm  work.  Soon  after  attaining 
his  majority,  he  embarked  in  mercantile  pursuits 
on  his  own  account  in  Jonesville,  Yadkin  County. 
While  thus  employed  he  invested  his  surplus  money 
in  land,  buying  on  the  north  side  of  the  Yadkin 
River  a  large  tract,  which  included  the  present 
site  of  Elkin.  Par-seeing  and  enterprising,  he  im- 
proved the  waterpower  on  Elkin  Creek,  and  there 
built  a  grist  mill.  While  other  streams  in  the 
vicinity  frequently  went  dry,  Elkin  Creek  had  a 
iiever-failing  supply  of  water,  and  people  from 
afar,  even  as  far  distant  as  Salisbury,  brought 
their  corn  to  his  mill  to  be  ground,  often  time 
keeping  him  busy  grinding  every  day  and  niglit 
in  the  week,  including  Sundays.  He  subsequently 
built  a  cotton  mill  near  by,  the  first  mill  of  the 
iind  in  the  county,  and  operated  both  plants  for 
many  years.  On  the  north  side  of  Main  Street,  in 
Elkin,  he  erected  a  good  house,  and  there  resided 
until  his  death,  in  1884. 

Richard  Gwyn  married  Elizabeth  Hunt.  She 
was  Ijorn  in  Y'adkin  County,  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Yadkin  River,  where  her  father,  Daniel  Hunt, 
a  life-long  resident  of  that  county,  was  an  exten- 
sive landholder,  and  operated  his  plantation  with 
slave  labor.  Nine  children  were  born  of  their 
■union,  as  follows;  Annie,  who  became  the  wife 
of  Columbus  B.  Franklin;  Richard  R. ;  James  D.; 
Hugh  A.;  Sallie,  who  married  Eufus  T.  Lenoir; 
Nathan  H.  and  Enoch  M.,  twins;  Elizabeth  M., 
who  married  Alexander  Chatham;  and  Thomas 
Lenoir. 

Scholarly  in  his  tastes  and  ambitions,  Thomas 
Lenoir  Gwyn  was  a  student  in  the  Jonesville  Acad- 
emy, when,  in  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  A, 
Second  Battalion,  North  Carolina  Troops,  tlie  com- 
pany being  commanded  by  Capt.  G.  C.  Stowe,  while 
J.  C.  McRay  was  major  of  the  battalion.  Mr. 
Gwyu  had  assisted  in  raising  the  company,  and 
was  elected  lieutenant.  With  his  comrades,  he 
■went  to  Camp  Vance,  in  Burke  County,  this  state, 
for  drill,  from  there  going  to  Tennessee,  where  he 
took  an  active  part  in  the  siege  of  Knoxville, 
and  in  other  engagements  of  minor  importance. 
At  Cansbys  Creek,  Tennessee,  the  company  to 
■which  he  belonged  was  surrounded  by  the  enemy, 
and,  in  the  absence  of  the  captain  and  the  first 
lieutenant,  Mr.  Gwyn  led  the  company  in  its  dash 
through   the    enemy's   line.      Four   or   five   of   his 


comrades  were  killed,  while  the  remaining  men  of 
the  company,  with  the  exception  of  himself  and 
eight  others,  were  captured.  A  speeding  bullet 
took  a  jjiece  from  one  of  Mr.  Gwyn's  ears,  but 
he  was  thankful  to  escape  thus  easily.  Returning 
with  his  eight  companions  to  Salisbury,  North 
Carolina,  he  was  commissioned  adjutant  of  the 
Senior  Reserves,  and  was  detailed  to  guard  pris- 
oners, a  position  which  he  held  until  the  close  of 
the  conflict. 

Subsequently,  in  partnership  with  his  brother, 
R.  R.  Gwyn,  and  his  brother-in-law,  Alexander 
Chatham,  Mr.  Gwyn  eml)arked  in  the  mercantile 
business  at  Elkin,  and  under  the  firm  name  of 
R.  R.  Gwyn  &  Company  built  up  an  extensive 
trade.  The  nearest  railway  point  at  that  time 
was  Winston,  and  all  goods  bought  by  the  firm 
had  to  be  transported  from  there  with  teams.  A 
few  years  later,  Mr.  Gwyu  formed  a  partnership 
with  W.  W.  Wood,  and  as  head  of  the  firm  of 
Gwyn,  Wood  &  Comjiany,  was  for  three  years 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  toljacco  in  Jones- 
■ville,  Yadkin  Coimty.  Afterward,  in  company 
with  his  brother-iu-law,  Alexander  Chatham,  he 
built  a  mill  in  Elkin,  and  embarked  in  a  new  in- 
dustry, not  only  manufacturing  woolen  blankets 
and  jeans,  but  doing  custom  spinning  and  weav- 
ing. 

Selling  out  his  interests  in  the  mill  to  his 
nephews,  Mr.  Gwyn,  in  188-1,  removed  to  Grayson 
County,  Virginia,  where,  from  Col.  Steven  Hale 
and  Capt.  John  Hale,  he  bought  a  large  farm. 
Building  a  flour  mill  on  the  place,  he  was  there 
engaged  in  milling  and  general  farming  for  a 
number  of  years.  In  1912,  disposing  of  that  prop- 
erty, he  returned  to  Surry  County,  and  has  since 
lived  retired  at  his  pleasant  home  in  Elkin. 

Mr.  Gwyn  married,  April  3,  1867,  Amelia  J. 
Dickenson,  who  was  born  in  Hardeman  County, 
Tennessee,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Julia  (Thur- 
man)  Dickenson.  Her  father  removed  from  his 
home  in  New  River,  Tennessee,  to  Mississippi, 
where,  during  the  Civil  war,  he  was  killed  by 
Federal  soldiers.  Mrs.  Gwyn  passed  to  the  higher 
life  June  1,  1917.  She  reared  two  daughters, 
namely:  Sallie  J.,  who  married  N.  Van  Poindex- 
ter,  and  has  four  children,  Ohna,  Amelia,  Carrie 
Smith  and  Gwyn ;  and  Carrie,  who  married  Alex- 
ander M.  Smith,  and  died  in  early  womanhood. 

Mr.  Gwyu  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  to  which  Mrs.  Gwyn  also  belonged, 
and  he  has  served  as  steward,  and  as  a  delegate 
to  various  annual  conferences.  A  life-long  demo- 
crat in  his  political  affiliations,  Mr.  Gwyn  served 
as  a  member  of  the  Surry  County  board  of  Com- 
missioners for  eight  years,  and  in  1901  and  1902, 
while  a  resident  of  Virginia,  was  a  delegate  from 
Grayson  County  to  the  convention  that  formulated 
the  present  constitution  of  that  state. 

COL.  Jesse  Casper  Bessent  is  one  of  the  best 
known  citizens  of  Winston-Salem.  He  is  a  man 
of  genial  and  wholesome  characteristics,  with  an 
honorable  record  both  in  public  and  private  life, 
and  has  justified  every  confidence  reposed  in  him. 

Colonel  Bessent  is  a  native  of  North  Carolina, 
and  his  family  was  established  here  before  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Colonel  Bessent 
was  born  at  Mocksville,  the  county  seat  of  Davie 
County,  North  Carolina,  February  3,  1855.  His 
grandfather,  Samuel  Bessent,  was  born  on  the 
Island  Alderny  in  the  English  Channel,  and  he  and 
a  brother  wei-e  the  only  members  of  the  family  to 
eome   to   America.     His   brother  settled  in   South 


88 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Carolina  and  his  descendants  now  live  in  that 
state  and  in  Georgia  and  Florida. 

Samuel  Bessent  brought  his  bride  to  America 
in  1795,  landing  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
and  going  tlieuee  to  Davie  County,  North  Carolina, 
•where  he  was  a  pioneer  settler.  His  remaining 
years  were  spent  as  a  farmer,  and  both  he  and  his 
wite  jjassed  their  last  days  in  the  home  of  their 
son  Eev.  C.  W.  Bessent.  Samuel  Bessent  lived 
to  the  venerable  age  of  ninety-seven,  and  his  wife 
w-as  ninety-five  when  she  died.  They  reared  three 
sons:  Calton  W.,  Ransom  P.  and  Samuel  A. 
CaJton  W.  became  a  well  known  minister  of  the 
Missionary  Baptist  Church,  while  E-ansom  was  a 
dental  practitioner. 

Samuel  A.  Bessent,  father  of  Colonel  Bessent, 
was  born  on  a  farm  seven  miles  south  of  ilocks- 
ville,  learned  the  trade  of  saddle  and  harness  mak- 
ing and  followed  that  as  his  vocation  during  his 
very  brief  career.  He  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
six.  His  wife  was  Cassandra  Hendrix.  She  was 
born  at  Mocksville,  her  father,  Jesse  A.  Hendrix, 
was  born  in  the  same  county,  and  her  grand- 
father, David  Hendrix,  was  a  native  of  HoUand, 
coming  to  America  about  1785  and  establishing 
one  of  the  pioneer  homes  of  Davie  County.  Her 
grandfather  was  a  blacksmith  and  farmer  and 
Jesse  Hendrix  followed  similar  occupations.  The 
house  built  by  Jesse  Hendrix,  a  two-story  log 
structure,  is  still  standing  on  a  farm  six  miles 
south  of  Mocksville.  Jesse  Hendrix,  who  spent  all 
his  life  in  his  native  county,  married  Elizabeth 
Feezcr,  who  was  also  of  Holland  descent.  Both  of 
them  attained  good  old  age.  Mrs.  Samuel  A.  Bes- 
sent died  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven.  Her  three  chil- 
dren were  Margaret,  Sarah  and  Jesse  C. 

As  the  Civil  war  broke  out  when  Colonel  Bessent 
was  about  six  years  of  age,  his  boyhood  was  spent 
in  a  time  when  it  was  difficult  if  not  impossible  to 
secure  those  advantages  of  education  which  obtain 
in  a  peaceful  civil  comuuinity.  Free  schools  were 
suspended  during  war  times,  and  his  education 
came  almost  entirely  from  such  schools  as  were 
supported  on  the  subscription  plan.  At  the  age  of 
thirteen  he  became  self  supporting,  beginning 
work  in  a  tobacco  factory  at  Mocksville.  Colonel 
Bessent  has  been  a  resident  of  Winston-Salem 
since  1874.  He  was  at  that  time  nineteen  years 
of  age,  and  he  continued  his  employment  in  a 
tobacco  factory  at  Winston-Salem  until  1882.  In 
that  year  he  was  elected  city  tax  collector  and 
constable,  and  those  oflScial  duties  engaged  his 
time  until  1892.  In  that  year  he  entered  the 
insurance  business,  which  he  still  follows.  In  1894 
he  was  elected  justice  of  the  jieace,  and  has  pre- 
sided over  his  court  and  administered  local  justice 
for  twenty-two  years. 

Colonel  Bessent  has  been  actively  identified  with 
the  National  Guard  of  North  Carolina  upwards  of 
thirty-five  years.  He  enlisted  March  28,  1878,  in 
Company  A,  Third  Begiment,  North  Carolina 
Guards.  He  was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant  June 
1,  1886,  to  captain  June  6,  1892.  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  Spanish-American  war  in  1898  he  wai 
mustered  into  the  United  States  service  with  Com- 
pany C,  First  North  Carolina  Volunteers  and 
remained  with  his  command  until  the  close  of  the 
war.  He  was  mustered  out  in  April,  1899.  On 
June  26,  1899,  his  company  reorganized  as  Com- 
pany C  of  the  First  Ilegiment,  North  Carolina 
National  Guard,  and  he  was  the  choice  of  his  com- 
rades for  captain.  December  1,  1902,  he  was 
promoted  to  major,  and  to  lieutenant  colonel  on 
August  7,  1907.  in  1916  Colonel  Bessent  responded 


to  the  call  for  duty  on  the  Mexican  border,  but 
was  rejected  on  account  of  failing  eyesight.  He 
was  then  placed  upon  the  retired  list  subject  to 
call.  In  1912  Colonel  Bessent  was  a  delegate  to 
the  National  Guard  Association  held  in  Boston. 

In  18S2  Colonel  Bessent  married  Louisa  E. 
White,  who  was  born  in  Winston-Salem,  a  daugh- 
ter of  J.  A.  and  Louisa  White.  Colonel  Bessent 
takes  an  active  part  in  Masonry,  being  afliliated 
with  Winston  Lodge  No.  167,  Fj-ee  and  Accepted 
Masons,  Winston  Chapter  No.  24,  Royal  Arch 
Masons,  and  Piedmont  Commandery  No.  6,  Knights 
Templar.  He  is  also  a  member  of  Salem  Lodge 
No.  36,  and  Salem  Encampment  No.  20,  Indepen- 
dent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  is  grand  high  priest 
of  the  Grand  Encampment  of  Nortli  Carolina. 

While  the  activities  and  interests  described  are 
well  known  to  Colonel  Bessent 's  many  friends  and 
admirers  in  this  section  of  the  state,  he  is  known 
among  a  more  restricted  number  of  friends  as  an 
indefatigable  collector.  He  has  one  of  the  largest 
privately  owned  collections  of  paper  money  in 
North  Carolina.  It  represents  many  issues  of 
Colonial  currency,  also  issues  of  state  bariks  and 
of  the  Confederate  Government.  He  also  has  a 
collection  of  rare  coins  and  books. 

The  Dtjkham  Public  Libbart  is  an  institution 
which  by  its  service  justifies  some  special  mention 
in  this  publication.  It  has  the  distinction  of  being 
the  first  free  public  library  in  the  state.  Contrary 
to  popular  opinion  there  may  be  such  a  thing  as  a 
jiublie  library  and  still  not  absolutely  free,  since 
the  patrons  and  users  of  the  books  must  meet 
certain  definite  fees  or  charges  for  the  service.  The 
Durham  Public  Library  was  the  first  in  the  state 
which  turned  its  books  over  to  the  public  without 
any  fee  for  the'  privileges. 

The  library  was  organized  in  1897,  and  as  then 
constituted  the  institution  is  a  monument  to  the 
efforts  and  generosity  of  Miss  Lida  Ruth  Carr 
(now  Mrs.  Patten  of  Kansas  City),  daughter  of 
Gen.  Julian  S.  Carr.  Miss  Carr  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
T.  M.  Martin  gave  the  site,  which  is  located  in  the 
central  part  of  the  city,  and  is  accessible  to  all 
residents. 

The  money  for  the  building  was  secured  by  popu- 
lar subscription,  and  there  was  a  generous  outpour- 
ing to  this  fund,  ranging  in  amount  from  a  few 
cents  to  many  dollars.  The  original  stock  of  books 
was  made  up  of  gifts  from  individuals  and  also 
from  purchases  made  by  popular  subscriptions.  The 
library  now  has  a  total  of  8,478  volumes.  Plans 
.ire  now  being  made  to  secure  a  gift  from  Andrew 
Carnegie  for  a  new  building. 

For  many  years  the  librarian  was  Mrs.  Sallie 
Rogers  Henderson,  who  though  not  specially  trained 
gave  e:scelient  and  unselfish  service  and  did  much 
to  realize  the  ideals  of  the  founders.  In  1911  the 
library  was  reorganized,  and  a  trained  librarian 
secured.  Mrs.  A.  F.  Griggs  is  librarian  and  has  had 
the  executive  administration  of  the  library  since 
1911.  Mrs.  Griggs,  whose  maiden  name  was  Lillian 
Baker,  was  born  in  Anderson,  South  Carolina,  and 
was  educated  in  Williamston  Female  College,  now 
Lander  College,  in  the  Agnes  Scott  College,  and 
took  her  technical  work  in  the  Carnegie  Library 
School  at  Atlanta.  Mrs.  Griggs  was  president  in 
1917-18  of  the  North  Carolina  Library  Association. 

Since  1914  the  privileges  of  the  library  have  been 
extended  to  the  rural  residents  of  the  county.  At 
that  time  the  board  of  town  commissioners  made 
an  annual  appropriation  to  the  library  of  $400,  and 
in  1917  this  was  increased  to  $600.    This  action  on 


*pT_T  p 


HISTOEY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


89 


the  part  of  the  commissioners  has  been  of  great 
service  and  benefit  to  the  county  schools  and 
teachers  and  t)ie  public  in  general.  As  things  now 
stand  the  library  is  supported  by  an  appropriation 
from  the  city  of  $1,750,  which  combined  with  the 
appropriation  by  the  county  makes  a  total  of 
$2,350. 

WillIjVM  Franklin  Clifton  Edwards.  Prom- 
inent in  lioth  business  aud  official  life,  William 
F.  C.  Edwards,  a  leading  citizen  of  Hertford,  is 
known  in  several  counties  in  Eastern  North  Caro- 
lina, and  in  Gates  County  owns  a  large  body  of 
ancestral  land  that  has  come  to  him  from  four 
generations  back.  He  is  particularly  well  known 
in  Perquimans  County  because  of  his  eiiieient 
administration  of  the  office  of  register  of  deeds, 
which  he  has  filled  continuously  for  the  past  four 
teen  years. 

William  F.  C.  Edwards  was  born  in  Gates 
County,  North  Carolina,  February  7,  1868.  His 
parents  were  John  Allen  and  Elizabeth  (Goodman) 
Edwards.  His  father  was  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits  during  his  entii'e   active  life. 

After  a  period  of  private  schooling  Mr.  Edwards 
entered  the  Keynoldson  Male  Institute,  an  educa- 
tional institution  of  some  local  note,  and  after 
completing  a  course  there  became  a  clerk  in  a 
general  mercantile  store,  and  after  four  years  of 
business  experience  in  that  line,  embarked  in  the 
same  on  his  own  account  at  Winfall  in  Perqui- 
luans  County,  where  he  continued  until  189-3, 
when  he  came  to  Hertford.  He  engaged  hero  in 
a  general  mercantile  business  until  1900  and  then 
transferred  it  to  Winfall. 

In  1904,  when  elected  register  of  deeds  for 
Perquimans  County,  Mr.  Edwards  returued  to 
Hertford,  and  here  he  has  taken  an  active  and 
useful  part  in  civic  affairs,  being  universally 
looked  upon  as  a  man  of  sound  judgment  an'l 
practical  business  capacity.  Prior  to  returning  to 
Hertford  he  served  one  term  as  mayor  of  Winfall, 
and  subsequently  became  a  member  of  the  Hert- 
ford city  council,  during  which  interval  and  ever 
since  he  has  demonstrated  his  interest  in  the 
graded  schools  and  served  as  a  member  of  the 
board  of  trustees  of  tlie  same  from  1911  to  1917. 
In  many  other  directions  the  interest  he  has  shown 
in  pul.ilic  measures  for  the  benefit  of  the  general 
public  has  been  very  helpful.  As  an  evidence  of 
the  confidence  and  public  esteem  in  which  he  is 
held  in  Perquimans  may  be  cited  his  seven  elections 
to  the  office  he  so  admirably  fills. 

Mr.  Edwards  was  married  June  6,  1894,  to  Miss 
Pattie  Valentine  Rawlings,  who  was  born  in  Stokes 
County,  North  Carolina.  They  have  three  children, 
one  daughter  and  two  sons,  namely;  Mildred 
Elizabeth,  John  Rawliugs  and  Walter  Goodman. 
Mr.  Edwards  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Churcli 
while  his  wife  and  family  are  members  of  the 
Episcopal  Chur(?h.  Politically  he  is  a  staunch 
democrat,   and   fraternally   he  is   a.  Mason. 

Aside  from  his  other  interests  Mr.  Edwards  is 
a  man  of  independent  fortune  because  of  his 
large  and  profitable  land  holdings,  aggregating 
2.30  acres,  all  of  which  he  has  under  careful, 
scientific  cultivation.  Thirty  acres  lie  in  Per- 
quimans County,  while  200  acres  are  in  Gates 
County,  as  mentioned  above.  This  large  estate 
was  a  grant  from  the  government  made  to  his 
great-gi-eat-grandfather,  Harry  Goodman,  one  or 
the  early  settlers  in  that  county,  and  the  foumler 
of  a  family  that  through  the  ravages  of  war  aud 
many    periods    of    financial    stress    clung    to    the 


ancestral    home,    which    is    now    a    heritage    of    a 
hundred  times  its  original  value. 

Beverly  Sydnor  Jebman.  In  the  field  of  bank- 
ing Beverly  Sydnor  Jermau  is  easily  one  of  the 
foremost  men  of  North  Carolina.  He  has  been 
identified  with  the  banking  and  financial  life  of 
Raleigh  for  thirty-five  years  and  for  the  greater 
part  of  that  time  has  been  connected  with  the 
Commercial  National  Bank  of  Kaleigh,  of  which  he 
is  president.  Besides  his  record  as  a  constructive 
financier  the  people  of  his  home  city  admire  him 
for  his  equally  evident  public  spirit  and  devotion 
to  everything  that  affects  the  welfare  of  Raleigh. 

Of  a  fine  old  South  Carolina  family,  Beverly 
Sydnor  Jerman  was  born  November  4,  1861,  at 
Ridgeway,  Warren  County,  North  Carolina,  a  son 
of  Dr.  Thomas  Palmer  and  Lucy  Beverly  (Sydnor) 
Jerman.  In  spite  of  the  devastation,  wrought  by 
the  war  he  received  good  advantages  both  at  home 
and  in  the  Ridgeway  public  schools  and  the  Wil- 
liams Academy.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  came  to 
Raleigh  and  as  an  employe  of  the  Citizens  National 
Bank  soon  showed  unusual  capacity  for  every  duty 
entrusted  to  him  and  was  marked  as  a  rising  young 
man  in  the  financial  world. 

After  ten  years  with  the  Citizens  National  Bank 
Mr.  Jerman  in  1891  assisted  in  the  organization  of 
the  old  Coiumercial  aud  Farmers  Bank  of  Kaleigh. 
Capt.  J.  J.  Thomas  was  the  first  president,  Mr. 
Jerman  cashier,  and  H.  W.  Jackson  assistant 
cashiei-.  In  1908,  following  Captain  Thomas' 
death,  Mr.  Jerman  became  president  and  in  the 
same  year  the  institution  was  reorganized  as  the 
Commercial  National  Bank  of  Raleigh.  Few  banks 
in  the  state  have  had  a  more  prosperous  history 
than  the  Commercial  National  Bank.  It  began 
with  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000,  which  has  been 
increased  to  $300,000,  and  tliere  is  a  surplus  of 
$140,000.  Since  Mr.  Jerman  became  president  its 
deposits  have  increased  from  $1,000,000  to  more 
than  $4,000,000.  Since  becoming  president  Mr. 
Jerman  has  also  brought  about  the  construction  of 
a  new  home  for  the  Commercial  National  Bank, 
and  this  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  modern 
office  buildings  in  North  Carolina,  the  banking 
room  being  considered  the  most  artistic  in  the 
country. 

The  determination,  integrity  and  judgment 
which  have  made  him  an  aide  banker  have  also 
brought  him  many  other  interests  in  the  business 
and  civic  affairs  of  Raleigh.  He  is  connected  with 
the  W.  H.  King  Drug  Company,  the  J.  M.  Pace 
Mule  Company,  the  North  Carolina  Home  Insur- 
ance Company,  Enterprise  Real  Estate  Company 
and  the  Parker-Hunter  Realty  Company.  In  a  pub- 
lic way  he  has  served  as  city  treasurer  and  com- 
missioner of  the  sinking  fund  and  his  assistance 
and  influence  have  more  than  once  been  instru- 
mental in  the  successful  carrying  out  of  movements 
instituted  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  of  which 
he  is  an  active  member.  For  a  number  of  years 
Mr.  Jerman  has  been  treasurer  and  a  trustee  of 
the  Olivia  Raney  Library  at  Raleigh. 

Ho  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Cliurch,  belongs  to  the  National  Geographic 
Society,  the  Navy  League  of  the  United  States, 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Coun- 
try Club  and  tlie  Capital  Club.  His  favorite  diver- 
sion is  fishing  and  it  is  said  that  he  rivals  in  skill 
and  patien.ce  anv  of  the  most  ardent  devotees  of 
that  pursuit.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Neuseco  and 
several  other  fishing  clubs. 

In  1888  Mr.  Jerman  married  Miss  Julia  Borden 


90 


HISTOKY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


of  Goldsboro.  By  that  marriage  he  has  one  son, 
William  Bordeu  of  Richmond,  Virginia.  In  1895 
he  married  Miss  Iss  belle  Montgomery  of  Concord, 
North  Carolina,  who  is  survived  by  a  daughter 
Miss  Julia  Borden.  In  1912  he  married  Miss  Edith 
Macdonald  of  Hamilton,  Ontario,  Canada.  They 
have  a  son  Donald  Sydnor  and  a  daughter  Edith 
Macdonald. 

Eev.  George  Willhii  Lay  is  one  of  the  promi- 
nent ministers  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  America 
and  for  thirty  years  has  devoted  his  time  pri- 
marily to  the  church  school,  which  is  a  real  depart- 
ment of  the  ministerial  profession.  Since  1907 
he  has  been  rector  of  St.  Mary  's  School  at  Raleigh. 

He  was  born  at  Huntsville,  Alabama,  February 
26,  1860,  a  son  of  Henry  Champlin  and  Eliza 
Withers  (Atkinson)  Lay.  Mr.  Lay's  ancestry 
might  be  classified  as  about  one-fourth  New 
England  and  three-foui'ths  Virginia.  It  includes 
many  families  and  individuals  who  have  been 
prominent  in  the  professions,  in  military  and  civil 
life,  since  Colonial  times.  He  is  descended  from 
John  Lay  who  settled  in  Lyme,  Connecticut,  in 
1648.  His  grandfather  John  Olmsted  Lay  repre- 
sented both  the  Lay  and  Olmsted  families  in  Con- 
necticut. Through  the  Olmsted  line  he  is  related 
to  Frederick  Law  Olmsted  and  also  to  the  two 
Bishops  Olmsted.  John  O.  Lay,  his  grandfather, 
married  Lucy  Anna  May,  who  was  descended  from 
the  May,  Fitzhugh,  Digges  and  Harrison  (Bran- 
don) families,  all  of  Virginia. 

Mr.  Lay 's  father,  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Champlin  Lay, 
was  made  missionary  bishop  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  Southwest  in  1859,  and  during  the 
Confederate  Government  was  bishop  of  Arkansas. 
From  1865  to  1869  he  was  missionary  bishop  in 
Arkansas,  and  at  the  latter  date  was  made  Bishop 
of  the  Diocese  of  Easton,  Maryland,  where  he 
remained  until  his  death  on  September  17,  1885. 

Mr.  Lay 's  mother,  Eliza  Withers  Atkinson,  was 
a  niece  of  Bishop  Thomas  Atkinson  of  North  Caro- 
lina. She  was  descended  from  the  Atkinsons, 
Pleasant,  Mayo,  Tabb,  Poythress,  Bland,  Randolph, 
Withers  and  Granmier  families,  all  of  Virginia. 
Her  first  cousin  is  Bishop  Gibson  of  Virginia.  A 
brother  of  the  late  Bishop  Henry  C.  Lay  was 
George  William  Lay,  who  graduated  from  West 
Point,  was  General  Scott 's  military  secretary  in 
the  Mexican  war,  and  afterwards  served  in  the 
Confederate  Army. 

George  William  Lay  of  this  sketch  had  a  broad 
and  liberal  education  for  his  profession.  He 
attended  St.  Paul's  School  at  Concord,  New 
Hampshire,  from  1876  to  1880,  Yale  College  from 
1880  to  1882,  receiving  his  Bachelor  of  Arts  degree 
in  the  latter  year,  the  General  Theological  Semi- 
nary of  New  York  City  from  1882  to  1885,  and 
was  graduated  Bachelor  of  Divinity  there  in  1886. 
In  1915  he  received  the  degree  of  D.  C.  L.  from 
the  ITniversity  of  the  South  at  Sewanee. 

Ordained  a  deacon  in  1885  and  a  priest  in  1886, 
he  was  assistant  minister  at  St.  Paul 's  Church  at 
Erie,  Pennsylvania,  from  1885  to  1887,  and  assist- 
ant of  St.  George's  Church  at  Newburgh,  New 
York,  from  1887  to  1888.  His  work  has  been  in 
the  schools  maintained  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Episcopal  Church.  He  was  master  of  St.  Paul's 
School  at  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  one  of  the 
foremost  preparatory  schools  of  the  country  from 
1888  to  1907,  and  since  that  date  has  been  rector 
of  St.  Mary's  School  at  Raleigh.  From  1895 
to  1907  he  was  secretary  of  the  board  of  missions 
of  the  Diocese  of  New  Hampshire,  and  since  com- 
ing to  North  Carolina  has  been  a  member  of  the 


Southern  Educational  Association  and  of  the 
Social  Service  and  Religious  Education  Commis- 
sions of  the  Diocese  of  North  Carolina.  He  has 
been  actively  identified  with  the  Raleigh  Chamber 
of  Commerce  since  1907,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
North  Carolina  Good  Roads  .Association,  the 
National  Forestry  Association,  the  Raleigh  Natural 
History  Society,  and  the  North  Carolina  Academy 
of  Science.  He  is  a  member  of  the  college  frater- 
nity Psi  Upsilon,  and  of  the  Farmers'  Union. 
Politically  he  is  a  democrat. 

On  June  26,  1894,  at  Baltimore,  Maryland,  Mr. 
Lay  married  Anna  Booth  Balch,  a  daughter  of 
Admiral  George  Beall  and  Mary  Ellen  (Booth) 
Balch.  Admiral  Balch  served  with  Perry  in  the 
first  Japan  Expedition.  Durbig  the  Civil  war  he 
commanded  the  Pawnee.  He  was  superintendent 
of  the  Naval  Academy,  and  at  one  time  commanded 
the  Asiatic  Station  or  the  Pacific  squadron  of  the 
United  States  Navy.  Mary  Ellen  Booth,  his  wife, 
of  Newcastle,  Delaware,  was  the  daughter  of  , 
Thomas  Booth  and  the  granddaughter  of  Thomas 
Booth,  both  of  whom  were  chief  justices  of  Dela- 
ware. Mrs.  Lay  has  many  army  and  navy  con- 
nections. Lieut.  James  Lockwood  of  arctic  fame 
and  the  wife  of  Admiral  Sigsbee  are  Mrs.  Lay  'a 
first  cousins.  Mrs.  Lay  is  president  of  the  Raleigh 
Woman's  Club  for  the  year  1917-18. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lay  have  had  eight  children: 
George  Balch,  Liizabeth  Atkinson,  Ellen  Booth, 
Anna  Rogers,  Lucy  Fitzhugh,  Henry  Champlin, 
Virginia  Harrison  and  Thomas  Atkinson,  the 
youngest,  who  died  in  1915  at  the  age  of  four 
years. 

Daniel  Webster  Andrews.  In  a  prominent 
place  upon  the  list  of  Durham's  men  of  business 
who  have  won  their  way  to  the  forefront  in  indus- 
trial circles  should  be  placed  the  name  of  Daniel 
Webster  Andrews,  u]ion  whom  devolve  many  of  the 
heavy  responsibilities  connected  with  the  great 
tobacco  industry  whose  seat  is  at  Durham. 

Mr.  Andrews  was  born  in  Alamance  County, 
North  Carolina,  June  4,  1867.  His  parents  were 
Alexander  Addison  and  Julia  (Martindale)  An- 
drews. His  father  was  a  tobacconist,  and  from 
early  youth  to  the  present  time  Daniel  W.  Andrews 
lias  never  been  out  of  the  atmosphere  of  that  in- 
dustry. He  acquired  a  public  and  private  school 
education  and  his  first  regular  employment  was  as 
a.  cigarette  maker.  He  was  thus  engaged  with  W. 
Duke  Sons  &  Company  for  three  years.  Upon  the 
organization  of  the  American  Tobacco  Comjiany 
he  was  given  the  position  of  foreman,  which  he 
filled  ten  years,  and  in  1901  became  superintendent 
of  the  Blackwell  Durham  branch  of  the  American 
Tobacco  Company.  This  is  one  of  the  largest  in- 
stitutions of  the  kind  in  North  Carolina.  Under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  Andrews  a  small  army  of  850 
people  are  working  in  different  capacities,  and 
throughout  the  growth  and  development  of  the 
business  Mr.  Andrews  has  steadily  maintained  his 
position  as  the  man  best  fitted  for  the  executive 
duties  of  superintendent.  He  is  well  known  in 
business  and  social  circles  at  Durham,  is  a  member 
and  former  sfeward  of  the  Memorial  Methodist 
Episcopal  Oiurch,  but  outside  of  the  factory  he 
gives  most  of  his  time  and  devotion  to  his  home 
and  family. 

Mr.  Andrews  married  February  10,  1886,  Mary 
Cliristian  of  Durham.  They  are  the  proud  parents 
of  a  family  of  twelve  children  named  Floy,  Lottie 
Thomas,  Clarence  Webster,  Arthur  Seward,  Julia 
Christian,  Mamie  Ruth,  Claiborne  Lee,  Nannie 
Mozelle,  Clinton  T.,  William  Horace,  James  Addi- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


91 


sou  and  Mary  Webster.  Most  of  these  cliildren 
are  still  in  the  home  circle.  The  oldest,  Floy,  is 
the  wife  of  W.  B.  DeVault  of  Durham.  Lottie 
T.  married  R.  C.  Christmas,  manager  of  a  book 
and  stationery  company  at  Fayctteville.  Clarence 
W.  is  a  traveling  salesman,  and  Arthur  S.  is  a  fore- 
man of  the  American  Tobacco  Comjiany. 

Walter  D.  Johnson.  Among  the  enterprising 
men  who  liave  assisted  in  the  remarkable  develop- 
ment of  St.  Pauls  during  the  last  decade  is 
Walter  D.  Johnson,  who  is  president  of  the  W.  D. 
Johnson  Lumber  Company,  a  very  important  indus- 
try of  Bobeson  County.  Mr.  Jolmsou  was  born  in 
1885,  in  the  northern  part  of  what  is  now  Scot- 
laud  County,  then  Richmond  County,  North  Caro- 
lina. His  parents  were  Duncan  McPhatter  and 
Sarah  Jeannette  (McNatt)  Johnson,  both  of  whom 
are  now   deceased. 

Both  the  Johnson  and  McNatt  families  are  of 
Scotch  ancestry.  The  paternal  line  of  Mr.  John- 
son was  founded  in  North  Carolina  by  his  great- 
grandfather, Neill  Johnson,  who  came  from 
Scotland  before  180U  and  settled  in  what  is  now 
the  northern  part  of  Scotland  County,  the  old 
Johnson  home  being  at  Fontcol,  where  now  is 
located  the  modern  town  of  Wagram.  The  fore- 
bears of  Mr.  Johnson  displayed  the  usual  fore- 
sight and  good  judgment  attriljuted  to  the  Scotch 
in  locating  in  what  is  one  of  the  richest  and 
most  productive  agricultural  regions  of  North 
Carolina. 

Duncan  McPhatter  Johnson  was  a  son  of  Archi- 
bald Johnson  and  was  born  in  North  Carolina  and 
died  in  1895.  In  1897  the  Johnson  family  moced 
from  Scotland  County  to  Robeson  County  and  the 
mother  of  Mr.  Johnson  died  here  in  1899.  Her 
sister,  Margaret  Elizabeth  McNatt,  had  married 
the  late  Lauchlin  Shaw,  of  St.  Pauls,  whose  death 
occurred  in  1915.  On  the  death  of  Duncan  Mc- 
Phatter Johnson,  Mr.  Shaw  became  the  guardian 
of  Mr.  Johnson  's  children,  and  it  was  through  his 
generous  management  and  benevolent  guardian- 
ship that  they  were  afforded  superior  educational 
advantages  and  properly  prepared  for  their  future 
careers.  Mr.  Sliaw  may  be  recalled  as  the  "first 
citizen"  of  St.  Pauls,  for  he  was  the  father  and 
founder  of  the  present  town.  It  is  built  on  land 
that  was  owned  by  him  and  he  was  the  leader  and 
financial  backer  of  the  various  business  and  indus- 
trial enterprises  that,  beginning  with  the  Iniilding 
of  the  railroad  tlirough  the  place  in  1907,  have 
made  St.  Pauls  a  remarkalile  example  of  rapid 
growth  and  development.  The  maternal  grand- 
father of  Walter  D.  Johnson,  James  McNatt,  was 
at  one  time  a  man  of  wealth  and  influence  in 
Robeson  County.  He  owned  the  land  on  which  the 
town  of  Parkton  now  stands  and  thousands  of 
acres  surrounding.  He  was  an  extensive  jilanter 
and  slave  owner,  and  during  the  palmy  days  of 
the  turpentine  industry  was  a  large  operator. 

Walter  D.  Johnson,  as  indicated  above,  was 
generously  educated  and  in  1906  was  graduated 
from  Davidson  College.  He  spent  one  year  as  a 
schoolteacher,  but  in  1908,  in  partnership  witli 
Alexander  R.  McEachern,  went  into  the  lumber 
manufacturing  business  at  St.  Pauls  and  has  con- 
tinued until  the  present,  being  president  of  the 
company  that  bears  his  name.  The  company  owns 
a  large,  modern  plant  at  St.  Pauls,  well  equipped, 
and  the  business  is  the  manufacturing  of  long  and 
short  leaf  yellow  pine,  both  rough  ami  dressed. 
He  is  also  secretary  and  treasurer  of  The  Ernald- 
son  Manufacturing  Company  of  St.  Pauls,  of  the 


Hosiery  Yarn  &  Knitting  Mill,  and  a  director  of 
the  Bank  of  St.  Pauls.  Mr.  .Johnson  in  his  busi- 
ness affairs  and  in  his  political  and  social  life 
justifies  the  respect  and  esteem  his  fellow  citizens 
entertain  for  him. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  married  April  23,  1913,  to  Miss 
Edna  Duke,  daughter  of  James  C.  and  Margaret 
C.  Duke,  originally  of  Virginia,  but  now  of  Ham- 
let, North  Carolina.  They  have  two  sons :  James 
McLean    Johnson    and    Duncan    McPhatter    John- 


Abel  Graham  Click.  Practically  a  self-made 
man,  Abel  Graham  Click,  a  prosperous  and  high- 
ly esteemed  resident  of  Elkiu,  Surry  County,  has 
in  truth  been  the  architect  of  his  own  fortunes,  his 
prosperity  in  life  being  due  solely  to  years  of 
persevering  industry,  to  keen  perceptive  powers, 
and  to  a  native  good  sense  and  sound  judgment 
in  the  management  of  his  business  affairs.  He 
was  born  on  a  farm  in  Olin  Township,  Iredell 
County,  North  Carolina,  February  1,  1858,  a  son 
of  Godfrey  Click,  and  grandson  of  John  Click, 
a  pioneer  of  the  northwestern  part  of  this  state. 
His  great-grandfather  on  the  paternal  side  came 
from  Germany  to  America  with  a  brother  when 
a  young  man,  and  after  living  a  few  years  in 
Maryland  made  a  permanent  settlement  in  North 
Carolina. 

.John  Click  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  in  North 
Carolina,  and  spent  his  life  as  an  agriculturist. 
He  bought  a  farm  which  included  the  fertile 
strip  of  land  in  Yadkin  County  known  as  Horse 
Shoe  Neck,  and  was  there  engaged  in  his  favorite 
pursuit  until  his  death.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Raats,  was  also  of  German  parentage, 
and  like  him  spoke  the  German  language  fluently. 

A  native  of  Davie  County,  Godfrey  Click  was 
born,  in  1818,  in  the  locality  known  as  Horse  Shoe 
Neck,  and  was  there  reared  to  habits  of  industry 
and  thrift.  Taking  advantage  of  every  oppor- 
tunity for  advancing  his  knowledge,  he  acquired 
a  good  education,  and  as  a  young  man  taught 
school.  In  1857  he  bought  land  in  Olin  Township, 
and  with  the  assistance  of  slaves  improved  a  gooci 
farm.  During  the  Civil  war,  in  common  with  his 
neighbors  and  friends,  he  met  with  very  heavy 
losses,  but  he  continued  to  reside  on  his  farm  until 
after  the  death  of  his  wife.  Subsequently  re- 
moving to  Olin,  he  there  spent  his  remaining  days, 
dying  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Godfrey  Click 
was  Margaret  Graham.  She  was  born  in  Rowan 
County,  a  daughter  of  Abel  Graham,  a  Scotch- 
Irish  farmer,  and  a  man  of  sterling  worth  and 
integrity.  Slie  died  when  liut  fifty-four  years  old, 
leaving  five  children,  namely :  Abel  Graham,  Mary 
Lou,  Margaret,  Henry  aud  Ella. 

Abel  Graham  Click  was  early  initiated  into  the 
mysteries  of  agriculture,  as  a  boy  assisting  in  the 
work  of  the  home  farm,  in  the  meantime  attending 
the  short  terms  of  the  district  school.  He  subse- 
quently continued  his  studies  at  Olin  College,  and 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  began  life  as  a 
teacher,  having  charge  of  a  school  at  Cherry  Hill, 
in  Davie  County.  Succeeding  in  his  profession, 
Mr.  Click  afterwards  taught  in  Monroe,  having 
the  supervision  of  the  primary  department  in  the 
school  of  which  Prof.  J.  D.  Hodges  was  the  prin- 
cipal, and  still  later  taught  at  both  Athens  and 
Liberty.  Retiring  from  his  profession,  Mr.  Click 
was  for  a  short  time  a  clerk  in  the  general  store 
of  Richard  Gwyn,  in  Elkin.  Desirous  of  bettering 
his  financial   condition,  he  was  clerk   in  a  grocery 


92 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


at  Statesville  for  awhile,  from  there  going  to  Olia, 
where  he  was  engaged  iu  mercantile  pursuits  for 
three  years. 

Coming  to  Elkin  from  Olin,  Mr.  Click  served 
for  a  year  and  a  half  as  bookkeeper  for  the  Elkin 
Manufacturing  Company.  Then,  with  C.  H.  Gwyn 
as  partner,  he  bought  the  store  of  the  Elkin  Manu- 
facturing Compan}',  and  at  the  end  of  two  years 
bought  Mr.  Gwyn 's  interest  in  the  concern.  Two 
years  later  he  sold  a  half  interest  in  the  business 
to  the  Chatham  Manufacturing  Company,  and  was 
made  secretary,  treasurer  and  general  manager  of 
the  company  's  business.  The  business  being  closed 
out  in  1904,  Mr.  Click  became  prominent  in  the 
organizytion  of  the  Elkin  Veneer  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  of  which  he  was  chosen  secretary  and 
treasurer.  Subsequently,  when  the  Elkin  Furniture 
Company  was  formed,  he  was  made  general  man- 
ager of  the  Elkin  Veneer  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany as  well  as  being  its  secretary  and  treasurer, 
and  a  director  of  the  Elkin  Eurniture  Company. 
Mr.  dick  has  shown  a  marked  aptitude  for  busi- 
ness, and  in  the  numerous  responsible  positions 
which  he  has  been  called  upon  to  fill  has  displayed 
rare  business  tact  and  ability.  He  is  much  inter- 
ested in  fruit  culture,  and  is  now  general  manager 
of  the  extensive  peach  and  apple  orchards  owned 
by  the  Elkin  Veneer  &  Manufacturing  Company. 

Mr.  Click  married,  February  1,  1881,  at  States- 
ville.  Miss  Nannie  A.  Alexander,  who  was  born 
near  Mooresville,  Iredell  County,  a  daughter  of 
Cowan  and  Susan  Alexander.  Into  their  j)leasant 
home  four  children  liave  been  born,  Willie,  Eugene, 
Margaret  and  Harold.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Click  are 
faithful  and  valuer!  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  which  lie  has  served 
as  steward,  and  as  teacher,  and  superintendent  of 
the  Sunday  school. 

Mr.  Click  has  always  evinced  an  intelligent  in- 
terest in  public  affairs,  and  has  filled  with  much 
acceptance  various  official  positions.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years  he  was  elected  surveyor  of 
Iredell  County;  has  served  as  town  commissioner; 
having  been  a  member  of  the  board  when  the 
water  system  was  installed;  and  has  likewise  served 
as  chairman  of  the  Elkin  Board  of  Road  Commis- 
sioners. One  of  the  promoters  of  the'  Elkin  and 
Alleghany  Railroad,  he  served  as  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  company.  Fraternally  Mr.  Click 
is  a  member  of  Elkin  Lodge,  No.  454,  Ancient  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons;  of  Piedmont  Lodge,  No. 
96,  Knights  of  Pythias,  of  which  he  is  chancellor; 
and  of  Elm  Camp,  Woodmen  of  the  World. 

William  Allen  Blair,  long  prominent  as  an 
educator,  civic  leader  and  business  man  at  Winston- 
Salem,  is  vice  president  of  the  People's  Bank  of 
Winston  Salem,  member  of  the  finance  committee 
of  the  Jefferson  Standard  Life  Insurance  Company, 
and  treasurer  of  the  Slater  Industrial  and  State 
Normal  School  for  Colored  Youth. 

Mr.  Blair  was  born  at  High  Point  in  Guilford 
County,  North  Carolina,  where  his  family  have 
been  prominent  for  several  generations.  His 
father,  Solomon  I.  Blair,  was  anative  of  Randolph 
County  and  that  was  also  the  birthplace  of  his 
grandfather,  John  Blair.  The  Blairs  came  origi- 
nally from  Scotland  and  through  many  generations 
were  of  the  Quaker  faith.  Solomon  I.  Blair  was 
educated  at  Guilford  College,  taught  school  in 
early  life,  and  was  one  of  the  very  successful  citi- 
zens of  Guilford  County.  He  "married  Abigail 
Hunt.  Her  great-grandfather  William  Hunt  was  a 
noted  preacher  of  the  Friends  Church.    Her  grand- 


father Nathan  Hunt  also  a  minister  was  connected 
with  the  early  life  and  affairs  of  Guilford  County 
and  was  largely  instrumental  in  founding  Guilford 
College.  Samuel  Hunt,  father  of  Abigail  Hunt, 
was  born  near  High  Point  in  Guilford  County,  was 
a  planter,  and  buying  a  tract  of  land  adjoining 
the  old  Hunt  homestead  was  engaged  in  general 
farming  most  of  his  life.  Solomon  I.  Blair,  and 
wife  had  seven  children. 

William  A.  Blair  spent  his  boyhood  on  his 
father's  farm  at  the  edge  of  High  Point.  He  grew 
up  in  a  rural  atmosphere  and  imbibed  many  inter- 
ests which  have  remained  with  hkn  to  this  day. 
He  began  his  education  at  home,  prepared  for  col- 
lege at  Guilford,  and  graduated  A.  B.  from 
Haverford  College  in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1882 
with  a  similar  degree  from  Harvard  University. 
At  Harvard  he  was  prominent  in  student  activities, 
won  prizes  in  speaking  contests,  was  interested  in 
athletics,  and  helped  to  pay  his  university  expenses 
by  work  as  newspaper  correspondent.  After  his 
university  career  he  spent  some  time  studying  and 
observing  the  work  of  the  schools  of  New  England 
and  Canada,  and  on  returning  home  to  High 
Point  was  elected  principal  of  the  high  school. 
He  gave  up  his  school  work  in  188.5  to  enter  Johns 
Hopkins  University  at  Baltimore,  where  he  pur- 
sued post-graduate  courses  leading  up  to  the  degree 
Doctor  of  Philosophy. 

The  following  year  he  returned  to  Winston- 
Salem  and  at  once  became  a  powerful  influence  iv 
the  school  life  of  Western  North  Carolina.  He 
taught  and  managed  grade  schools,  did  work  in 
the  State  Normal  Scliool,  and  was  elected  superin- 
tendent of  the  State  Normal  at  Winston-Salem. 
He  afterwards  served  as  superintendent  of  the 
city  schools  and  while  active  in  the  work  he  was 
editor  of  a  popular  educational  magazine.  Sun- 
day School  work  has  always  had  a  strong  hold 
upon  his  interests.  He  has  served  as  teacher, 
superintendent  and  state  superintendent  of  the 
Sabbath  School  of  the  Friends  Church.  He  was 
the  first  president  of  the  Winston  Young  Men  'a 
Christian  Association  and  has  been  president  of 
the  State  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Con- 
vention. Some  of  the  best  honors  of  educational 
affairs  have  come  to  Mr.  Blair.  He  was  offered 
chairs  in  different  colleges  and  at  one  time  was 
elected  president  of  a  college,  but  has  always  pre- 
ferred to  concentrate  his  work  in  his  home  state. 

Teacliing  and  lecturing  were  his  most  congenial 
vocations  but  the  possession  of  unusual  business 
ability  soon  brought  him  into  actual  contact  with 
business  affairs.  In  1890  he  was  elected  president 
of  a  National  Bank  and  has  been  prominent  in 
North  Carolina  banking  for  many  years.  He  has 
served  as  president  of  the  State  Bankers '  Associa- 
tion and  has  published  a  number  of  interesting 
articles  on  finance.  In  1894  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar.  He  took  up  the  study  of  law  not  so  much 
for  the  purpose  of  practicing  it  as  a  profession, 
but  because  of  his  sincere  interest  in  the  great 
subject.  Perhaps  he  was  influenced  also  by  the 
example  of  his  two  uncles  in  the  profession,  one  of 
whom  became  an  eminent  judge. 

Politically  Colonel  Blair  is  a  democrat.  He  has 
served  as  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Winston- 
Salem  Chamber  of  Commerce,  was  for  fourteen 
years  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Public 
Charities,  was  State  Commissioner  to  the  Paris 
Exi)Osition,  and  a  delegate  to  the  World  's  Sunday 
School  Convention  in  London  and  to  the  National 
Association  of  Charities  and  Corrections.  At  the 
inauguration     of     President     Roosevelt     he     was 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


93 


appointed  special  aide  with  the  rank  of  colonel. 
Colonel  Blair  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  Order, 
is  a  member  of  the  Audubon  Society,  the  Twin 
City  Club,  the  Forsyth  County  Club,  the  Southern 
Historical  Society,  the  Art  Collectors  Club  and  the 
Reform  Club  of  New  York.  Colonel  Blair  was 
married  in  1895  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Fries,  daughter 
of  Hon.  John  W.  Fries  of  Salem. 

Flemiel  Oscar  Carver  began  the  practice  of  law 
at  Roxboro  in  September,  1899,  and  has  steadily 
continued  to  grow  in  stature  and  dignity  as  a  man 
of  the  law  and  with  ripening  wisdom  and  maturity 
of  reputation  has  come  into  a  position  as  one  of 
the  first  citizens  of  Person  County. 

Mr.  Carver  was  born  at  Roxboro,  North  Caro- 
lina, April  17,  1877,  a  son  of  .James  Abraham  and 
Ella  (Brooks)  Carver.  His  father  long  held  a  place 
of  prominence  in  this  county,  was  sheriff  and  treas- 
urer of  the  county,  was  postmaster  of  Roxboro,  and 
was  extensively  engaged  in  the  tobacco  business  and 
farming.  Flemiel  Oscar  Carver  was  educated  in 
-private  schools,  and  attended  both  the  academic 
and  law  departments  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina.  During  nearly  seventeen  years  of  law 
practice  he  has  filled  some  important  public  offices. 
Tor  four  years  he  was  city  attorney  of  Roxboro. 
He  is  attorney  for  the  Central  Highway  Commis- 
sion of  Person  County  and  in  1909  served  as  repre- 
sentative of  this  county  in  the  State  Legislature. 
He  is  a  former  commissioner  of  the  Town  of  Rox- 
boro, a  trustee  of  the  graded  schools,  and  in  re- 
ligion is  a  Methodist  and  a  member  of  the  board 
■of  trustees  of  the  Edgar  Long  Memorial  Church. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Bar  Association. 
Mr.  Carver  has  some  farming  interests  which  he 
looks  after  in  addition  to  handling  his  law  prac- 
tice. 

December  25,  1907,  he  married  Eula  Reams 
■Carver  of  Person  County.  Their  four  children  are 
James  Elihu,  Flemiel  Oscar,  Jr.,  Jane  and  William 
■Gordon. 

Lauchlin  McInnis.  One  of  the  men  of  large 
affairs  in  Robeson  County  is  Lauchlin  McInnis, 
president  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Pauls  and  identified 
witli  many  of  the  leading  interests  of  this  section. 
Like  many  other  of  the  most  substantial  men  of 
this  part  of  North  Carolina  Mr.  McInnis  is  of 
Scotch  ancestry  and  goes  no  farther  back  than 
his  grandfathers  to  find  the  original  settlers. 
From  tlie  Isle  of  Skye,  the  second  largest  of  the 
Scotch  islands  and  the  most  northern  of  the  Inner 
Hebrides,  the  refuge  of  Prince  Charles  in  1746 
and  the  home  of  Flora  Macdonald,  a  name  revered 
by  every  true  Scotchman,  came  Angus  McInnis  to 
the  United  States.  He  was  of  sturdy  build,  as  are 
all  the  men  of  rugged  Skye,  and  of  equally  sturdy 
■  religious  principles,  and  hence  he  not  only  sought 
a  more  genial  climate  and  better  agricultural  con- 
ditions, but  also  a  home  for  himself  and  his  de- 
scendants where  the  Presbyterian  faith  could  be 
maintained  as  his  conscience  demanded.  All  tliese 
conditions  he  found  in  Cumberland  County,  North 
Carolina,  and  he  located  permanently,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  in  Seventy-first 
Township,  near  old   Galatia  Church. 

Lauchlin  Mclinnis  was  born  near  old  Galatia 
Church  in  the  western  part  of  Cumberland  County, 
North  Carolina,  in  187.3.  His  parents  were  Daniel 
and  Ann  (McFayden)  McInnis,  the  mother  dying 
in  Cumberland  County,  North  Carolina,  and  the 
father  dying  in  1886,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two 
years.     The  McFaydens  are  numerous  and  promi- 


nent in  tlie  nortiiwest  section  of  Cumberland 
County,  in  tlie  neighborhood  of  Longstreet  Church, 
which   was   founded   in   1758. 

Lauchlin  McInnis  remained  on  the  old  farm  in 
Seventy-first  Township,  Cumberland  County,  until 
1907,  when  he  came  to  St.  Pauls,  Robeson  County, 
in  which  year  the  Virginia  &  Carolina  Southern 
Railway  was  extended  tlirougli  St.  Pauls,  the  ad- 
vent of  whi'cli  was  the  beginning  of  the  remarkable 
growth  of  tlie  present  modern  business  and  indus- 
trial town,  developed  from  a  village  in  a  pine 
thicket.  Mr.  McInnis  was  made  the  first  agent 
for  the  railroad  here  and  had  charge  of  the  com- 
pany 's  business  in  this  section  for  three  or  four 
years.  He  built  the  first  store  building  here,  on 
the  site  wliere  now  stands  the  Butler  Supply  Com- 
pany 's   building. 

In  1914  Mr.  McInnis  went  into  the  Bank  of 
St.  Pauls  as  cashier  and  discharged  the  duties  of 
that  office  capably  and  popularly  until  1916,  when 
he  became  active  vice  president.  In  1917  he 
retired  from  active  inside  management  of  the 
bank  but  was  made  president,  his  honorable  name 
lieing  a  very  valuable  asset.  He  is  at  the  head 
of  a  large  mercantile  estaldishment  here  and  is 
greatly  interested  in  the  development  of  his  fine 
farm,  but  just  at  present  his  most  absorbing 
activity  is  tlio  management  as  executor  of  the 
extensive  estate,  consisting  of  large  farms,  of  the 
late  Lauchlin  Shaw,  for  many  years  a  leading 
capitalist  here.  In  this  relation,  as  in  every  other, 
Mr.  McInnis  is  considered  ecjual  to  every  re- 
sponsibility. 

Mr.  McInnis  was  married  to  Miss  May  Gillis, 
who  was  born  and  reared  in  Seventy-first  Town- 
ship, Clumlierland  County.  They  have  six  children, 
namely:  John  D.,  David  Pairley,  Katherine, 
Jessie  May  and  Margaret  and  Jennie,  twins.  Mr. 
McInnis  and  f.amily  are  members  of  the  St.  Pauls 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  he  is  an  elder.  He 
has  long  been  identified  with  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity. Mr.  McInnis  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
active,  progressive  and  public  spirited  citizens  of 
St.  Pauls. 

Herbert  Edmund  Norris.  Among  the  promi- 
nent men  of  Raleigh,  using  the  term  in  its  broad- 
est sense  to  indicate  legal  acumen,  sterling  char- 
acter, public  beneficence,  valuable  civic  and  state 
service  and  upright  citizenship,  is  Herbert  Edmund 
Norris,  a  leading  member  of  the  Raleigh  bar,  an 
ex-representative  and  ex-senator,  and  a  citizen  who 
in  various  ways  has  contributed  to  the  welfare 
and  advancement  of  his  city,  county  and  state. 
Mr.  Norris  was  born  November  7,  1859,  on  his 
father's  farm  in  Wake  County,  North  Carolina, 
twenty  miles  southwest  of  Raleigh,  and  is  a  son 
of  Jesse  Allen  and  Amie  Ann  (Adams)   Norris. 

In  addition  to  being  a  farmer,  Mr.  Norris'  fa- 
ther was  a  manufacturer  of  naval  stores,  and  as 
the  youth  grew  up  he  was  called  to  assist  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  homstead,  which  manual  labor, 
to  use  the  words  of  a  contemporary  biographer, 
"gave  him  a  sound  mind  in  a  soui\d  body,  im- 
pressed him  with  the  dignity  and  honor  of  labor, 
and  established  in  him  habits  of  industry,  decision 
of  character,  tenacity  of  purpose,  self  reliance, 
honor  and  loyalty  and  a  deep  sympathy  for  his  fel- 
low man,  which,  together  with  a  worthy  ambition 
and  high  ideals,  constituted  a  foundation  upon 
which  he  has  builded  an  honorable  and  successful 
life. ' '  Mr.  Norris  secured  his  early  education  in 
the  subscription  schools  of  Wake  County,  following 
which  he  attended  Lillington  and  Apex  academies, 


94 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


and  Trinity  College  in  Randolph  County,  -where  he 
was  under  the  instruction  of  Dr.  B.  Craven.  ,  He 
was  graduated  from  the  last-named  institution  with 
honors  in  1879,  receiving  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts,  and  after  reading  law  under  the  preceptor- 
ship  of  the  late  George  V.  Strong,  of  Ealeigh, 
was  granted  his  license  and  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1881. 

Mr.  Norris  began  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion at  Apex,  where  he  divided  his  time  between 
farming  and  the  law,  but  his  practice  grew  so 
rapidly,  extending  into  Harnett,  Chatham  and 
Moore  counties,  that  he  later  associated  his  broth- 
er with  him  in  farming  and  stock  raising.  In  1900 
he  came  to  Ealeigh,  and  this  city  has  continued 
to  be  his  home  to  the  present  time,  his  practice 
having  grown  to  large  proportions.  While  living 
at  Apex,  with  the  assistance  of  the  late  John  C. 
Angier,  B.  N.  Duke  and  his  associates,  were 
induced  by  Mr.  Norris  to  furuish  the  capital  to 
build  the  railroad  extending  from  Durham  to  Dunn, 
via  Apex,  Holly  Springs  and  Varina.  This  road 
gave  Apex  competitive  freight  rates,  resulting  in 
the  village  becoming  one  of  the  most  progressive 
small  towns  in  the  state,  with  a  fine  tobacco  mar- 
ket, formed  the  incentive  for  the  building  of  Va- 
rina and  Fuquay  Springs,  each  with  a  fine  tobacco 
market,  and  caused  a  great  increase  in  the  value 
of  real  estate  in  that  direction.  This  is  known 
as  the  Durham  &  Southern  Railway  Company,  and 
Mr.  Norris  has  been  its  attorney  since  its  building. 
Mr.  Norris  has  been  for  many  years  a  director  of 
the  Raleigh  Banking  and  Trust  Company.  He 
was  one  of  a  committee  of  five  selected  by  the 
First  State  Farmers'  CJonvention  who  drafted  ; 
caused  to  be  passed  l.iy  tlie  General  Assembly  the 
act  creating  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege of  Ealeigh.  In  1885  Mr.  Norris  represented 
Wake  County  in  the  North  Carolina  Legislature, 
and  in  1892  was  unanimously  nominated  by  his 
party  for  the  same  position,  but  was  defeated  by 
the  fusion  ticket,  which  swept  the  state.  During 
two  administrations  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Internal  Improvements.  He  was  nominated  and 
elected  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina  State 
Senate  in  1903,  without  opposition.  In  1904  he 
was  a  leader  in  the  reform  movement  which  re- 
sulted in  a  complete  change  in  the  management  of 
county  affairs  along  financial  lines,  and  began 
also  the  agitation  for  the  building  of  a  county 
courthouse,  which  has  since  been  done.  Likewise, 
he  started  the  movement  for  the  founding  of 
the  Home  for  the  Aged  and  Infirm  and  has  ever 
since  been  one  of  that  institution 's  best  friends. 
In  1910  he  was  nominated  and  elected  solicitor  of 
the  Sixth  Judicial  District,  without  opposition, 
and  in  1914  was  renominated  and  elected  solicitor 
of  the  Seventh  Judicial  District,  also  without  op- 
position, a  position  which  he  now  holds.  His  term 
of  office  will  expire  December  31,  1918.  Mr. 
Norris  ha.s  been  mentioned  as  the  probable  suc- 
cessor of  E.  W.  Pou  in  Congress,  and  his  friends 
suggest  him  as  a  successor  of  C.  M.  Cooke,  judge  of 
the  Seventh  Judicial  District.  Mr.  Norris  be- 
longs to  the  Tl^apital  Club  and  to  the  Elks,  and  is 
a  member  of  the  First  Ba[)tist  Church  of  Raleigh. 
His  home  on  Louisburg  Road,  north  of  the  city 
limits,  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  of  Ealeigh, 
surrounded  by  a  large  picturesque  lawn  and  land- 
scape, and  there  he  and  his  family  enjoy  the 
advantages  of  country  and  city  combined. 

On  December  10,  1890,  while  living  at  Apex, 
Mr.'  Norris  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Emma 
Burns,    daughter    of    Robert    M.    and    Martha    S. 


Burns,  of  Pittsboro,  North  Carolina.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Norris  have  one  son,  Herbert  Burns.  He 
was  born  November  24,  1891,  was  educated  at 
the  Ealeigh  High  School  and  the  Ealeigh  Agri- 
cultural and  Mechanical  College,  where  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Pi  Kappa  Alpha  fraternity,  and 
is  now  an  automobile  salesman.  On  November 
24,  1910,  he  married  Miss  Minnie  Huutt  Eansom, 
of  Raleigh,  and  they  have  one  daughter:  Emma 
Burns. 

WrLLiAM  Penn  Wood.  A  long  and  exemplary 
career  has  been  that  of  William  Penn  Wood,  who 
in  his  early  manhood  served  faithfully  for  nearly 
three  years  in  the  Confederate  army,  then  returned 
to  the  pursuits  of  peace  in  his  native  North  Caro- 
lina county,  and  was  in  an  acti%-e  career  as  a  mer- 
chant at  Ashboro  until  he  was  called  to  the  dignity 
of  a  state  office,  and  for  the  past  six  years  has 
been  auditor  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 

Born  at  Ashboro,  North  Carolina,  May  2,  1843, 
he  is  a  son  of  Penuel  and  Calista  (Birkhead) 
Wood.  His  youth  was  spent  in  Eandolph  County, 
where  he  attended  the  public  schools  from  1850 
until  1861.  Then  as  a  boy  of  eighteen  he  found 
work  as  clerk  in  a  general  store,  but  in  February, 
1862,  stepped  from  behind  the  counter  and  enlisted 
in  Company  I  of  the  Twenty-second  North  Caro- 
lina Infantry.  He  went  in  as  a  private,  and  was 
found  faitlifully  discharging  his  duties  and  fol- 
lowing his  leader  in  all  the  many  battles  in  which 
he  was  engaged.  He  was  frequently  commended 
for  coolness  under  fire,  and  was  promoted  to 
sergeant.  In  the  second  battle  of  Manassas  he  waf 
wounded  and  was  left  to  lie  in  the  woods  for  a 
long  time  before  assistance  came.  It  was  two 
weeks  before  he  was  taken  to  the  hospital,  and  it 
was  six  months  before  he  was  able  to  rejoin  his 
regiment.  He  still  carries  in  his  body  the  bullet 
that  wounded  him  on  that  day  more  than  half  a 
century  ago.  He  was  with  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  at  the  battle  of  Chancelorsville,  and  wa» 
not  far  from  treneral  Stonewall  Jackson  when  I  hat 
great  Southern  leader  was  shot  down  by  his  own 
troops.  At  the  battle  of  North  Ann  Eiver  ha 
was  captured  and  spent  the  last  mouths  of  Mie 
war  in  a  Federal  prison  at  Point  Lookout,  not 
being  released  until  ten  days  before  the  surrender. 
Mr.  Wood  has  served  as  major  on  the  general  staff 
of  the  Confederate  Veterans'  Association  and  is 
%ice  president  of  the  North  Carolina  Soldiers' 
Home  of  Ealeigh. 

With  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  his  old 
home  at  Ashboro,  took  up  work  as  clerk  in  a 
general  store,  but  in  1873  established  a  general 
merchandise  business  of  his  own.  He  has  been  a 
merchant  there  steadily  for  more  than  forty  years 
and  still  owns  the  business.  He  is  also  a  director 
in  one  of  North  Carolina's  raUway  lines,  and  until 
a  few  years  ago  actively  operated  a  farm  near 
his  home  town. 

For  several  years  he  served  as  city  treasurer  and 
alderman  of  Ashboro,  being  treasurer  of  the  fown 
from  1880  to  1888,  and  treasurer  of  Randolph 
County  from  1890  to  1894.  He  represented  his 
home  county  and  Moore  County  in  the  State 
Senate  of  1901,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Legisla- 
tures of  1905  and  1907  from  Randolph  County.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Randolph  County  Busine.ss 
Men's  Club.  In  October,  1910,  the  Demoeratie 
State  Executive  Committee  nominated  him  to  fill 
a  vacancy  on  the  ticket  as  state  auditor,  and  at 
the  general  election  of  the  following  November 
he  was  elected  and  has  filled  the  office  consecutively 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


95 


down  to  the  present  time.  He  was  re-elected  in 
1912,  and  again  in  1916,  his  present  term  expiring 
in  1920.  It'is  said  that  during  his  official  tenure 
of  tlie  office  more  than  $20,000,000  have  passed 
through  his  hands,  and  not  a  siug-Je  penny  has 
been  unaccounted  for.  / 

Outside  of  his  business  and  public  duties  Mr. 
Wood  has  been  distinguished  for  his  long  and 
conscientious  devotion  to  the  Mefliodist  Episcopal 
Church.  He  was  a  steward  in  his  home  church 
continuously  from  1866  until  1910.  He  is  a  Royal 
Arch  Mason,  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias, 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  Junior 
Order  of  United  American  Mechanics.  He  also 
belongs  to  the  Raleigh  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  the  Capi- 
tal Club. 

On  September  4,  1872,  he  married  Miss  Etta 
Gunter,  who  died  about  twenty  years  ago.  His 
three  cliildren  are:  Blanche  Penn,  wife  of  John 
O.  Redding,  a  manufacturer  at  A^hboro;  John 
Kerr,  a  merchant  at  Ashboro,  and  Mabel  Emma, 
■wife  of  William  A.  Underwood,  a  druggist  of  Ash- 
boro. 

WiLLUJt  D.\NIEL  Merritt.  Among  the  neces- 
sary qualifications  set  forth  in  old  English  law  in 
reference  to  securing  eminence  in  tliat  profession, 
was  the  primary  necessity  of  being  "a  scholar  and 
a  gentleman."  According  to  American  standards 
of  the  present  day,  this  is  also  a  requisite  in  many 
other  lines,  but  it  undoubtedly  continues  especially 
applicable  to  the  law  and  examples  are  not  hard 
to  find  among  those  who  have  become  really  notable 
at  the  bar.  We  may  be  permitted  to  piention  in 
this  connection,  William  Daniel  Merritt,  county 
attorney  of  Person  County,  and  for  many  years  a 
leading  member  of  the  Eoxboro  bar. 

William  Daniel  Merritt  was  born  in  Person 
County,  North  Carolina.  January  .31,  1872.  His 
parents  were  Dr.  William  and  Mary  Catherine 
(Hamlett)  Merritt.  Doctor  Merritt  was  one  of  the 
distinguished  men  of  North  Carolina.  He  was  grad- 
uated in  18.51  from  the  University  of  A'irginia  and 
subsequently  from  Jefferson  Medical  College, 
Philadelphia.  In  18.5.3  he  established  himself  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Roxboro,  North 
Carolina,  and  this  city  remained  his  home  until  his 
death  in  1904.  He  was  particularly  successful  as  a 
physician  and  loved  his  work,  ever  maintaining  its 
dignity  and  ethics.  While  readv  to  respond  to  every 
call  for  help  and  particularly  self-sacrificing  as 
was  evidenced  during  the  serious  smallpox  epidemic 
at  one  time,  when  he  went  among  tlie  sufferers  and 
waited  upon  them  with  his  own  hands,  no  one  can 
ever  recall  that  he  sent  a  bill  for  his  professional 
services  during  his  entire  career.  As  one  of  the 
strong  men  of  the  state  he  was  called  into  public 
life  in  1868,  as  a  member  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention,  and  subsequently  was  elected  to  the 
State  Senate  from  the  Seventeenth  Senatorial  Dis- 
trict. 

William  D.  Merritt  had  both  social  and  educa- 
tional advantages.  After  completing  his  course  at 
Bethel  Hill  Institute,  a  well  known  educational  in- 
stitution of  Person  County,  he  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina  and  was  graduated  in  the 
class  of  1895  and  completed  his  course  in  the  law 
department  of  the  university  in  1896.  In  the  same 
year  he  entered  into  general  practice  at  Roxboro 
and  this  city  has  remained  the  princijial  field  of  his 
activities  ever  since. 

Many  professional  honors  and  successes  have 
come  to  Mr.  Merritt  through  his  legal  ability,  and 


many  others  through  his  active  public  spirit  and 
his  interest  in  forwarding  public  and  industrial 
enterprises  that  have  been  of  great  benefit  to  this 
section.  Serving  now  as  attorney  for  Person 
County,  he  previously  served  as  city  attorney  and 
also  as  a  solicitor  of  the  Fifth  Judicial  District, 
and  in  1896  was  elected  a  presidential  elector  from 
the  Fifth  Congressional  District,  an  unusual  honor 
and  acknowledgment  of  high  personal  merit  in  so 
young  a  man.  Later  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  board  of  town  commissioners  and  still  later 
of  the  county  board  of  education,  and  was  made 
chairman  of  the  latter.  For  two  years  Mr.  Merritt 
served  in  the  important  office  of  superintendent  of 
public  instruction  of  Person  County,  in  all  these 
public  positions  being  particularly  useful  and  ef- 
ficient because  of  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
law  as  well  as  his  general  scholarship.  Mr.  Merritt 
has  built  up  a  substantial  private  practice  through 
which  his  name  is  favorably  known  all  over  the 
county.  He  is  a  director  of  the  Roxboro  Cotton 
Mills,  a  director  of  the  Laui-a  Cotton  Mills  in 
Durham  County,  and  director  and  also  attorney  of 
the  Peoples  Bank  of  Roxboro. 

Mr.  Merritt  was  married  October  28,  1908,  to 
Miss  Mary  Josephine  Cole,  of  Danville,  Virginia. 
They  have  two  sons,  William  Daniel  and  John 
Wesley.  Mr.  Merritt  and  family  belong  to  the 
Edgar  Long  Memorial  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  in  which  he  is  a  member  of  the  board  of 
stewards. 

Gen.  Fr.\nk  A.  BoxD  is  a  widely  known  citizen 
both  in  North  Carolina  and  in  Maryland.  He 
was  formerly  adjutant  general  of  Maryland,  and 
from  that  state,  his  own  native  place  and  the 
home  of  his  ancestry  for  generations,  he  made 
his  distinguished  record  as  a  Confederate  soldier 
and  officer. 

General  Bond  has  for  years  been  an  enthusiastic 
hunter  and  all  around  sportsman,  keenly  alive 
to  all  the  attractions  and  pursuits  of  the  outdoors 
and  the  forest.  As  a  hunter  he  has  made  numer- 
ous expeditions  throughout  the  game  preserves  of 
North  Carolina,  and  in '1902  he  sold  his  property 
in  Maryland  and  coming  to  Robeson  County, 
North  Carolina,  bought  a  tract  of  land  upon  which 
he  established  "Hunter's  Lodge,"  which  has  since 
become  widely  famous  as  a  rendezvo«s  for  hunters 
and  sportsmen  from  all  parts  of  both  the  North 
and  South.  Hunter 's  Lodge  is  situated  on  the 
Seaboard  Air  Line  Railway  in  Raft  Swamp  Town- 
ship, about  half  way  between  Lumberton  and 
Pembroke,  five  miles  each  way.  It  is  sujjplied 
with  mail  from  Lmuberton  postoffice. 

Genera!  Bond  on  coming  here  built  a  residence 
for  himself  and  family  and  around  nearby  a  num- 
ber of  typical  hunters '  cabins  and  other  buildings 
for  the  accommodation  of  sportsmen  and  their 
retinue.  General  Bond  maintains  all  the  facili- 
ties for  the  perfect  pursuit  of  the  hunting  pastime, 
including  numerous  foxhounds  and  bird  dogs, 
horses,  mules  and  vehicles,  and  expert  guides  who 
know  every  foot  of  the  surrounding  swamps  and 
thick  forests.  This  environment  presents  as 
nearly  an  ideal  hunting  preserve  as  can  be  found 
in  America.  Some  of  the  most  noted  sportsmen 
and  successful  hunters  in  this  and  other  countries 
come  to  Hunter's  Lodge  everj'  winter  for  their 
sport.  General  Bond  and  his  wife  have  become 
greatly  beloved  characters  with  their  guests  and 
have  furnished  ideal  hospitality  and  most  con- 
genial accommodations.  The  home  and  its  sur- 
roundings,  set  in   the  depths   of  the   forest,   with 


96 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


the  guides,  the  yelping  and  ever  anxious  dogs,  the 
guns  and  parajiherualia,  present  an  atmosphere  of 
the  hunt  aord  the  chase  that  are  irresistible  to  the 
true  sjiortsnian.  The  interior  of  the  home, 
especially  the  great  dining  room,  with  its  large 
wood  tireplace,  the  Ipng  table  brilliant  with  glass 
and  china  and  silver,  is  a  picture  ot  comfort  and 
cheer  that  would  be  attractive  under  any  condi- 
tions, but  is  doubly  inviting  to  the  man  who  has 
spent  all  day  out  of  doors.  Besides  keeping  up 
this  charming  sportsman 's  headquarters  General 
Boud  operates  a  iarm,  and  has  some  extensive 
fields  of  cotton  and  corn. 

General  Bond  was  born  at  Bel  Air  in  Harford' 
County,  Maryland,  in  1838,  son  of  William  Brown 
Bond.  In  the  paternal  line  he  is  of  pure  Englisli 
stock.  His  ancestors  in  England  were  soldiers 
under  Cromwell.  At  the  restoration  of  King- 
Charles  II  they  found  it  advisable  to  come  to 
America,  and  made  settlement  in  the  Colony  of 
Maryland.  William  Brown  Bond  was  born  at  Bel 
Air  in  Harford  County,  sou  of  Samuel  Bond,  who 
served  as  high  sheriff  of  that  county  in  1798. 
From  Harford  County  the  Bond  family  removed 
to  Jessups  in  Howard  County  in  18.57.  William 
Brown  Boud  was  a  planter,  also  a  very  able  law- 
yer, and  for  several  years  was  state 's  attorney  of 
Harford  County. 

General  Bond  was  well  educated  and  reared  in 
a  home  of  distinctive  culture  and  refinement.  He 
was  twenty-three  years  old  when  the  war  broke  out 
and  was  ca|itain  of  a  company  of  infantry  of  the 
Maryland  National  Guard.  He  went  to  Virginia 
in  May,  1861,  and  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
First  Virginia  Cavalry  and  General  Bond  was  on 
constant  duty,  accepting  every  hazard  and  risk 
of  a  soldier 's  career  with  this  organization  until 
he  was  severely  wounded  at  Hagerstown.  That 
precluded  further  active  service  in  the  field.  He 
was  at  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run  as  a  private. 
On  August  1,  1861,  he  was  promoted  to  lieutenant 
at  Fairfax,  Virginia.  About  that  time  lie  and 
others  organized  Company  A  of  the  First  Mary- 
land Cavalry,  and  in  November,  1862,  was  jiro- 
moted  to  captain  of  the  company.  At  the  battle 
of  Gcttysliurg  he  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight 
throughout  the  three  days  and  under  the  personal 
orders  of  General  Ewell,  one  of  the  three  corps 
commanders  under  General  Lee.  During  the  re- 
treat from  Gettysburg  at  Hagertown,  Ca]itain 
Bond  with  only  a  handful  of  men  met  and  routed 
a  large  force  of  Federal  troops  that  had  followed 
along  after  the  Confederates.  It  was  a  brilliant 
cavalry  charge  and  achieved  all  that  was  expected, 
but  Captain  Bond  himself  was  badly  wounded 
and  disabled.  While  thus  wounded  he  was  cap- 
tured by  the  enemy  a  few  days  later  and  im- 
prisoned at  Fort  McHenry.  While  in  that  prison 
he  met  and  became  a  friend  of  Colonel,  afterwards 
General  Leaventhorpe  of  North  Carolina.  After 
they  were  exchanged,  on  the  invitation  of  General 
Leaventhorpe,  Captain  Bond  became  adjutant 
general  with  the  rank  of  major  in  Leaventhorpe  's 
North  Carolina  Brigade.  As  such  he  was  on  duty 
in  North  Carolina  until  paroled  at  the  close  of 
the  war  at  Greensboro  with  General  Johnston 's 
army. 

Perhaps  the  best  testimony  to  General  Bond 's 
efficiency  as  a  soldier  is  found  in  an  interesting 
letter  which  for  nearly  half  a  century  has  been 
carefully  kept  by  General  Bond  among  his  papers 
and  possessions.  This  letter,  dated  September  12, 
1871,  was  written  by  the  late  Burton  N.  Harrison, 
private  secretary  to  President  Jefferson  Davis  of 


the  Confederacy.  At  the  time  Mr.  Harrison  was 
practicing  law  in  New  York  City,  ,and  in  this 
letter  he  certifies  that  while  he  was  acting  as 
private  secretary  to  the  president  of  the  Con- 
federacy a  ijetition  signed  by  the  privates,  non- 
commissioned and  commissioned  officers  (except 
Captain  Boud  himself)  of  the  First  Maryland 
Cavalry  Regiment,  requested  the  appointment  of 
Capt.  Frank  A.  Bond,  Junior  Captain  of  the 
Regiment,  as  colonel  in  place  of  Col.  Ridgely 
Brown,  who  had  recently  died.  Mr.  Harrison  in 
the  letter  further  stated  that  the  petitioners  ex- 
pressed the  utmost  regard  for  and  confidence  in 
Captain  Bond  as  a  soldier,  officer  and  comrade, 
and  affirmed  that  he  was  fully  qualified  by 
experience,  fortitude,  gallantry  and  skill  as  an 
officer  to  command  the  regiment  in  the  capacity 
of  colonel.  Mr.  Harrison  mentioned  in  the  letter 
that  lie  himself  called  President  Davis'  attention 
to  the  petition  at  the  time  as  a  remarkable  tribute 
to  the  merits  «of  Captain  Bond,  in  whom,  to  quote 
the  words  of  the  letter,  he  ' '  then  and  now"  feels 
a  most  friendly  interest."  The  Harrison  letter 
stated  that  the  petition  was  referred  by  the  presi- 
dent to  the  secretary  of  war  for  official  action. 

This  letter  has  still  another  feature  of  interest, 
perhaps  even  more  than  what  has  been  quoted. 
On  the  last  page  of  Mr.  Harrison 's  communication 
is  an  endorsement  written  by  Mr.  Davis 
himself,  dated  November  6,  1871,  at  Memphis, 
Tennessee,  and  reading  as  follows:  "Though 
I  do  not  recollect  the  petition  referred  to  by  my 
former  secretary  Mr.  Burton  N.  Harrison,  my 
knowledge  of  his  cliaracter  does  not  permit  me  to 
doubt  the  accuracy  of  his  statement.  An  applica- 
tion by  a  whole  regiment  to  have  a  junior  captain 
])ro)noted  to  be  its  colonel  is  such  an  extraordinary 
testimonial  and  appreciation  as  must  be  conclu- 
sive of  the  question  of  meritorious  service. ' ' 
(Signed)    "Jefferson   Davis." 

A  word  of  explanation  is  required  as  to  the 
fate  of  this  petition.  It  was  presented  about 
the  time  Captain  Bond  was  badly  wounded  and 
disabled  at  Hagerstown,  as  above  noted,  and  as  a 
result  of  his  wound  and  subsequent  imprisonment 
the  vacancy  had  to  be  filled  by  another  appoint- 
ment so  that  it  never  devolved  upon  the  authori- 
ties of  the  Confederate  War  Department  to  for- 
mally take  up  and  answer  the  petition. 

After  the  war  General  Bond  returned  to  the 
old  ])lantation  at  Jessups  and  was  actively  engaged 
in  farming  there  for  many  years.  His  successful 
position  as  a  planter  and  his  fine  record  as  a 
soldier  naturally  made  him  a  prominent  public 
figure  and  for  eight  years  he  had  the  honor  to 
.serve  as  adjutant  general  of  Maryland.  He  first 
served  under  appointment  from  Gov.  James 
Black  Groome  and  by  second  appointment  from 
Gov.  John  Lee  Carroll. 

General  Bond  married  Miss  Elizabeth  P.  Hughes. 
Her  grace  and  dignity  and  efficiency  have  served 
to  add  many  of  the  charms  to  the  Hunter's  Lodge. 
Mrs.  Bond  was  born  in  West  Virginia,  but  was 
reared  in  Maryland,  where  she  and  the  general 
vpere  married. 

Alexander  Maktin  Sjiith.  A  man  of  distinc- 
tive energy,  sound  judgment,  and  rare  business 
qualifications,  Alexander  Martin  Smith,  a  promi- 
nent shoe  manufacturer  and  tanner  of  Elkin,  Surry 
County,  North  Carolina,  has  gained  prestige  in  in- 
dustrial circles,  and  won  a  splendid  success  in  the 
business  world — his  prosperity  in  life  being  due 
entirely  to  his  own  efforts.     Self  supporting  since 


^    ^7^Zy(^.  ^^^  .^^.^^^^^^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


97 


his  boyhood  days,  he  has  surely  been  the  archi- 
tect of  his  own  fortunes,  and  a  brief  resume  of 
his  life  may  be  of  interest  and  benefit  to  the 
younger  people  of  this  and  succeeding  generations. 

He  was  born  April  3,  1867,  on  a  plantation  in 
the  historic  Charlotte  County  of  Virginia.  In  this 
county  both  his  mother,  Hallie  Lawson,  and  liis 
father.  Captain  Jack  Smith,  and  his  grandfather, 
John  I).  Smith,  were  born  and  reared.  The  Smith 
ancestors  came  from  Georgia — having  belonged 
to  the  family  of  Smiths  from  which  the  famous 
Bill  Arp  sprung.  On  the  maternal  side  he  is 
descended  ilirectly  from  two  famous  Virginia 
families,  his  grandmother  being  Angeline  Mar- 
shall, a  direct  descendant  of  the  noted  jurist,  John 
Marshall;  his  grandfather,  George  Lawson,  a  man 
proudly  inheriting  the  traits  of  this  noble  and 
ancient  English  family. 

His  father,  Jack  Smith,  was  noted  for  his 
energy  and  public  spirit,  being  an  insiairation  for 
education  and  all  forward  movements  in  his 
county.  He  served  gallantly  in  the  Confederate 
Army,  having  been  made  captain  for  conspicuous 
service  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  As  most 
Southern  families  of  note,  Mr.  Smith 's  family 
were  cripi>led  financially  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
having  dedicated  their  means  as  well  as  theif 
sons,  fathers  and  brothers  to  the  Lost  Cause.  So 
this  made  it  necessary  for  Alexander  M.  Smith 
to  stop  school  at  an  early  age,  for  we  find  him  at 
the  age  of  twelve  years  a  clerk  in  a  general  coun- 
try store  at  Cole  's  Ferry,  Virginia.  Much  of  the 
trade  at  that  point  was  with  farmers,  many  of 
whom,  after  doing  a  day 's  work,  came  a  long  dis- 
tance to  buy  supplies,  the  store  often  being  open 
until  midnight,  making  the  lad's  day  many  hours 
long. 

After  four  years  in  this  position  he  went  to 
Lynchburg,  Virginia,  and  was  employed  as  a  ship- 
ping clerk  by  Witt  &  Watkins,  wholesale  shoe 
dealers.  He  worked  in  the  house  one  year  and 
then  went  ' '  on  the  road  "  as  a  "  drummer  boy ' ' 
for  the  firm.  He  kept  this  position  for  nine  years. 
At  the  end  of  this  time  he  went  into  business  with 
Berry,  Gilliam  &  Co.,  and  travelled  for  the  house. 

In  1892  Mr.  Smith  came  to  Elkin,  Surry  County, 
North  Carolina,  and  established  a  tannery  and 
shoe  factory  on  the  banks  of  the  Elkin  Creek,  be- 
ginning in  a  small  way  with  $600  worth  of  second 
hand  machinery,  six  vats  in  the  tan  yard,  and  a 
force  of  eight  men.  Previous  to  this  time,  several 
shoe  factories  had  been  started  in  the  South,  each 
one  jjroving  a  failure,  so  failure  with  a  capital  F 
was  predicted  for  Mr.  Smith.  Evidently  he  thought 
it  a  risky  venture,  as  he  continued  as  a  travelling 
salesman  for  two  years.  With  the  qualities  of 
unbounded  energy,  courage,  hope  and  sterling  hon- 
esty, Mr.  Smith 's  effort  could  only  spell  success. 
He  had  the  ambition  to  make  the  longest  lived 
shoe  in  America  and  he  succeeded.  Throughout 
the  Piedmont  and  mountain  sections  of  North 
Carolina,  Virginia  and  Tennessee,  Elkin  Shoes  are 
household  words.  The  brand  ' '  Elkin  Home  Made 
Shoe "  is  a  guarantee  to  the  working  peo])le,  and 
to  them  means  a  more  lasting  and  better  wearing 
shoe  than  anybody  else  can  make.  The  merchants 
say  the  farmers  demand  them.  Mr.  Smith 's 
motto  was,  ' '  Not  how  much  money  I  can  make 
out  of  a  pair  of  shoes,  but  how  mucli  real  service 
and  durability  I  can  put  into  a  pair. ' '  He  holds 
to  the  Emersonian  idea  that  if  you  can  do  any- 
thing better  than  somebody  else  the  world  will 
make  a  beaten  path  to  your  door;  and  this  has 
been  literally  true.  For  many  years  Mr.  Smith 
Vol.  rv— 7 


employed  no  salesmen  and  the  shoes  actually  sold 
themselves. 

In  1909,  owing  to  the  demands  of  constantly  in- 
creasing business,  Mr.  Smith  erected  a  modern 
brick  factory  and  tannery,  equipped  throughout 
with  the  most  up-to-date  and  approved  machinery. 
All  the  leather  used  in  the  shoes  is  tanned  in  his 
yard. 

Mr.  Smith  has  been  three  times  married.  He 
married  first,  in  1892,  Miss  Frances  Gwyn  of  El- 
kin, a  daughter  of  Richard  and  MoUie  Dickinson 
Gwyn.  On  the  paternal  side  Mrs.  Smith  was  a 
descendant  of  Gen.  William  Lenoir  and  Col. 
Thomas  Lenoir  of  Revolutionary  fame.  Both  the 
Gwyns  and  Lenoirs  have  been  conspicuous  names  in 
the  history  of  Western  North  Carolina  for  gen- 
erations, members  of  the  family  holding  the  most 
responsible  positions  in  public  and  private  life 
throughout  the  years.  Mrs.  Smith  passed  to  the 
higher  life  in  1896,  leaving  two  children,  Richard 
Gwyn  and  Harriet  Marshall.  The  second  time  Mr. 
Smith  married  Carrie  Gwyn,  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Amelia  (Dickinson)  Gwyn  of  Elkin,  a 
double  first  cousin  of  the  first  wife.  She  lived 
but  one  short  year  after  their  marriage. 

In  1902  Mr.  Smith  was  married  to  Miss  Mar- 
garet Purcell  of  Red  Springs,  North  Carolina,  a 
daughter  of  John  Edwin  and  Cornelia  McCal- 
hmi  Pureell  of  Robeson  County.  Both  Mrs. 
Smith 's  maternal  and  paternal  ancestors  have 
been  influential  in  the  history  of  the  Cape  Fear 
section  of  North  Carolina  since  Colonial  days, 
and  her  kinfolk  on  both  the  McCallum  and  Pur- 
cell  side  are  still  making  history  for  that  fine 
Scotch  section  of  ' '  the  Old  North  State, ' '  proving 
that  no  peoples  are  the  superiors  and  few  the 
equals   of   the    ' '  Scotch    Irish. ' ' 

Mr.  Smith  is  a  man  of  great  modesty  and  of  a 
most  retiring  disposition,  so  his  name  has  been 
very  little  in  the  public  eye.  His  influence,  though, 
is  felt  in  the  community  and  he  is  unquestionably 
on  the  right  side,  and  invariably  his  heart  is  in 
the  right  place,  and  his  hand  reaches  to  his 
pocket  book  for  the  public  good  even  when  he  has 
nothing  to  say. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  and  children  are  members 
of  tlie  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  generous 
contributors  to  its  support.  Mr.  Smith  has  been 
a  prodigal  giver,  among  his  larger  donations  hav- 
ing been  one  of  $10,000  to  the  Orphanage  in  Win- 
ston-Salem and  one  of  $5,000  to  a  hospital  in 
Huchow,  China,  and  a  recent  gift  of  $2,000  to  the 
superannuate  members  of  the  Western  North  Caro- 
lina Conference.  He  likewise  pays  the  salary  and 
expenses  of  Doctor  Manget,  the  physician  in  charge 
of  the  institution. 

Samukl  W.  Cromer.  Almost  continuously  from 
the  day  he  was  released  from  a  northern  prison  at 
the  close  of  the  war  between  the  states,  Samuel  W. 
Cromer  has  been  engaged  in  merchandising,  and 
through  an  active  half  century  he  has  tasted  of 
satisfying  success  and  those  honors  and  the  posi- 
tion due  to  the  substantial  business  man  and  pub- 
lic spirited  citizen. 

Mr.  Cromer  was  born  on  a  farm  at  Round 
Meadows  in  Montgomery  County,  Virginia,  March 
.3,  1842.  He  is  of  German  ancestry.  His  grand- 
father was  born  in  Germany,  and  on  coming  to 
America  located  in  Montgomery  County,  Virginia, 
where  the  rest  of  his  life  was  spent.  He  died  com- 
paratively young,  leaving  his  wife  a  widow  with 
several  children  to  care  for.  Eight  years  after  his 
death    she    went    West    to    live    with    a    daughter. 


98 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


William  Cromer,  father  of  Samuel  W.,  was  born 
in  Montgomery  County,  Virginia,  and  his  birth 
occurred  four  months  after  his  father 's  death. 
Thus  deprived  of  a  father  's  care  he  came  face  to 
face  with  the  serious  responsibilities  of  life  at  a 
very  early  age.  When  his  mother  went  West  he 
remained  in  Montgomery  County  with  an  older 
brother,  and  he  soon  put  his  strength  to  test  in  a 
self-supporting  career.  Fortunately  he  had  been 
reared  to  good  habits,  was  industrious,  and  being 
thrifty  he  saved  his  earnings  and  a  few  years  after 
his  marriage  was  able  to  buy  a  small  farm.  This 
was  subsequently  sold  in  order  to  buy  a  larger  one. 
In  his  ambition  to  provide  for  his  family  he  went 
to  the  extreme  in  hard  woik,  frequently  exposed 
himself,  and  finally  lost  his  health.  At  the  age  of 
fifty-six  he  sold  his  farm  and  bought  a  home  in 
the  Village  of  Auburn.  Later  he  exchanged  that 
for  a  small  tract  of  land  adjoining  the  village 
and  lived  there  quietly  until  his  death  at  the  age 
or  seventy-eight.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Deborah  Lucas.  She  was  a  native  of  Mont- 
gomery County,  Virginia,  daughter  of  Samuel  and 
Catherine  (Davis)  Lucas  and  member  of  an  old 
Virginia  family.  The  Lucases  owned  and  occupied 
a  farm  in  the  locality  known  as  Rough  and  Ready 
in  Montgomery  County.  Mrs.  William  Cromer 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty-six.  Her  eight  children 
were  Mary,  Andrew,  Samuel  W.,  Virginia,  Charles, 
Olivia,  Eveline  and  Franklin. 

When  the  work  of  the  home  farm  did  not  require 
his  attention  Samuel  W.  Cromer  attended  the 
country  schools,  and  in  that  way  he  spent  liis  years 
until  he  was  eighteen.  At  that  age  he  became 
clerk  in  a  general  store  at  Auburn,  and  was  mak- 
ing fair  progress  toward  independence  as  a  busi- 
ness man  when  the  war  broke  out  and  in  1861  he 
left  the  counter  to  enlist  in  Company  F  of  the 
Eleventh  Virginia  Infantry.  Many  times  he  was 
in  the  thickest  of  the  fighting,  he  marched  many 
weary  miles,  and  he  experienced  all  the  liardships 
of  a  soldier's  life  and  all  its  dangers.  Neverthe- 
less he  escaped  any  serious  injury.  Once  a  bullet 
grazed  his  arm  biit  without  making  it  necessary 
for  him  to  leave  the  ranks.  On  the  first  of  April, 
1865,  he  was  captured  l)y  the  enemy  and  taken  to 
Point  Lookout,  Maryland,  where  he  was  retained  a 
prisoner  of  war  until  June. 

On  being  released  he  returned  home  becoming 
clerk  in  store  at  Christiansburg,  Virginia,  later  he 
opened  a  store  at  New  Port,  Tennessee,  and  after 
about  fifteen  months  of  successful  merchandising 
he  returned  to  Auburn,  Virginia,  where  he  organ- 
ized a  tobacco  and  mercantile  business.  From 
there  he  removed  to  DanvUle,  Virginia,  where  he 
was  in  the  livery  and  mercantile  business.  Sold 
out  there  in  1892  and  opened  his  present  business, 
wholesale  grocery,  being  twenty-five  years  in  busi- 
ness at  Winston-Salem. 

Mr.  Cromer  was  married  January  12,  1870,  to 
Miss  Mary  Rowena  Jack,  a  native  of  Tennessee, 
and  a  daughter  of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Dewitt) 
.Tack.  Mr.  aiul  Mrs.  Cromer  have  reared  five  chil- 
dren: William  Jack,  who  married  Selina  Reid; 
Charles  Dewitt,  who  married  Carrie  L.  Crutehfield 
and  has  two  daughters,  Alice  Rowena  and  LilUan 
RufBn;  Elizabeth  D.,  who  is  the  wife  of  John  L. 
Brugh,  associated  with  Mr.  Cromer  in  the  business; 
Mary  B.,  wife  of  C.  R.  King,  and  Clarence  F.,  who 
is  unmarried. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cromer  are  active  members  of  the 
Centenary  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Winston- 
Salem.  He  is  one  of  its  trustees  while  his  son 
Charles  is  on  the  board  of  stewards.     Mr.  Cromer 


is  afliliated  with  Winston  Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  Winston  Chapter 
No.  24,  Royal  Arcli  Masons,  and  mingles  with  old 
army  comrades  in  Norfleet  Camp  of  the  United 
Confederate  Veterans. 

Edward  Ch.\mbers  Smith,  son  of  William  N. 
H.  Smith,  chief  justice  of  North  Carolina  1878- 
1889,  and  Mary  Olivia  (Wise)  Smith,  was  born 
at  Murfreesboro,  North  Carolina,  August  21,  1857. 
He  was  prepared  for  college  at  Gait 's  School  at 
Norfolk,  Virginia,  at  the  Lovejoy  Academy,  in 
Raleigh,  and  at  the  famous  Bingham  (Military) 
School  then  at  Mebane,  North  Carolina.  In  1877 
he  entered  Davidson  College,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  with  honors  in  1881.  While  at  David- 
son he  became  a  member  of  the  Kappa  Alpha 
(Southern)  fraternity,  and  in  the  general  conven- 
tion of  that  fraternity  at  Atlanta  in  1881  he  was 
awarded  the  essayist's  medal  over  twenty-five  com- 
petitors from  southern  colleges,  and  in  the  same 
year  he  was  awarded  the  debaters '  medal  by  his 
college.  His  interest  in  his  fraternity  continued 
after  the  close  of  his  college  career,  and  from 
1901  to  1911,  and  from  1912  to  1913  he  served  as 
knight  commander,  the  highest  official  in  the  na- 
tional fraternity. 

In  1882  Mr.  Smith  entered  the  Law  School  of 
tlie  University  of  Nortli  Carolina  under  the  late 
Dr.  John  Manning,  and  in  1883  completed  his  law 
course  at  the  University  of  Virginia  under  the  late 
Dr.  John  B.  Minor,  thus  having  the  advantage  of 
being  prepared  for  his  profession  under  two  of 
the  greatest  law  teachers  of  their  generation.  In 
1883  lie  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  North  Caro- 
lina and  became  associated  with  Fuller  and  Snow, 
a  leading  legal  firm  at  Raleigh,  with  whom  he  con- 
tinued in  practice  until  1890.  Since  then  he  has 
practiced  his  profession  alone,  building  up  an 
extensive  clientele  as  a  corporation  lawyer.  He 
was  for  many  years  attorney  for  the  North  Caro- 
lina Car  Company,  the  Caraleigh  Cotton  Mills,  and 
the  Caraleigh  Phosphate  and  Fertilizer  Works.  In 
each  of  these  corporations  he  is  a  director.  He  is 
also  a  director  in  the  North  Carolina  Home  In- 
surance Company,  the  King  Drug  Company,  Farm- 
ers Cotton  Oil  Company,  and  other  corporations. 
He  was  state  's  proxy  in  the  North  Carolina  Rail- 
way Company,  and  afterwards  served  for  many 
years  on  its  board  of  directors,  and  as  chairman 
"of  its  finance  committee,  of  which  he  is  still  a 
member. 

Mr.  Smith  has  always  taken  an  active  interest 
in  public  affairs.  His  political  affiliations  are 
with  the  democratic  party.  From  1886  to  1896 
he  served  as  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of 
Internal  Im'provements.  In  1888  he  served  as  an 
alderman  of  the  City  of  Raleigh,  and  at  the  same 
time  as  chairman  of"  the  Wake  County  Democratic 
Executive  Committee.  His  success  in  this  small 
field  led  to  his  election  in  1890  as  chairman  of 
the  State  Democratic  Executive  Committee,  and  as 
such  he  successfully  directed  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant political  campaigns  in  the  history  of  North 
Carolina,  involving  among  other  important  results, 
tlie  re-election  of  Zebulon  Baird  Vance  to  the 
United  States  Senate.  He  was  re-elected  in  1892 
but  had  to  decline.  In  1888,  1892,  and  1904  he 
was  one  of  the  delegates  from  North  Carolina  to 
the  national  democratic  conventions,  and  served  as 
chairman  of  the  rules  committee  in  the  convention 
of  1888,  and  as  a  member  of  the  platform  commit- 
tee in  the  convention  of  1904.     In  1915,  without 


J^^\ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


99 


solicitation  on  his  part,  Mr.  Smith  was  appointed 
by  Governor  Craig  as  member  and  was  elected  as 
chairman  of  the  North  Carolina  Fisheries  Commis- 
sion Board,  created  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
1915  with  full  control  over  the  regulations  of  the 
fishing  industry  in  North  Carolina.  In  this  ca- 
pacity he  has  rendered  conspicuous  service  to  the 
state  in  the  development  of  this  important  in- 
dustry. 

On  January  12,  1892,  Mr.  Smith  was  married 
to  Miss  Annie  Badger  Faison,  a  granddaughter  of 
George  E.  Badger,  distinguished  as  a  lawyer,  cab- 
inet official,  and  senator.  They  have  five  children, 
one  girl  and  four  boys,  three  of  whom  are  (1918) 
in  the  military  and  naval  service  of  the  United 
States  Government,  while  a  fourth  is  in  training 
at  the  Virginia  Military  Institute. 

John  Jay  Bl.^ik,  widely  known  over  the  state 
as  a  prominent  educator,  has  been  superintendent 
of  the  city  schools  of  Wilmington  since  January, 
1899.  In  tliat  period  of  eighteen  years  he  has 
been  a  thoughtful  and  energetic  leader  in  the 
improvements  and  uplift  of  the  city  school  sys- 
tem, and  at  the  same  time  has  identified  himself 
closely  with  general  educational  movements. 

Mr.  Blair  was  born  at  High  Point  in  Guilford 
County,  North  Carolina,  and  is  a  graduate  of 
Haverford  College  in  Pennsylvania.  His  first  im- 
portant work  as  a  school  man  was  done  at  Win- 
ston, where  he  was  principal  of  the  high  school 
and  subsequently  superintendent  of  the  city  school 
system.  From  there  he  came  to  Wilmington,  as 
already  noted. 

Mr.  Blair  is  president  of  the  North  Carolina 
State  Teachers'  Association,  an  office  which  in 
itself  indicates  his  standing  in  educational  cii-cles. 
He  is  also  president  of  the  City  Superintendents' 
Association. 

Joseph  H.  Phillips  for  niauy  years  was  ac- 
tively identified  with  the  lumber  industry  in  and 
around  Winston-Salem,  and  operated  also  lum- 
ber businesses  in  several  adjoining  towns.  His 
family  is  one  of  the  very  earliest  to  locate  in 
Forsyth  County,  North  Carolina.  The  City  of 
Winston-Salcm  lost  an  esteemed  citizen  through 
the  death  of  Mr.  Phillips  on  April  10,  1917. 

Mr.  Phillips  was  born  at  Waughtown,  Septem- 
ber 3,  1866.  Tracing  his  ancestry  back  several 
generations  he  is  a  descendant  of  John  and  Ann 
Phillips,  whose  son  David  Phillips  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 1,  1781.  David  married  Sarah  Pike,  who 
was  born  September  9,  1780,  a  daughter  of  Nathan 
and  Elizabeth  Pike.  Both  the  PhilliiJS  and  Pike 
families  were  among  the  pioneers  of  what  is  now 
Forsyth  County.  Joseph  Phillips,  a  son  of  David 
and  grandfatlier  of  Joseph  H.,  was  born  in  what 
is  now  Forsyth  County  December  6,  1801.  He 
owned  and  occupied  a  farm  in  Broad  Bay  Town- 
ship, and  died  there  October  8,  18.53.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Eebecca  Wright,  and  she 
was  a  daughter  of  Charles  and  Mary  Wright  and 
was  born  October  29,  1803,  and  died  January  28, 
1875.  Both  she  and  her  husband  were  active 
members  of  the  Primitive  Baptist  Church.  Their 
two  children  were  named  William  W.  and  Craw- 
ford Tatnm. 

Crawford  Tatum  Phillips,  father  of  Joseph  H., 
was  born  in  Broad  Bay  Township  of  Forsyth 
County  and  during  his  early  manhood  served  an 
apprenticeship  in  Phillip  Nissen  's  wagon  factory. 
Later  he  enlisted  and  served  during  the  war  be- 
tween the   states  in   Company   E   of  the   Twenty- 


first  Begimeut,  North  Carolina  Troops.  When 
the  war  was  over  he  resumed  work  at  his  trade 
in  the  Nissen  factory,  and  continued  there  until 
1876.  In  that  year  he  bought  a  farm  at  Union 
Cross  in  Abbott 's  Creek  Township  and  from  that 
time  forward  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven,  he  applied  his  efforts  successfully  to  gen- 
eral farming.  He  married  Lucinda  Spach,  who 
was  born  in  Broad  Bay  Township,  a  daughter  of 
Christian  and  Mrs.  (Swain)  Spach.  She  was  a 
lineal  descendant  of  Adam  Spach,  ancestor  of 
many  of  the  best  known  families  in  Western 
North  Carolina.  Crawford  T.  Phillips  and  wife 
reared  seven  children:  Josepli  Hilton,  Samuel 
L.,  Nancy  E.,  Lucius  D.,  John  R.,  Mary  Magda- 
lene and  Charles  Isaac. 

When  Joseph  II.  Phillips  was  ten  years  of  age 
his  parents  moved  out  to  the  farm,  and  he  grew 
up  in  a  country  atmosphere,  getting  his  knowl- 
edge largely  through  country  schools.  Soon  after 
he  was  eighteen  years  of  age  he  married  and  re- 
moved to  Walnut  Cove,  where  for  a  few  years  he 
had  a  mercantile  experience.  It  was  with  rather 
limited  capital  that  he  entered  the  lumber  in- 
dustry. He  bought  a  portable  sawmill  and  a  tract 
of  standing  timber,  and  for  several  years  used 
his  mill  in  converting  that  timber  into  merchant- 
able lumber.  He  operated  in  that  way  until 
189.J,  when  he  sold  his  mill  and  began  dealing  in 
lumber  at  Winston-Salem.  He  had  as  a  partner 
M.  D.  Smith,  and  subsequently  they  incorporated 
the  business.  After  two  years  in  the  corporation 
Mr.  Phillips  sold  his  interest,  but  soon  afterward 
resumed  business  on  his  own  account.  He  estab- 
lished a  yard  at  Centerville  and  another  at  West 
Highland,  and  these  yards  he  conducted  until  his 
death,  supplying  practically  all  the  lumber 
used  in   those  communities. 

Mr.  Phillips  was  first  married  in  1884  to  Miss 
Virginia  Willard,  who  was  born  in  Guilford 
County,  a  daught<?r  of  Joseph  Willard.  She  died 
in  1899.  For  his  second  wife  Mr.  Phillips  mar- 
ried Carrie  Pardue,  who  was  born  in  WUkes 
County,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Susan  (Adams) 
Pardue,  both  of  whom  spent  all  their  lives  in 
Wilkes  County,  where  her  father  was  an  active 
farmer.  Mrs.  Phillips'  brother,  Elbert  Martin, 
was  a  soldier  in  the  Confederate  army. 

By  his  first  marriage  Mr.  Phillips  had  three 
children:  Cora,  Carrie  and  Percy.  There  are  also 
three  children  of  the  second  marriage,  Pansy, 
Ollie  and  Stokes  P.  The  daughter  Cora  is  the 
wife  of  J.  Wilbur  Crews,  and  her  four  children 
are  Sherrell,  Alline,  Selina  and  Eloise.  Carrie 
married  Alvin  W.  Linville  and  had  two  children, 
Joseph  Dwiglit  and  Dorris.  Percy  by  his  mar- 
riage to  Lulu  Hastings  has  a  daughter,  Kathleen 
A'irginia.  Pansy  May  is  the  wife  of  Beecher  Heit- 
man. 

Mr.  Phillips  took  an  active  part  in  Masonry, 
having  been  past  master  of  Winston  Lodge  No. 
167,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons;  past 
high  priest  of  Winston  Chapter  No.  21,  Royal 
Arch  Masons;  past  eminent  commander  of  Pied- 
mont Commandery  No.  6,  Knights  Templar-  and 
he  was  also  affiliated  with  Oasis  Temple  of  the 
Mystic  Shrine  at  Cliarlotte. 

Alfred  Augustus  Thompson.  There  is  a  class 
of  individuals  who,  in  their  own  localities,  are 
naturally  conceded  leadership  in  public  and  private 
enterprises,  this  industrial  power  being  conferred 
by  popular  recognition  of  superior  ability.  Talents 
of  a  diversified  nature  prepare  these  men  to  lead 


91004A- 


100 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


enterprises  of  a  varied  nature,  and  they  are, 
therefore,  placed  in  a  position  to  render  highly 
valued  service  to  their  communities,  wliile  secur- 
ing for  themselves  a  competence  sufficient  to  their 
needs.  By  promoting  ventures  of  an  industrial 
and  financial  nature  and  through  his  direct  service 
as  a  public  official,  Alfred  Augustus  Thompson, 
of  Raleigh,  has  accomplished  just  such  a  double 
result  of  his  labors.  He  has  been  a  resident  of 
the  Capital  City  of  North  Carolina  for  nearly 
forty-five  years,  and  in  this  time  has  not  only 
risen  to  prominence  in  the  cotton  industry,  but 
has  served  as  the  chief  executive  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  born  near  Pittsboro,  Chat- 
ham County,  North  Carolina,  February  24,  1852, 
and  is  a  soii  of  George  \V.  and  Cornelia  E.  (Marsh) 
Thompson,  the  latter  of  whom  lived  at  Ashboro, 
Randolph  County,  prior  to  her  marriage.  His 
education  was  secured  in  the  public  schools  of  his 
native  county  and  his  early  manhood  was  passed 
on  the  farm,  ' '  amid  field  and  forest,  in  a  country 
beautiful  for  situation."  He  was  still  a  young 
man  when  he  came  to  Raleigh  and  became  identi- 
fied with  the  cotton  industry.  His  start  in  this 
direction  was  a  modest  one,  but  his  energy,  Indus 
try  and  inherent  al)ility  won  him  promotion  from 
one  position  of  trust  and  responsibility  to  another, 
until  at  this  time  he  is  president  of  two  of  the 
leading  mills  of  this  part  of  the  state,  the  Raleigh 
and  the  Caraleigh  cotton  mills.  Various  other 
enterprises  have  had  the  benefit  of  his  good  judg- 
ment, foresight  and  acumen,  and  in  addition  to 
'other  ventures  identified  with  the  industrial  life 
of  the  capital  city,  he  is  vice  president  of  the 
Commercial  National  Bank. 

In  the  civil  life  of  the  capital  he  has  been  a 
prominent  figure.  He  was  mayor  when  the  office 
of  chief  executive  of  the  City  of  Oaks  was  com- 
bined with  that  of  judge  of  the  municipal  court, 
and  his  administration  was  characterized  not  only 
by  business-like  handling  of  the  city  's  affairs,  but 
by  a  strict  interpretation  of  the  law  as  regarding 
offenders.  During  his  career  he  has  developed 
into  one  of  the  most  forceful  orators  of  the  capital, 
and  his  voice  is  frequently  heard  from  the  rostrum 
in  public  speeches  supporting  movements  for  the 
benefit  of  his  adopted  city. 

Mr.  Thompson  is  a  member  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Raleigh,  of  which  he  is  a  deacon, 
and  has  taken  an  active  part  in  its  work.  With 
his  interesting  family,  he  resides  in  a  beautiful 
home  in  New  Bern  Avenue. 

L.  E.  Rabb.  The  manufacture  of  furniture  has 
been  brought  to  a  high  state  of  perfection  as  to 
appearance,  comfort  and  utility,  and  one  of  the 
leading  men  in  this  and  in  other  industrial  lines 
in  Caldwell  Countv,  is  L.  E.  R-abb,  secretary,  treas- 
urer and  manager  of  the  Royal  Furniture  Company 
at   Lenoir,   and  the  Caldwell  Furniture   Company 

at  Valmead.  ■      /,  »      v 

Mr.  Rabb  was  born  near  Newton,  in  Catawba 
Countv  North  Carolina.  His  parents  were  J. 
Frank"  and  Sarah  (Arndt)  Rabb,  the  former  being 
deceased.  The  Rabb  family  came  to  North  Caro- 
lina from  Pennsvlvania,  at  a  very  early  day  and 
on  account  of  their  numbers,  they  called  their 
place  of  settlement  the  Rabb  community.  They 
have  always  been  a  quiet,  frugal,  industrious  people 
and  wherever  the  name  is  found  today,  there  wiU 
also  be  found  independent  means,  sterling  honesty 
and  good  citizenship.  In  the  grandfather's  family 
there  were  two  sons  whose  achievements,  one  m 
business  and  the  other  in  public  life,  carried  their 


names  into  other  sections,  J.  Frank  and  Col.  George 
W.  Rabb. 

J.  Frank  Rabb  was  born  in  Catawba  County 
and  after  his  school  days,  adopted  farming  as  his 
vocation.  For  many  years  he  carried  on  large 
agricultural  operations  in  his  native  county  and 
then  became  interested  in  a  mercantile  enterprise 
at  Lenoir.  Having  removed  from  Catawba  to 
Caldwell  County,  he  became  interested  in  farming, 
and  to  its  development  he  devoted  his  remaining 
years.  His  death  occurred  at  Lenoir  in  1914.  He 
had  served  in  the  Confederate  army  during  the 
entire  period  of  the  war  between  the  states. 

Col.  George  W.  Rabb,  brother  of  the  late  J. 
Frank  Rabb,  and  uncle  of  L.  E.  Rabb,  is  one  of 
tlic  best  known  men  of  Catawba  County.  He  lives 
on  the  old  homestead  situated  about  half  way  be- 
tween Newton  and  Maiden,  in  Catawba  County, 
wliich  has  been  his  lifelong  home.  He  served 
through  the  war  between  the  states,  in  the  Con- 
federate service,  entering  as  a  private  and  winning 
]romotion  through  distinguished  bravery,  sacrific- 
ing, however,  one  of  his  legs.  Thus  handicapped 
in  young  manhood  he  began  to  build  up  his  for- 
tunes from  the  cobbler's  bench,  and  today  he  is  one 
of  the  capitalists  of  Catawba,  the  owner  of  a  fine 
farm,  and  of  quite  extensive  cotton  mill  interests 
at  Maiden,  together  with  stock  in  numerous  other 
industrial  concerns.  He  is  held  in  esteem  that 
amounts  to  affection,  in  Catawba  County,  and  it 
has  been  said  that  there  he  can  have  anything, 
political  or  otherwise,  that  he  asks  for.  For  some 
years  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  State  Legisla- 
ture, in  each  campaign  carrying  Catawba  County, 
normally  republican,  for  the  democratic  party. 

L.  E."  Rabb  was  reared  on  the  home  farm  and 
was  educated  in  the  local  schools.  In  1897  he 
removed  from  Catawba  to  Caldwell  County  and 
embarked  in  farming  here  in  which  he  continued 
until  1910,  when  he  started  into  business  as  a 
manufacturer  at  Lenoir.  It  was  about  this  time 
that  he  became  interested  in  the  manufacture  of 
furniture  here  and  since  then  has  had  much  to  do 
with  establishing  the  supremacy  of  Lenoir  as  a 
manufacturing  center. 

The  Royal  Furniture  Company's  plant,  located 
at  Lenoiri  is  an  exceedingly  flourishing  industry. 
The  machinery  and  equipments  of  this  plant  are 
utilized  for  the  manufacture  of  a  general  line  of 
bed  room  suits,  in  mahogany,  walnut  and  oak.  Mr. 
Rabb  is  a  heavy  stockholder  and  is  secretary, 
treasurer  and  manager  of  this  concern,  and  oc- 
cupies similar  relations  with  the  Caldwell  Furniture 
Company,  the  plant  of  which  is  located  at  Valmead, 
two  miles  distant  from  Lenoir,  the  products  of 
this  plant  being  buffets,  odd  dressers,  chiffoniers, 
manufactured  from  plain  and  quartered  oak.  Mr. 
Rabb  additionally,  is  the  owner  of  the  plant  and 
business  of  the  Lenoir  Manufacturing  Company, 
manufacturers  of  general  building  material,  sash, 
doors,  blinds,  etc.,  and  he  is  also  a  stockholder  and 
one  of  the  directors  of  the  Union  Cotton  Mills 
at  Maiden. 

Mr.  Rabb  was  married  in  Caldwell  County,  to 
Miss  Eleanor  Boone  Miller,  and  they  have  one  son, 
John  Perkins  Rabb.  Mrs.  Rabb's  people,  the 
Millers,  were  among  the  organizers  of  Caldwell 
County.  One  of  her  ancestral  lines  connects  her 
with  the  g:reat  explorer,  frontiersman  and  Indian 
fighter,  Daniel  Boone. 

WiLLi.\M  Edg.\r  Perdew.  From  the  time  he 
entered  a  hardware  store  at  Wilmington  at  the  age 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


101 


of  sixteen  William  E.  Perdew  has  had  a  jirogres- 
sive  rise  in  the  scale  of  business  responsibilities, 
and  in  point  of  continuous  service  is  now  one  of 
the  oldest  hardware  merchants  of  the  state.  His 
public  spirit  has  been  on  a  plane  with  his  business 
efficiency,  and  he  has  helped  make  and  plan  the 
greater  and  better  Wilmington  of  the  present  time. 

A  native  of  Wilmington,  where  he  was  born 
April  2.3,  186.5,  he  is  a  son  of  John  William  and 
Mary  Elizabeth  (King)  Perdew.  His  father  was 
a  gun  and  locksmith,  the  family  were  people  in 
moderate  circumstances,  and  William  E.  Perdew 
had  only  a.  few  years  in  which  to  attend  the  private 
schools   of   Wilmington. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  became  an  employe 
with  the  hardware  house  of  Giles  &  Murehison. 
This  old  and  well  known  house  has  been  succeeded 
by  J.  W.  Murehison  &  Company,  and  in  1906  Mr. 
Perdew  beeajne  purchasing  agent  and  a  partner 
in  the  business.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  in 
1901  and  has  since  been  secretary  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Ice  Company,  and  is  president  of  the 
People 's  Building  &  Loan  Association. 

For  the  past  sixteen  years  he  has  been  school 
committeeman  of  district  Xo.  1,  and  is  a  willing 
worker  in  behalf  of  any  movement  for  the  raising 
of  the  standarils  of  the  schools  or  of  any  other 
department  of  the  city's  activities.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  iirst  board  of  commissioners  when 
Wilmington  purchased  the  water  works  and  was 
also  a  city  alderman  and  a  member  of  the  com- 
mission when  the  water  anil  sewer  system  was 
enlarged  and  extended,  and  the  presence  on  the 
board  of  such  an  experienced  and  able  business 
man  enabled  it  to  accomplish  its  work  to  the 
general  satisfaction  of  all  concerned.  Mr.  Per- 
dew is  a  member  of  the  Cape  Fear  Club,  the  Cape 
Fear  Country  Club,  is  a  Knight  Templar  Mason, 
a  Shriner  and  a  member  of  Sepia  Grotto  of  Master 
Masons.  He  is  also  affiliated  with  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows 
and  the  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men.  For  over 
thirty  years  he  has  been  an  active  member  of 
Grace  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  for  the 
past  five  years  has  been  chairman  of  its  board 
of  stewards. 

On  June  16,  1887,  Mr.  Perdew  married  Miss 
Mary  A.  Moore,  of  Philadelphia.  Pennsylvania. 
They  are  the  parents  of  two  children :  John 
William,  a  gradiiate  of  the  class  of  1917  in 
the  I'niversity  of  Xorth  Carolina  and  now  asso- 
ciated with  the  J.  W.  Murehison  Company,  and 
Minnie  Louise,  a  student  in  the  Wilmington  High 
School. 

Capt.  Robert  Row.^x  Crawford  was  one  of 
the  men  who  early  recognized  the  business  and 
commercial  possibilities  of  Winston-Salem,  and 
has  been  actively  identified  with  that  community 
in  a  business  and  civic,  way  for  the  past  forty 
years.  He  still  retains  his  vigorous  hand  in  busi- 
ness life,  though  he  is  approaching  the  age  of 
four  score  and  has  had  a  long  and  most  varied 
experience,  including  service  in  the  war  between 
the  states,  in  which  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  cap- 
tain. 

Captain  Crawford  was  born  on  a  farm  two 
miles  south  of  Salisbury,  North  Carolina,  Octo- 
ber 14,  1839.  The  Crawfords  are  of  Scotch-Irish 
ancestry.  In  the  Lancaster  District  of  South  Car- 
olina three  of  the  most  substantial  and  prominent 
early  fpmilies  were  the  Crawfords,  WTiites  and 
Jacksons,  including  ancestors  of  President  Andrew 


Jackson.  It  was  of  this  branch  of  the  Crawford 
family  that  Captain  Crawford  is  a  member.  His 
grandfather,  William  H.  Crawford,  was  born  in 
Lancaster  County,  South  Carolina,  and  had  a  large 
plantation  and  many  slaves.  Hon.  William  Dun- 
lap  Crawford,  father  of  Captain  Crawford,  was 
born  in  Lancaster,  South  Carolina,  in  1806,  and 
in  1825  graduated  from  the  University  of  North 
Carolina.  He  studied  law  with  Cliief  Justice 
Pearson  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1827.  He 
began  ]iractice  at  Salisbury  and  was  successful 
as  an  attorney  and  prominent  in  public  life  until 
his  death  in  184.3.  He  served  creditably  in  both 
branches  of  the  State  Legislature.  In  1828  oc- 
curred his  marriage  to  Miss  Christina  Mull.  She 
was  born  in  Rowan  County,  North  Carolina,  in 
1810.  Her  father,  Thomas  Mull,  was  a  large 
land  owner  near  Salisbury,  and  he  had  a  large 
number  of  slaves  cultivating  his  land  with  the 
aid  of  his  slaves  until  his  death.  Christina  Mull 
was  a  graduate  of  Salem  College.  At  the  death 
of  her  husband  she  was  left  a  widow  with  five 
sons.  Leasing  tlie  plantation  she  removed  to  Mis- 
sissippi, making  the  entire  journey  with  wagon, 
carriage  and  team  and  lived  'with  a  brother  in 
that  state  for  two  years.  After  that  she  resumed 
her  home  on  the  North  Carolina  pilantation,  and 
in  1850  became  the  wife  of  Peter  M.  Brown  of 
Charlotte,  where  she  spent  the  rest  of  her  days 
and  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight.  The  chOdren 
of  her  first  marriage  were  Thomas  M.,  William 
H.,  James  R.,  Robert  R.  and  Leonidas  W.  All  of 
these  sons  except  Thomas  were  soldiers  in  the 
Confederate  Army,  all  of  them  went  in  as  pri- 
vates, and  in  time  gained  promotion  to  the  rank 
of  captain. 

Robert  Rowan  Crawford  attended  the  Olin 
High  School.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  was 
clerking  in  a  general  store  in  Charlotte.  He  left 
the  counter  in  April,  1861,  to  enlist  in  Hornetnest 
Rifle  Company  B  of  the  First  Regiment,  North 
Carolina  Troops.  He  had  the  distinction  of  par- 
ticipating in  the  first  battle  between  the  North 
and  the  South  at  Big  Bethel,  and  there  he  received 
his  bajitism  of  fire  and  saw  the  first  blood  shed 
of  the  war.  After  six  months  of  service  he  was 
stricken  with  fever  near  Fortress  Monroe  and 
subsequently  .suffered  a  stroke  of  paralysis.  How- 
ever, he  made  rapid  recovery  and  after  his  con- 
valescence he  raised  a  company  at  Salisbury  and 
went  to  the  front  as  its  captain.  This  was  Com- 
pany D  of  tlie  Forty-second  Regiment,  North 
Carolina  Troops.  Captain  Crawford  had  a  long 
and  arduous  service.  Among  other  battles  in 
which  he  participated  were  those  of  Shepards- 
ville,  Newbern,  Cold  Harbor,  Bermuda  Hundred, 
and  the  almost  ceaseless  fighting  around  Peters- 
burg and  Richmond  during  the  last  two  years  of 
the  war.  This  constant  campaigning  and  the  in- 
cident exposure  in  the  trenches  finally  obliged  him 
to  resign  his  commission  in  December,  1864.  The 
only  wound  he  received  was  at  Bermuda  Hundred, 
a  slight  injury  from  a  spent  ball. 

After  tlie  war  Captain  Crawford  engaged  in 
the  hardware  business  at  Salisbury,  where  he  re- 
mained until  1877.  It  was  in  that  year  that  he 
came  to  Winston  and  his  keen  eye  and  good 
business  judgment  quickly  realized  tJie  increas- 
ing advantages  of  this  town  from  a  commercial 
standpoint.  He  removed  his  family  to  the  city, 
and  for  sixteen  years  was  principally  engaged  in 
the  hardware  business.  In  1908  he  removed  to 
Kansas    Citj',   Missouri,   to   look   after   some   real 


102 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


estate  belonging  to  his  wife,  anj  there  built  a 
home  and  lived  for  two  years.  He  then  retui'ued 
to  Winston-Salem  and  has  since  been  in  business 
with  his  sons.  In  1910  he  built  his  tine  modern 
home  at  Crafton   Heights,  where   he   still   resides. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-six  Cajjtain  Crawford 
was  married  to  Miss  Caroline  Crawford,  who  was 
born  in  Washington,  North  Carolina,  in  1843. 
Her  father,  Thomas  Crawford,  was  a  planter  and 
slave  owner  and  of  Seotch-Irish  ancestry,  but  so 
far  as  known  was  not  related  to  the  Crawford 
family  of  South  Carolina.  Mrs.  Crawford  died 
March  17,  1887.  On  April  24,  1889,  Captain 
Crawford  married  Miss  Ada  W.  Dudley.  She 
was  born  in  Newbern,  North  Carolina,  daughter 
of  David  W.  Dudley,  who  was  born  at  Newbern 
May  29,  1810.  Her  grandfather,  Jacob  Dudley, 
was  bora  at  White  Oaks  in  Craven  County,  and 
from  the  best  information  obtainable  was  a  son 
of  William  Dudley,  who  came  from  Virginia  with 
Bishop  Dudley,  grandfather  of  Governor  Edward 
Bishop  Dudley.  Jacob  Dudley  had  a  plantation 
in  Craven  County.  His  wife  was  Ann  Williamson. 
David  W.  Dudley,  father  of  Mrs.  Crawford,  was 
graduated  from  a  dental  school  at  Philadelphia 
and  practiced  his  profession  at  Newbern  until 
his  death  on  December  26,  1858.  His  wife  was 
Eliza  Bryan  Franklin  Watkins,  who  was  born  in 
Craven  County  October  12,  1810,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Elizabeth  (Hancock)  Franklin  and 
the  widow  of  Becton  Watkins.  Mrs.  Dudley  sur- 
vived her  second  husband  and  died  September  11, 
1891,  in  her  eighty-first  year.  By  her  first  mar- 
riage to  Mr.  Watkins  slie  reared  two  children, 
Mary  and  Elizabeth.  Her  second  marriage  re- 
sulted in  three  children,  Annie  Eliza,  John  Jacob 
and  Ada.  The  son,  John  Jacob,  graduated  from 
the  University  of  Virginia  and  is  now  living  with 
his  sister  Annie  in  Pasadena,  California. 

Mrs.  Crawford  was  liberally  educated  at  Salem 
College  and  also  attended  a  convent  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crawford  have  three 
sons,  named  John  Dudley,  Franklin  L  and  David 
D.  The  son,  John  D.,  is  now  in  the  United  States 
Regular  Army. 

Captain  Crawford  also  has  three  children  by  his 
first  marriage,  Thomas  B.,  Robert  R.  and  Chris- 
tina. Thomas  B.  married  Annie  Cheatam  and  has 
three  children,  Thomas  B.,  Caroline  and  James 
W.  Christina  married  Norvelle  R.  Walker,  of 
Richmond,  Virginia.  Robert  R.  married  Miss 
Mary  Price  Hobson. 

Cajitain  Crawford  and  his  sons  are  now  pro- 
prietors of  Crawford  Mills  Supply  Company,  and 
they  transact  a  large  business  through  their  head- 
quarters on  North  Main  Street  in  Winston-Salem. 
The  captain  and  his  wife  are  active  members  of 
the  West  End  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 
Captain  Crawford  is  a  member  of  Norfleet  Camp  of 
the  United  Confederate  Veterans.  While  a  resident  of 
Salisbury  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  city  coun- 
cil and  was  honored  with  the  post  of  treasurer 
of  Forsyth  County  from  1914  until  that  office 
was  abolished  late  in  1916. 

Burt  M.  Hitchcock  spent  much  of  his  early  life 
in  the  country  community  of  the  Village  of  Reids- 
ville,  North  Carolina,  but  finally  removed  to  Win- 
ston-Salem, and  is  now  head  of  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  important  mercantile  establishments  of 
that  city.  His  success  has  been  secured  by  hon- 
orable and  straightforward  methods,  and  he  means 
much  to  the  community  both  as  a  citizen  and  busi- 
ness man. 


Mr.  Hitchcock  was  born  at  Franklin  in  Delaware 
County,  New  York,  and  was  brought  to  North 
Carolina  when  a  child.  His  father  Isaac  L.  Hitch- 
cock was  a  native  of  Delaware  County,  New  York, 
was  reared  and  educated  there  and  learned  the 
trade  of  stone  mason.  From  Delaware  County  he 
removed  to  the  Town  of  Lisle  in  Broome  County, 
New  York,  and  that  was  his  home  until  1871.  For 
several  years  he  had  suffered  ill  health  in  the  cli- 
mate of  the  North  and  finally  he  came  to  the 
milder  climate  of  North  Carolina,  locating  at 
Reidsville,  which  was  then  a  small  hamlet.  So 
far  as  his  health  permitted  he  continued  to  follow 
his  trade,  and  he  lived  at  Reidsville  until  his  death 
in  1889.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Susan 
Ogden.  She  was  born  in  Delaware  County,  New 
York,  a  daughter  of  David  Ogden,  a  native  of  the 
same  county,  and  a  graiuldaughter  of  David 
Ogden,  Sr.  David  Ogden,  St.,  had  a  romantic 
experience  in  early  life.  He  was  captured  by 
Indians  when  a  small  boy,  was  adopted  by  a 
squaw,  and  continued  to  live  with  the  tribe  for 
several  years,  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the 
language  and  the  customs  of  the  Indians.  He 
finally  made  his  escape,  and  in  spite  of  this  expe- 
rience in  a  nomadic  existence,  he  returned  home, 
married,  and  settled  down  quietly  to  the  career  of 
a  farmer.  Mrs.  Isaac  Hitchcock's  father  was  also 
a  farmer  and  spent  all  his  life  in  Delaware  County. 
Mrs.  Isaac  Hitchcock  died  in  June,  1907.  She  was 
the  mother  of  three  children,  Amanda,  Fred  and 
Burt  M.  Amanda  now  lives  with  her  brother 
Burt  at  Winston-Salem.  Fred  is  a  cabinet  maker 
and  lives  at  Atlanta,  Georgia. 

Burt  M.  Hitchcock  was  reared  and  received  his 
education  in  the  schools  of  Reidsville.  When  nine- 
teen years  of  age  he  began  acquiring  a  knowledge 
of  merchandising  by  work  in  a  general  store.  The 
five  years  he  worked  as  a  clerk  gave  him  an  inti- 
mate detailed  knowledge  of  merchandising  and 
proved  the  groundwork  on  which  he  has  since 
become  an  independent  business  man.  He  then 
started  a  store  of  his  own  at  Reidsville,  and  con- 
tinued it  until  1907.  In  that  year  he  removed  to 
Winston-Salem  and  with  H.  L.  Trotter  organized 
the  Hitchcock-Trotter  Company,  with  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock as  president.  This  partnership  was  continued 
for  four  years.  In  1913  the  Ideal  Dry  Goods 
Company  was  organized  with  Mr.  Hitchcock  as 
president,  and  for  the  past  four  years  he  has 
given  the  best  of  his  ability  and  time  to  the  de- 
velopment of  this  store,  which  is  now  one  of 
the  favorite  shopping  places  in  the  business  dis- 
trict of  Winston-Salem. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  was  formerly  a  director  of  the 
Reidsville  Bank  and  while  living  in  that  city  was 
on  the  school  board.  He  was  also  a  member  of 
the  board  of  stewards  of  the  Methoilist  Episcopal 
Church  South  at  Reidsville,  and  has  a  similar 
official  position  in  the  West  End  Metliodist  Epis- 
copal Church  South  at  Winston-Salem,  which  is 
the  church  home  of  him   and  his  family. 

In  1890  Mr.  Hitchcock  married  Miss  Kate  Ha- 
zell.  She  is  a  native  of  Alamance  County.  The 
Hazcll  family  were  pioneers  in  North  Carolina. 
The  United  States  census  of  1700  has  the  names 
of  Moses,  Kindler  and  Robert  Hazell  as  residents 
of  Stokes  County.  Mrs.  Hitchcock 's  father  Mon- 
roe Hazell  was  an  extensive  and  successful  farmer 
in  Alamance  County.  His  wife  was  Lizzie  Tap- 
scot. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hitchcock  have  five  children :  Lil- 
lian, Hazell,  Frances,  Burt  J.  and  Catherine.  The 
son  Hazell  after  graduating  from  the  high  school 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


103 


entered  the  emjiloy  of  the  R.  J.  Reynolds  Com- 
pany as  a  traveling  salesman  and  has  shown  a 
remarkable  ability  as  a  salesman,  having  made 
good  at  the  start  and  now  being  one  of  the  best 
business  getters  on  the  staff  of  the  traveling  rep- 
resentatives of  this  great  tobacco  house. 

FiNLEY  H.  COFrEY.  The  manufacture  of  furni- 
ture is  an  industry  that  has  been  developed  from 
crude  beginnings,  as  public  taste  and  desire  for 
greater  comfort  have  grown.  In  very  early  days, 
when  careful,  laborious,  patient  handwork,  had 
to  go  into  every  piece,  beginning  with  the  tree 
in  the  forest  and  through  long  drawn  out  stages, 
to  its  final  completion  in  the  cabinet  maker's  shop, 
comparatively  few  could  own  as  many  specimens 
of  handsome,  serviceable  furniture  as  they  desired, 
or  even  needed.  Machinery  has  brought  about 
wonderful  changes  in  this  industry  as  in  others, 
and  it  is  now  possil)le  to  secure,  at  the  manufactur- 
ing head  in  as  large  and  progressive  a  town  as 
Lenoir,  North  Carolina,  furniture  of  the  greatest 
utility  and  at  the  same  time  of  handsome  and  dur- 
able design.  One  of  the  leading  industries  of 
Lenoir  is  the  Kent-Coffey  Manufacturing  Company, 
the  alile  manager  of  which  is  Finley  H.  Coffey,  one 
of  the  town's  substantial  and  representative  citi- 
zens. 

Finley  H.  Coffey  was  born  in  1861,  at  Colletts- 
ville,  Caldwell  County,  North  Carolina.  His  parents 
were  Drury  D.  and  Harriet  (Collett)  Coffey,  the 
former  deceased.  Drury  D.  Coffey  was  also  born 
in  Caldwell  County,  at  a  time  when  it  was  a  part 
of  Wilkes  Coimty,  and  was  a  son  of  Daniel  Coffey 
who  was  born  in  Wilkes.  The  mother  of  Daniel 
Coffey  was  a  Boone,  a  niece  of  the  great  frontiers- 
man, Daniel  Boone.  The  Boones  and  the  Coffeys 
originated  in  Ireland  and  were  among  the  earliest 
settlers  in  Wilkes  and  Watauga  counties.  The 
Cofifeys  have  been  pioneers  likewise  in  other  sec- 
tions, including  Illinois,  Missouri  and  Kansas,  and 
in  the  latter  state  there  is  a  county  and  a  city 
that  perpetuate  the  name. 

The  late  Drury  D.  Coffey  for  many  years  was  a 
jdanter  and  merchant  at  Collettsville,  where  his 
wife  was  born  and  reared,  her  father  being  James 
H.  Collett,  well  known  in  Caldwell  County.  Mr. 
Coffey  served  through  the  war  between  the  states 
in  the  Confederate  service,  in  the  regiment  of  which 
Ma.ior  Harper,  of  Lenoir,  was  an  officer.  Mr. 
Coffey  afterward  represented  his  county  in  the 
State  Legislature  and  for  a  number  of  years  was 
a  member  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners. 
In  1892  accompanied  by  his  family,  he  moved  to 
Junction  City,  Kansas,  and  resided  there  until 
1907,  when  he  returned  to  Caldwell  County  and 
his  death  oecurrt-d  in  1914.  He  was  a  man  of  the 
highest  type  of  character  and  commanded  respect 
and  enjoyed  universal  esteem. 

Finley  H.  Coffey  grew  to  manhood  on  the  home 
place,  on  John  's  River,  Collettsville,  and  received 
his  education  there.  He  was  associated  with  his 
father  in  business  from  early  manhood  and  in  1892, 
with  his  wife,  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Kan- 
sas, returning  at  the  same  time  to  North  Carolina. 
Shortly  afterward  Mr.  Coffey  embarked  in  the 
furniture  manufacturing  business  at  Lenoir,  and 
is  financially  interested  in  and  is  the  manager  of 
the  Kent-Coffey  Manufacturing  Company.  This 
plant  constitutes  one  of  the  most  important  in- 
dustrial enterprises  of  this  place,  employing  a  large 
number  of  workmen  and  paying  first  class  wages, 
their    distribution    being    largely    at    Lenoir,    and 


adding  to  the  general  prosperity.  The  product  of 
this  company  is  a  general  line  of  medium  and 
high  grade  furniture. 

Mr.  Coffey  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Rose  Freeze,  and  they  have  four  children:  Irene, 
Harold,  Ethel  and  Archibald.  Mr.  Coffey  is  an 
active,  progressive  and  public  spirited  citizen  and 
seven  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Com- 
missioners of  Lenoir,  his  term  of  office  expiring 
in  the  spring  of  1917.  For  some  year  prior  to 
1916,  he  was  president  of  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Lenoir.  To  careful  business  men  like  Mr. 
Coffey,  Lenoir  owes  much.  They  direct  capital 
investments  along  safe  business  avenues  without 
speculation,  and  thus  assist  in  laying  a  sound 
foundation  for  stable  commerce. 

Alfred  A.  Kent,  M.  D.  Of  the  men  of  note  of 
Caldwell  County,  few  have  contributed  to  the  wel- 
fare and  advancement  of  their  community  in  so 
many  ways  and  fewer  still  have  attained  distinc- 
tion in  so  many  different  fields  as  has  Dr.  Alfred 
A.  Kent,  of  Lenoir.  In  the  medical  profession  he 
has  fairly  earned  eminence  by  the  display  of 
talents  of  a  marked  character;  as  a  banker  and 
business  man  he  is  at  the  head  of  financial  and 
industrial  enterprises  that  contribute  materially 
to  the  county 's  prestige ;  he  is  a  property  owner 
whose  management  of  his  holdings  serves  to  de- 
velop them  and  to  conserve  the  community 's 
interests,  and  as  a  public-spirited  citizen  and  repre- 
sentative of  the  people  in  offices  of  official  import- 
ance and  responsibility  he  has  carried  on  a  work 
that  entitles  his  name  to  respect  and  his  services 
to  universal  gratitude. 

Dr.  Alfred  A.  Kent  was  born  in  Caldwell 
County,  North  Carolina,  about  four  miles  west  of 
Lenoir,  in  1858,  his  parents  being  Abraham  S. 
anil  Mary  (Miller)  Kent.  His  father  was  born 
in  Fluvanna  County,  Virginia,  and  wlien  a  child, 
about  the  year  1842,  came  witli  his  father,  Archie 
Kent,  to  Caldwell  County.  Archie  Kent  and  his 
family  settled  on  a  farm  about  four  miles  west 
of  Lenoir,  on  the  Morganton  road,  where  Alfred 
A.  Kent  was  born.  Abraham  S.  Kent  was  in  the 
Home  Guard  for  the  Confederacy  during  the 
Civil  war,  and  subsequently  became  a  successful 
planter.  The  Kents  of  Fluvanna  County,  Vir- 
ginia, are  a  high  type  of  people,  all  of  whom  have 
been  of  unblemished  character  and  a  number  of 
whom  liave  achieved  prominence  in  some  of  the 
professions,  notably  in  law  and  in  education. 

Alfred  A.  Kent  was  reared  on  the  family  planta- 
tion and  was  prepared  for  college  at  old  Finley 
High  School  at  Lenoir,  under  the  tutelage  of  that 
famous  educator,  Capt.  E.  W.  Fossett,  a  man  who 
became  so  successful  and  distinguished  as  an 
educator  of  boys  that,  although  it  was  in  a  small 
and  isolated  town,  his  school  attracted  sons  of 
some  of  the  best  families  not  only  all  over  the 
surrounding  territory,  but  from  all  over  the  state 
and  from  some  other  southern  and  western  states. 
He  was  a  character  builder  as  well  as  an  educator. 
Following  his  course  at  the  old  Finley  High  School, 
Alfred  A.  Kent  attended  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  where,  on  account  of  his  time  being 
limited,  he  worked  hard  and  crowded  into  two 
years  the  work  necessary  for  a  Bachelor  of  Arts 
degree.  He  studied  medicine  at  the  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  with  the  class  of  1885,  and  began  his 
practice  that  year  at  Cranberry  Iron  Works  in 
Avery   County,   where   he  was   located   two   years. 


104 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


theu  establishing  liimself  in  jiraetiee  at  Lenoir, 
his  home  town,  where  he  has  been  engaged  ever 
since.  Although  iu  subsequent  years  Doctor  Kent 
branched  out  in  business  and  industrial  enter- 
prises, he  was  enabled  to  do  this  only  from  the 
fruits  of  his  labors  as  a  physician,  that  profes- 
sion being  his  life  work  and  the  foundation  of 
his  success,  and  he  has  never  ceased  from  his  active 
practice  thereof.  It  is  a  fine  tribute  to  his  ability 
as  a  physician  and  a  somewhat  remarkable  example 
of  what  one  may  accomplish  through  wise  and  per- 
sistent effort  that,  although  his  outside  business 
activities  and  the  services  he  has  rendered  the 
people  as  a  public  oflScial,  have  taken  up  a  great 
deal  of  his  time,  he  has  still  been  honored  by  his 
profession  by  having  bestowed  upon  him  every 
position  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  in  the 
North  Carolina  Medical  Society.  He  served  as 
president  of  the  state  organization  in  1912  and 
has  been  district  counselor  tor  his  district,  presi- 
dent of  the  state  board  of  counselors  of  the  society, 
served  six  years  on  the  state  board  of  medical 
examiners,  was  president  of  that  board  for  two 
years,  and  was  a  member  of  the  state  board  of 
health  for  two  years.  So  it  will  be  seen  that 
Doctor  Kent  is  essentially  and  primarily  a  phy- 
sician. 

Doctor  Kent  began  life  with  habits  of  thrift 
and  rigid  economy,  and,  beginning  with  small 
investments  in  real  estate,  he  made  it  his  settled 
policy  to  invest  only  in  jiroperty  that  had  a  future, 
and  in  commercial  or  industrial  enterprises  only 
that  were  of  a  sound  and  permanent  character, 
avoiding  always  speculative  schemes  and  enter- 
prises. He  was  practically  the  founder  of  the 
furniture  manufacturing  industry 'at  Lenoir,  for, 
although  a  small  plant  had  been  in  operation 
before  he  went  into  this  industry,  it  was  not  until 
he  had  established  the  Kent  Furniture  Company 
that  the  town  got  a  good  start  along  this  line  and 
encouragement  was  offered  other  concerns  to  locate 
at  Lenoir  and  to  make  it  a  furniture  manufactur- 
ing center.  Doctor  Kent's  spirit  of  progress  and 
enterprise  furnished  the  means  for  bringing  other 
furniture  and  woodworking  plants  to  Lenoir,  and 
the  industry  grew  and  expanded  until  now  this 
community  is  second  only  to  High  Point  as  the 
furniture  manufacturing  center  of  North  Carolina. 
This  industry,  in  fact,  has  been  the  making  of 
Lenoir,  changing  it  from  a  small  and  unimportant 
county  seat  town  to  a  live  and  growing  municipal- 
ity where  a  great  deal  of  money  is  paid  to 
mechanics  and  other  working  people,  and  to  a 
city  of  many  beautiful  and  expensive  homes  and 
substantial  Inisiness  blocks.  Doctor  Kent  subse- 
quently sold  the  plant  of  the  Kent  Furniture 
Company  and  organized  the  Kent-Coffey  Manu- 
facturing Company,  of  which  he  is  still  a  mem- 
ber, and  which  is  an  extensive  manufacturing  ]plant 
for  a  general  line  of  furniture. 

Doctor  Kent  is  president  of  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Lenoir,  and  is  the  owner  of  Kent's  Drug 
Store,  he  being  a  registered  pharmacist  as  well 
as  physician.  He  has  built  three  of  the  best  brick 
store  buildings  in  Lenoir,  of  which  he  is  the  owner, 
and  also  erected  a  number  of  residence  structures, 
including  his  own  home,  "Kentwod,"  a  beautiful 
place  situated  on  a  commanding  elevation  near 
Davenport  College.  A  part  of  this  fine  estate  is 
a  farm  of  100  acres,  extending  toward  the  Lower 
Creek  Valley — a  property  of  very  great  value.  He 
also  has  substantial  and  profitable  investments  in 
Oklahoma,   particularly   at   Oklahoma  City,   Tulsa, 


and  in  valuable  coal  lauds  east  of  McAlester  along 
the  Rock  Island  Railroad. 

In  1910  Doctor  Kent  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  North  Carolina  Legislature,  serving  in  the 
session  of  1911,  and  was  reelected  iri  1914,  serving 
in  the  session  of  1915.  He  took  a  prominent  part 
in  the  activities  of  the  lawmaking  body,  and  of 
especial  local  interest  was  his  having  enacted  a 
measure  which  permitted  the  organization  and 
financing  of  a  drainage  district  for  the  lands  in 
Lower  Creek  Valley  in  Caldwell  County,  lying  to 
the  east,  south  and  southwest  of  Lenoir.  This 
legislation  was  the  means  of  reclaiming  hundreds 
of  acres  of  rich  land  that  had  been  impracticable 
of  cultivation  and  transforming  it  into  splendid 
farms,  making  this  valley  now  one  of  the  richest 
sections  of  Caldwell  County. 

The  most  notable  of  Doctor  Kent 's  activities 
in  the  Legislature,  and  those  which  were  of  the 
most  state-wide  importance,  were  found  in  his 
leadershi))  in  having  established,  under  state  aus- 
pices, the  Caswell  Training  School  at  Kinston, 
an  institution  for  the  feeble-minded  and  one  that 
w-as  very  badly  needed — a  fact  that  had  been 
particularly  impressed  upon  Doctor  Kent  during 
his  nianj'  years  of  practice  as  a  physician.  It  is 
conceded  that  the  founding  of  this  most  beneficent 
institution  was  due  to  Doctor  Kent's  tireless  activ- 
ities in  its  Ijehalf,  tlie  tact  and  diplomacy  he  had 
to  use  in  overcoming  prejudice,  ignorance  and 
olijection,  and  the  sledge-hammer  efforts  and 
methods  he  had  to  put  forth  in  order  to  get  tlie 
necessary  financial  appropriation,  the  speeches 
he  made  both  before  the  house  and  the  committees 
and  all  the  varied  details  he  personally  attended 
to.  It  seems  quite  certain  that  had  it  not  been  for 
his  able  leadership  the  project  would  have  failed. 
And  after  the  institution  was  built  he  did  not  re- 
linquish his  effort  in  it,  but  continued  his  activi- 
ties in  its  behalf  until  he  was  satisfied  that  the 
institution  was  placed  under  eminently  proper  and 
competent    management    and   superintendence. 

Doctor  Kent  married  Miss  Annie  Wright, 
daughter  of  Squire  John  W.  Wright,  of  Coharie, 
Sampson  County,  and  to  this  union  there  have 
been  born  five  children,  namely:  J.  Archie,  Olivia, 
Alfred  A.,  Jr.,  William  Walter  and  Benjamin  H. 

John  Raines  Woltz,  M.  D.  For  upwards  of 
forty  years  one  of  the  leading  physicians  of 
Dobson,  Dr.  John  Raines  Woltz  during  Ms  years 
of  active  service  in  Surry  County  buUt  up  a  large 
and  lucrative  practice  and  established  for  him- 
self a  fine  reputation  for  professional  skill  and 
ability.  A  son  of  Dr.  Lewis  Fernando  Woltz,  he 
w.as  born  September  21,  1841,  in  Newbern,  Pu- 
laski  County,  Virginia,   of   German   ancestry. 

The  doctor 's  paternal  grandfather,  William 
Woltz,  a  native  of  Germany,  was  the  only  member 
of  his  father 's  family,  so  far  as  is  known,  to 
come  to  America.  Locating  first  in  Maryland,  he 
followed  his  trade  of  a  cabinet  maker  in  Hagers- 
town  for  awhile,  subsequently  continuing  his  work 
at  Newbern,  Pulaski  County,  Virginia.  During  the 
War  of  1812  he  enlisted  as  a  soldier,  and  was 
unfortunate  enough  while  in  the  army  to  be  de- 
prived of  his  hearing,  the  roar  of  the  cannon 
causing  permanent  deafness.  Late  in  life  he 
moved  to  Blue  Spring,  Tennessee,  and  there  died, 
at  the  venerable  age  of  ninety-one  years,  at  the 
home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Feagles.  He  reared 
three  children,  as  follows:  Samuel;  Lewis  Fer- 
nando; and  Mary  .Jane,  wife  of  John  L.  Feagles. 


t 


TiLDi-i>    1  C  w  -■ 


::-./r;ONS 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


105 


Dr.  Lewis  Feruaiulo  Woltz  was  born  aud  reared 
in  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  and  there  acquired  his 
elementary  and  academic  education.  He  subse- 
quently entered  the  New  York  Medical  College, 
in  New  York  City,  and  after  his  graduation  from 
that  institution  began  his  professional  career  at 
Floyd  Courthouse,  Virginia.  Moving  from  there 
to  Midway,  Greene  County,  Tennessee,  he  con- 
tinued in  practice  in  that  vicinity  until  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Civil  war  when  he  refugeed  back 
to  Carroll  County,  Virginia,  where  he  continued 
in  active  practice  until  his  death,  at  Hillsville, 
at  the  age  of  four  score  and  four  years. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Dr.  Lewis  F. 
Woltz  was  Mary  .Jane  Early.  She  was  born  in 
Pulaski  County,  Virginia,  a  daughter  of  Jerre 
Early,  who  came  from  Ireland,  his  native  country, 
to  America,  and  with  his  brothers  John,  William, 
Samuel  and  James,  and  his  sisters  Elizabeth  and 
Rhoda,  settled  in  Pulaski  County.  His  brother, 
William,  was  the  father  of  Jubal  A.  Early,  a 
general  in  the  Confederate  Army.  Jerre  Early  was 
a  farmer  and  a  cabinet  maker,  and  after  his  mar- 
riage, in  Giles  County,  Virginia,  to  Jane  Cecil, 
migrated  to  Pulaski  County,  Virginia,  following 
a  narrow  bridle  path  the  entire  distance.  The 
bride  rode  on  horseback  and  carried  a  feather 
bed  and  cooking  utensils,  while  the  groom  walked 
beside  her  armed  with  a  gun.  They  began  house- 
keeping in  a  log  cabin  with  a  puncheon  floor, 
and  as  it  was  located  on  a  road  leading  from 
north  to  the  south  there  were  many  passersby, 
and  although  the  happy  couple  entertained  many 
tri.velers  they  never  charged  a  cent,  nor  asked 
a  person  's  name  or  business.  It  is  said  that  Aaron 
Burr  was  once  a  guest  in  their  cabin  home,  and 
as  lioth  were  ardent  Methodists  in  religion  they 
were  glad  to  have  as  frequent  guests  both  Elder 
Cartwright  and  Lorenzo  Dow.  Both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jerre  Early  lived  to  more  than  ninety  years 
of  age.  Their  daughter,  Nancy  Jane,  wife  of 
Dr.  L.  F.  Woltz,  died  when  but  forty-nine  years 
old,  leaving  eight  children,  namely:  WiUiam  J., 
John  R.,  Georgianna  Etta,  Charles  L.,  Claude  L., 
India  B.,  Sidney  J.,  and  Cora. 

Completing  the  course  of  study  in  the  public 
schools  of  Floyd  County,  Virginia,  aiid  at  Tuscu- 
lum  College,  in  Greene  County,  Tennessee,  John 
R.  Woltz  began  the  study  of  medicine  under  his 
father's  tutelage,  in  1857.  At  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Civil  war  he  was  attending  lectures  at  the 
Nashville  Medical  College  in  Nashville,  Tennes- 
see. Giving  up  his  studies  in  May,  1861,  he  en- 
listed in  Company  I,  Twenty-ninth  Regiment,  Ten- 
nessee Volunteers,  and  took  an  active  part  with 
his  command  in  all  of  its  battles  up  to  and  in- 
cluding the  engagement  at  Shiloh,  where  he  was 
severely  wounded.  After  spending  three  months 
in  the  hospital,  he  joined  his  regiment,  and  un- 
der command  of  General  Bragg  went  to  Kentucky 
and  there  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Perrysville. 
Soon  after,  not  having  recovered  from  the  effects 
of  his  former  wounds,  Mr.  Woltz  was  discharged 
from  the  service  on  account  of  disability,  and  re- 
turned to  Virginia,  where  he  subsequently  became 
a  member  of  the  Dublin  Home  Guard,  and  issu- 
ing commissary  under  General  Jones.  Giving  up 
that  position  in  May,  186.3,  he  joined  the  Four- 
teenth Virginia  Regiment,  known  as  Lowey  's  Bat- 
tery, with  which  he  remained  until  the  close  of  the 
conflict. 

Returning  home,  Mr.  Woltz  resumed  the  study  of 
medicine  at  the  Virginia  Medical  College,  in  Rich- 


mond, where  he  was  graduated  with  the  class  of 
1868.  Beginning  the  practice  of  his  profession 
in  his  native  state.  Doctor  Woltz  spent  a  year  in 
Lambsburg,  afterward  being  located  at  Hillsrille 
until  1871.  Coming  from  there  to  Surry  County, 
the  doctor  settled  in  Dobson  where  he  continued 
in  active  practice  for  a  period  of  forty-five  years, 
winning  in  the  meantime  the  well  deserved  repu- 
tation of  being  one  of  the  most  skilful  and  faith- 
ful physicians  of  this  part  of  the  county.  His 
records  as  a  physician  are  interesting,  and  show 
an   attendance   at   1,684  births. 

On  December  27,  1870,  Doctor  Woltz  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Louisa  Kingsbury,  who  was 
born  in  Stokes  County,  North  Carolina,  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  B.  and  Eliza  Kingsbury.  She  died 
April  28,  1892.  Five  children  have  been  born 
of  the  union  of  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Woltz,  namely: 
John  L.,  of  Mt.  Airy,  of  whom  a  sketch  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  work.  Albert  E. ;  Fannie  M. ; 
Mattie  Irene;  and  Claude  Benard.  Albert  E. 
Woltz,  now  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  at 
Gastonia,  North  Carolina,  was  graduated  from 
the  University  of  North  Carolina,  and  while  a 
student  in  the  institution  served  as  its  bursar.  He 
married  Daisy  Mackey,  and  they  are  the  parents 
of  four  chUdren.  Fannie  M.,  wife  of  George  W. 
Key,  a  farmer  at  Stewarts  Creek,  Surry  County, 
has  five  children.  Mattie  Irene  married  William 
S.  Comer,  a  contractor  and  builder  of  Dobson, 
and  they  have  nine  children.  Claude  was  gradu- 
ated with  honor  from  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  and  is  now  a  teacher  in  the  Maxim  High 
School.  Doctor  Woltz  married  for  his  second 
wife  September  21,  1899,  Angle  J.  Isaacs,  a  native 
of  Surry.  There  are  no  children  by  this  marriage. 
Doctor  Woltz  was  for  thirty  years  health  officer 
for  Surry  County,  his  long  record  of  service  in 
that  position  being  proof  of  his  efficiency  in  that 
capacity.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the    Methodist    Episcopal    Church,    South. 

Jame.s  G.  Fltnt  is  president  and  founder  of 
the  J.  G.  Flynt  Tobacco  Company  at  Winston- 
Salem.  As  a  young  man  he  learned  the  tobacco 
business  in  all  its  details,  and  his  business  ini- 
tiative prompted  him  to  set  up  in  business  for  him- 
self. During  the  past  ten  years  Mr.  Flynt  has 
developed  one  of  the  more  successful  of  the  to- 
bacco factories  in  this  famous  Piedmont  tobacco 
growing  district,  and  is  one  of  the  citizens  to 
whom  Winston-Salem  looks  for  leadership  and  for 
part  of  its  prosperity. 

Mr.  Flynt  was  born  in  Batavia,  Solano  County 
California,  during  the  temporary  residence  of  his 
parents  in  that  state.  The  name  has  been  identi- 
fied with  Western  North  Carolina  since  pioneer 
times.  The  name  was  formerly  spelled  Flint.  In 
the  enumeration  of  heads  of  families  as  found  in 
the  records  of  the  United  States  census  of  1790 
those  of  the  name  mentioned  as  living  in  Stokes, 
which  then  included  Forsyth,  were  John,  Leonard. 
Richard,  Roderick  and  Thomas  Flynt.  One  of 
these  was  undoubtedly  the  ancestor  of  James  G. 
Flynt,    probably    the    great-grandfather. 

Mr.  Flvnt's  grandfather  was  Stephen  Flynt, 
and  was  probably  also  born  in  Stokes  County.  He 
bought  a  farm  in  Kernersville  Township  of  For- 
syth County,  but  about  1850  he  went  to  Mississippi 
and  never  "returned.  He  married  Nancy  Hilton, 
who  spent  her  last  days  in  Kernersville  Town- 
ship. She  reared  three  children:  Aulena,  John 
William  and   Laura. 


106 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


John  William  Flyut  was  born  in  Stokes  County, 
North  Carolina,  July  13,  1844.  He  grew  up  on  a 
farm,  and  when  a  young  man  of  twenty  years,  in 
1864,  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  Army  and  fought 
for  the  Confederacy  until  the  close  of  the  struggle. 

After  the  war  he  resumed  farming  in  Kerners- 
ville  Township,  but  in  1872  removed  to  California, 
spending  about  a  year  at  Batavia,  where  James 
G.  Flynt  was  born.  The  family  then  returned  East 
and  the  father  bought  a  farm  in  Kernersville 
Township,  on  which  he  remained  engaged  in  the 
quiet  vocation  of  agriculture  until  his  death  at 
the  age  of  seventy.  He  married  Mary  Fulton. 
She  was  born  in  Stokes  County,  daughter  of  Joel 
and  Frances  (Abbott)  Fulton.  She  lived  to  be 
sixty-two  years  of  age  and  reared  six  children: 
James  G.,  Nannie,  MoUie,  now  deceased,  John  W., 
Eva   and   Maine. 

Mr.  James  G.  Flynt  grew  up  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts of  Forsj'th  County.  He  attended  rural 
schools  first  and  afterward  was  a  student  in  the 
Kernersville  High  School.  His  pursuits  and  inter- 
ests were  identified  with  farming  until  1898,  when 
he  removed  to  Winston  and  entered  the  service  of 
Mr.  B.  J.  E«ynolds  in  the  tobacco  factory.  While 
he  remained  with  that  factory  he  was  attentive 
not  only  to  his  duties  as  a  means  of  livelihood 
but  made  a  close  and  thorough  study  of  all  details 
of  tobacco  manufacture.  He  left  the  Reynolds 
plant  in  1906  to  organize  the  firm  of  J.  G.  Flynt 
&  Company.  He  began  the  manufacture  of  plug 
tobacco,  and  the  business  has  had  a  successful 
increase  from  the  start.  A  few  years  ago  the 
company  was  incorporated,  with  Mr.  Flynt  as  pres- 
ident and  general  manager.  In  1916  the  plant  was 
removed  from  Trade  Street  to  a  commodious  brick 
structure  on  Oak  Street. 

In  1901  Mr.  Flynt  married  Celesta  Hazlip. 
Mrs.  Flynt  was  bom  in  Forsyth  County,  daughter 
of  Hardin  and  Crissie  (Dalton)  Hazlip.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Flynt  have  six  children:  James,  Hal,  Eliza- 
beth, Clarence,  Eleanor  and  Celesta.  Mr.  Flynt 
and  wife  are  members  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Osborne  Brown.  One  of  the  prominent  and  rep- 
resentative men  of  Catawba  County,  foremost  in 
business  enterprises  and  trustworthy  in  public 
affairs,  is  Osborne  Brown,  who  is  secretary,  treas- 
urer and  active  manager  of  the  Long  Island  Cotton 
Mill  Company,  and  president  of  the  Osborne  Brown 
Mercantile  Company. 

Osborne  Brown  was  born  in  1870,  near  Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania.  His  father,  the  late  James 
Brown,  was  a  merchant  in  New  Jersey  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  residing  just  across  from  Philadelphia 
in  New  Jersey.  In  1888,  accompanied  by  his  fam- 
ily, he  came  to  North  Carolina,  and  shortly  after- 
ward his  father,  James  Brown,  became  associated 
in  the  cotton  manufactiiring  business  with  George 
H.  Brown,  a  resident  of  Statesville,  Iredell  County, 
P.  P.  Key  and  J.  S.  Ramsey  and  organized  the 
Long  Island  Cotton  Mills,  one  of  the  old  historic 
mills  of  the  state  that  had  been  built  by  Powell 
&  Shuford.  in  the  early  '50s  and  had  been  op- 
erated by  them  for  a  number  of  years. 

When  "the  new  owners  of  the  Long  Island  mill 
■  took  charge,  they  found  a  plain,  weather-beaten 
wooden  building,  40  by  60  feet  in  dimensions,  situ- 
ated on  the  Catawba  River,  at  Long  Island._  With 
energy  and  enterprise  and  abundant  capital,  a 
great  change  came  about,  and  in  1890  the  Long 
Island  Cotton  Mills  replaced  the  old  mill  by  the 
present  mill  building,  a  substantial  two-story  brick 
structure,  60  by  120  feet  in  dimensions,  and  since 


that  time  additional  brick  buildings  and  ware- 
houses have  been  erected.  The  business  is  a  cor- 
poration, capitalized  at  $76,000,  and  is  carried 
on  under  the  name  of  the  Long  Island  Cotton 
Mills.  George  H.  Brown,  of  Statesville,  is  presi- 
dent, and  Osborne  Brown  of  Long  Island  is  secre- 
tary, treasurer  and  general  manager.  The  miU 
manufactures  skein  yarns  and  is  equipped  with 
6,072   spindles. 

Osborne  Brown  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Philadelphia,  and  when  old  enough  re- 
ceived a  business  training.  He  accompanied  the 
family  to  North  Carolina  with  the  idea  of  going 
into  business  here,  and  was  associated  with  his 
father  and  George  H.  Brown,  from  the  beginning 
of  their  enterprise.  His  father  died  in  1894  and 
but  for  a  short  time  prior  to  that  event,  Osborne 
Brown  has  been  on  duty  at  the  Long  Island  mill, 
and  much  of  the  success  of  the  business  may  be 
attributed  to  his  energy,  good  judgment  and  busi- 
ness capacity,  he  being  secretary  and  treasurer  and 
general  manager  of  the  mill  business.  Additionally 
Mr.  Brown  is  president  of  the  Osborne  Brown 
Company,  Incorporated,  large  dealers  in  general 
merchandise  of  merit. 

Mr..  Brown  has  shown  business  ability  also  in 
public  affairs.  In  1914  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  of  Catawba 
County,  and  through  re-election  is  serving  in  his 
second  term,  during  all  this  time  being  chairman 
of  the  board.  Since  the  great  floods  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1916  this  board  has  had  particularly  ardu- 
ous and  important  duties,  involving  the  expenditure 
of  large  sums  of  money  in  replacing  bridges  and 
repairing  roads.  In  association  with  adjoining 
counties,  the  board  has  contracted  for  the  building 
of  five  main  bridges  across  the  Catawba  River  and 
other  streams  entirely  within  the  county.  To  the 
consideration  of  these  matters,  Mr.  Brown  has 
given  close  and  careful  attention. 

Mr.  Brown  was  married  to  Miss  Minnie  A. 
Brown,  who  is  a  daughter  of  George  H.  Brovm, 
of  Statesville,  North  Carolina,  and  they  have  two 
daughters,  Helen  and  Olivia.  Mr.  Brown  and 
family  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  in 
this  religious  body  he  occupies  a  position  of  great 
honor  and  responsibility,  having  been  elected  mod- 
erator of  the  South  Fork  Baptist  Association,  com- 
prising fifty-three  churches.  Politically  he  is  a 
republican  and  his  influence  undoubtedly  assisted 
in  the  late  elections,  to  lead  Catawba  County  into 
the  republican  column. 

Alexander  R.  McEacheen.  Travelers  who 
have,  in  times  past,  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  so- 
journing for  any  length  of  time  in  the  Old  North 
State,  and  with  friendly  interest  have  lingered 
many  seasons  through  in  little,  quiet,  home-like 
villages  because  of  the  delightful  hospitality  often 
found  therein,  will  probably  ere  long  seek  such 
somnolent  tarrying  places  in  vain  in  Robeson 
County,  for  the  spirit  of  progress  has  swept 
through  here  and  the  door  to  modern  opportunity 
and  advantage  has  been  thrown  wide  open.  The 
kind,  hospitable,  generous  people  have  not  changed 
except  as  wider  opportunity  has  developed  them, 
but  they  have  grown  more  numerous,  more  am- 
bitious, more  contented  and  happier  and  more  use- 
ful. Not  every  place,  has  undergone,  within  the 
past  decade,  the  same  metamorphosis  that  has 
changed  the  little  Village  of  St.  Pauls  into  a  thriv- 
ing, "prosperous  little  industrial  city,  with  civic 
utilities  and  improvements,  with  modern  business 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


107 


blocks  and  handsome,  spacious  and  costly  resi- 
dences, but  all  have  not  been  fortunate  enough 
to  be  the  home  of  so  able  and  enterprising  a  man 
as  Alexander  R.  McEaohern,  to  whom  and  his  as- 
sociates in  business  much  of  this  development 
may  be  directly  attributed. 

Alexander  R.  McEachern  was  born  in  the  old 
family  homestead  which  has  belonged  to  the  Mc- 
Eacherns  for  one  hundred  and  tnenty-iive  years, 
in  St.  Pauls  Township,  Robeson  County,  North 
Carolina,  in  1860.  His  parents  were  Neill  and 
Ella  (Pow-ers)  McEachern,  both  now  deceased. 
One  of  the  oldest  Scotch  families  in  the  county 
and  in  this  part  of  the  Cape  Fear  section,  the 
McEacherns  came  from  Scotland  and  the  founder 
in  Robeson  County  was  Neill  McEachern,  the 
great-grandfather  of  Alexander  R.  McEachern  of 
St.  Pauls.  In  1793  he  located  on  a  tract  of  land 
in  St.  Pauls  Township,  about  two  and  one  lialf 
miles  west  of  the  present  City  of  St,  Pauls,  and 
there  his  descendants  have  lived  ever  since  and 
still  possess  the  ancestral  acres.  The  first  deed 
that  was  granted  to  said  Neill  McEachern,  bears 
date  of  1794,  conveying  to  him  title  to  200  acres 
of  land  in  consideration  of  ' '  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds."  The  present  head  of  the  family 
owns  this  interesting  document,  as  he  also  does 
another,  which  was  issued  at  Fayetteville,  North 
Carolina,  in  1798,  giving  American  citizenship  to 
his  great-grandfather.  Neill  McEachern  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  St.  Pauls  Presbyterian  Church, 
which  was  established  in  1798,  and  is  one  of  the 
oldest  and  of  most  historic  interest  of  any  of  the 
old  religious  edifices  in  this  part  of  the  state, 
and  his  descendants,  including  the  present  genera- 
tion, have  been  members  of  this  church. 

Neill  McEachern,  father  of  Alexander  R.,  was 
bom  in  the  old  homestead  in  St.  Pauls  Township, 
as  was  his  father,  Hugh  McEachern.  The  family 
vocation  was  farming.  When  the  war  between  the 
states  came  on  Neill  McEachern  with  two  of  his 
brothers  went  into  the  Confederate  army  and  died 
in  December,  1864,  while  in  the  army. 

Alexander  R.  McEachern  was  reared  on  the 
McEachern  plantation  and  after  attending  the 
local  schools  was  a  pupil  of  Professor  Quackenliush 
in  his  academy  at  Laurinlnirg  in  Scotland  f^ounty. 
From  youth  he  has  been  identified  with  farming 
interests  and  now  owns  the  old  homestead  besides 
a  number  of  other  very  fine  farms  in  this  exceed- 
ingly rich  and  productive  agricultural  region  and 
for  many  years  has  been  a  large  cotton  producer. 
For  several  years,  in  association  with  James  M. 
Butler,  he  was  engaged  in  a  large  mercantile  busi- 
ness at  St.  Pauls,  but  since  he  has  become  so 
extensively  interested  in  the  cotton  mill  industry 
he,  with  his  associates,  had  been  more  or  less 
retiring  from  merchandising. 

It  was  about  1907,  after  the  railroad  came,  the 
Virginia  &  Carolina  Soutliern  building  their  line 
from  Lumberton  through  to  Hope  Mills  in  Cum- 
berland County,  that  Mr.  McEachern,  as  one  of 
the  big,  successful  business  men  of  this  section, 
became  interested  with  others  and  the  first  cotton 
mill  was  built  at  St.  Pauls,  and  this  was  the 
foundation  of  the  town 's  development  and  con- 
tinues its  main  industry.  This  mill  is  conducted 
under  the  name  of  the  St.  Pauls  Cotton  Mill 
Company,  of  which  Mr.  McEachern  is  secretary 
and  treasurer,  J.  M.  Butler  being  president.  The 
company  has  a  capital  stock  of  $200,000,  and  the 
mUl,  which  is  a  modern,  complete  and  expertly 
managed   plant,   manufactures   hosiery,  yarns,   and 


the  company  owns  a  second  plant  at  St.  Pauls 
which  nianutactures  yarns  and  knits  the  jiroduet 
into  tubing  for  gloves.  Mr.  McEachern  is  presi- 
dent of  the  Ernaldson  Manufacturing  Company 
and  is  president  of  the  Cape  Fear  Cotton  Mill  at 
Fayetteville,  of  which  Mr.  Butler  is  secretary  and 
treasurer.  Th.at  mill  manufactures  carpet  yarns. 
In  addition  to  the  latter  )ilant,  Mr.  McEachern, 
Mr.  Butler  and  E.  H.  Williamson  have  equijiped 
and  now  have  in  operation  the  new  Advance  Mill, 
at  Fayetteville,  which  is  a  siiecialty  mill  and  is 
manufacturing  olive  drab  cloth  for  the  Govern- 
ment. Mr.  McEachern  as  a  capitalist  is  addition- 
ally interesteil  in  successful  and  industrial  enter- 
prises, is  vice  president  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Pauls, 
a  director  of  the  National  Bank  of  Fayetteville; 
vice  {(resident  of  the  Holt-Williamson  Manufactur- 
ing Coni]iany  of  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina,  and 
is  foremost  in  everything  pertaining  to  the  sub- 
stantial growth  of  the  jilace.  For  a  number  of 
years  he  has  been  prominent  in  public  affairs  in 
Robeson  County  and  served  ten  years  on  the 
board  of  county  commissioners,  and  it  was  during 
this  time  that  the  board  built  the  beautiful  and 
creditable  new  courthouse  at  Lumberton.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  Flora  Macdon- 
ald   College   at  Red   Springs. 

Mr.  McEachern  was  married  to  Miss  Belle  Shaw, 
a  member  also  of  an  old  Scotch  family  of  this 
section.  Her  parents  were  Daniel  and  Elizabeth 
(McLean)  Shaw,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in 
St.  Pauls  Townsship  in  1811  and  died  in  1891.  Mrs. 
McEachern  is  a  sister  of  the  late  Lauchlin  Shaw, 
who  died  in  1915.  Mr.  Shaw  was  the  owner  of 
much  property  here,  a  large  ])art  of  that  on  which 
the  modern  town  nas  been  built  and  took  an  active 
part  in  financially  backing  the  early  business  and 
industrial  enterprises.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McEachern 
have  three  sons,  two  of  whom  are  wearing  the 
uniform  of  the  National  Army,  loyal  and  patriotic 
young  men  of  high  business  and  social  standing. 
The  eldest,  D.  S.  McEachern,  is  in  the  United 
States  Navy.  The  second,  Neill,  is  in  the  Coast 
Artillery.  Duncan  remains  with  his  parents.  Mr. 
McEachern  is  an  elder  in  the  St.  Pauls  Presby- 
terian  Church. 

J.  Neal  D-4VI.S  is  one  of  the  leading  merchants 
of  Winston-Salem.  He  began  his  business  career 
there  as  a  clerk  and  profiting  by  experience  and 
the  opportunities  of  the  locality,  he  established  a 
business  of  his  own  and  is  now  one  of  the  substan- 
tial men  of  the  community. 

Mr.  Davis  is  a  native  of  North  Carolina.  He 
was  born  on  a  plantation  near  Forbush  Baptist 
Church  in  Yadkin  County.  His  grandfather, 
Tom  Davis,  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  on  com- 
ing to  North  Carolina  settled  in  what  is  now  Yad- 
kin County,  buying  a  tract  of  land  two  miles 
southeast  of  East  Bend.  He  became  a  farmer, 
and  lived  in  that  locality  until  his  death.  He  and 
two  of  his  sons  were  Confederate  soldiers  and  in 
the  course  of  his  service  he  received  a  severe 
wound.  Grandfather  Davis  married  Miss  Speas, 
and  they  reared  six  sons  and  six  daughters.  The 
sons  were  named  Alvis,  Levi,  both  of  whom  were 
Confederate  soldiers,  Eli  Tom,  Dalt,  John  and  San- 
ford.  All  the  twelve  children  married  and  reared 
families,  and  their  children  at  one  time  made  a 
total  number  of  seventy-three. 

Eli  Tom  Davis,  father  of  J.  Neal  Davis,  was 
bom  in  1846,  on  a  plantation  two  miles  south 
of  East  Bend.     He  grew  up  on  a  farm  and  after 


108 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


his  marriage  bought  laud  uear  the  old  home  and 
became  a  very  successful  planter.  He  married 
Xaiinie  Marion,  who  was  born  near  the  foot  of 
Pilot  Mountain  in  Surry  County,  North  Carolina, 
in  1848.  Her  grandfather  Marion  was  one  of  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  Surry  County.  Her  father, 
Kichard  T.  Marion,  was  born  on  a  plantation  bor- 
dering tlie  Ararat  River  in  Surry  County  and  be- 
sides earrv'iug  on  a  large  farm  he  operated  a 
blacksmith  shop  and  a  wood  working  shop,  and 
owned  a  number  of  slaves.  All  the  wagons  used 
by  him  were  manufactured  in  his  own  wagon  shop. 
As  a  general  farmer  he  raised  stock,  grain  and 
tobacco.  His  tobacco  was  all  manufactured  on 
his  own  place  and  was  sent  to  southern  markets  in 
his  own  wagons  and  teams.  Eichard  T.  Marion 
lived  to  be  ninety-two  years  of  age  and  died  Octo- 
ber 31,  1916,  being  mentally  vigorous  to  the 
very  last.     He  married  Peggy  Hauser. 

Eli  Tom  Davis  and  wife  reared  eight  children 
named:  Lillian,  Richard,  J.  Xeal,  Hattie,  Egbert 
L.,  Maud,  Paul  and  Eula. 

Mr.  J.  Neal  Davis  speut  his  early  life  on  his 
father's  farm,  attended  rural  school  in  Yadkin 
County,  and  prepared  for  college  in  the  Boone- 
ville  High  School.  He  finished  his  education  in 
Wake  Forest  College  and  on  leaving  school  he 
came  to  Winston-Salem  and  for  a  few  months 
clerked  in  a  local  store.  He  then  bought  a  ladies 
furnishing  store  and  has  made  it  one  of  the 
largest  and  best  stocked  establishments  of  its  kind 
in  Western  North  Carolina.  In  1916  his  business 
was  incorporated  under  the  name  of  J.  N.  Davis 
Company,  with  himself  as  president  and  treasurer. 
Mr.  Davis  now  owns  and  occupies  one  of  the  fine 
suburban  homes  around  Winston-Salem.  In  1916 
he  bought  a  tract  of  farm  land  near  Reynolds, 
and  has  since  improved  it  as  a  model  country 
place.  His  house  is  buUt  in  modern  style  with 
all  the  latest  improvements,  and  he  has  a  private 
electric  plant  and  water  system. 

Mr.  Davis  married  Miss  Elva  Martha  Wall. 
She  was  born  in  Davidson  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, daughter  of  George  W.  "and  Haseltine 
(Charles)  Wall.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davis  have  four 
children,  Elva  Martha,  Catherine,  Margaret  Lucile 
and  Rosa  Logue.  The  family  are  members  of  the 
Brown    Memorial    Church   at   Winston-Salem. 

Bartholomew  Moore  Catling.  One  of  the 
foremost  representatives  of  the  legal  profession  at 
Baleigh  is  Bartholomew  Moore  Catling,  who  re- 
cently took  additional  duties  and  responsibilities 
when  he  accepted  the  appointment  from  President 
Wilson  as  postmaster.  He  is  a  member  of  an 
old  North  Carolina  family,  and  his  father  before 
him  was  a  successful  attorney. 

Born  at  Raleigh  April  12,  1871.  Bartholomew 
Moore  Catling  is  a  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Moore) 
Gatling.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Gates  County 
and  his  mother  of  Halifax  County  in  North  Caro- 
lina. 

Prepared  for  college  at  Baleigh  Academy,  Mr. 
Gatling  then  entered  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, where  he  was  graduated  A.  B.  in  1892.  For 
his  professional  preparation  he  entered  the  Har- 
vard Law  School,  where  he  took  his  LL.  B.  degree 
in  189.5.  Since  that  year  he  has  been  in  active 
practice  in  Raleigh,  and  has  accumulated  a  splen- 
did clientage,  representing  many  individuals  and 
business  firms.  For  ten  years  he  was  counsel  for 
the  Board  of  County  Commissioners.    His  appoint- 


ment as  postmaster  of  Raleigh  was  dated  February 
13,  191.5. 

Mr.  Gatling  is  a  member  of  the  Capital  Club  of 
Raleigh.  On  September  14,  1893,  he  married  Miss 
Lenora  Cradup  of  Meridian,  Mississippi.  They 
are  the  parents  of  seven  children:  Sallie  Moore, 
Lawrence  Van  Valkenburg,  John,  Bart.  Moore, 
William  Crudup,  Louise  Crudup  and  James  Moore. 

Capt.  Edmtxd  Jones.  There  are  some  names 
indissolubly  connected  with  tlie  early  settlement 
and  permanent  development  of  the  L'^pper  Tadkin 
Valley  in  Western  North  Carolina,  that  mention 
of  them  immediately  brings  to  mind  historic  events 
that  contributed  to  the  establishment  of  stable 
government  here,  and  to  noble  individual  achieve- 
ments that  alone  would  serve  to  perpetuate  their 
memories.  Most  conspicuous  among  these  are  the 
names  of  Gen.  William  Lenoir,  Gen.  Edmund  Jones, 
Gen.  Samuel  F.  Patterson,  and  Col.  William  Daven- 
port, all  of  whom  became  kindred  tlirough  inter- 
marriages, and  to  all  of  them  Capt.  Edmund  Jones, 
a  leading  member  of  the  bar  at  Lenoir,  traces  a 
clear  ancestral  line. 

Capt.  Edmund  .Tones  was  born  in  1848,  on  his 
father's  plantation.  Clover  Hill,  situated  about  six 
miles  north  of  Lenoir,  in  Caldwell  County,  North 
Carolina.  His  parents  were  Edmund  Walter  and 
Sophia  C.  (Davenport)  .Jones,  and  his  grandpar- 
ents were  Gen.  Edmund  Jones  and  Col.  William 
Davenport. 

Gen.  Edmund  Jones  was  born  in  Orange  County, 
Virginia,  and  came  in  childliood  to  North  Carolina, 
with  his  parents,  George  and  Lucy  (Foster)  Jones. 
The  family  first  lived  in  the  Yadkin  Valley,  near 
Wilkesboro.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  a  prom- 
inent figure  in  the  public  and  political  life  of  North 
Carolina,  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  and 
served  several  terms  as  a  member  of  both  houses 
of  the  General  Assembly.  Upon  the  formation  of 
Caldwell  County  he  was  one  of  the  magistrates 
appointed  for  that  purpose  and  served  as  chairman 
of  their  court.  In  early  manhood  he  was  married 
to  Anna  Lenoir,  a  daughter  of  Gen.  William  Len.oir, 
who  came  from  Brunswick  County,  Virginia,  to 
North  Carolina,  in  1759,  served  in  the  Revolution- 
ary war  and  was  twice  wounded  at  the  Battle  of 
King's  Mountain.  He  had  previously  served  with 
distinction  against  the  Cherokee  Indians.  Old 
Fort  Defiance,  built  to  resist  Indian  attacks,  after- 
ward became  the  site  for  his  permanent  home  and 
on  that  estate  he  passed  the  closing  years  of  a 
memorable  life. 

Following  their  marriage,  Gen.  Edmund  Jones 
and  his  wife  settled  in  what  was  named  Happy 
Valley,  on  the  Yadkin  River  in  what  is  now  the 
northern  part  of  Caldwell  but  was  then  a  part 
of  Wilkes  County.  There  he  built  "Palmyra," 
which  became  one  of  the  famous  plantations  of 
North  Carolina,  possessing  much  historic  and  ro- 
mantic interest,  and  there  he  lived  until  1844. 
Continuing  the  history  of  this  famous  estate  it 
may  be  further  related  that  it  descended  to  his  son, 
Edmund  Walter  Jones,  who.  in  the  '40s,  because 
of  his  great  affection  for  his  sister,  who  was  the 
wife  of  Gen.  Samuel  Finley  Patterson,  transferred 
the  place  to  her.  X'pon  the  death  of  his  son.  Hon. 
Samuel  L.  Patterson,  Palmyra  was  left  by  his  will 
to  the  Episcopal  Church  for  an  industrial  school 
for  hoys.  It  was  converted  into  what  is  known 
as  the  Patterson  School,  an  industrial  institution 
for  boys,  and  is  now  carried  on  as  such  under  the 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


109 


auspices  of  the  church.  Gen.  Samuel  Fiuley  Pat- 
terson liTed  and  died  in  Caldwell  County.  He  was 
noted  as  a  financier  and  iu  1836  was  elected  treas- 
urer of  North  Carolina,  and  was  also  president  of 
the  old  Ealeigh  &  Gaston  Railroad.  His  two  sons, 
Eufus  L.  and  Samuel  Legerwood  Patterson  both 
became  prominent  iu  public  life,  the  latter  being 
commissioner  of  agriculture  for  North  Carolina 
for  a  number  of  years. 

Edmund  Walter  Jones  was  born  at  Palmyra  and 
spent  his  entire  life  in  Happy  Valley.  In  the  '40s 
he  built  Clover  Hill  for  his  own  residence,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  when  he  transferred 
Palmyra  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Patterson.  During  his 
entire  active  life  he  was  an  extensive  planter.  His 
death  occurred  in  1876,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four 
years.  He  married  Miss  Sophia  C.  Davenport,  and 
of  their  three  sons,  all  became  conspicuous  military 
men,  but  one  of  these  heroes  surviving,  Capt.  Ed- 
mund Jones,  of  Lenoir,  Walter  L.  being  killed  at 
Gettysburg,  and  John  T.  falling  in  the  Battle  of 
the  Wilderness. 

The  mother  of  Captain  Jones  was  a  daughter  of 
Col.  William  Davenport  and  a  granddaughter  of 
Gen.  William  Lenoir.  Col.  William  Davenport  was 
a  son  of  Martin  Davenport,  who  was  the  right-hand 
man  of  Gen.  Ben  Cleveland  in  the  campaigns  of 
the  patriots  in  the  Revolution  in  North  Carolina. 
The  Davenports  had  settled  iu  the  region  of  the 
Yadkin  River  before  the  Revolution,  and  like  the 
Jones  they  were  of  Welsh  ancestry.  They  were 
all  royalists  and  against  the  Cromwell  movement, 
and  when  they  came  to  the  American  colonies,  iu 
1688,  they  first  settled  in  Culpeper  County,  Vir- 
ginia. 

Born  into  a  home  of  luxury  and  refinement,  Ed- 
mund Jones '  early  environment  afforded  him  many 
advantages,  these  including  the  best  of  scholastic 
training.  The  outbreak  of  the  war  between  the 
states,  however,  changed  the  student  into  a  soldier 
one  of  the  youngest  in  the  Confederate  army.  He 
left  the  university  and  enlisted  iu  Company  F, 
Forty-first  North  Carolina  Infantry,  before  he  was 
sixteen  and  was  at  Appomattox,  after  taking  part 
in  the  siege  of  Petersburg,  before  he  was  seventeen 
years  of  age.  He  was  educated  at  the  Bingham 
Military  School,  the  University  of  North  Carolina 
and  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  after  the  war 
spent  some  time  in  the  State  University  but  did 
not  complete  his  interrupted  course  because  of 
different  conditions  incident  to  the  times,  having 
arisen.  It  was  then  he  entered  the  law  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Virginia,  where  he 
qualified  for  the  profession  of  law  under  those 
great  teachers,  Southgate  and  John  B.  Minor. 

Captain  Jones  then  returned  to  his  home.  Clover 
Hill,  and  there  carried  on  the  plantation  until  1881, 
in  which  year  he  took  the  necessary  examination 
and  was  licensed  to  practice  law  and  opened  an 
ofi&ce  at  Lenoir.  He  came  rapidly  to  the  front  in 
his  profession  and  has  long  been  reputed  as  one 
of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  Western  North  Carolina. 
He  early  entered  the  political  field  and  in  1870, 
when  but  twenty-two  years  old,  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State  Legislature  and  served  four  terms, 
eight  years,  in  that  august  body,  with  remarkable 
statesmanship.  He  was  a  member  of  the  session 
that  impeached  Governor  Holden.  When  the  Span- 
ish-American war  was  precipitated,  once  more  Cap- 
tain Jones  became  a  military  man,  becoming  cap- 
tain of  Company  C,  Second  North  Carolina  In- 
fantry,  demonstrating  the  same  qualities   of  per- 


sonal bravery  that  had  marked  him  in  adventur- 
ous youth. 

Captain  Jones  has  been  twice  married.  His  first 
wife  was  Miss  Eugenia  Lewis,  who,  at  death,  left 
four  children:  Augustus,  Edmund,  Eugene  Patter- 
son and  Sarah  D.  Miss  Sarah  D.  Jones  is  a  lady 
of  many  accomplishments  and  of  great  business 
capacity,  and  at  piresent  is  private  secretary  to 
the  commissioner  and  auditor  of  the  department  of 
agriculture,  at  Ealeigh.  Captain  Jones  married 
for  his  second  wife  Miss  Martha  Snell  Scott,  who 
was  born  in  Caldwell  County.  The  whole  Jones 
connection  far  back  has  belonged  to  the  Episco- 
pal Church. 

Edgar  Franklin  McCulloch.  Jr.  Elizabeth- 
town,  the  county  seat  of  Bladen  County,  is  situated 
in  one  of  the  most  beautiful  sections  of  North 
Carolina,  and  its  eitizensnip  is  made  up  of  repre- 
sentative.s  of  numerous  old  Southern  families  that 
liave  helped  to  make  history  in  the  Old  North 
State.  Many  of  these  are  of  Scotch  extraction, 
as  is  the  case  with  the  McCuUochs,  who  have 
lielonged  to  North  Carolina  for  generations.  To 
find  the  pioneer  of  his  family  in  the  state  Edgar 
Franklin  McCulloch,  Jr.,  postmaster  at  Elizabeth- 
town  and  county  attorney,  must  go  back  to  his 
great-grandfather,  John  McCulloch,  wlio  was  born 
iu  Scotland  and  came  in  early  manhood  to  Mary- 
land and  from  there  to  Guilford  County,  North 
Carolina,  where  he  became  a  man  of  local  im- 
portance. 

Edgar  Franklin  McCulloch,  Jr.,  was  born  in 
1888,  at  Wliite  Oak  in  Bladen  County,  North 
Carolina.  His  parents  are  Edgar  F.  and  Viola 
(Sykes)  McCulloch,  the  former  of  whom  was  born 
in  the  Pleasant  Garden  community,  Guilford 
County,  and  is  a  son  of  Calvin  McCulloch.  In 
1880  the  family  moved  from  Guilford  to  Bladen 
County.  E.  F.  McCulloch  passes  much  of  his  time 
at  Raleigh,  as  he  fills  the  office  of  clerk  of  the 
State  Prison  Board. 

Mr.  McCulloch 's  earlier  years  were  spent  at 
White  Oak  and  he  attended  White  Oak  Academy 
rrior  to  entering  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, from  which  he  was  graduated  in  the  cla'ss 
of  1911,  with  his  Bachelor  of  Arts  degree,  and  in 
19i:i,  after  two  years  in  the  law  school  of  the 
university,  entered  into  practice  at  Elizabethtown. 
Because  of  thorough  education  and  unusual  legal 
talent  he  has  made  rapid  strides  in  his  profession 
and  has  successfully  handled  a  number  of  very 
imiiortant  cases,  giving  to  his  clients  honorable 
and  faithful  service.  The  confidence  and  high 
regard  in  which  he  is  held  may  be  indicated  by 
his  election  to  the  important  office  of  county 
attorney  of  Bladen  County. 

Mr.  McCidloch  was  married  to  Miss  Jessie  Lee 
Sugg,  who  was  born  at  Greenville,  Pitt  County, 
North  Carolina,  and  they  have  one  son,  who  per- 
petuates the  family  name  as  Edgar  Franklin 
McCulloch,  Third.  Mrs.  McCulloch  is  a  lady  of 
many  accomplishments  and  thorough  education, 
and  prior  to  her  marriage  was  principal  of  the 
Elizabethtown  Academy.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McCullocli 
are  leaders  in  the  pleasant  social  life  of  the  town 
and  maintain  one  of  its  most  hospitable  homes. 

In  April,  1917,  Mr.  McCulloch  was  appointed 
postmaster  at  Elizabethtown  by  President  Wood- 
row  Wilson,  an  appointment  that  gave  general 
satisfaction  because  of  Mr.  McOulloch  's  high 
personal   character  and  general  popularity.     Edu- 


110 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


cation,  religion  and  charity  all  have  their  claims 
acknowledged  by  Mr.  McCuUoch  in  his  scheme  of 
life,  and  he  has  given  hearty  encouragement  to 
many  worthy  business  enterprises  here  tliat  jirom- 
ise  to  be  of  substantial  benefit  to  the  entire  com- 
munity, thereby  showing  a  liberal  mind  and  a 
public'  conscience  that  are  the  essentials  of  good 
citizenship. 

John  Allen  Adaus.  Surry  County  has  no  more 
popular  and  esteemed  citizen  than  John  A.  Adams, 
familiarly  known  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  that  county  as  "Jack"  Adams.  Mr. 
Adams  is  a  former  sheriff  of  the  county,  a  veteran 
of  the  war  between  the  states,  and  has  long  been 
identified  with  agriculture  and  other  diversified 
industries. 

Though  a  resident  of  Surry  County  most  of  his 
life  he  was  born  in  Pittsylvania  County,  Virginia, 
January  19,  1847.  His  grandfather,  James  Adams, 
was  a  "native  of  the  same  county  and  owned  a 
large  plantation  on  Bannister  River.  He  belonged 
to  the  aristocratic  and  slave  holding  element  of 
Virginia,  and  lived  in  comfort  and  plenty  and 
dispensed  a  generous  hospitality.  His  wife  was 
Paulina  ■Wammoek,  also  a  lifelong  resident  of 
Pittsylvania  County. 

John  A.  Adams,  father  of  John  A.,  was  born  in 
Pittsylvania  County  in  1807,  and  in  1856  removed 
to  Surry  County,"  North  Carolina,  and  bought 
10,000  acres  of  "land  in  and  adjacent  to  Dobson. 
This  princely  estate  he  worked  with  the  aid  of 
numerous  slaves.  He  was  a  man  of  great  power 
and  influence  in  that  community  but  the  war  with 
its  attendant  evils  brought  financial  ruin.  He 
died  in  Dobson  leaving  his  widow  with  seven  chil- 
dren, most  of  them  still  young.  Her  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Adams,  and  she  was  also  born  in  Pitt- 
sylvania County,  a  daughter  of  Johnson  and  Sarah 
(Williams)  Adams.  After  her  husband's  death 
she  returned  with  her  children  to  Pittsylvania 
County  and  she  spent  her  last  years  there. 

John  A.  Adams  was  about  nine  years  of  age 
when  the  family  removed  to  Surry  County.  He 
made  the  best  of  limited  opportunities  to  gain 
an  education,  and  when  quite  young  he  became 
self  supporting  by  his  labor.  When  he  was  seven- 
teen years  of  age  in  1864  he  enlisted  in  Company 
A,  Thirty-fourth  Regiment  Virginia  Cavalry  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Witeher.  With  this  regiment 
he  went  to  the  front  and  served  faithfully  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  When  Lee  surrendered  he 
was  at  Christianburg,  A'irginia,  and  being  allowed 
to  retain  his  horse  he  rode  home.  Before  entering 
the  army  he  had  been  employed  as  a  teamster. 
He  hauled  produce  to  Fayetteville,  and  on  the  re- 
turn trip  brought  merchandise.  Later  this  haul 
was  shortened  when  the  railroad  was  completed 
to  High  Point. 

After  the  war  he  took  uj)  the  business  of  sell- 
ing tobacco  and  started  with  a  load  of  tobacco  on 
wagon  and  team  into  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
and  peddled  it  out  as  he  went.  This  was  his  regu- 
lar occupation  for  twelve  years  and  brought  a 
modest  capital  which  he  invested  in  the  300  acre 
farm  he  now  owns  and  occupies.  This  farm  is 
partly  in  and  jiartly  adjoining  the  City  of  Dobson. 
Here  for  many  years  he  has  followed  general  farm- 
ing, and  has  "made  himself  an  influential  factor  in 
the  agricultural  district  surrounding  him.  Mr. 
Adams  organized  the  Farmers  Alliance  in  Surry 
Countv.  Politically  he  is  a  democrat  and  was 
elected  on  that  ticket  to  the  oface  of  sherifE. 


He  married  Eliza  Ellen  McGuifiji,  September  12, 
186.3.  She  was  born  February  22,  1847,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  F.  and  Sarah  (Ingram)  McGufiin 
of  Franklin  County,  Virginia.  Mrs.  Adams  died 
May  14,  1917,  leaving  one  daughter  Mary  Emma, 
who  now  presides  over  her  father's  home.  Mr. 
Adams  is  affiliated  with  Dobson  Lodge  of  Masons 
and  with  Dobson  Lodge  of  the  Independent  Order 
of   Odd   Fellows. 

John  Thames.  M.  D.  Many  of  the  men  in  the 
medical  profession  today  are  devoting  themselves 
in  a  large  measure  to  the  prevention  of  disease  as 
well  as  its  cure.  They  are  exerting  all  the  force 
of  their  authority  in  persuading  people  to  use  bet- 
ter methods  and  spending  their  time  and  money 
in  the  endeavor  to  find  more  satisfactory  methods 
of  handling  disease,  and  to  make  the  general  pub- 
lic realize  that  in  their  own  hands  lies  the 
prevention  of  a  great  deal  of  disease  and  ill 
health.  In  the  public  health  movement  the  physi- 
cian has  always  been  a  leader,  and  among  the 
Southern  states  not  one  has  done  more  advanced 
and  efiicient  work  in  this  line  than  North  Caro- 
lina. 

One  of  the  ablest  men  now  in  the  public  health 
service  of  the  state  is  Dr.  John  'Thames,  city 
health  officer  of  Winston-Salem.  Dr.  Thames  was 
born  on  a  plantation  on  the  Cape  Fear  River  near 
Fayetteville  in  Cumberland  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, August  26,  1871.  In  the  paternal  line  he  is 
of  Welsh  ancestry.  His  father,  James  Thames, 
was  born  on  the  same  plantation  in  1828.  The 
grandfather,  Rev.  David  Thames,  was  a  native  of 
Wales.  David 's  brother  Joseph  came  to  America 
and  settled  in  Bladen  County,  North  Carolina. 
Rev.  David  Thames  on  coming  to  this  country  when 
a  young  man  located  in  Cumberland  County,  se- 
curing a  tract  of  land  on  the  Cape  Fear  River. 
Along  with  farming  and  the  management  of  his 
plantation  he  served  for  many  years  as  a  minister 
of  the  Missionary  Baptist  Church.  He  and  his 
wife  and  three  children  died  during  a  fever  epi- 
demic in  1835-36. 

James  Thames  had  one  sister,  one  brother,  and 
several  half-sisters  and  brothers.  At  the  death 
of  his  parents  he  removed  to  Bladen  County  to 
live  with  a  half-sister,  Mrs.  Lucy  Davis,  grew  up 
there,  and  remained  in  his  sister's  household  until 
the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican  war  in  1845.  He  en- 
listed in  the  volunteer  army  and  took  an  active 
part  in  that  struggle  with  the  Southern  Republic. 
Following  the  war  he  returned  to  North  Carolina 
and  bought  the  interests  of  the  other  heirs  in 
the  old  homestead  plantation  in  Cumberland 
County.  There  he  set  up  as  a  general  farmer  and 
enjoyed  much  prosperity.  He  lived  on  the  old 
plantation  until  his  death  in  1908.  During  the 
war  between  the  states  he  was  captain  of  a  com- 
pany of  Home  Guards  under  Col.  Thomas  De- 
Vaughan.  For  a  number  of  years  before  his 
death  he  received  a  pension  from  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment for  his  services  in  the  Mexican  war.  This 
old  soldier  married  Mary  Elizabeth  Plummer.  She 
was  a  native  of  Cumberland  County,  the  only 
daughter  of  James  and  Mrs.  (Bramble)  Plummer 
and  was  of  Scotch  ancestry.  She  died  in  Novem- 
ber, 1905.  There  were  five  sons  and  six  daugh- 
ters. 

One  of  his  large  family  of  children.  Dr.  John 
Thames,  spent  his  youth  and  boyhood  on  the  plan- 
tation in  Cumberland  County.  What  the  district 
schools  gave  him  in  the  way  of  an  education  he 


^^^H'^xyi^^^ — j-'Z— ^-^ 


\ 


Tll-t- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


111 


supplemented  by  preparatory  work  in  a  nearby 
high  school,  and  then  entered  the  University  of 
North  Carolina.  On  definitely  deciding  upon  a 
career  in  medicine,  he  entered  the  Louisville  Medi- 
cal College  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  where  he  was 
graduated  M.  D.  in  1894.  Dr.  Thames  has  had  a 
wide  and  diversified  experience  in  active  practice 
for  more  than  twenty  years.  He  has  also  taken 
post-graduate  courses  in  the  Polyclinic  at  Philadel- 
phia and  ill  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  at  Bal- 
timore. 

He  began  practice  at  Lexington,  in  Davidson 
County,  North  Carolina,  and  while  there  began  his 
public  health  work,  serving  as  health  officer  for 
the  county.  In  1899  he  removed  to  Greensboro, 
had  a  general  practice  for  several  years,  and  in 
1910  went  to  Wilmington  to  become  assistant  to 
Doctor  Nesbitt,  health  officer  of  that  city.  While 
at  Wilmington  he  became  a  recognized  force  among 
the  health  officers  of  the  state,  and  it  was  his  repu- 
tation for  efficient  work  in  this  branch  of  the 
profession  that  called  him  to  Winston-Salem,  where 
since  October  1,  1916,  he  has  been  city  health 
officer.  His  work  has  already  gained  him  many 
compliments  and  a  high  recognition,  and  it  was 
made  the  subject  of  a  special  reference  by  Bishop 
Rendthaler  in  the  Home  Church  Memorabilia  for 
1916. 

Doctor  Thames  was  married  in  1894,  the  year 
he  graduated  in  medicine,  to  Martha  Geneva  Cecil. 
Mrs.  Thames  was  born  near  Thomasville,  in  Da- 
vidson County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Jesse 
W.  and  Elizabeth  (Moffitt)  Cecil.  The  Moffitts 
were  English  Quakers.  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Thames 
have  four  children:  John  Allan,  Elizabeth  MofEitt, 
Francis  Cecil  and  Mary  Louise.  Both  Doctor  and 
Mrs.  Thames  are  mem'bers  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  He  has  long  been  actively  identified  with 
Masonry.  He  became  a  Mason  in  Hiram  Lodge 
No.  466,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  in 
1894,  and  has  thrice  transferred  his  membership, 
at  present  being  past  master  of  Wilmington  Lodge 
No.  319.  Doctor  Thames  has  thrice  held  the  of- 
fice of  worshipful  master  in  as  many  different 
lodges.  He  is  also  past  high  priest  of  Chapter  No. 
1,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  at  Wilmington,  and  pre- 
sided at  the  centennial  of  its  organization.  He 
is  affiliated  with  Munson  Council  No.  4,  Royal  and 
Select  Masons,  at  Wilmington,  and  Plantagenet 
Commandery,  No.  J,  Knights  Temjilar,  at  Wil- 
mington, and  Oasis  Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine. 
Doctor  Thames  is  also  a  member  of  the  Knights 
of  Pythias  and  the  Junior  Order  of  United  Amer- 
ican Mechanics. 

When  the  United  States  declared  war  against 
Germany  Doctor  Thames  felt  the  call  to  assist  in 
winning"  the  world  for  democracy.  He  gave  up 
the  health  work,  applied  and  was  accepted  m  the 
Medical  Reserve  Corps  of  the  United  States  Army 
May  1.5,  1917.  Since  that  time  he  has  advanced 
rapidly  in  rank,  and  has  filled  some  of  the  most 
important  positions,  where  the  knowledge  of  pre- 
vention of  disease  was  required.  It  is  hoped  that 
he  will  survive  the  great  world  war  and  return  to 
his  native  state,  better  prepared  to  pursue  his. 
work  of  helping  to  make  North  Carolina  a  safe 
place  to  live,  free  from  contagious  disease. 

M.4.TT  Ransom  Long.  The  list  of  prominent  and 
successful  young  business  men  of  Roxboro  wouhl 
he  incomplete  were  not  mention  made  of  Matt  Ran- 
som Long,  whose  entire  career  has  been  passed  in 
this  thriving  and  enterprising  community  ami  who 
has  risen  to   a  place   of   importance   through   the 


exercise  of  natural  abilities.  Belonging  to  a  fam- 
ily which  has  long  contributed  through  its  members 
to  the  growth  and  develoijmcnt  of  business  and 
civic  interests,  he  has  shown  himself  a  worthy  rep- 
resentative of  the  name  he  bears  and  in  connection 
with  several  important  enterprises  is  contributing 
his  share  to  the  general  welfare. 

Mr.  Long  was  born  at  Roxboro,  Person  County, 
North    Carolina,    a    son   of   James   Anderson    and 
Laura  Rebecca  (Thompson)  Long.    His  father  was 
horn  in  this  county,  May  23,  1841,  a  son  of  Rat- 
liff    and   Mary    (Walters)    Long,    and   received   a 
common    school    education,    beginning    life    as    a 
farmer.     When   the   Civil   war   broke  out,   he   en- 
listed in  Company  H,  Twenty-fourth  North  Caro- 
lina Regiment,  C.   S.  A.,  with  which  command  he 
fought  to   the  end  of  the  struggle,  rising  to  the 
rank  of  sergeant.     Later  in  life  he  became  major 
on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Julian  S.  Carr,  United  Con- 
federate Veterans.     When  the  war   closed  he   re- 
sumed  his   farming   operations,   but   his   interests 
gradually  extended   to    other   fields,   he   becoming 
president  of  the  Peoples  Bank  of  Roxboro  and  of 
the  two  Roxboro  Cotton  Mills,  and  owner  of  the 
Loch  Lily  Roller  Flour  and  Grist  Mills,  Saw  Mills 
and  Planing  Mills.    Mr.  Long  has  been  prominently 
before  the  public  in  many  positions  of  civic  trust. 
As  early  as  1885  he  was  a  member  of  the  North 
Carolina   House   of   Representatives   from    Person 
County,   and   in   1889,    1901,   1905   and   1909   was 
elected  to  the  State  Senate.     He  was  appointed  by 
Governor  Kitehin  a  member  of  the  Stat«  Building 
Commission  to  supervise  the  erection  of  the  State 
Administration  Building  provided  for  by  the  Leg- 
islature of  1911,  and  was  selected  by  Col.  Ashley 
Home  as  a  member  of  the  committee  to  supervise 
the  erection  of  the  monument  to  the  North  Carolina 
Women  of  the  Confederacy,  presented  by  the  colonel 
to  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  to  be  erected  in 
Capitol  Square,  Raleigh.     He  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist   Church,  is  a  trustee  of  the  Methodist 
Orphanage,   belongs  to   the   board   of   trustees   of 
Trinity  College,  and  is  chairman  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  Greensboro  Female  College.     In  1882 
he   was   united   in   marriage   with   Laura  Rebecca 
Thompson,  and  they  became  the  parents  of  three 
children. 

Matt  R.  Long  received  his  early  education  in 
the  graded  and  high  schools  of  Roxboro,  following 
whio4i  he  attended  Trinity  College,  and  then  com- 
pleted his  training  by  a  course  at  the  Virginia 
Military  Institute.  When  he  entered  the  business 
world  it  was  as  proprietor  of  an  automobile  garage 
and  a  dealer  in  automobiles  and  supplies,  but  in 
1911  he  disposed  of  his  interests  in  that  direction. 
Mr.  Long  is  well  and  favorably  known  in  busi- 
ness circles  of  Roxboro  and  the  surrounding  country 
and  his  standing  among  his  associates  and  com- 
petitors is  an  excellent  one.  He  is  president  of 
the  Roxboro  Light  and  Power  Company  and  a  di- 
rector in  the  Peoples  Bank,  and  in  various  ways 
is  an  active  factor  in  the  busy  life  of  this  growing 
locality.  He  is  an  adherent  of  the  Good  Roads 
Movement  and  has  been  able  to  accomplish  much 
good  in  this  way  as  chairman  of  the  County  High- 
way Commission. 

Mr.  Long  was  married  February  22,  1914,  to 
Miss  Oveda  Page,  of  Bartow,  Florida,  and  to  this 
union  there  has  been  born  one  child,  Laura  Oveda. 

John  Blackwell  Sparrow  has  spent  his  active 
life  as  a  business  man  of  Washington,  is  a  banker 


112 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


in  that  city,  and  has  made  himself  a  factor  in  its 
civic  advancement  and  welfare. 

His  father,  the  late  Thomas  Sparrow,  was  born 
at  Newbern  in  North  Carolina  in  October,  1819, 
and  was  long  distinguished  in  North  Carolina's 
professional  and  public  affairs.  He  was  a  son  of 
Thomas  and  Jeanette  Sparrow,  the  former  a  native 
of  Newbern  and  the  latter  of  Hyde  County,  this 
state.  Thomas  Sparrow,  Jr.,  was  liberally  edu- 
cated, atteuding  Caldwell  Institute  at  Greensboro 
from  February,  18:i6,  to  April,  1839.  In  October, 
18.39,  he  entered  the  sophomore  class  of  Princeton 
College,  New  Jersey,  and  iu  October,  1842  was 
graduated  valedictorian.  He  afterwards  took  a 
post-graduate  course  for  the  Master  of  Arts  de- 
gree. 

In  1842  he  began  the  study  of  law  under  Judge 
William  Gaston,  was  licensed  to  practice  in  the 
County  Court  in  184o,  and  in  the  Superior  Court 
in  1844.  Thomas  Sparrow  locateil  at  Washington 
in  1847,  forming  a  partnership  with  Hon.  Edward 
Stanley.  He  rapidly  rose  to  prominence  both  at 
the  bar  and  in  politics.  In  the  Legislature  of 
1870  he  was  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Managers 
at,  the  impeachment  trial  of  Gov.  W.  W.  Holdeu. 

Ho  left  a  well  established  law  practice  to  serve 
his  country  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  Jn 
1861  he  organized  the  first  company  from  Beaufort 
County  and  was  one  of  the  most  devoted  followers 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  At  the  battle  of 
Hatteras  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  spent  six 
months  at  Fort  Lafayette  in  New  York  Harbor 
and  Fort  Warren  in  Boston  Harbor.  He  was  com- 
missioned major  of  the  40tli  North  Carolina  Artil- 
lery and  made  inspector  of  ordnance  for  the  de- 
fenses of  the  Cape  Fear.  Headquarters  were  at 
Wilmington,  North  Carolina.  Major  Sparrow 
never  surrendered  his  sword  or  took  the  oath  of 
allegiance.  The  sword  wliich  he  carried  is  now 
in  the  possession  of  his  son  John  B.  Sparrow.  He 
was  several  times  a  member  of  the  State  Legisla- 
ture. In  politics  he  was  alBliated  with  the  old 
whig  party  and  from  that  became  a  democrat.  He 
was  a  ruling  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

In  April,  1844,  Thomas  Sparrow  married  Ann 
M.  Blaekwell,  daughter  of  John  Blackwell,  of 
Newbern,  North  Carolina.  They  had  six  children: 
Eev.  George  A.  Sparrow,  of  Lowell,  North  Caro- 
lina; Anna,  wife  of  Dr.  R.  H.  Lewis,  of  Raleigh; 
Margaret,  Mrs.  C.  M.  Payne,  of  Raleigh;  Eliza- 
beth, Mrs.  H.  A.  McCord  of  Cliicago;  Caroline, 
Mrs.  R.  F.  Dalton,  of  Greensboro,  North  Carolina; 
and  John  B.   Sparrow. 

The  original  ancestors  of  the  Sparrow  family 
came  from  England  and  were  colonial  settlers  in 
Southeastern  Virginia. 

John  Blackwell  Sparrow  was  born  January  19, 
1860,  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  where  his  parents 
lived  a  short  time  before  the  war.  When  he  was 
about  a  year  old  his  parents  returned  to  North 
Carolina  and  he  grew  up  at  Washington.  His 
early  education  was  under  the  direction  of  a  pri- 
vate tutor.  Mr.  Sparrow  was  a  general  merchant 
at  Washington  for  ten  years  and  for  thirteen 
years  was  connected  with  the  firm  of  S.  R.  Fowle 
&  Son.  In  May,  1903,  he  became  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  Savings  &  Trust  Company  of 
Washington  and  has  since  been  its  cashier.  He  is 
also  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Home  Build- 
ing and  Loan  Association.  Mr.  Sparrow  has  been 
an  official  in  the  Washington  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, is  president  of  the  Washington  Public 
Library  Association,  chairman  of  the  County 
Board  of  Education,  was  city  clerk  and  treasurer 


eight  years,  a  member  of  the  city  council  six  vears, 
and  is  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.'  No- 
vember 30,  1892,  he  married  Miss  Fannie  Tunstall 
Payne,  of  Lexington,  North  Carolina,  daughter 
of  Dr.  Robert  Lee  and  Winifred  (Wilson)  Payne. 
They  have  one  son,  Thomas  De  Lamar,  born  Sep- 
tember 10,  189.5,  and  now  a  student  of  medicine 
in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

Thomas  Bbowx  Finley.  Conspicuous  among 
the  more  talented  and  able  members  of  the  Wilkes 
County  bar  is  Thomas  Brown  Finley,  of  North 
Wilkesboro;  a  lawj'er  who  has  gained  prominence 
in  his  profession;  a  i)ublic-spirited  citizen  whose 
intiuence  has  been  felt  iu  the  establishment  of 
enterprises  conducive  to  the  betterment  of  the 
community  in  which  he  resides;  and  a  business 
man  of  undoubted  ability  and  integrity.  A  na- 
tive of  Wilkesboro,  he  was  born  at  Fairmouut,  now 
Kensington  Heights,  a  son  of  Augustus  W.  Finley, 
and  grandson  of  Maj.  John  Finley,  an  early  settler 
of  Wilkes  County. 

Maj.  John  Finley  was  born  and  brought  up  in 
Adams  County,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  acquired  a 
good  education,  aud  a  practical  training  in  busi- 
ness pursuits.  Coming  in  early  life  to  the  Valley 
of  Virginia  and  then  to  North  Carolina,  he  pur- 
chased property  in  Wilkesboro,  and  on  a  rise  of 
ground  erected  a  substantial  brick  house  near  the 
site  of  the  present  courthouse.  In  partnership  with 
Colonel  Waugh,  he  engaged  in  mercantile  business 
on  an  extensive  scale,  establishing  a  chain  of  stores, 
including  one  store  in  each  of  tlie  following  named 
places:  Wilkesboro;  Jefferson;  Shouns  Cross 
Roads,  Tennessee;  Lenoir;  and  one  in  Cherokee 
County.  Buying  their  goods  in  the  North,  this  en- 
terprising firm  either  had  them  transported  with 
teams  from  Baltimore,  or  else  had  them  shipped 
to  Fayetteville,  this  state,  and  transported  from 
there  with  teams. 

In  addition  to  his  mercantile  interests.  Major 
Finley  was  identified  with  various  other  enter- 
prises. He  owned  valuable  real  estate,  operated  a 
tannery,  and  was  interested  in  a  hotel  in  Wilkes- 
boro. He  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age,  dying  when 
eighty-seven  years  old.  He  married  Ellen  Tate, 
who  was  born  near  Staunton,  Virginia,  and  they 
reared  four  children,  namely:  Augustus  W.;  Wil- 
liam W.;  John  T.;  and  Clarinda  Eliza,  who  mar- 
ried Doctor  Bouscheele. 

Augustus  W.  Finley  was  born  in  Wilkesboro  in 
1812,  and  died  at  his  home,  the  present  site  of 
North  Wilkesboro,  December  30,  1889.  He  received 
an  academic  education,  and  after  reaching  man's 
estate  migrated  to  Mississippi,  where  he  embarked 
in  mercantile  pursuits,  while  there  becoming  fa- 
miliar with  the  language  of  various  Indian  tribes. 
Returning  to  Wilkes  County,  he  purchased  land 
including  the  present  site  of  North  Wilkesboro, 
and  Fairmount,  now  known  as  Kensington  Heights, 
where  stood  the  ' '  Red  House, ' '  built  by  Charles 
Gordon,  and  in  the  house  subsequently  erected  on 
that  spot,  he  spent  many  years,  and  in  it  occurred 
the  birth  of  his  son  Thomas,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

An  extensive  agriculturist  and  land  owner  and 
dealer,  Augustus  W.  Finley  made  several  trips 
to  the  then  far  West,  journeying  either  by  stage 
or  on  horseback.  He  visited  different  parts  of 
Missouri,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  and  in  each  of 
these  states  bought  land,  mostly  unimproved.  He 
owned  large  tracts  of  grazing  land  in  Ashe  County, 
North  Carolina,  where  he  kept  herds  of  cattle 
during    the    grazing   season,    but   taking   them    to 


c^t^-a^^i^ 


L 


n 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


lie 


Wilkesboro  winters.  A  few  days  prior  to  his  deatli, 
he  soli],  and  signed  the  deed  to 'the  tirst  lot  of 
land  sold  in  North  Wilkesboro. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Augustus  W. 
Finley  was  Martha  Gordon.  She  was  born  in 
Wilkesboro,  in  1821,  a  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Gor- 
don, and  granddaughter  of  George  Gordon,  a 
jiioneer  of  Wilkes  County,  a  member  of  the  cele- 
brated Gordon  family  of  Scotland.  Leaving  Vir- 
ginia, his  native  state  when  young,  George  Gordon 
located  in  Wilkes  County,  this  state,  and  having 
bought  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  west  bank  of 
Reddies  River,  close  to  the  present  site  of  North 
Wilkesboro,  and  extending  westward,  he  improved 
a  fine  estate,  whicli  lie  operated  with  slave  labor. 
There  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days,  a  pros- 
perous agriculturist,  and  a  respected  citizen.  His 
son,  Nathaniel  Gordon,  father  of  Martha  Gordon, 
and  grandfather  of  Thomas  B.  Finley,  was  active 
and  prominent  in  public  life,  and  served  several 
terms  in  the  State  Legislature,  of  which  he  was 
a  member  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Nathaniel  Gordon  married  Sarah  Lenoir  Gwyn, 
who  was  born  in  Wilkes  County,  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  family  of  Lenoirs  to  which  Gen.  William 
Lenoir,  of  Revolutionary  fame,  belonged.  They 
reared  several  children,  among  them  having  been 
Gen.  James  B.  Gordon,  in  whose  sketch,  which 
appears  on  another  page  of  this  volume,  may  be 
found  further  ancestral  record.  Of  the  union  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  W.  Finley,  eight  children  were 
born,  as  follows:  Sarah  Ellen,  who  married  Sam- 
uel F.  Pilson;  Martha  Octavia;  James  Edward; 
John  George;  Carrie  G.,  wife  of  Frank  Pilson; 
Arthur  A. ;  and  Thomas  Brown.  The  mother 
survived  her  husband  several  years,  passing  away 
in  1898. 

Obtaining  his  early  education  in  the  public  and 
private  schools  of  Wilkesboro,  Thomas  Brown  Fin- 
ley was  fitted  for  college  at  the  Finley  High 
School  at  Lenoir.  He  afterward  spent  three  years 
as  a  student  at  Davidson  College,  subsequently 
studying  law,  for  which  he  had  a  natural  apti- 
tude, under  Col.  Geo.  N.  Folk,  at  his  home  on  the 
Yadkin  River,  Caldwell  County.  Admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1885,  Mr.  Finley  immediately  opened  a  law 
office  in  Wilkesboro,  and  through  his  legal  knowl- 
edge, ability  and  skill  lias  built  up  an  extensive 
and  remunerative  practice,  not  only  in  his  own 
county,  but  in  adjoining  counties.  In  his  labors, 
he  has  been  associated  with  other  attorneys  of 
note,  having  first  been  in  partnership  with  John  S. 
Craner;  later  with  H.  L.  Greene;  and  since  1902 
has  been  witli  F.  B.  Hendren. 

Keenly  interested  in  everything  pertaining  to 
the  welfare  of  city  and  county,  Mr.  Finley  has 
lieen  actively  identified  with  enterprises  of  a  bene- 
ficial nature.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Town  of  North  Wilkesboro,  and  was  one  of  the 
organizers,  and  a  director  of  its  first  bank.  He 
has  always  taken  a  genuine  interest  in  agricul- 
ture, and  in  1907  was  a  member  of  the  Wilkes 
County  Corn  Club,  and  raised  110  bushels  of  corn 
to  the  acre,  and  won  the  first  prize.  He  was  one 
of  the  promoters  of  the  Wilkes  County  Fair  As- 
sociation, which  he  has  served  as  president  since 
its  organization  in  1908.  He  is  also  president  of 
the  Oak  Furniture  Co.,  The  Shell  Chair  Co.,  and 
the  Gordon  Hotel  Co.,  director  in  various  other 
companies,  and  the  chairman  of  the  Graded  School 
Board  of  Trustees.  Mr.  Finley  has  title  to  vast 
tracts  of  real  estate,  owning  upwards  of  16,000 
acres  of  mountain  land,  mucli  of  which  is  covered 


with  valualde  timber,  and  more  than  a  1,000  acres 
in  the  vicinity  of  Wilkesboro. 

A  loyal  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  demo- 
cratic party,  Mr.  Finley  is  active  and  prominent 
in  public  affairs,  and  at  the  solicitation  of  friends 
became  a  candidate  for  nomination  for  judge  in 
1910.  The  convention  met  at  Newton,  but  ad- 
journed without  nominating,  and  later  convened  at 
Hickory,  over  700  ballots  were  cast,  with  Mr. 
Finley  leading  the  field  until  the  final  combination 
was  made.  He  served  as  an  elector  on  the  presi- 
dential ticket  in  1916,  casting  his  vote  for  Wood- 
row  Wilson  at  Ealeigh,  and  was  present  at  Wash- 
ington when  both  houses  of  Congress  met  to  pro- 
claim the  vote  for  President  of  the  United  States. 
On  June  1,  1918,  T.  B.  Finley  was  nominated 
for  judge  of  the  17th  .Judicial  District  in  the 
primary,  by  an  overwhelming  majority  over  two 
opponents.  This  nomination  is  equivalent  to  an 
election  as  judges  are  elected  by  the  entire  state. 

Mr.  Finley  married  September  27,  1893,  Miss 
Carrie  Lizzie  Cowles,  who  was  born  in  Wilkesboro, 
a  daughter  of  Col.  W.  H.  H.  and  Cora  (Worth) 
Cowles.  Her  father  was  a  distinguished  Con- 
federate colonel,  solicitor  for  eight  years,  and  a 
member  of  Congress  for  eight  years.  Into  their 
attractive  home  five  children  have  been  born, 
namely :  Lura,  wife  of  Mc  'd.  Coffey ;  Thomas 
Augustus,  who  was  graduated  from  Davidson  Col- 
lege with  the  class  of  1917;  Corinna  C. ;  Ellen  and 
Elizabeth.  Mrs.  Finley  has  two  brothers  in  the 
arm}',  one  at  West  Point,  and  their  only  son  and 
son-in-law  are  in  the  Navy  and  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family  are  doing  their  best  for  their 
country.  The  family  are  all  members  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  Their  home,  "The  Oaks,"  a 
finely  built,  modern  structure,  is  beautifully  lo- 
cated on  a  hillside,  overlooking  the  valley  and  the 
mountains  beyond,  and  is  noted  for  its  generous 
hospitality,  the  friends  of  each  and  every  member 
of  the  family  always  being  warmly  welcomed. 

Joseph  Reid  Fletcher.  One  of  the  most  sub- 
stantial names  in  mercantile  affairs  at  Winston- 
Salem  is  that  of  Fletcher.  The  Fletcher  Brothers, 
including  Joseph  Reid,  have  for  many  years  con- 
ducted a  large  wholesale  and  retail  clothing  house 
in  that  city,  and  have  a  trade  covering  practically 
all  Western  North  Carolina  and  Southern  states. 

It  was  after  a  long  and  thorough  apprenticeship 
as  a  clerk,  traveling  salesman  and  general  busi- 
ness man  that  Joseph  R.  Fletcher  entered  the  pres- 
ent firm  at  Winston-Salem.  He  is  also  well  known 
in  banking  and  public  affairs  in  that  city.  Mr. 
Fletcher  was  born  on  a  farm  in  East  Bend  Town- 
ship of  Yadkin  County.  His  grandfather  Ambrose 
Fletcher  is  thought  to  have  been  a  native  of  the 
same  locality.  He  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade. 
When  he  practiced  that  art  shoe  factories  had  not 
come  into  existence.  The  trade  of  shoemaker  was 
one  of  the  best  of  the  manual  arts.  All  shoes  and 
boots  were  made  to  order  and  in  the  hands  of 
a  skilled  operative  the  trade  was  a  most  profit- 
able one.  Ambrose  Fletcher  followed  this  busi- 
ness practically  all  his  life  in  Y'adkin  County. 

John  F.  Fletcher,  father  of  the  Winston-Salem 
merchant,  was  born  in  East  Bend  Township  in 
what  was  then  Surry  County,  learned  the  trade  of 
his  father,  and  subsequently  bought  a  farm  near 
the  present  site  of  Enon  Cliurch.  Early  in  the 
war  he  enlisted  and  gave  faithful  service  to  the 
Confederate  cause.  Following  the  war  he  lived  on 
his  farm  for  several  years  and  while  sui)crintend- 


114 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


ing  its  operations  he  also  followed  his  trade.  Later 
he  rented  the  farm  and  mo%'ing  to  Winston-Salem 
spent  the  rest  of  his  days  in  that  city.  He  mar- 
ried Caroline  Brann.  She  was  born  near  the 
present  site  of  Enon  Chapel  in  East  Bend  Town- 
ship. The  gi'andparents  were  of  German  ancestry 
and  from  their  former  home  in  Caswell  County 
moved  to  what  is  now  East  Bend  Township  of 
Yadkin  County,  and  there  hewed  a  farm  from  the 
woods.  Caroline  Brann 's  father  was  Thomas 
Brann,  who  was  born  on  the  homestead  that  has 
been  her  birthplace.  He  was  a  farmer,  lived 
prosperously  and  diligently  in  that  community  all 
his  life.  Mrs.  John  F.  Fletcher  is  still  living  at 
Winston-Saleni  at  the  age  of  seventy-four.  She 
reared  seven  children:  Lueinda,  Joseph  Reid,  New- 
ton G.,  Hiram  D.,  John  Henry,  Cora  Elizabeth,  and 
Thomas  Luther.  All  the  children  are  living  ex- 
cept Lufinda,  Hiram  D.  and   Tliomas  Luther. 

Joseph  R.  Fletcher  as  a  boy  attended  rural 
schools  and  subsequently  the  Oak  Ridge  Institute. 
While  in  the  institute  he  was  assistant  teacher 
part  of  the  time.  He  was  graduated  in  1886  and 
following  that  had  a  year  of  experience  as  a 
teacher.  C!oming  to  Winston-Salem,  he  learned 
merchandising  as  clerk  for  Jacob  Tise,  and  then 
entered  the  offices  of  P.  H.  Hanes  &  Co.,  where  he 
spent  eleven  years.  For  two  years  Mr.  Fletcher 
traveled  over  much  of  the  country  selling  rice  and 
coffee  for  a  wholesale  house  at  Charleston,  South 
Carolina.  Next  he  was  agent  for  a  hosiery  mill 
five  years.  In  the  meantime  he  had  become  finan- 
cially interested  in  the  clothing  business  with  his 
brothers  John  H.,  Newton  G.  and  Thomas  L.,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Fletcher  Brothers.  He  is  now 
actively  identified  as  a  partner  in  that  concern,  and 
though  they  started  modestly  and  with  small  cap- 
ital the  establishment  has  been  built  up  to  large 
proportions  and  influential  connections  throughout 
this  section  of  the  state. 

Mr.  Fletcher  was  married  in  1898  to  Catherine 
Conner  Broughton,  who  was  born  in  Clarendon 
County,  South  Carolina.  She  is  a  daughter  of 
Col.  Jackson  J.  and  Mrs.  (Harven)  Broughton, 
and  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  Sir  Thomas  Brough- 
ton, who  was  a  memlier  of  King  George's  privy 
council.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fletcher  have  two  children : 
Frances  Josephine  and  Joseph  Reid,  .Jr.  Mrs. 
Fletcher  is  an  active  member  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  while  Mr.  Fletcher  is  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Beacons  of  the  First  Baptist  Church. 
He  is  also  a  director  of  the  Merchants  National 
Bank  at  Winston-Salem. 

During  his  residence  at  Winston-Salem  Mr. 
Fletcher 's  interest  has  always  been  keen  in  local 
affairs,  and  for  four  years  he  served  as  an  alder- 
man. During  that  time  he  was  chairman  of  the 
waterworks  committee  and  the  finance  committee. 

Thomas  N.  Chaffin.  An  active  and  able  mem- 
ber of  the  Davie  County  bar,  Thomas  N.  Chaffin, 
a  prosperous  attorney  of  Mocksville,  has  won 
prestige  in  the  legal  profession,  and  holds  high 
rank  among  the  more  useful  and  respected  mem- 
bers of  his  community.  He  was  born,  July  6,  1867, 
in  Mocksville,  his  home  city,  while  his  father,  Mar- 
tin Rowan  Chaffin,  was  born  on  a  farm  lying  two 
miles  south  of  Mocksville,  his  birth  occurring  No- 
vember 25,  1828. 

Mr.  Chaffin 's  grandfather,  William  O.  Chaffin, 
was  a  pioneer  teacher  of  Rowan  County,  and  a 
man  of  considerable  influence.  In  a  very  early  day 
he  moved  to  Indiana  where  he  continued  his  resi- 


dence until  his  death.  He  was  twice  married.  The 
maiden  name  of 'his  first  wife  was  Hendrix.  She 
died  in  early  womanhood,  leaving  two  children, 
Martin  Rowan  and  Sarah.  By  his  second  marriage 
he  had  two  children,  Stanley  and  Emily,  both  of 
whom  settled  in  Kansas. 

Martin  Rowan  Cliaffin  studied  under  Baxter 
Clegg  when  young,  accjuiring  an  excellent  educa- 
tion, and  for  many  years  was  a  successful  and  pop- 
ular teacher  in  the  public  schools.  He  has  spent 
his  entire  life  in  Davie  County,  since  1866  having 
made  his  home  in  Mocksville.  On  September  15, 
1858,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Mary  F. 
McClennon,  who  was  born  June  3,  1835.  She  died 
September  10,  1861,  leaving  two  children,  both  of 
whom  died  in  childhood.  He  married  second,  June 
15,  1865,  Emma  Frances  Brock,  who  was  born  No- 
vember 18,  1838,  a  daughter  of  Nathaniel  and 
Clarissa  (Smith)  Brock,  both  natives  of  Davie 
County.  Slie  died  August  17,  1911.  To  her  and 
her  husband  seven  children  were  born,  as  follows: 
Aura  A.,  who  married  S.  M.  Halton ;  Thomas  N., 
of  this  sketch;  William  B.,  deceased;  Jessie  B., 
wife  of  A.  M.  McGlamary;  Corinue,  wife  of 
Joseph  W.  Kimbrough;  Clara  T.,  who  married 
Bruce  Craven;   and  Helen  E.,  wife  of  Oscar  Rich. 

Having  laid  a  good  foundation  for  his  future 
eilucation  in  the  public  schools  of  Mocksville, 
Thomas  N.  Chaffin  attended  Trinity  College  for  a 
year.  Beginning  life  as  a  teacher,  he  first  taught 
in  School  No.  2,  Howard  District,  Davie  County, 
subsequently  having  charge  of  schools  in  both 
Bethel  and  Elbaville.  Ambitious  to  enter  the  legal 
profession,  Mr.  Chaffin  while  yet  employed  as  a 
teacher,  studied  law  under  the  preeeptorship  of 
Quinton  Holton,  and  proved  himself  so  apt  a  stu- 
dent that  in  1889  he  was  admitted  to  practice.  He 
taught  school  one  more  year  after  receiving  his 
license,  and  then  located  in  Wilkesboro,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  for 
two  years.  Returning  then  to  Mocksville,  his 
native  place,  Mr.  Cliaffin  has  since  built  up  a 
large  and  extremely  satisfactory  patronage  as  a 
lawyer  of  high  standing,  and  has  also  established 
an  extensive  insurance  business. 

Mr.  Chaffin  married,  January  15,  1893,  Miss 
Pattie  E.  Reid,  daughter  of  Rev.  Numa  and  Sallie 
(Wright)  Reid.  She  died  December  24,  1905, 
leaving  one  daughter,  Emma  L.,  now  a  student  in 
Trinity  College.  Mr.  Chaffin  married  for  his  sec- 
ond wife,  February  14,  1907,  Miss  Ida  F.  Betts, 
who  was  born  in  Ashboro,  North  Carolina,  in  Oc- 
tober, 1885,  a  daughter  of  Albert  L.  and  Lettie 
(Hannah)  Betts.  By  this  marriage  there  are  five 
children  living,  namely:  Sarah,  Hattie,  Louise, 
Albert  N.  and  William  "B. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cliaffin  are  active  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  the  Sunday  school 
of  which  he  was  for  four  years  the  superintendent. 
Fraternally  Mr.  Chaffin  is  identified  by  membership 
with  Mocksville  Council  No.  226,  Junior  Order  of 
I'nited  American  Mechanics. 

George  Hackney,  Jr.,  is  one  of  the  jirominent 
young  business  executives  of  Washington,  has  had 
a  wide  experience  in  manufacturing  lines,  and  is 
now  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  leading  automobile 
saJes   agencies   in   that  part   of  the   state. 

He  was  born  in  Wilson,  North  Carolina,  Novem- 
ber 30,  1887,  son  of  George  and  Bessie  (Acra) 
Hackney.  His  father  for  a  long  period  of  years 
has  been  prominent  in  manufacturing  circles. 
The    son    was    educated    in    the    public    schools,    in 


TTLD 


' yiiA^Z^^':UJ^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


115 


the  Biiigliaiii  Military  Schoo.l,  and  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina.  He  returned  from 
college  to  become  associated  with  his  father 's 
manufacturing  business,  and  in  1907  organized 
the  Washington  Buggy  Company,  of  which  he  was , 
owner  and  manager.  He  sold  that  part  of  the 
business  August  19,  1914,  and  has  since  concen- 
trated his  energies  upon  the  automobile  business. 
He  has  the  general  agency  both  in  North  and 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia  for  the  Stewart  Auto- 
mobile trucks.  He  also  organized  and  established 
the  Hassell  Supply  Company,  but  has  since  sold 
his  interests  in  that  organization.  Mr.  Hackney 
is  a.  former  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
of  Washington  and  is  alHliated  with  the  Benevolent 
an<l   Protective   Order   of   Elks. 

December  2'A,  190S,  he  married  Miss  Eva  Has- 
sell, of  Washington.  They  have  one  child,  Eva 
Hassell  Hackney. 

Win>i.\M  G.  Cr.^nford  is  one  of  the  best  known 
residents  of  Winston-Salem,  was  long  engaged  in 
business  there,  and  is  still  practicing  his  jirofes- 
sion  as  a  veterinary  surgeon.  As  a  youth  he  had 
comparatively  few  opportunities,  since  he  was 
an  orphan  child,  and  has  proved  his  ability  in 
every  cajiacity  and  in  every  relationship  in  his 
mature  life. 

He  was  born  on  a  farm  about  five  miles  from 
Salisbury  in  Rowan  County,  North  Carolina,  in 
June,  1801.  His  father,  Wilburn  Cranford,  was 
born  in  Montgomery  County,  North  Carolina, 
reared  and  educated  there,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  wa.s  overseer  of  a  large  plantation.  Later 
he  bought  a  farm  of  his  own  in  Rowan  County  and 
lived  there  until  his  death  early  in  1861,  three 
months  before  the  birth  of  his  youngest  child, 
William  G.  Wilburn  Cranford  married  Martha 
Elizabeth  Todd,  a  native  of  Rowan  County  and 
daughter  of  Joseph  Todd.  Joseph  Todd  was  a 
planter  and  slave  owner  the  most  of  his  life  in 
Rowan  County.  Mrs.  Wilburn  Cranford  died  in 
1867,  leaving  four  children:  Frank,  a  resident  of 
San  Francisco,  California;  Scott,  a  resident  of 
Portsmouth,  Ohio;  Maggie,  wife  of  John  Page, 
of  Salisbury;    and  William  G. 

Only  six  years  of  age  when  his  mother  died, 
the  young  orphan,  William  G.  Cranford,  was  then 
taken  to  the  home  of  Jeremiah  Raeber,  a  farmer 
and  miller  in  Rowan  County.  Thus  he  grew  up 
practically  among  strangers,  had  limited  educa- 
tional opportunities,  and  early  became  accus- 
tomed to  hard  work  as  means  of  self  support.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-one  he  began  learning  the  black- 
smith'»  trade  in  the  railroad  shops  at  Salisbury. 

Mr.  Ci'anford  is  an  old  resident  of  Winston- 
Salem,  where  he  located  in  1886.  Here  he  became 
an  employe  of  Mr.  Ed  Spach,  a  blacksmith,  and 
eleven  months  later  they  formed  a  partnership. 
It  was  a  successful  business  alliance  and  was  only 
interrupted  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Spach  in  1904. 
After  that  Mr.  Cranford  became  sole  owner  of  the 
business  and  continued  it  on  his  own  responsibility 
for  a  number  of  years.  Finally  C.  W.  Snyder 
became  his  partner,  and  they  were  together  until 
1916,  when  the  business  was  discontinued. 

During  the  early  '90s  Mr.  Cranford  began  the 
study  of  veterinary  surgery.  He  attended  lec- 
tures by  some  of  the  well  known  representatives  of 
that  profession,  and  having  a  natural  inclination 
for  the  work  he  rapidly  acquired  a  mastery  of 
the  fundajnentals  required  for  practice.  He  has 
been    in    active    practice    for    the    past    seventeen 


years,  and  his  services  are  in  wide  demand  over 
the  territory  around  Winston-Salem.  Doctor  Cran- 
ford has  always  been  a  firm  believer  in  the  great- 
ness and  the  future  prosperity  of  Winston-Salem. 
That  faith  he  has  put  to  the  supreme  test  by  in- 
vesting freely  of  his  surplus  profits  in  local  real 
estate,  and  it  has  justified  his  confidence. 

In  189.5  he  married  Miss  Jessie  E.  Talley,  a 
native  of  Forsyth  County  and  daughter  of  Rich- 
ard and  Mary  Ann  (Miller)  Talley.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cranford  have  five  children:  Cliarles  Wil- 
burn, Joseph  Edward,  Phillip  Eugene,  Lillian 
Estelle  and  Franklin  Richard.  Franklin  Richard 
has  shown  a  wonderful  gift  and  talent  in  music, 
wliile  Phillip  is  none  the  less  gifted  in  art.  The 
walls  of  tlie  family  home  are  decorated  with  many 
lieautiful  sketches  in  water  colors  executed  by 
him.  His  work  has  been  awarded  the  first  prize 
in  several  exliibitions.  Doctor  and  Mrs.  CVan- 
ford  ai-e  active  members  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  Winston-Salem.  He  is  affiliated  with 
Liberty  Council  No.  3,  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics,  with  Salem  Lodge  No.  '.'6, 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  Winston 
Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Ma- 
sons. He  has  also  served  nine  years  as  member  of 
the  board  of  commissioners  of  Winston. 

Thomas  A.  Butner  of  Winston-Salem,  had  an 
ambition  when  a  boy  to  make  something  of  him- 
self and  his  opportunities  in  the  world,  and  he 
sought  the  opening  through  the  trade  of  car- 
penter. He  became  a  good  journeyman  carpenter, 
found  increasing  responsibilities,  and  gradually 
develo{)ed  a  business  as  a  contractor  and  builder. 
At  the  present  time  he  maintains  an  efficient 
organization  and  has  handled  some  of  the  largest 
contracts  in  Forsyth  County.  His  other  interests 
are  widespread  and  he  is  an  effective  factor  in  the 
civic  and   religious  life  of  his  community. 

He  is  a  native  of  Forsyth  County,  born  on  a 
farm  near  Bethania  January  1,  1870.  He  comes 
of  some  of  the  German  stock  that  was  trans- 
planted to  this  section  of  North  Carolina  in 
pioneer  times.  His  great-grandfather  Thomas 
Butner  was  a  native  of  Germany,  and  on  coming 
to  America  settled  in  what  is  now  Forsyth  County. 
There  he  bought  a  tract  of  land,  made  a  farm  of 
it,  and  found  his  profit  and  plea.sure  there  the  rest 
of  his  life.  The  old  homestead  was  near  the  pi'es- 
ent  site  of  New  Hope  Church.  His  remains  now 
rest  in  the  New  Hope  Churchyard.  • 

Of  his  numerous  family  of  sons,  one  was  also 
named  Thomas,  and  was  born  near  Salem,  North 
(.larolina.  He  grew  up  on  a  farm  and  made  agri- 
culture his  lifelong  vocation.  So  far  as  known  he 
never  went  far  from  the  place  of  his  birth  and 
lived  and  died  in  the  community  where  he  was 
born.     He  married  a  Miss  George. 

William  Butner,  father  of  Thomas  A.,  was  born 
also  in  the  northern  part  of  Forsyth  County,  and 
served  a  thorough  apprenticeship  at  the  black- 
smith's trade.  For  several  years  he  conducted  a 
shop  in  Salem,  but  then  bought  a  farm  near  the 
old  homestead,  and  lived  there  until  his  death  in 
1900.  He  married  Mary  Kerney,  who  was  born 
near  Bethania,  a  daughter  of  Alexander  and 
Catherine  (Rothrick)  Kerney,  the  former  a  native 
of  Stokes  County  and  the  latter  of  Davidson 
County.  Mrs.  Mary  Butner  died  in  191.5.  She 
reared  three  children,  Sarah,  Carrie  and  Thomas 
A.  Carrie  died  when  twelve  years  of  age.  Sarah 
liecame  the  wife  of  H.  P.  Fansler. 


116 


HISTOKV  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Thomas  A.  Butiier  speut  his  childhoo.l  and 
early  youth  on  the  old  tarm  in  Forsyth  County. 
His  educational  advantages  were  those  afforded  by 
the  public  schools.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
put  his  ambitions  into  definite  form  by  beginning 
au  apprenticeship  at  the  carpenter  's  trade.  Alto- 
gether he  served  eight  years  as  an  apprentice  and 
journeyman  worker  and  was  then  given  charge  of 
construction  as  carpenter  foreman.  After  another 
eight  years  experience  he  graduated  into  business 
for   liimself  as   a  contractor  and   builder. 

In  1896  Mr.  Butuer  bought  a  farm  two  miles 
northwest  of  the  courthouse  at  Winston -Salem, 
and  has  since  given  more  or  less  active  supervision 
to  its  management.  In  1912  he  bought  an  interest 
in  a  drug  store  on  Trade  Street  in  Winston,  and  in 
1916  became  sole  proprietor.  By  strict  fidelity  to 
the  principles  of  business  honor  he  has  prospered 
and  has  gained  an  influential  place  in  his  com- 
munity. 

When  twenty  years  of  age  Mr.  Butner  married 
Anna  Hege.  She  was  born  in  Davidson  County, 
daughter  of  George  W.  Hege.  When  she  died  in 
1897  she  left  three  children:  Etta,  Ruth  and 
Oscar.  Etta  married  Fred  Brewer  and  her  children 
are  named  Grady,  Louise,  Fred  J.  Ruth  is  the 
wife  of  Will  P.  Yow,  and  their  children  are  Naomi 
and  Nellie.  For  his  present  wife  Mr.  Butner 
married  Lillie  M.  Harvel.  She  was  horn  in  Yadkin 
County,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of  Lewis  P. 
Harvel.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Butner  have  six  children: 
Paul  B.,  Myrtle  E.,  Leo,  Margaret,  Thomas  J.  and 
Cyril. 

The  religious  association  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Butner 
is  with  the  Calvary  Moravian  Church,  in  which 
he  has  served  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees 
and  the  board  of  elders.  He  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  Liberty  Council  of  the  Junior  Order 
of  United  American  Mechanics  and  he  is  affiliated 
with  Winston  Aerie  Xn.  7.''.2,  Fraternal  Order  of 
Eagles,  and  Twin  City  Camp  No.  27  Woodmen  of 
the  World. 

Frank  T.  Meacham,  superintendent  of  the  state 
experimental  farm  for  the  Piedmont  region  of 
North  Carolina,  has  for  the  past  fourteen  years 
been  a  leading  and  influential  citizen  of  Statesville 
and  his  activity  in  business  affairs,  his  co-operation 
in  public  interests  and  his  zealous  support  of  all 
objects  that  he  believes  will  contribute  to  the  ma- 
terial, social  or  moral  improvement  of  the  com- 
munity kaeps  him  in  the  foremost  rank  of  those 
to  whom  this  section  owes  its  development  and 
present  position  as  one  of  the  leading  rural  dis- 
tricts of  the  state.  His  life  is  characterized  by 
upright,  honorable  principles  and  it  also  exemplifies 
the  truth  of  the  Emersonian  philosophy  that  "the 
way  to  win  a  friend  is  to  be  one.''  His  genial, 
kindly  manner  wins  him  the  high  regard  and  good 
will  of  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact  and 
thus  he  is  popular  throughout  this  entire  region. 

A  native  of  Missouri,  Frank  T.  Meacham  was 
born  in  Scott  County,  that  state,  in  1869,  and  he 
is  a  son  of  Daniel  and  Julia  (Christopher) 
Meacham.  Although  born  in  Missouri,  Mr. 
Meacham  is  of  North  Carolina  parentage  and  an- 
cestry and  was  raised  in  this  state.  His  father 
was  a  native  of  Cumberland  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  he  served  throughout  the  Civil  war  as  a 
Confederate  soldier.  Soon  after  the  close  of  the 
war  he  located  in  Benton,  Scott  County,  Missouri. 
In  the  early  '70s,  however,  the  family  returned  to 
North   Carolina   and   settled  on   a   farm   in   Wake 


County,  some  three  miles  from  Raleigh.  Under 
the  sturdy  discipline  of  this  farm  Frank  T. 
Meacham  was  reared  to  maturity  and  from  his 
earliest  youth  he  was  imbued  mth  the  idea  of 
.becoming  a  splendid,  scientific  farmer.  With  this 
idea  uppermost  in  mind  he  entered  the  Agricul- 
tural and  Mechanical  College  of  North  Carolina 
and  was  graduated  as  a  member  of  its  first  class, 
in  1893,  with  tlie  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science. 
After  completing  the  four  years '  course  he  won  a 
post-graduate  scholarship,  giving  him  an  addi- 
tional year  of  study  in  the  college;  accordingly,  he 
spent  another  year  in  study  and  received  the  de- 
gree of  Master  of  Science,  in  1894.  He  then  ob- 
tained a  position  on  the  great  Vanderbilt  estate, 
' '  Biltimore, ' '  at  Asheville,  where  he  remained  for 
a  number  of  years.  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that 
the  Vanderbilts  employ  only  the  most  adequately 
equipped  men  as  managers  and  department  super- 
intendents and  tlie  fact  that  Mr.  Meacham  re- 
mained in  their  employ  for  a  number  of  years 
speaks  well  for   his   ability. 

In  190.'!,  when  it  was  decided  by  the  state  to 
establish  an  experimental  farm  somewhere  in  the 
center  of  the  Piedmont  region  of  North  Caro- 
lina, Mr.  Meacham  was  selected  by  the  state  au- 
thorities to  assume  charge  of  this  enterprise  and 
he  was  given  the  position  of  superintendent,  an 
office  he  has  filled  with  the  utmost  efficiency  during 
the  long  intervening  years  up  to  the  present  time, 
in  1917.  A  location  for  the  farm  was  chosen  in 
Iredell  County,  some  two  miles  northwest  of  States- 
ville, on  the  Taylorsville  Road,  in  which  vicinity 
210  acres  of  land  were  purchased  at  a  cost  of  $22 
per  acre.  The  place  selected  was  an  abandoned 
homestead  but  it  possessed  the  required  natural 
advantages  for  developing  an  experimental  station. 
It  is  located  most  advantageously  between  the 
Taylorsville  Pike  and  the  Southern  Railway.  The 
object  of  the  farm,  as  previously  intimated,  is  to 
help  the  farmers  of  the  Piedmont  region.  This 
section  differs  from  other  parts  of  the  state,  inas- 
much as  the  farmers  here  own  and  work  them- 
selves moderate  sized  farms,  while  elsewhere  in  the 
state,  large  plantations,  worked  mostly  by  negro 
tenants,  is  the  rule.  From  the  very  beginning  the 
farmers  of  this  region  manifested  and  have  con- 
tinued to  manifest  a  deep  and  abiding  interest  in 
the  farm,  much  to  their  own  great  benefit  and 
profit. 

The  first  constructive  work,  in  starting  this 
farm,  was  to  lay  out  the  fields  in  experimental 
plots,  terracing  the  land  to  prevent  washing  by 
rains,  and  raising  it  to  an  up-to-date  farm.  This 
Mr.  Meacham  has  accomplished.  He  then  planned 
the  experiments  to  be  carried  out  and  each  suc- 
ceeding year  has  witnessed  this  place  as  one  of 
increased  usefulness  to  the  surrounding  farmers, 
for  whose  benefit  it  was  originally  planned.  The 
buildings  on  the  place  were  planned  and  con- 
structed in  keeping  with  the  nature  of  the  work 
and  they  are  modern  and  convenient  in  every  par- 
ticular. Mr.  Meacham  laid  out  pastures  and  im- 
mediately began  a  number  of  experiments  with  va- 
rious field  crops  and  grasses.  He  has  obtained  for 
the  farm  several  varieties  of  live  stock  for  breed- 
ing purposes  and  has  established  foundation  herds 
and  flocks  for  the  good  of  the  farmers  of  this 
section.  An  orchard  of  twelve  acres  was  launched, 
on  which  a  variety  of  fruits  have  been  grown  in 
order  to  determine  which  are  best  adapted  for  the 
Piedmont  soil,  both  from  the  standpoint  of  suc- 
cessful cultivation  and  profitableness  for  market- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


11/ 


ing.  The  orehartls  of  this  farm  have  been  em- 
inently siioccssful  and  tinancially  profitable  far  be- 
yond expoetation.  Numerous  fruits  have  been 
grown  with  marked  success  but  experiments  have 
shown  that  peaches,  on  account  of  their  great  de- 
mand and  the  elimination  of  cold  storage,  are  the 
most  profitable  for  this  region. 

In  regard  to  live  stock  it  has  been  found  advan- 
tageous to  take  beef  cattle  from  the  mountain  dis- 
tricts of  the  western  part  of  the  state  and  fatten 
them  for  the  eastern  markets  from  the  by-products 
of  the  farm.  In  this  connection  it  has  been  dem- 
onstrated that  the  Piedmont  farms  can  also  be 
largely  improved  by  the  manure  derived  from  the 
cattle  thus  fed.  A  herd  of  Poland-China  hogs  has 
been  maintained  on  the  experimental  farm  for 
many  years  jiast  and  hog-raising,  both  for  food 
and  for  breeding  foundation,  has  been  found  very 
remunerative.  A  small  herd  of  Jersey  cattle, 
chiefly  for  home  use,  has  also  been  maintained  on 
the  farm  and  the  offspring  of  this  herd  has  been 
placed  locally  on  various  adjacenf  farms,  the  re- 
sult being  a  grading-up  of  the  farmers'  herds. 

A  flock  of  200  thoroughbred  Rhode  Island  Red 
poultry  was  installed  on  the  farm  for  experimental 
purposes  and  has  proved  most  profitable  as  food 
since  the  inception  of  the  war. 

The  field  crops  grown  are  those  that  are  pro- 
duced largely  through  the  scientific  application  of 
fertilizers.  The  staple  crops,  such  as  cotton,  corn, 
wheat,  oats  and  peas,  are  used  to  determine  the 
tiest  varieties  adapted  for  this  section  of  the  state. 
Plots  of  pure-bred  improved  crops  have  been  grown 
largely  for  local  seed  distribution  to  farmers. 

Referring  again  to  live  stock,  Mr.  Meacham  early 
saw  the  necessity  for  improved  work  stock  for  the 
Piedmont  region,  namely — larger  and  better  horses. 
In  this  connection  one  of  his  most  recent  importa- 
tions to  the  farm  is  a  large  pure-bred  Percheron 
stallion,  heading  what  he  is  developing  into  a 
Percheron  breeding  stud  of  jnire-bred  stallions  and 
mares,  the  ob.iect  of  which  is  to  improve  the  size 
and  quality  of  the  work  horses  of  the  farms  of  the 
community.  As  a  result  of  this  enterprise  some 
400  graded  Percheron  colts  and  horses  have  been 
placed  on  farms  of  this  section. 

Another  of  the  recent  additions  to  the  farm  is  a 
flock  of  sheep,  installed  for  purposes  similar  to 
those  related  in  regard  to  the  horses,  and  it  is 
expected  that  this  experiment  also  will  be  a  great 
success  on  account  of  the  constantly  soaring  prices 
of  mutton  and  wool  and  on  account  of  the  elimina- 
tion of  the  sheep-killing  dog. 

Mr.  Meacham  has  employed  every  possible  means 
of  placing  the  results  of  his  successful  experiments 
immediately  before  the  farmers,  whom  they  are 
calculated  to  benefit.  He  cultivates  a  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  farmers  and  encourages  them 
to  visit  the  farm,  where  they  are  shown  practical 
demonstrations  either  by  himself  or  by  his  as- 
sistants. All  through  the  growing  season  parties 
of  interested  farmers  daily  visit  the  place  and  are 
cheerfully  shown  the  results  of  experiments  that 
may  mean  considerable  profit  to  themselves.  Prac- 
tically all  the  work  on  the  farm  is  labeled  in  plain 
' '  farmer 's ' '  language.  Farmers '  institutes  have 
been  held  at  various  and  frequent  intervals  and  the 
interest  in  these  in  late  years  has  grown  to  such 
an  extent  that  they  are  frequently  attended  by 
from  2,000  to  3,000  farmers,  often  accompanied 
by  their  wives  and  families.  In  addition  to  the 
institutes,  lectures  and  demonstrations  are  given 
on  the  farm  and  during  the  summer  months  pic- 


nics are  given  by  different  communities  of  farmers, 
the  same  being  a  source  of  pleasure  and  recreation 
to  the  farmer;  these  gatherings  are  usually  ad- 
dressed by  speakers  of  prominence  in  the  agri- 
cultural world. 

Reverting  to  Mr.  Meacham  's  biographical  sketch, 
he  married,  December  29,  1896,  Miss  Eflae  Bar- 
nard, of  Asheville.  They  have  seven  fine,  vigorous 
children:  Frank,  Julia,  Hilda,  Effie,  Earl,  Hazel, 
James  Edward.  In  his  family  life  and  home  ad- 
ministration, Mr.  Meacham  carries  out  the  same 
practical  method  and  system  that  he  uses  in  con- 
ducting his  business.  He  keeps  strict  account  of 
all  personal  and  household  expenditures,  an  inter- 
esting feature  of  which  shows  .iust  what  the  rear- 
ing of  each  of  his  children  costs. 

Mr.  Meacham 's  personal  habits  from  boyhood 
have  been  of  the  most  exemplary  character.  He 
lias  never  smoked,  drank,  wasted  time,  or  indulged 
in  any  habits  or  vanities  that  would  detract  from 
his  maintaining  the  highest  personal  efficiency. 
However,  he  and  his  family  live  generously  on  the 
best  the  land  affords,  they  have  an  exceptionally 
happy  and  comfortable  home  and  enjoy  all  the 
wholesome  pleasures  of  life.  There  has  been  very 
little  sickness  in  the  family  and  Mr.  Meacham, 
liimself,  has  not  lost  a  day  out  of  his  work  for 
the  past  twenty-eight  years,  nor  has  he  missed  a 
regular  meal  during  all  that  time.  High  personal 
efficiency  shows  results  of  a  like  kind  in  one's 
work  and  this  is  particularly  true  of  Mr.  Meacham 
and  his  life  work.  Nothing  under  his  jurisdiction 
is  ever  wasted  and  the  result  is  the  greatest  good 
to  the  greatest  number. 

Mr.  Meacham  is  genial  in  his  associations,  af- 
fable in  his  address,  generous  in  his  judgment  of 
his  fellow  men,  and  courteous  to  all.  As  a  citizen 
and  enthusiast  of  his  home  locality,  it  is  but  just 
to  say  that  communities  will  prosper  and  grow  in 
proportion  as  they  put  a  premium  on  men  of  his 
mold. 

Neill  Al.E.XANDER  CuRRlE.  In  the  business 
world  of  Bladen  County,  and  more  particularly 
in  the  territory  immediately  contiguous  to  the 
City  of  Clarkton,  there  is  no  name  better  oi  more 
favorably  known  than  that  of  Neill  Alexander 
Currie.  Belonging  to  a  family  the  members  of 
which  have  long  held  a  foremost  place  in  com- 
mercial, public  and  civic  life,  he  is  worthily  rep- 
resenting the  honored  name  which  he  bears,  not 
alone  as  a  business  man  but  as  an  influential 
supporter  of  the  best  interests  of  his  section  and 
its  people. 

Mr.  Currie  was  born  at  CTlarkton,  Bladen  County, 
North  Carolina,  in  1872,  a  son  of  Hon.  John  Dun- 
can and  Amanda  Louise  (Cromartie)  Currie,  and 
on  both  sides  of  the  family  is  of  ]iure  Scotch  stock, 
these  names  having  lieen  known  and  revered  in 
the  Cape  Fear  community  from  a  period  dating 
before  the  outbreak  of  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. The  father  of  Mr.  Currie  was  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  North  Carolinians  of  his  day 
in  this  part  of  the  state,  and  passed  his  life  at 
Clarkton.  He  attended  the  I'^niversity  of  North 
Carolina  until  his  senior  year,  when  he  gave  up 
his  studies  to  enlist  as  a  soldier  in  the  Confederate 
Army,  which  he  was  finally  forced  to  leave  after 
his  third  wound  because  of  disability,  in  1864. 
Returning  to  Clarkton,  he  entered  business  and 
later  agriculture,  was  editor  of  a  paper  largely 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  education,  and  was  sent 
to  rejiresent   his  fellow  citizens  in  the  Legislative 


118 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Imlls  of  tlie  state.  A  review  of  tlie  career  of  tliis 
distiuguished  citizen  will  be  fouuil  elsewhere  in 
this  work. 

Neill  Alexander  Currie  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Clarkton  and  at  the  University 
of  North  Carolina,  where  he  was  a  student  for 
three  years.  After  comiug  out  of  college  he  .en- 
gaged' in  the  mercantile  business  at  Clarkton, 
succeeding  to  the  original  enterprise,  whicli  hail 
been  founded  by  his  father  in  186ti.  Mr.  Currie 
built  up  and  has  for  many  years  carried  on  a 
large  general  merchandise  and  ]ilantation  supply 
business  that  for  sueeesstul  mana<j;enient,  higli 
standing  in  the  commercial  world,  and  popularity 
with  the  purchasing  public  in  the  quite  extensive 
territory  the  .store  covers,  is  second  to  none  otlicj- 
in  this  section  of  North  Carolina.  It  is  a  com- 
mercial house  the  success  of  which  is  built  upon 
honor  and  transacts  a  business  the  yearly  volume 
of  which  is  very  large.  Mr.  Currie  is  widely  known 
as  one  of  the  best  business  men  of  this  j  art  of 
the  state. 

Like  his  late  father,  Mr.  Currie  has  taken  a  . 
jirominent  part  in  public  affairs  and  in  the  de- 
velopment and  commercial  expansion  of  the  in- 
terests of  Clarkton  and  the  rich  surrounding- 
agricultural  territory,  which  is  noted  for  its  fine 
farms.  He  served  several  years  on  the  board  of 
county  commissioners  of  Bladen  County  and  was 
chairman  thereof  for  two  years.  He  is  an  elder 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  known  as  Brown 
Marsh  Church,  and  which  is  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  historic  churches  in  the  Cape  Fear 
section,  its  written  records  going  back  to  1795, 
with  the  probability  that  it  was  founded  some' 
years  earlier  than  that  date. 

Mr.  Currie  married  Miss  Augusta  Evans,  of 
Cumberland  County,  North  Carolina,  a  member 
of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  hi.storic  families  of 
that  county,  and  a  daughter  of  the  late  Erasmus 
Evans.  To  this  union  there  have  been  born  live 
children:  Isabella  Campliell,  Augusta  t>ans, 
John  Duncan,  Neill  Alexander,  Jr.,  and  Annie 
Kelso  Currie. 

John  Marshall  Clement,  son  of  John  Clement 
and  his  wife,  Nancy  Bailey,  was  born  in  what  was 
then  Rowan  County,  now  Davie,  on  November  1, 
1825.  His  first  teachers  in  Mocksville  were  Mr. 
Buford,  Mr.  Peter  S.  Ney,  and  Rev.  Baxter  Clegg. 
the  second  named  being  the  reputed  French  mar- 
shal. Mr.  Clement  was  small  when  he  attended 
Mr.  Ney 's  school,  but  retained  the  same  vivid 
impressions  of  him  which  seemed  ever  to  follow 
Ney.  E\en  the  scar  across  the  forehead,  which 
to  many  is  convicing  proof  of  his  identity  with 
Napoleon 's  greatest  general,  he  would  describe 
graphicaUy,  as  well  as  the  fencing  lessons  given 
to  the  larger  boys  with  canes  cut  from  the  forest 
in  which  the  little  schoolhouse  stood.  While  con- 
sidering him  by  far  the  most  imjiressive  and 
unique  acquaintance  of  his  youth,  Mr.  Clement  -was 
not  entirely  persuaded  he  was  Marshal  Ney,  from 
the  fact  of  his  profound  erudition  and  culture, 
while  history  teaches  us  the  real  Ney  was  com- 
paratively unlearned. 

Mr.  Clement  went  to  Bethany,  in  Iredell  County, 
when  he  was  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  en- 
tered the  school  of  Hugh  R.  Hall.  Afterward  he 
attended  Mr.  Clegg 's  school,  the  Mocksville  Acad- 
emy, until  1844,  when  he  went  to  the  North  and 
entered  Pennsylvania  College  at  Gettysburg,  Penn- 
sylvania.    The  journey  was  made  by  private  con- 


veyance and  stage,  and  was  long  and  tedious.  Very 
interesting  was  his  account  of  the  City  of  Wash- 
ington at  that  period,  his  visit  to  the  White 
House,  Capitol,  and  other  public  places.  The 
Capitol  was  at  some  distance  from  the  city,  and 
was  reached  by  a  path  across  open  country,  where 
the  grand  Pennsylvania  Avenue  now  is.  He  re- 
maiiied  in  Gettysburg  during  his  entire  collegiate 
course  of  two  years,  as  the  distance  was  considered 
so  great  and  travel  so  slow.  A  great  grief  was  his, 
on  August  .'U,  1845,  being  caused  by  the  death  of 
his  father.  Between  the  father  and  son  was 
an  unusual  depth  of  love  and  feeling,  dis- 
tinguished by  pride  on  the  part  of  the  father  and 
implicit  faith  and  obedience  on  part  of  the  son. 
He  was  a  close  student,  and  this,  combineil  with 
a  naturally  bright  mind,  won  many  honors  for  him 
in  society  and  class,  and  he  was  chosen  valedic- 
torian in  June,  1846.  After  graduation  he  re- 
turne<l  home  and  assumed,  at  the  youthful  age 
of  twenty-one,  control  of  his  father 's  estate,  the 
guardianship  of  his  younger  brothers  and  sis- 
ters, and  relief  of  the  brave  little  mother.  How' 
well  he  fulfilled  that  trust  with  his  own  busy 
professional  life  is  shown  in  a  remark  made  after 
his  death  by  his  youngest  brother,  Captain  W.  A. 
Clement :  "I  never  questioned  my  obedience  to 
him,  never  looked  upon  him  as  brother,  but  as  a 
father,  and  never  had  an  unkind  word  or  look 
from  him. ' ' 

He  read  law  at  Richmond  Hill  with  Chief  Jus- 
tice Richmond  M.  Pearson,  for  whom  he  always 
cherished  the  fondest  love  of  a  friend  and  the 
highest  admiration  as  a  teacher.  He  was  licensed 
to  practice  law  at  June  term,  1848. 

He  was  married  on  .January  18,  ISoIi,  to  Miss 
Mary  Jane  Hayden,  only  daughter  of  William 
Hayden,  and  his  wife,  Mary  Welch.  By  this  mar- 
riage he  had  ten  children.  Three  sons  died  in 
childhood,  .John  Hayden,  Marshall  and  Eugene,  and 
one  daughter,  Mary  Elizabeth,  in  graceful  Chris- 
tian womanhood.  Those  surviving  are:  Louis 
Henry  Clement,  attorney,  Salisliury,  North  Caro- 
lina; Mrs.  H.  H.  Trundle,  Leesburg,  Virginia: 
Mrs.  E.  L.  Gaither,  Mrs.  Julia  C.  Heitman,  Her- 
bert and  Walter  R.  Clement,  of  Mocksville,  North 
Carolina. 

Much  of  the  success  of  his  business  and  pro- 
fessional life  he  attributed  to  his  noble  Chris- 
tion  wife,  his  love  for  her  lieing  the  crown  of  his 
life.  Combining  in  an  unusual  degree  mental  en- 
dowments with  a  liberal  education  and  great  ex- 
ecutive ability,  during  frequent  long  absences,  at- 
tendant on  his  far-reaching  practice,  she  never 
allowed  any  part  of  his  home  affairs,  including  a 
large  number  of  slaves  and  several  plantations, 
to  feel  the  lack  of  the  ' '  master  's  hand. ' '  He  con- 
sidered her  price  ' '  far  above  rubies, ' '  and  always 
referred  to  her  as  his  ' '  court  of  highest  appeal. ' ' 
Their  home  was  open  to  the  kindest  hospitality, 
and  many  good  and  distinguished  men  and  women 
met  around  their  board. 

In  his  early  life  he  served  one  term  in  the  Leg- 
islature of  North  Carolina.  The  rest  of  his  life 
he  devoted  to  his  jjrofession,  in  which  he  was 
wonderfully  successful.  His  practice  was  wide  and 
varied,  embracing  a  large  number  of  capital  cases, 
but  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  refused  to 
appear  for  the  prosecution  where  life  was  at 
stake.  His  devotion  to  his  clients  was  proverbial, 
and  it  was  said  of  him  the  more  desperate  the 
case  the  harder  he  labored.  By  his  close  appli- 
cation  he   had   so   mastered    the   law   that  its  most 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


119 


intricate  problems  he  could  reason  out  as  if  by 
intuition.  He  was  a  brilliant  speaker,  a  elose  rea- 
souer,  an  accurate  pleader,  and  a  profound  lawyer.- 
Before  the  courts  where  he  practiced,  both  State 
and  Federal,  none  stood  higher  than  John  Marshall 
Clement.  Illustrating  his  legal  acumen  and  pro- 
found knowledge  of  the  princiiales  of  equity,  at 
June  term,  1861,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  North 
Carolina,  he  argued  for  the  plaintiff  the  case  of 
Sains  vs.  Dulin  (39  N.  C.  Kept.  195).  His  views 
of  the  doctrine  of  equity  involved  were  not 
adopted  by  the  Supreme  Court  at  that  time;  but 
in  1900,  after  his  death,  the  case  of  Luton  vs. 
Badham  (127  N.  C.  Kept.,  96)  was  decided, 
which  overruled  Sain  vs.  Dulin,  supra,  and  sus- 
tained Mr.  Clement's  view  of  the  case.  Judge 
D.  M.  Furches,  a  native  of  Davie  County,  and  who 
practiced  law  for  many  years  in  the  same  town 
with  Mr.  Clement,  and  who  admired  him  greatly, 
on  the  day  the  court  filed  this  opinion,  he  deliv- 
ering the  opinion,  wrote  a  letter  to  a  member 
of  Mr.  Clement's  family,  saying  it  gave  him  pleas- 
ure to  let  them  know  that  the  doctrine  contended 
for  by  him  nearly  forty  years  before  had  been 
adopted.  In  the  same  letter  he  also  communicated 
the  pleasing  information,  which  was  given  him  by 
Charles  Price,  of  Salisbury,  North  Caroliim,  that 
Mr.  Clement  during  the  war  had  kindly  furnished 
books  to  a  Federal  prisoner  in  Salisbury,  who 
afterward  became  a  distinguished  judge  of  the 
Federal  Court  of  Appeals. 

In  1878  Mr.  Clement's  name  was  iiresenteii  by 
his  friends  to  the  democratic  judicial  convention 
for  judge,  but  despite  the  strenuous  efforts  of 
these  friends  he  failed  to  receive  the  nomination, 
though  all  conceded  his  splendid  ability  and  fit- 
ness. It  is  no  secret  that  he  would  have  been 
elevated  to  the  Supreme  Court  bench  but  for  the 
condition  of  his  health,  which  was  delicate  for 
many  years  before  his  death.  He  was  considered 
by  all  eminently  qualified,  both  in  learning  and 
character,  to  adorn  the  highest  judicial  tribunal 
of  our  state. 

In  his  home  life  he  was  at  his  best.  So  gentle, 
loving  and  kind,  yet  firm,  wise  and  just,  always 
unyielding  in  any  point  he  considered  best  for  his 
children 's  highest  good,  he  was  an  ideal  parent, 
for  while  he  loved  his  own,  he  was  quick  to  see 
their  faults  and  to  correct  the  same,  and  as  ever 
ready  to  commend  and  reward  worth.  Cheerful 
in  his  disposition,  entertaining  in  conversation, 
genial  and  gentle  in  manner,  he  was  a  most  nota- 
ble and  attractive  man.  His  religious  life  was 
deep  and  quiet,  but  was  founded  on  the  Rock, 
Christ  Jesus,  as  he  was  taught  in  his  childhood  at 
his  mother's  knee,  and  at  the  all-day  Sabbath 
School  of  Joppa  Presbyterian  Cliureh.  Although 
his  professional  duties  called  him  to  various  Jior- 
tions  of  this  and  other  states,  his  home  was  within 
a  half  mile  of  where  he  was  born,  and  he  now  sleeps 
in  the  old  Clement  graveyard  on  the  hill,  just  be- 
yond, overlooking  .the  meadow  and  playground  of 
his  boyhood — a  fit,  peaceful  resting  place,  so  near 
to  home,  so  close  to  heaven.  Mr.  Clement  died 
June  4,  1886. 

I 
Louis  Henry  .Clement.  Only  to  the  few  and 
the  best  in  any  profession  can  such  rare  distinc- 
tions come  as  have  been  bestowed  ujion  Louis 
Henry  Clement  during  his  long  and  active  career 
as  a  lawyer.  These  distinctions  are  measured 
less  by  conspicuous  public  place  than  by  straight- 
forward   and    valuable    service,    much    of    it    quite 


unknown    and    appreciated    by    the    general    pub- 
lic, in  the  walks  of  his  profession. 

How  he  is  regarded  by  the  profession  in  gen- 
eral throughout  the  state  is  well  indicated  by  his 
election  unanimously  and  without  solicitation  on 
his  part  in  1908  as  President  of  the  North  Carolina 
Bar  Association.  For  ten  years  or  more  he  was 
also  President  of  the  local  bar  association  of 
Rowan  County. 

As  told  in  the  language  of  an  old  friend  and 
neighbor  some  of  the  prominent  points  of  his 
career  were  noted  as  follows:  "  As  a  lawyer  Mr. 
Clement  has  always  enjoyed  the  confidence  and 
respect,  not  only  of  his  brethren  of  the  bar,  but 
of  the  community  at  large,  and  of  a  large  and 
intelligent  clientele.  He  has  proved  himself  not 
only  an  aide  and  effective  advocate,  but  a  wise 
ami  prudent  counsellor.  As  a  citizen  he  was  al- 
ways been  generous,  hospitable  and  public  spir- 
ited. Of  engaging  address,  cordial  manners,  neat- 
ness and  tastefulness  in  dress,  with  a  friendly 
word  and  genial  smile  for  all,  Mr.  Clement  is  de- 
servedly popular  with  all  classes  of  citizens,  and 
with  a  wide  circle  of  friends  throughout  the 
state.  Of  liberal  education,  of  extensive  reading 
and  wide  information,  added  to  a  sparkling  wit 
and  cheery  humor,  he  is  the  most  delightful  of 
companions. ' ' 

And  what  he  received  by  inheritance  has  fitted 
in  splendidly  with  his  individual  attainments,  and 
he  has  honored  as  well  as  has  been  honored  by  the 
character  of  his  ancestry.  His  }iaternal  grand- 
parents were  John  and  Nancy  (Bailey)  Clement, 
the  latter  a  member  of  an  old  and  prominent 
Davie  County  family.  Hon.  John  Cnement  for 
many  years  represented  Davie  and  Rowan  coun- 
ties in  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina 
and  died  at  his  desk  while  serving  as  clerk  of  the 
Superior  Court  of  the  former  county.  The  ma- 
ternal grandparents  of  Louis  H.  Clement  were 
William  and  Mary  (Welch)  Hayden,  prominent 
citizens  of  Da\'ie  County. 

Louis  Henry  Clement  was  born  at  Mocksville, 
Davie  County,  January  19,  1854,  a  son  of  John 
Marshall  and  Mary  Jane  (Hayden)  Clement.  His 
mother  is  remembered  as  a  woman  of  fine  intelli- 
gence and  strong  Christian  character,  while  to  his 
father  Mr.  Clement  is  indebted  for  those  rugged 
powers  of  intellect  which  characterized  John  Mar- 
shall Clement  as  one  of  the  greate.st  lawyers  of 
the  state  and  one  of  the  most  loved  and  respected 
men  of  his  generation.  He  was  in  politics  only 
briefly,  during  which  he  served  a  term  in  the 
General  Assembly.  But  as  a  lawyer  he  rose  to  the 
very  heights  of  professional  success  and  reputa- 
tion. 

With  all  the  advantages  that  such  a  family  in- 
sured in  the  way  of  social  manners,  high  ideals 
and  incentive  to  achievements,  Louis  Henry  Cle- 
ment sjienl^his  early  life  at  the  Village  of  Mocks- 
ville, attended  preparatory  schools  and  then  en- 
teied  Pennsylvania  College  at  Gettysburg,  Penn- 
sylvania, where  he  was  graduated  with  honor  in 
the  class  of  1876.  Just  thirty  years  before,  in 
1846,  his  father  had  been  valedictorian  at  the 
same  college.  At  college  he  distinguished  himself 
as  a  student  and  was  very  active  in  debating  and 
literary   societies. 

On  returning  home  he  took  up  the  study  of  law 
under  one  of  the  eminent  jurists  of  North  Caro- 
lina, Richmond  M.  Pearson,  Chief  Justice  of  North 
Carolina  at  Richmond  Hill.  He  was  licensed  to 
practice  by  the  Supreme  Court  in  June,  1877,  and 


120 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


since  tlien  forty  years  have  been  devoted  liy  him 
to  the  law  with  only  brief  and  occasional  interrup- 
tions through  public  office.  He  practiced  in  Davie  ■ 
County  and  tor  two  years  was  Solicitor  of  the 
Inferior  Court,  but  in  1880  removed  to  Salisbury, 
where  for  a  number  of  years  he  was  an  associate 
of  one  of  the  prominent  lawyers  of  North  Carolina, 
Hon.  Kerr  Craige.  This  partnership  was  dissolved 
when  Mr.  Craige  was  made  Third  Assistant  Post- 
master General  during  Cleveland's  administration. 
After  that  Mr.  Clement  practiced  alone  for  a 
number  of  years,  but  in  1909  took  into  partnership 
his  son,  Hayden  Clement.  Today  the  tirra  Clement 
&  Clement  is  one  of  the  best  known  and  most 
successful  in  the  entire  state. 

In  1885  Mr.  Clement  was  appointed  Solicitor 
ad-interim  of  the  Ninth  Judicial  District  of  North 
Carolina,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death 
of  Hon.  Joseph  Dobson.  He  has  never  been  an 
active  candidate  for  any  political  office.  And  con- 
sidering the  valuable  work  he  has  done  in  his 
profession  and  the  fine  dignity  and  prestige  at- 
taching to  his  name,  none  could  be  found  who 
would  doubt  that  he  had  chosen  wisely  in  pre- 
ferring the  strict  lines  of  professional  work  to 
the  turbulence  of  a  political  career.  Mr.  Clement 
is  a  loyal  democrat,  is  a  York  and  Scottish  Rite 
Mason  and  Shriner,  has  for  many  years  been  a 
communicant  of  St.  Luke 's  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  at  Salisbury,  and  is  chairman  of  the  Board 
of  Managers  of  the  Wachovia  Bank  &  Trust  Com- 
pany, the  Salisbury  branch.  In  1910  Pennsyl- 
vania College,  his  alma  mater,  conferred  upon 
him  the  honorary  degree  LL.  D.,  others  similarly 
honored  at  the  same  time  being  Hon.  Martin  G. 
Brumbaugh,  then  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
Judge  Harter  of  Canton,  Ohio. 

In  November,  1878,  Mr.  Clement  married  Miss 
Mamie  C.  Buehler  of  Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania. 
Her  father,  Edward  B.  Buehler,  was  one  of  the 
distinguished  lawyers  of  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Clement  had  an  ideal  marriage  companion- 
ship lasting  nearly  thirty-five  years,  terminated 
by  her  death  on  April  20,  1913.  She  was  a  devout 
Christian,  a  leader  in  social  life,  and  was  both 
loved  and  venerated  in  her  home  circle.  She  was 
the  mother  of  four  sons  who  have  already  done 
much  to  honor  their  parents.  These  sons  are: 
Hayden  Clement,  mentioned  on  other  pages;  Dr. 
Edward  Buehler  CHement,  a  physician  at  Atlan- 
tic City,  New  Jersey;  Donald,  an  assistant  quar- 
termaster with  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant  in  the 
National  army;  Louis  H.,  Jr.,  battalioii  adjutant 
of  the  Three  Hundred  and  Twenty-first  Infantry, 
United  States  Regulars,  with  the  rank  of  first 
lieutenant.  All  the  sons  completed  their  educa- 
tion  in  the  LTniversity   of   North   Carolina. 

Hayden  Clement,  junior  member  of  the  law 
firm  of  Clement  &  Clement  at  Salisbury,  his  sen- 
ior being  his  father,  Louis  H.  Clement,  who  for 
over  thirty  years  has  ranked  as  one  of  the  lead- 
ers of  the  state  bar,  has  gained  a  wealth  of  dis- 
tinction through  his  own  comparatively  brief 
career,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  any  lawyer  under 
forty  years  of  age  in  North  Carolina  has  borne 
with  greater  credit  more  of  the  higher  respon- 
sibilities  of  public  life   than   Hayden   Clement. 

He  represents  the  fourth  generation  of  a  prom- 
inent family  in  which  the  oldest  son  on  the  pa- 
ternal side  has  been  a  lawyer,  and  his  own  career 
i<!  to  some  extent  a  reflection  of  the  great  virtues 
and  abilites  of  such  eminent  legal  lights  as  John 


Msrshall  Clement  and  Edward  B.  Buehler,  his 
grandfathers,   and   Louis   H.   Clement,   his   father. 

Hayden  Clement  was  born  at  Mocksville,  North 
Carolina,  the  town  where  many  of  his  ancestors 
had  lived,  on  September  25,  1879.  The  next  year 
his  parents  moved  to  Salisburj-,  where  he  at- 
tended public  schools,  and  did  his  preparatory 
work  in  Horner 's  MUitary  Academy.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1899,  he  entered  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  and  had  a  brilliant  record  as  a  student 
and  leader  in  student  activities  at  the  university. 
However,  he  did  not  remain  to  graduate,  learing 
during  his  senior  year  to  take  up  the  study  of 
law.  In  190u  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  at 
once  began  practice  at  Salisbury. 

In  January,  1907,  when  he  was  not  yet  thirty 
years  of  age,  Mr.  Clement  was  appointed  Assist- 
ant Attorney  General  of  North  Carolina.  This 
office  had  been  created  by  the  legislature  owing 
to  the  protracted  illness  of  the  Attorney  General, 
and  Mr.  Clement  was  therefore  the  first  incum- 
bent of  that  special  office  and  for  two  years  he 
had  entire  charge  of  the  Attorney  General 's  de- 
jiartment.  His  work  as  Assistant  Attorney  Gen- 
eral deserves  all  the  high  praise  that  has  been 
given  it.  He  was  the  first  to  recommend  and 
through  his  efforts  had  passed  the  law  abol- 
ishing public  executions  in  North  Carolina.  He 
also  recommended  the  creation  of  four  additional 
Superior  Court  judges  from  the  division  of  the 
state  into  two  circuits.  Through  his  efforts  the 
number  of  challenges  in  criminal  cases  was 
changed.  The  Assistant  Attorney  General  also  had 
much  to  do  with  the  railroad  rate  and  freight  liti- 
gation of  the  past  ten  years.  One  of  his  opinions 
was  on  the  constitutionality  of  the  prohibition  act 
voted  by  the  state  in  May,  1908. 

Such  was  his  record  in  this  special  office  that 
every  reason  existed  why  he  should  be  chosen  to 
fill  the  office  of  Attorney  General.  At  the  primaries 
of  1908  he  received  a  distinctive  plurality  of  all 
votes,  but  not  quite  enough  to  insure  his  nomina- 
tion. In  the  Charlotte  convention  his  candidacy 
was  lost,  to  the  regret  of  all  right-thinking  citizens 
of  Nortii  Carolina,  as  a  result  of  the  factional 
fight  by  three  pirominent  candidates  for  the  office 
of  Governor  that  year. 

Then  in  1909,  after  leaving  the  office  of  Assist- 
ant Attorney  General,  Mr.  Clement  returned  to 
Salisbury  and  formed  the  partnership  of  Clement 
&  Clement  with  his  father,  which  is  one  of  the 
leading  law  firms  of  the  state.  Since  then  he  has 
had  much  to  do  with  politics  and  public  affairs. 
He  served  as  chairman  of  the  Congressional  Com- 
mittee of  the  Eighth  District,  and  organized  the 
district  so  thoroughly  that  it  elected  Hon.  R.  L. 
Doughton  for  Congress.  This  was  a  surprising 
result,  involving  a  change  of  over  2,000  votes,  and 
maiing  a  democratic  district  out  of  a  district  that 
had  been  normally  republican  for  a  number  of 
years.  In  1912  Mr.  Clement  again  managed  the 
Doughton  campaign  and  in  -that  year  he  was 
chosen  to  represent  the  Eighth  District  as  a  dele- 
gate to  the  Baltimore  Convention  which  nominated 
Woodrow  Wilson  for  president. 

For  the  past  four  years  Mr.  Clement  has  gained 
further  fame  and  reputation  in  the  public  life  of 
his  native  state  through  the  energetic  and  capable 
administration  he  has  given  to  the  office  of  Solici- 
tor of  the  Fifteenth  Judicial  District.  He  was 
first  appointed  to  this  office  by  Governor  Craig  in 
March,  1914,  and  in  the  democratic  primaries  of 
that  year  was  unanimously  nominated  for  the  of- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


121 


fioe.  He  was  also  unanimously  elected  in  the  fall 
of  1914  auj  since  then  has  given  a  vigorous 
administration,  and  yet  has  been  called  one  of 
the  most  humane  solicitors  the  district  has  ever 
had.  As  Solicitor  Mr.  Clement  was  active  in  the 
prosecution  of  a  case  that  attracted  national  at- 
tention during  the  fall  of  1917.  This  was  the 
prosecution  of  Gaston  Means  for  the  murder  of 
the  widow  King  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Clement  is  ves- 
tryman in  St.  Luke's  Episcopal  Church  of  Salts- 
bury,  is  affiliated  with  the  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics,  the  Masons  and  the  Sigma 
Nu  college  fraternity.  June  25,  1913,  he  married 
Miss  Clay  Wornall  Croxton,  daughter  of  Col.  and 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Croxton  of  Winchester,  Kentucky.  Her 
father  served  with  the  rank  of  colonel  under  Gen- 
eral Morgan  during  the  war  between  the  states. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clement  have  one  son,  Hayden  Crox- 
ton  Clement. 

Mr.  Clement  has  well  justified  the  assertion 
made  of  him  recently  that  ' '  no  young  man  in  the 
state  has  risen  as  rapidly  or  made  good  more  com- 
pletely than  has  Hayden  Clement. ' '  And  none 
will  question  the  essential  truth  and  appropriate- 
ness of  the  following  sentiments  which  have  been 
expressed :  ' '  As  a  courageous  champion  of  clean 
politics  and  the  welfare  of  the  average  man,  his 
services  have  been  invaluable;  as  an  efficient  pub- 
lic official,  one  who  knows  no  favoritism,  the  peo- 
ple delight  to  honor  him ;  as  a  patriot  and  gentle- 
man he  has  no  superior  in  North  Carolina.  In- 
deed it  may  truthfully  be  said  of  Hayden  Clement 
he  is  one  of  the  state 's  best  and  ablest  young 
men,  and  that  broader  fields  of  usefulness  are  just 
before  him. ' ' 

P.-^YTON  B.  Abbott  was  one  of  Winston-Salem 's 
liest  known  men.  He  practiced  law  in  Virginia 
before  coming  to  North  Carolina,  and  also  had 
extensive  experience  as  a  newspaper  man  and  was 
a  regularly  ordained  minister  of  the  Christian 
Church.  He  died  in  January,  1917,  after  six  years 
of  residence  in  Winston-Salem. 

Mr.  Abbott  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Craig  Coun- 
ty, Virginia,  February  25,  1860.  There  is  a  town 
named  Abbott  in  that  section  of  Virginia,  and  the 
family  has  been  identified  with  that  community 
for  generations.  However,  his  lineage  goes  back 
to  an  earlier  generation  that  had  its  first  home  in 
Western  North  Carolina.  He  is  lineally  descended 
from  one  of  five  brothers  who  came  out  of  England 
to  America  in  the  early  Colonial  period  and  set- 
tled in  Massachusetts.  Their  descendants  are  now 
scattered  over  every  state  of  the  Union.  Some  of 
them  came  south  and  located  in  what  is  now  Stokes 
County,  North  Carolina.  It  was  in  that  county 
that  Thomas  Abbott,  great-grandfather  of  the 
Winston-Salem  lawyer,  was  born.  He  moved  to 
Botetourt  C'ounty,  Virginia,  and  settled  in  that 
section  of  the  county  now  known  as  Craig  County. 
There  he  spent  his  last  years.  Grandfather  James 
Abbott  was  a  native  of  Botetourt  County,  now 
Craig  County,  Virginia,  and  became  a  successful 
farmer.  He  acquired  some  very  extensive  land 
holdings  and  was  a  resident  of  the  county  until 
his  death  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine.  The  name  of 
his  first  wife,  grandmother  of  Payton  B.  Abbott, 
was   Elizabeth    Carper. 

Sinclair  C.  Abbott,  father  of  Payton,  was  born 
in  Craig  County,  Virginia,  and  though  of  a  sub- 
stantial family  he  had  limited  opportunities  to 
acquire  an  education.  He  made  the  best  of  his 
advantages,  however,  and  became   a  skillful  sur- 


veyor. For  many  years  he  devoted  his  time  to  that 
profession  and  did  much  work  in  Craig  and  ad- 
joining cpunties  and  also  in  West  Virginia.  His 
home  was  five  miles  south  of  Newcastle,  Virginia. 
He  died  there  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  Sinclair 
Abbott  married  Lucinda  Williams,  who  was  born 
in  Craig  County,  daughter  of  Eev.  Philip  B.  and 
Mrs.  (McPherson)  Williams.  The  latter  was  of 
Scotch  ancestry,  while  Philip  B.  Williams  was  of 
Welsh  stock  and  a  minister  of  the  CTliristian  Church. 
Mrs.  Sinclair  Abbott  died  at  the  age  of  forty-five, 
having  reared  nine  children:  Payton  B.,  Frank  L., 
Gurdine  A.,  Robert  E.  Lee,  Luther  M.,  Wade  H., 
Edna,  Elizabeth  and  Minnie. 

Payton  B.  Abbott  attended  Milligan  College 
in  Johnson  County,  Tennessee,  and  after  the  com- 
pletion of  his  course  there  took  up  the  study  of 
law,  at  first  in  the  office  of  Judges  Holmes  and 
Lee  at  Newcastle,  Virginia,  and  later  with  Major 
Ballard  of  Salem.  His  last  instructor  was  Col. 
G.  W.  Housborough  of  Salem.  He  then  took  the 
examinations  of  the  University  of  Virginia  Law 
Department  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1885. 
Mr.  Abbott  began  his  professional  career  at  New- 
castle, Virginia.  For  four  years  he  served  as 
commonwealth  attorney  of  Craig  County.  From 
Newcastle  he  removed  to  Bluefield,  Virginia,  and 
was  in  active  practice  there  until  1910,  in  which 
year  he  removed  to  Winston-Salem.  Instead  of 
taking  up  the  practice  of  law  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  staff  of  the  Winston-Salem  Sentinel, 
and  was  active  in  newspaper  work  two  years. 
In  1900  Mr.  Abbott  was  licensed  to  preach  in  the 
Christian  Cliurch,  and  after  coming  to  North 
Carolina  he  took  charge  as  pastor  of  the  churches 
at  Pfafftown,  Muddy  Creek  and  Galacia  in  the 
Winston-Salem  district.  In  1915,  having  taken 
the  examination  before  the  Court  of  Appeals, 
Mr.  Abbott  was  admitted  to  practice  in  North 
Carolina,  and  from  September  of  that  year  gave 
his  time  and  energies  to  the  law. 

In  1889  he  married  Miss  Marietta  Chaffin,  who, 
with  ten  children,  survives.  Mrs.  Abbott  was 
born  at  Mount  Airy  in  Surrey  County,  North 
Carolina,  daughter  of  John  and  Araminta  (Smith) 
Chaffin. 

JAME.S  Alexander  Hartness  of  Statesville  en- 
joys many  distinctions  in  his  home  community, 
but  over  the  state  at  large  his  most  significant  con- 
tribution to  progress  and  welfare  of  North  Caro- 
lina was  undoubtedly  his  splendid  and  determined 
leadership  in  the  cause  of  prohibition,  at  firi^t  in 
his  home  county  and  later  in  the  state  wide  move- 
ment. While  a  host  of  good  men  and  women  con- 
tributed to  the  final  victory,  it  is  doubtful  if  any 
one  more  iicrsistently  and  courageously  and  for  a 
longer  period  of  years  waged  the  good  fight  than 
James  A.  Hartness. 

Some  time  ago  when  he  was  asked  concerning 
his  inveterate  hostility  to  the  liquor  traffic,  Mr. 
Hartness  said  he  recalled  that  when  a  boy  he 
formed  a  very  decided  aversion  to  this  destructive 
custom  and  traffic,  and  then  and  there  resolved  that 
he  would  never  be  satisfied  until  he  saw  it  abolished. 
Seldom  does  a  purpo.se  formed  in  youth  harden  and 
gain  such  effectiveness  as  this  resolve  did  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Hartness.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  also 
that  he  realized  that  prohibition  like  charity  begins 
at  home,  and  he  started  in  to  exert  his  influence 
in  his  home  town  of  Statesville.  Many  will  recall 
how  Statesville  in  the  older  days  was  a  center  of 
the    whiskey    business   with    almost    a   nationwide 


122 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


reputation.  Whiskey  in  large  quantities  was 
sliipped  in  and  out  by  wliolesale  liouses  and  otlier 
large  dealers  and  the  traffic  was  an  enormous  one. 
In  fact  Statesville  was  one  of  the  biggest  strong- 
holds of  the  liquor  traffic  in  the  entire  South.  Thus 
Mr.  Hartness  had  to  assail  a  giant  when  he  began 
his  campaign  for  local  option.  He  encountered  the 
most  violent  opposition  from  the  powerful  local 
liquor  interests  who  had  unlimited  money  and 
political  influence  behind  them.  The  community 
itself  had  lieen  drugged  by  the  presence  of  these 
interests,  and  was  not  easily  aroused  to  join  in 
the  fight  under  the  leadersliip  of  Mr.  Hartness. 
As  the  local  0]ition  movement  grew  in  strength,  Mr. 
Hartness  actually  took  his  political  future  in  his 
own  hands,  but  refused  to  be  daunted  in  his  deter- 
mination and  against  every  vindictive  resource, 
throats  of  violence,  and  personal  danger  he  pro- 
ceeded straight  to  the  goal  until  the  whiskey  liusi- 
ness  in  Statesville  was  completely  stamped  out. 

His  success  in  this  local  campaign  naturally 
rallied  around  him  as  a  leader  the  forces  in  the 
movement  for  statewide  prohibition,  and  in  1908 
he  was  elected  .superintendent  of  the  Anti-Saloon 
League  of  North  Carolina.  In  that  larger  campaign 
he  continued  one  of  the  efficient  leaders  until  its 
ends  and  objects  were  accomplished.  The  history 
of  the  prohibition  movement  in  North  Carolina  is 
now  ]>ractically  a  closed  record,  and  in  its  ])ages 
hardly  any  name  deserves  to  figure  more  largely 
than  that  of  James  Alexander  Hartjiess. 

Mr.  Hartness  is  a  native  of  Iredell  County,  hav- 
ing been  born  six  miles  north  of  Statesville  in 
186.'?.  His  parents,  Hiram  and  Martha  E.  (Gib- 
son) Hartness,  are  both  now  deceased,  and  were 
members  of  very  old  families  in  this  part  of  the 
state.  Several  generations  of  the  Hartnesses  have 
been  liorn  here,  grandfather  Alexander  having  been 
born  in  the  county  at  the  edge  of  Alexander 
County.  Hiram  Hartness  was  also  a  native  of 
Alexander  County.  Martha  E.  Gibson,  a  native  of 
Iredell  County,  was  a  daughter  of  Levi  Gibson,  and 
a  great-granddaughter  of  William  Gibson,  who 
came  from  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  to  North  Cai-o- 
lina  about  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  He 
made  settlement  in  Bethany  Township  north  of 
Statesville  in  what  is  now  Iredell  but  was  then 
Rowan  County.  The  Gibson  family  home  in 
Bethany  Township  was  near  the  famous  "Academy 
of  Sciences, ' '  a  noted  school  conducted  by  Dr. 
James  Hall.  This  school  attracted  students  from 
all  over  the  South  and  gave  the  community  a  special 
character  as  an  educational  center. 

James  Alexander  Hartness  was  educated  under 
the  .stern  but  thorough  instruction  of  Prof.  J. 
H.  Hill  of  Statesville.  Professor  Hill,  who  is  still 
living  at  Statesville,  did  a  great  work  as  an  edu- 
cator not  only  of  the  intellect  liut  of  the  char- 
acter. He  left  an  indelible  impression  on  the 
minds  and  natures  of  many  men  who  have  since  he- 
come  prominent  figures  in  this  and  other  states. 

After  leaving  the  school  of  Professor  Hill  Mr. 
Hartness  studied  law  in  Major  Bingham 's  Law 
School  at  Statesville,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1887.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  an  active 
and  successful  member  of  the  Statesville  bar.  In 
1896  Mr.  Hartness  was  the  democratic  nominee  for 
member  of  the  House  in  the  State  Legislature  from 
Iredell  CJounty.  He  was  one  of  the  few  democrats 
elected  in  that  year  of  political  upheaval.  Prac- 
tically every  contest  for  the  Legislature  was  a 
triangular  one,  due  to  the  eruption  of  the  populist 
party   into  the  state.     Mr.   Hartness  made  a   very 


creditable  record  during  the  following  session   of 
the  Legislature. 

For  nearly  twenty  years  he  has  served  as  clerk 
of  the  Superior  Court  of  Iredell  County.  He  was 
first  elected  to  that  office  in  1898  and  has  been  re- 
elected at  every  succeeding  term.  Mr.  Hartness  is 
acknowledged  to  be  the  most  efficient  and  popular 
occupant  this  office  has  ever  had  in  Iredell  County. 
He  was  the  author  of  the  Civil  Service  Law  in 
North   Carolina. 

Mr.  Hartness  is  owner  and  was  formerly  editor 
of  one  of  the  Iredell  County's  most  successful 
journals.  In  1893  he  became  editor  of  the  States- 
ville Mascot,  a  weekly  paper.  Its  name  was  later 
changed  to  the  Statesville  Sentinel,  which  for  years 
has  been  one  of  the  fixtures  among  the  newspapers 
of  the  state.  Mr.  Hartness  finally  retired  from  the 
editorial  management  of  this  paper  but  is  still  its 
owner. 

Mr.  Hartness  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic 
Order,  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Woodmen  of  the  World, 
the  Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics 
and  has  always  identified  himself  with  every  organi 
zation  and  movement  for  the  public  good.  He  and 
his  family  are  active  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  The  Hartness  home  is  an  exceedingly 
beautiful  one,  situated  in  a  grove  of  fine  oak  trees 
in  the  extreme  northern  part  of  the  city  fronting 
on  North  Central  Avenue. 

On  March  28,  1888,  Mr.  Hartness  married  Miss 
Jennie  Henderson  of  Rowan  County,  member  of 
the  noted  Henderson  family  of  that  section.  One 
of  its  members  is  Dr.  Archibald  Henderson  of  the 
State  University.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hartness  have  a 
family  of  eight  children,  Elva,  William,  Elizabeth, 
Linda,  Charles,  Luke,  Rebecca  and  Lois. 

Alonzo  Marion  Dumay  has  played  a  spirited 
and  very  important  part  in  the  commercial  life 
of  North  Carolina  since  he  identified  himself  with 
the  state  twenty-five  years  ago,  coming  here  as 
an  experienced  railroad  man  and  banker.  . 

He  was  born  in  the  State  of  Missouri  October 
29,  1864,  a  son  of  John  Henry  and  Elizabeth 
(Thom]ison)  Dumay.  His  father  was  a  merchant 
and  the  son  grew  up  in  an  atmosphere  of  business. 
He  was  educated  in  puldic  schools  and  as  a  boy 
learned  the  telegraph  code  and  jnit  in  several 
years  of  active  service  as  a  telegraph  operator 
with  the  Wabash  and  Santa  Fe  Railway  companies. 
This  service  led  him  into  Kansas,  and  as  one  of 
the  pioneers  at  Harper  in  that  state  he  engaged 
in  banking  as  cashier  of  the  National  Bank.  Later 
for  a  time  he  was  ca-shier  of  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Brunswick,  Missouri,  but  in  1892  re- 
.signed  and  sought  an  entirely  new  field. 

Coming  to  Washington,  North  Carolina,  he  has 
ever  since  been  one  of  the  livest  and  most  forceful 
factors  in  the  town.  He  organized  the  Beaufort 
County  Bank,  and  was  its  cashier  until  it  was 
merged  with  the  First  National  Bank  in  1895, 
and  since  then  has  been  cashier  of  the  latter  in- 
stitution. That  is  only  one  of  a  large  number 
of  institutions  and  movements  which  have  lieen 
benefited  by  his  time  and  services.  He  organized 
the  local  Chamber  of  Commerce,  was  its  president 
nine  years  and  a  number  of  years  treasurer  and 
member  of  the  executive  committee.  He  also 
organized  the  Washington  Tobacco  Warehouse 
Company,  of  wdiich  he  is  secretary  and  treasurer; 
is  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Beaufort  County 
Storage    Warehouse    Company,    and     it    was    this 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


123 


concern  which  made  arrangemeuts  with  the  First 
National  Bank  and  financed  the  cotton  crop  in 
Beanfort  Connty  during  1914-15.  He  is  a  director 
and  the  laa-gest  individual  stockholder  in  the 
Pamlico  Cooperage  Company,  is  director  of  the 
Washington-Beaufort  Land  Company,  secretary 
and  treasurer  of  the  Timber  Corporation,  buying 
and  selling  timber  lands,  and  is  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Improvement  Company,  operating 
tobacco  warehouses  and  stemming  plants.  He  is 
also  a  director  and  treasurer  of  the  Washington 
Building  and  Loan  Association.  Mr.  Dunmy  is  a 
deacon  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  is  a  Knight 
Templar  Mason,  and  is  affiliated  with  the  Benev- 
olent and  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 

On  September  6,  1887,  he  married  Miss  Marietta 
Emetine  Merrill,  of  Rising  Sun,  Indiana.  They 
have  one  daughter,  Reba  Helen,  now  wife  of  John 
D.  Gorman,  secretary  and  treasurer  and  manager 
of  the  Pamlico  Coojierage  Company  of  Washing- 
ton. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gorham  have  one  son,  Alonzo 
Dumay. 

Hon.  Bachm.\n  Brown  Miller.  A  well-known 
and  prosperous  attorney  of  Salisbury,  Hon.  Bach- 
man  B.  Miller  is  not  only  successfully  engaged  in 
his  legal  affairs,  but  is  one  of  the  leading  agricul- 
turists of  Rowan  County,  and  an  authority  on 
stock  breeding  and  growing,  and  on  the  raising 
of  feed  for  cattle,  branches  of  agriculture  in 
which  he  has  experimented  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent. A  native  of  Rowan  County,  he  was  born 
March  22,  1874,  on  a  farm  in  Mount  UUa  Town- 
ship, while  his  father,  Jesse  Wendle  Miller,  and 
his  grandfather,  Henry  A.  Miller,  were  born  in 
Providence  Township,  Rowan  County. 

His  great-grandfather,  Wendle  Miller,  who  was 
of  German  ancestry,  came  from  Pennsylvania  to 
North  Carolina  in  pioneer  days,  locating  in  the 
vicinity  of  Organ  Church,  of  which,  according  to 
Rumple 's  History  of  Rowan  County,  he  was  one 
of  the  founders.  The  same  authority  says  that 
the  organ  placed  in  the  church  was  built  by  one 
of  its  members,  and  having  been  the  first  instru- 
ment of  the  kind  to  be  installed  in  any  church 
edifice  in  the  county  it  gave  the  church  its  pres- 
ent name.  Wendle  "Miller  receiveil  a  grant  for  a 
tract  of  land  from  Richard  Caswell,  the  first  gov- 
ernor of  North  Carolina,  which  he  improved  and 
he  continued  as  an  agriculturist  until  his  death. 

His  son,  Henry  Miller,  succeeded  to  the  ances- 
tral occupation,  and  accumulated  considerable 
wealth,  becoming  owner  of  several  farms,  and 
also  of  milling  interests.  His  will,  recorded  in 
the  SalisVmry  Courthouse,  bears  date  of  Jime  17, 
1857.  To  him  and  his  wife  eight  children  were 
born  and  reared,  as  follows:  Elizabeth  Trexler, 
Charles,  Henry  A.,  Rosamond  Barringer,  Sophia 
Brown,  Catherine  Efird,  Jesse  W.,  and  Christina 
Graham. 

Jesse  Wendle  Miller  was  born  on  the  parental 
homestead,  in  Providence  Township,  Rowan 
County,  in  1828.  He  received  good  educational 
advantages,  but  not  being  inclined  by  either  taste 
or  temperament  for  a  professional  career,  he 
turned  his  attention  to  agriculture,  and  having 
inherited  the  parental  homestead  began  life  for 
himself  as  a  farmer.  On  July  4,  1862,  he  en- 
listed in  Company  E,  Fifty-seventh  Regiment, 
North  Carolina  Troops,  in  which  he  was  com- 
missioned lieutenant,  and  later  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  captain,  receiving  his  commission  there- 
for on  March  6,  1863.  He  was  with  his  regi- 
ment in  all  of  its  marches,  campaigns  and  battles, 


including  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and  is  said 
to  have  been  one  of  the  men  who  went  over  the 
wall,  later  being  captured  and  taken  to  Johnson 
Island,  in  Lake  Erie,  and  was  there  held  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  Returning  then  to  Rowan 
County,  he  located  in  Mount  UUa  Township,  and 
was  there  prosperously  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits  until  his  death,  in  1897.  He  was  twice 
married.  He  married  first  a  Miss  Barringer,  who  , 
died  in  early  womanhood,  leaving  three  children, 
Ira  B.,  Daniel  J.,  and  Robert  L.  He  married  for 
hi.-i  second  wife  Mrs.  Laura  Brown  Barrier,  who 
was  born  in  Mount  Ulla  Township,  a  daughter  of 
Alexander  and  Mary  (Kistler)  Brown,  grand- 
daughter of  Jacob  Brown  and  great-gi'anddaugh- 
ter  of  Abraham  Brown,  who  came  to  North 
Carolina  from  Pennsylvania.  She  died  in  1889. 
By  her  first  marriage  she  had  one  child,  Mary  I<la 
Barrier.  By  her  marriage  with  Jesse  W.  Miller, 
she  had  four  children,  Bachman  Brown,  Herbert 
E.,  Mattie  E.,  and  Laura  Olena.  Both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  J.  W.  Miller  were  Lutherans,  and  reared 
their  children  in  that  faith.  The  father  was  al- 
ways greatly  interested  in  educational  matters, 
and  for  many  years  served  as  one  of  the  trustees 
of  North  Carolina  College  at  Mount  Pleasant.  He 
served  as  magistrate  several  terms,  and  was  also 
one  of  three  county  judges. 

Bachman  B.  Miller  received  his  rudimentary 
education  in  the  Lutheran  Parochial  School,  later 
advancing  his  studies  at  North  Carolina  College. 
Then,  after  teaching  for  a  year,  he  entered  the 
law  department  of  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, from  wliich  he  was  graduated  with  the  class 
of  1900.  Being  licensed  to  practice  the  same  year, 
lie  located  in  Salisbury,  where  he  has  met  with 
good  success,  having  built  up  a  large  and  lucrative 
clientage. 

Mr.  Miller  has  never  lost  his  interest  in  the 
free  and  independent  occupation  to  which  he 
was  reared,  and  soon  after  succeeding  to  the 
ownership  of  the  home  farm,  in  1905,  he  com- 
menced the  breeding  and  raising  of  pure-bred 
Hereford  cattle,  and  at  the  present  time  has  a  val- 
uable herd  of  sixty-five  handsome  Herefords.  Mr. 
Miller  has  successfully  experimented  with  the 
raising  of  blue  grass,  red  top  and  alfalfa,  anil 
has  proved  that  both  soil  and  climate  are  well 
adapted  to  these  grasses,  which  are  recognized  as 
the  best  grown.  Alert  to  tlie  imperative  needs  of 
his  country  he  concentrated  his  time,  energy  and 
the  resources  of  his  farm  to  increased  food  pro- 
duction during  the  war  with  Germany,  waiving  de- 
ferred classification,  however,  in  order  to  give 
jiriority  to  military  service.  His  call  to  report  to 
tlie  local  board,  November  12,  1918,  was  annulled 
by  order  of  provost  marshal. 

Actively  and  intelligently  interested  in  every- 
thing pertaining  to  the  public  welfare,  Mr.  Miller 
was  the  first  judge  of  the  county  court  as  at  pres- 
ent constituted,  serving  in  that  capacity  for  four 
years,  and  in  1915  he  had  the  distinction  of  being 
elected  to  the  State  Senate.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  American  Hereford  Cattle  Breeders'  Associ- 
ation, and  of  the  North  Carolina  Beef  Cattle 
Breeders '  Association  and  the  first  president  of 
the  North  Carolina  Hereford  Breeders  Association. 
Religiously  Mr.  Miller  belongs  to  Saint  Luke 's 
Lutheran  Church.  He  is  a  member  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod 
of  North  Carolina,  and  of  the  board  of  home  mis- 
sions of  the  United  Synod  of  the  Evangelical  Luth- 
eran Church  in  the  South,  and  he  represented  his 
Synod  at  the  Lutheran  merger  and  the  organization 


124 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


of  The  Unit-ed  Lutheran  Church  of  America  in  New 
York  City  November  15,  1918. 

Albert  Anderson,  M.  D.  Perhaps  no  position 
in  the  state  government  offers  greater  opportuni- 
ties for  service  than  the  superintendeucy  of  the 
State  Hospital  at  Raleigh.  And  it  is  the  testi- 
mony of  those  competent  to  judge  that  no  mem- 
ber of  the  profession  in  the  state  had  stronger 
qualifications  and  could  have  brought  about  a 
more  efficient  organization  and  administration  of 
that  post  than  Dr.  Albert  Anderson,  who  has 
been  superintendent  since  1913. 

Doctor  Anderson  has  had  an  active  experience 
in  general  medical  and  surgical  practice  cover- 
ing more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  is  an 
authority  on  mental  and  nervous  diseases.  Soon 
after  taking  the  management  of  the  State  Hospi- 
tal he  introduced  vocational  occupations  for  men- 
tal treatment,  and  that  innovation  alone  has  served 
to  bring  the  standard  of  institutional  management 
up  to  a  plane  where  it  is  recognized  as  toremost 
among  similar  institutions  in  the  entire  country. 

A  happy  expression  of  professional  opinion  on 
Dr.  Albert  Anderson 's  standing  among  North 
Carolina  medical  men  is  found  in  a  brief  sketch 
that  appeared  in  the  Charlotte  Medical  .Journal  in 
October,  1915,  the  sketch  being  edited  by  two  well 
known  physicians.  The  article  reads  substan- 
tially as  follows: 

"Dr.  Albert  Anderson  was  born  October  18, 
1859,  at  Eagle  Rock,  Wake  County,  North  Car- 
olina. He  is  the  son  of  Jesse  and  Mary  Ander- 
son. His  father  was  a  farmer  and  he  began  life 
on  the  farm.  He  entered  nature 's  school  early 
and  gleaned  her  inmost  secrets.  He  knew  and 
cared  for  her  lesser  children  and  they  were  his 
brothers.  All  the  gentle  influences  thrown  about 
him  in  the  first  stage  of  his  growth  moulded  and 
fashioned  his  soul  and  mind  after  a  manner  that 
is  ripe  and  fostered  within  him  a  profound  love 
for  his  kind — a  love .  which  sought  expression  in 
service.  The  profession  he  has  chosen  and  prac- 
ticed so  many  years  has  been  the  medium  of  that 
service. 

"At  a  tender  age  he  entered  the  public  schools 
of  his  community,  later  the  Raleigh  Academy,  and 
in  188.3  he  graduated  from  Trinity  College,  when 
that  school  was  located  in  Randolph  County.  For 
four  years  he  was  principal  of  the  Middleburg 
Male  Academy  at  Middleburg,  North  Carolina, 
and  while  there  took  up  the  study  of  medicine 
under  private  instruction.  He  later  entered  the 
University  of  Virginia  and  the  year  of  1888 
marks  the  date  of  his  graduation  from  there. 
Throughout  his  years  of  study  threads  an  earnest- 
ness and  intensity  of  purpose  whieli  was  bound 
to  glorify  his  profession.  During  the  first  year 
of  his  student  life  at  Raleigh  he  united  with  the 
Methodist  Church  and  has  been  foremost  in  such 
work  ever  since. 

' '  He  began  practicing  at  Wilson,  North  Caro- 
lina, in  1888,  shortly  after  passing  the  state 
board  and  for  twenty-five  years  he  steadily  grew 
in  his  profession,  when  came  promotion — the  su- 
perintendeucy of  the  State  Hospital  at  Raleigh, 
where  he  is  now. 

"During  the  years  of  his  practice  Doctor  An- 
derson has  from  time  to  time  taken  post-graduate 
courses  in  the  North,  general  medicine  and  sur- 
gery being  his  subjects.  He  has  not  buried  his 
light  under  a  bushel,  but  has  voiced  it  through 
medical  journals  and  before  different  medical 
societies.      The   medical   societies   have  long   since 


seen  his  sterling  mettle  and  have  not  left  him 
unused.  He  has  served  as  president  of  the  Sea- 
board Medical  Society  (in  1902),  the  Tri-State 
Medical  Society,  Wilson  and  Wake  County  Medi- 
cal societies,  and  member  of  the  State  Medical 
Examining  Board. 

"In  1892  he  was  appointed  by  the  State  Board 
of  Health  to  attend  a  special  course  offered  by  the 
United  States  Government.  In  1898  he  was  elected 
for  a  term  of  four  years  as  a  member  of  the 
State  Medical  Examining  Board,  and  in  1903  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Delegates  of  the 
American  Medical  Association.  He  was  chief  sup- 
porter of  the  plan  for  revising  the  constitution  of 
the  State  Medical  Society  so  as  to  make  the 
County  Medical  Society  a  basal  unit  of  organiza- 
tion and  requiring  prospective  members  of  the 
State  Society  to  first  enroll  in  their  home  county 
society. 

"In  1898  Doctor  Anderson,  while  in  Wilson, 
associated  with  Dr.  E.  C.  Moore,  built  one  of  the 
finest  private  hospitals  in  North  Carolina.  He 
remained  at  the  head  of  that  institution  until  he 
moved  to  Raleigh.  This  hospital  enterprise  is 
considered  one  of  the  greatest  professional  achieve- 
ments in  his  life. 

' '  Doctor  Anderson  moved  to  Raleigh  in  1907  to 
become  medical  director  of  the  Jefferson  Standard 
Life  Insurance  Company,  and  filled  that  position 
five  years,  afterwards  devoting  himself  to  private 
practice  until  he  was  made  superintendent  of  the 
State  Hospital." 

Fraternally  Doctor  Anderson  is  affiliated  with 
the  Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechan- 
ics. December  12,  1888,  he  married  Miss  Pattie 
R.  Woodard,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  C.  B.  Aycock.  The 
concluding  paragraph  of  the  sketch  above  noted 
is  as  follows.  ' '  Socially  Doctor  Anderson  is  a 
aharming  gentleman.  His  personality  is  very 
attractive.  He  is  a  fine  conversationalist,  never 
failing  to  please  and  entertain  everyone  who 
comes  into  contact  with  him.  In  debate  Doctor 
Anderson  is  logical  and  convincing.  His  stage 
manners  are  beautiful  and  he  is  considered  one  of 
the  most  popular  speakers  in  the  medical  pro- 
fession of  North  Carolina  or  in  this  entire  sec- 
tion of  the  South.  On  one  occasion  he  delivered 
an  address  at  the  graduating  exercises  of  the 
North  Carolina  Medical  College  in  Cliarlotte  and 
it  was  declared  one  of  the  finest  speeches  ever 
delivered  in  that  city. ' ' 

James  W.  Wilson,  denuty  collector  of  internal 
revenue  at  Statesville,  enjoys  a  position  of  special 
honor  in  his  native  state  both  for  his  own  character 
and  ability  and  because  he  is  son  of  the  late  Maj. 
James  W.  Wilson,  one  of  the  greatest  railway  engi- 
neers and  constructive  business  men  produced  by 
North  Carolina. 

The  late  Maj.  James  W.  Wilson  was  the  engineer- 
ing genius  who  Ijuilt  the  old  Western  North  Caro- 
lina Railroad,  now  part  of  the  Southern  System, 
from  Salisbury  to  Asheville.  This  of  itself  is  a 
lasting  monument  to  his  memory  and  an  achieve- 
ment that  rdaces  him  in  the  ranks  of  America 's 
greatest  railroad  builders.  The  work  he  did  as  an 
engineer  was  only  one  phase  of  a  distinguished 
character.  He  possessed  seemingly  superlative 
powers  in  carrying  on  big  operations  that  required 
brains,  executive  ability,  a  forceful  character,  initi- 
ative and  unflagging  energy  and  the  gift  of  look- 
ing into  the  future. 

Major  Wilson  was  born  in  Granville  County, 
North  Carolina,  in  1832,  a  son  of  Rev.  Alexander 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


125 


Wilson.  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson  niovcil  with  his  family 
to  Haw  Fields  in  Alamance  County,  where  Major 
Wilson  grew  up.  He  graduated  from  the  University 
of  North  Carolina  in  1852.  Adopting  civil  engi- 
neering as  a  profession,  in  1856  he  located  at 
Morganton  in  IJurke  County  and  at  that  time  be- 
gan work  as  an  engineer  on  construction  of  the 
Western  North.  Carolina  Railroad.  This  was  a  state 
enterprise,  the  plans  contemplating  a  road  from 
Salisbury  to  Asheville  over  the  Blue  Bidge  Moun- 
tains. The  work  was  of  course  interrupted  by  the 
war. 

At  that  tiTne  Major  Wilson  was  living  at  States- 
ville  in  Iredell  County  and  at  once  returned  to 
Haw  Fields  to  join  the  Confederate  forces  being 
organized  there.  He  became  captain  of  the  noted 
organization  known  as  "Haw  Fields  Boys,"  which 
was  in  the  Sixth  North  Carolina,  Fisher's  Regi- 
ment. He  afterward  served  as  staff  major  and 
assistant  quartermaster  on  the  staff  of  Gieneral 
Ramseur. 

Near  the  close  of  the  war  Major  Wilson  became 
chief  engineer  and  superintendent  of  the  Western 
North  Carolina  Railroad.  In  the  latter  part  of 
1865  he  was  oiiicially  appointed  to  these  positions 
by  Governor  Worth  on  recommendation  of  the 
directors  of  the  road.  ■  Major  Wilson  had  been  a 
member  of  the  construction  firm  which  was  build- 
ing and  financing  the  road,  and  on  account  of  the 
difficulty  in  raising  funds  it  had  become  heavily  in 
debt  to  him,  an  indebtedness  which  later  was  ar- 
ranged for.  The  road  was  at  various  times  heavily 
involved  with  its  creditors,  and  the  serious  financial 
obstacles  overcome  in  its  construction  were  hardly 
less  noteworthy  than  those  of  a  physical  nature. 
The  road  was  completed  to  Azalia  Station,  IHO 
miles  west  of  Salisbury,  in  1879,  thereby  surmount- 
ing the  Blue  Ridge,  and  was  completed  to  Ashe- 
ville in  1880. 

On  the  division  west  of  Asheville  the  road  was 
built  through  Balsam  Gap,  .'^,100  feet  above  sea 
level,  the  highest  pass  east  of  the  Rockies.  The 
main  feature  and  the  most  difficult  to  accomplish 
in  the  engineering  and  construction  of  the  road 
was  the  section  from  Old  Fort  to  and  including 
Swannanoa  tunnel.  It  is  this  that  gives  Major 
Wilson  his  most  lasting  fame  as  one  of  the  greatest 
engineers  of  his  day.  On  this  section  the  road  sur- 
mounts Bound  Knob.  In  passing  Round  Knob 
there  are  successive  layers  of  track  plainly  visible 
six  times  as  it  winds  around  the  mountain.  This 
road  makes  accessible  some  of  the  most  magnificent 
scenery  of  North  Carolina.  The  route  presented 
many  intricate  and  surpassing  problems  of  railroad 
engineering.  Even  modern  railroad  engineers,  who 
have  had  at  their  command  vastly  im]uoved  facil- 
ities and  resources,  have  admired  the  way  in  which 
Major  Wilson  overcame  the  problems  which  con- 
fronted him. 

Having  accomplished  the  building  of  the  road. 
Major  Wilson  then  essayed  perhaps  an  equally 
great  task  as  its  president  and  general  manager 
under  state  authority.  For  the  first  few  years  and 
during  its  construction  he  was  chief  engineer  and 
superintendent,  and  during  the  last  years  of  its 
construction  and  the  first  few  years  of  its  operation 
was  president  as  well  as  chief  engineer.  He  had 
complete  charge  of  the  maintenance  and  operation 
of  the  road.  In  fact  he  was  the  guiding  spirit  all 
along,  and  besides  building  and  operating  the  line 
it  devolved  upon  him  to  raise  the  money  for  the 
enterprise,  float  bonds,  and  on  many  occasions  he 
used  his  own  funds  in  paying  for  labor,  materials 
and  other  supplies.  The  work  as  a  whole  stands  as 
a  monument  to  the  years  of  ceaseless  energy  and 


activity  on  the  part  of  Major  Wilson.  Everyone 
now  recognizes  that  the  state  owes  him  a  great  debt 
of  gratitude,  and  tliis  road,  now  a  part  of  the  main 
system  of  the  Southern  Railway,  is  perhaps  to  a 
degree  that  no  other  piece  of  railroad  construction 
in  America  is  a  monument  to  tlie  man  who  built  and 
financed  and  looked  after  its  welfare.  Major  Wil- 
son also  built  another  line  of  railway  to  Middle- 
boro,  Kentucky.  His  home  was  for  many  years  at 
Morganton  in  Burke  County,  but  he  died  at  the 
home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  R.  L.  Gibbon,  at  Char- 
lotte in  1910. 

In  1876,  at  the  time  of  the  overthrow  of  "car- 
pet-bag" government  in  North  Carolina,  Major 
Wilson  was  one  of  the  democrats  elected  to  the 
State  Legislature  and  represented  Burke  County. 
During  his  later  years  he  was  chosen  a  memlicr  of 
the  Corporation  Commission  of  North  Carolina  and 
for  eight  years  was  its  chairman. 

Major  Wilson  married  Louisa  Erwin,  who  is  also 
deceased.  She  was  a  member  of  the  noted  Erwin 
and  Avery  families  of  Burke  County.  Her  father 
was  Adolphus  L.  Erwin.  The  old  Erwin  home 
was  Belvidere,  sixteen  miles  east  of  Morganton. 

James  W.  Wilson  was  born  at  Bound  Knob, 
McDowell  County,  North  Carolina,  in  1869.  His 
birth  occurred  in  his  father  's  railroad  camp  while 
the  Western  North  Carolina  was  being  constructed 
around  that  difficult  point.  His  father's  camp 
headquarters  was  called  the  ' '  White  House  ' '  on 
account  of  the  building  being  whitewashed,  and 
it  was  in  that  humble  structure  that  Mr.  Wilson 
first  saw  the  light  of  day. 

He  was  liberally  educated,  attending  school 
under  Professor  Gilmore  at  Morganton,  for  two 
years  was  in  Davidson  College,  and  two  years  in  the 
University  of  North  Carolina.  At  first  his  home 
was  in  Morganton,  where  he  early  entered  railroad 
service  and  for  seven  years  was  the  Southern  Bail- 
way  agent  at  Morganton.  Mr.  Wilson  has  been  a 
resident  of  Statesville  since  1913.  As  a  Federal 
employe  he  is  deputy  collector  of  internal  revenue 
for  the  Fifth  Collection  District  of  the  state. 

Mr.  Wilson  married  Miss  Ivy  Hayes.  Her  father, 
the  late  Gen.  Jack  Hayes,  was  a  dashing  and 
brilliant  LTnion  officer  in  the  Civil  war  and  attained 
the  rank  of  general  in  the  Union  Army.  He  was 
born  in  Ohio,  but  during  his  army  service  saw 
much  of  North  Carolina,  became  fascinated  with 
the  country,  took  up  his  residence  here  and  was 
long  a  devoted  citizen  of  both  the  state  and  of  the 
South. 

Hugh  Park.s  Brown.  Active,  enterprising  and 
trustworthy,  Hugh  Parks  Brown,  of  Salisbury,^  is 
a  practical  representa^jve  of  the  manufacturing 
interests  of  this  section  of  Bowan  County,  and  as 
a  man  and  a  citizen  is  eminently  deserving  of  the 
esteem  and  respect  in  which  he  is  held  by  his 
neighbors,  friends  and  business  associates.  A  son 
of  Dr.  William  Lafayette  Brown,  he  was  born  in 
Winston,  North  Carolina,  of  honored  ancestry. 

Rev.  'Thomas  Brown,  Mr.  Brown 's  grandfather, 
was  a  clergyman,  and  for  many  years  served  as 
lastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Clinrch  in  Mocksville. 
He  also  owned  a  farm  near  that  pilace,  and  took 
great  interest  in  advancing  the  agricultural  pros- 
perity of  that  locality. 

Dr.  William  L.  Brown  was  born  in  Mocksville, 
Davie  County,  in  18.'?2.  After  receiving  the  de- 
cree of  M.  D.  he  was  for  several  years  ship  surgeon 
on  an  ocean  liner  plying  between  New  York  and 
foreign  ports.  At  the  end  of  leu  years  on  board 
ship,  he  settled  in  Mocksville,  North  Carolina, 
where  he  subsequently  embarked  in  the  manufacture 


126 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


of  tobac-eo.  Eeinoving  in  1877  to  Winston,  whicli 
was  then  but  a  small  place,  regarded  as  a  suburb 
of  Salem,  he  there  continued  as  a  manufacturer 
of  tobacco  until  his  death  in  1898.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Eliza  Chin,  was  born  at  Farm- 
ington,  Davie  County,  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Margaret  Chin.  Surviving  her  husband,  she  passed 
to  the  life  beyond  December  12,  1917.  She  reared 
ten  children,  as  follows:  William  Thomas,  Mar- 
garet, Elizabeth,  Mabel,  Florence,  Gertrude,  Hugh 
Parks,  Letitia,  Amanda  and  Delphina. 

Completing  his  early  studies  at  the  Salem  Boys ' 
School,  Hugh  Parks  Brown  entered  Davidson 
College,  but  on  account  of  the  death  of  his  father 
was  forced  to  leave  before  graduation  to  enter 
the  office  of  his  father 's  factory.  After  the 
business  was  sold  to  the  American  Tobacco  Factory 
Company,  Mr.  Brown  embarked  in  the  fertilizing 
business,  and  upon  the  organization  of  the  H.  P. 
Brown  Guano  Comijany  was  elected  president,  and 
has  since  given  his  entire  time  and  attention 
towards  promoting  the  interests  of  the  firm. 

In  1911  Mr.  Brown  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Xaomi  Frund,  who  was  born  in  Indiana,  being 
a  daughter  of  H.  W.  Frund.  Two  children  have 
brightened  their  union,  Mary  Ella  and  Hugh 
Parks,  Jr.  True  to  the  religious  faith  in  which 
he  was  reared,  Mr.  Brown  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Cliurch,  in  which  his  father  filled 
various  official  positions.  Mrs.  Brown  is  a  mem- 
lier  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Fraternally  Mr.  Brown 
belongs  to  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order 
of  Elks. 

Ernest  H.\yw-ood  began  the  practice  of  law 
in  his  native  State  of  North  Carolina  thirty-four 
years  ago,  and  the  success  and  reputation  for 
ability  now  associated  with  his  name  are  in  pro- 
portion to  the  length  of  years  spent  in  close  and 
conscientious  devotion   to  his  profession. 

He  was  born  at  Raleigh  February  1,  186D,  a  son 
of  Dr.  E.  Burke  and  Lucy  (Williams)  Haywood. 
His  father  was  long  a  prominent  physician  at  Ea- 
leigh.  The  son  had  the  advantages  of  a  liberal 
education.  He  attended  Lovejoy's  Academy  in 
Baleigh,  Horner's  Military  Academy  at  Oxford 
and  Hillsboro,  and  in  1880  was  graduated  from 
the  University  of  North  Carolina,  a  medalist,  a 
first  honor  man,  and  with  the  degree  A.  B. 

His  law  studies  were  pursued  in  the  law  school 
of  Federal  Judge  Dick  and  Judge  Dillard  of 
North  Carolina  Supreme  Court  at  Greensboro, 
North  Carolina.  He  graduated  in  1882  and  in 
October  of  the  same  year  passed  a  successful  ex- 
amination before  the  Supreme  Court  of  North 
Carolina,  which  licensed  him  to  practice. 

Since  that  date  he  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Ealeigh  bar.  For  a  number  of  years  he  prac- 
ticed with  his  brother,  A.  W.  Haywood,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Haywood  &  Haywood.  Mr.  A. 
W.  Haywood  retired  from  practice  in  1895  and 
since  then  Mr.  Ernest  Haywood  has  continued  in 
practice  alone,  with  offices  in  the  Tucker  Building 
at  Ealeigh. 

He  has  a  general  practice  in  all  branches  of  the 
civil  law,  and  has  made  a  specialty  of  commer- 
cial, insurance,  corporation  and  real  estate  law 
and  the  settlement  of  estates.  With  him  the  law- 
has  indeed  been  a  jealous  mistress,  and  he  has 
rigidly  excluded  any  interest  or  diversion  that 
might'  interfere   with   the   successful    practice. 

He  is  and  always  has  been  a  loyal  democrat, 
is  an  Episcopalian  in  religion,  is  a  member  of  the 


American  Bar  Association,  of  the  North  Carolina 
Bar  Association  and  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
and  of  the  Capital  Club  and  the  Country  Club. 

Charles  Edwaed  Brewer,  Ph.  D.  President 
of  Meredith  CoUege  at  E-aleigh,  one  of  the  lead- 
ing Baptist  institutions  of  the  South,  Charles 
Edward  Brewer  has  been  prominent  in  North 
Carolina  educational  affairs  for  more  than  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century,  and  for  many  years  held  the 
chair   of   chemistry   in    Wake   Forest   College. 

His  grandfather  on  the  maternal  side.  Dr.  Sam- 
uel Wait,  was  the  founder  and  first  president  of 
Wake  Forest  College.  Charles  Edward  Brewer  was 
born  at  Wake  Forest  July  12,  1866,  a  son  of  John 
and  Ann  Eliza  (Wait)  Brewer.  His  father  was 
a  farmer  and  merchant.  Attending  the  elemen- 
tary schools  of  Wake  Forest,  and  the  Vine  Hill 
Academy,  Mr.  Brewer  pursued  his  higher  studies 
in  Wake  Forest  College  from  1881  to  1886,  grad- 
uating A.  B.  and  A.  M.,  taking  post-graduate 
work  in  chemistry  for  a  year,  and  for  two  years 
in  .Tohns  Hopkins  Fniversity  at  Baltimore.  In 
1889  he  was  called  to  the  chair  of  chemistry  at 
Wake  Forest  College  and  presided  over  that  de- 
partment continuously  until  June.  1915,  having 
participated  in  the  instruction  and  training  of 
almost  a  generaton  of  students.  The  last  three 
years  he  was  dean  of  the  college.  In  1915  Mr. 
Brewer  was  elected  president  of  Meredith  Col- 
lege, and  his  qualifications  both  as  a  scientist  and 
an  executive  have  been  abun<lantly  proved  dur- 
ing his  administration.  In  1900,  after  a  course  of 
post-graduate  work,  Mr.  Brewer  received  the  de- 
gree Doctor  of  Philosophy  from  Cornell  Univer- 
sity. 

He  is  very  prominent  in  Baptist  circles  in  the 
state,  for  the  past  eight  years  has  been  record- 
ing secretary  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  is 
a  member  of  the  North  Carolina  Baptist  Board 
of  Education,  and  for  two  years  was  chairman  of 
the  Laymen 's  Movement  Committee  of  the  Bap- 
tist Cliurch  of  the  state.  He  formerly  held  mem- 
bership in  the  Chemical  Society  of  Berlin,  Ger- 
many, the  American  Chemical  Society,  and  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Sci- 
ence, and  is  now  a  member  of  the  Southern  As- 
sociation of  Schools  and  Colleges,  the  North  Car- 
olina Teachers  Assembly ,  the  North  Carolina 
Literary  and  Historical  Association,  and  was  for- 
merly state  councilor  of  the  Junior  Order  of 
United  American  Mechanics,  of  which  he  is  still 
a  member.  He  is  also  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
National  Orphans'  Home  of  that  order,  located 
at  Tiffin.  Ohio.  In  December,  1917,  he  was  ap- 
pointed a  member  of  the  North  Carolina  State 
Educational  Commission  authorized  by  the  Genera] 
Assembly  of  that  year. 

On  October  28,  1891,  Mr.  Brewer  married  Love 
Estelle  Bell  of  Shawboro,  Currituck  County,  North 
Carolina.  Her  father,  Joseph  E.  Bell,  was  a 
farmer.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brewer  have  two  living 
children:  Ellen  Dozier  and  Ann  Eliza,  both  of 
whom  are  in  school.  They  lost  two  sons,  Joseph 
Bell,  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  and  Charles 
Edward,   Jr.,   who   died  in   infancy. 

W-\lter  H.  Mendenh.^ll.  A  man  of  sterling 
worth  and  character,  endowed  with  excellent  busi- 
ness ability  and  iudgment,  Walter  H.  Mendenhall, 
cashier  of  "the  Bank  of  Lexington,  is  ablv  meeting 
every  requirement  of  the  responsible  position  he  is 
filling,  administering  the  affairs  of  the  bank  in  an 


v/^^ 1, -J 


1 :. 


;•{ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


127 


efficient  and  satisfactory  manner.  A  son  of  James 
Mendenhall,  he  was  born  on  a  plantation  in  the 
Deep  River  Settlement  of  Gnilford  County,  North 
Carolina,  coming  from  honored  colonial  stock.  His 
grandfather,  Elihu  Mendenhall,  an  early  settler  of 
the  Deep  River  Colony,  cleared  and  improved  a 
farm  in  that  part  of  Guilford  County,  and  there 
spent  the  closing  years  of  his  life.  He  and  his 
wife  were  prominent  members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  and  reared  theif  children  in  that  faith. 
An  interesting  history  of  the  Mendenhall  family 
from  the  time  of  the  immigrant  ancestor  up  to  the 
present  generation  has  been  written  by  Prof.  Mar- 
shall Elliot,  of  Johns  Ho]ikins  I'liiversUy. 

James  Mendenhall  was  born,  it  is  supposed,  in 
Randolph  County,  North  Carolina,  but  was  brought 
up  and  educated  in  Guilford  County,  where  for  a 
number  of  years  he  was  esigageil  in  tlie  lumber 
liusiness.  Coming  from  there  to  Davidson  County, 
he  established  a  factory  in  Lexington,  and  buUt  up 
a  large  and  lucrative  business  as  a  manufacturer 
of  spokes  and  shuttle  block,  an<l  other  articles  of 
a  similar  nature.  Successful  in  his  work,  he  con- 
tinued a  resident  of  Lexington  until  his  death,  in 
August,  1907.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Martha  Wheeler.  She  was  born  in  Guilford 
County,  in  the  Deep  River  Settlement,  a  daughter 
of  Cyrus  J.  and  Nancy  A.  (Mullen)  Wheeler.  She 
died  in  1906,  leaving  two  sons,  Walter  H.  and  Otis 
E.  Both  she  and  her  husband  were  loyal  and  faith- 
ful members  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 

After  his  graduation  from  Guilford  College, 
where  he  completed  his  early  education,  Walter  H. 
Mendenhall  entered  the  Bank  of  Lexington  as  a 
clerk,  and  during  the  ensuing  four  years  proved 
himself  so  capable  and  trustworthy  that,  in  1899, 
he  was  promoted  to  the  cashiership,  the  position 
which  he  has  since  so  ably  and  faithfully  filled. 

Mr.  Mendenhall  married,  in  1900,  Miss  Jessie 
Thompson.  She  was  born  in  Tyro,  Davidson 
County,  a  daughter  of  Charles  M.  and  Mary 
(Peebles)  Thompson,  and  granddaughter  of 
Joseph  Hiram  and  Cynthia  (Ratts)  Thompson. 
She  is  of  pioneer,  ancestry,  her  great  gi'audfather, 
Frederick  Thompson,  having  been  one  of  the  earlier 
settlers  of  Tyro.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mendenhall  have 
one  child,  Dorothy.  Religiously  Mr.  Mendenhall, 
having  never  swerved  from  the  faitli  in  which  he 
was  reared,  is  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
anil  Mrs.  Mendenhall  is  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian C'hurch.  Fraternally  he  belongs  to  Lexington 
Lodge  No.  -17.3,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons; 
to  Lexington  Lodge  No.  71,  Knights  Templar;  and 
to  Lexington  Council,  Junior  Or<ler  of  United 
American  Mechanics. 

John  Downey  Cooper.  In  the  last  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  the  degree  of  importance  or  any 
business  or  public  enterprise  initiated  in  the  City 
of  Henderson  might  be  accurately  measured  by 
the  presence  and  association  of  John  Downey 
Cooper  as  a  supporter  or  participant  in  the  move- 
ment, enterprise  or  undertaking.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  the  individual  record  of  Mr.  Cooper  is  a 
fairly  good  outline  and  summary  of  business 
liistory  at  Henderson. 

He  was  born  in  Granville  County,  North  Carolina, 
March  15,  1849,  and  has  had  a  very  active  and 
almost  a  strenuous  career.  His  parents  were 
Alexander  and  Harriet  (Young)  Cooper,  and  his 
father  was  a  prosperous  planter  in  Granville 
County  before  the  war.  The  son  completed  his 
education  in  Horner's  Military  School  at  Oxford, 
and    spent    one    year    of    his    young    manhooil    in 


Texas  on  the  plains  and  ranches  as  a  cowboy. 
He  also  worked  as  foreman  in  his  uncle  's  tobacco 
factory,  at  Oxford,  and  then  went  West  again  and 
tor  three  years  was  a  gold  prospector  in  North 
Dakota.  On  returning  to  North  Carolina,  Mr. 
Cooper  went  into  the  tobacco  business  and  was 
one  of  the  prominent  men  in  the  tobacco  industry 
in  the  state  until  1914.  For  many  years  he  rep- 
resented the  Allen  Gintes  tobacco  house,  and  upon 
the  organization  of  the  American  Tobacco  Com- 
pany became  identified  with  that  cor]ioration  and 
remained  with  them  until  19112. 

Mr.  Cooper  has  been  identified  with  all  the  im- 
])ortant  manufacturing  companies  at  Henderson, 
including  four  cotton  mills.  He  is  president  and 
organizer  of  the  Carolina  Bagging  Comjiany,  is 
president  of  the  Farmers  and  Merchants  Bank, 
president  of  the  Farmers  Loan  and  Supply  Com- 
pany, ]ire.sident  and  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
India  Bagging  Company,  a  director  of  the  Hen- 
derson Cotton  Mills,  of  the  Harriet  Cotton  Mill, 
and   the   Citizens   Bank. 

He  has  not  been  less  useful  and  interested  in 
public  affairs.  He  has  served  as  town  commis- 
sioner, was  for  a  number  of  years  mayor,  and  was 
trustee  of  the  graded  school  system.  He  performed 
a  useful  pulilic  service  as  chairman  of  the  Board 
of  Road  Commissioners,  and  when  elected  to  that 
office  he  jiromised  the  people  that  when  money  was 
needed  for  improvement  of  the  highways  it  woubl 
be  supplied  ami  he  would  see  to  it  that  the  county 
stood  behind  the  improvement. 

Mr.  Cooper  has  reason  to  take  a  great  deal  of 
pride  in  his  home  and  family.  October  27,  188.5, 
he  married  Fannie  Spotswood  Burwell,  of  Meek- 
lenberg  County,  Virginia.  They  have  eight 
children.  George  Burwell  is  manager  of  an  im- 
])ortant  tobacco  manufacturing  company  at  Bristol, 
England.  John  Downey,  Jr.,  is  superintendent  and 
manager  and  electrician  with  the  Harriet  Cotton 
Mill  at  Henderson.  Lewis  Gintes  an  attorney  at 
law  but  is  now  lieutenant  of  artillery  with  the 
I'nited  States  Army.  Fannie  Spotswood  is  Mrs. 
A.  A.  Zollicoffer,  her  husband  a  cotton  mill  man. 
James  Wesley  is  sergeant  major  of  the  One 
Humlred  and  Twenty-First  Regiment  of  Infantry, 
T'nited  States  Army.  David  Alexander  is  at- 
tending medical  school  in  the  University  of  North 
Carolina.  Tlie  two  younger  children  are  Henry 
Burwell,  a  student  of  the  State  University,  and 
Marshall  Young,  a  student  in  the  high  school  at 
Henderson. 

Titus  Willi.\m  Carr  III  was  in  many  ways  a 
distinguished  character  of  Eastern  North  Carolina 
and  in  his  career  represented  liotli  the  older 
aristocratic  elements  of  the  state  and  also  that 
courageous  patriotism  and  pioneer  resourcefulness 
by  which  the  sons  of  the  olil  South  reliabilitated 
their  fortunes  under  the  new  conditions  following 
the  war. 

He  was  born  in  Pitt  County,  North  Carolina, 
February  27,  1841,  and  his  death  occurred  Febru- 
ary 28,  190.'!.  He  was  fourth  in  descent  from 
Robert  Carr  of  Nansemond  County,  Virginia,  who 
died  in  177:!.  The  will  of  Roliert  Carr,  still  extant, 
is  a  unique  document,  amusing  in  its  minute  de- 
tails. In  it  he  speaks  of  being  the  author  of 
eight  children  and  the  possessor  of  ' '  much 
plunder. ' ' 

Titus  Carr  I  in  178.5  moved  to  Greene  County, 
North  Carolina,  settling  upon  a  tract  of  land 
which  has  never  since  departed  the  jiossession  of 
the   family.      Titus   Carr   II,   who  lived   from   1788 


128 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


to  1837,  rearei-1  a  large  family  of  twelve  sons  and 
ilaugliteis  on  tlie  home  ijlaee,  but  after  his  death 
all  migrateil  to  the  tar  South,  to  Mississippi  and 
Texas,  with  tlie  exception  of  Matthew,  fatiier  of 
Titus  William  Curr  III.  In  Mississippi  and  Texas 
the  descendants  of  the  other  children  are  still 
numerous  and  ]jrominent. 

Matthew  L.  Carr  remained  in  North  Carolina  to 
settle  up  his  father's  estate  and  soon  formed  ties 
that  held  liim  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  became  a 
man  of  considerable  wealth,  and  while  too  old 
for  service  in  the  Civil  war  he  gave  liberally  of 
his  means  to  the  cause.  Prior  to  the  war  he  had 
served  as  a  colonel  of  militia  and  in  IS.jG  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Senate.  He  married  Sara_h 
Saunders,  and  their  second  sou  was  Titus  William 
Carr  III. 

The  latter  received  his  early  training  in  the  ohl 
Stautonburg  Academy,  afterwards  attended  the 
Horner  School  in  Oxford,  North  Carolina,  and 
was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1863  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina.  At  college  and  through 
life  he  was  characterized  by  his  neatness  of  ap- 
pearance and  was  known  as  ' '  the  handsomest  man 
at  university. ' '  While  he  specialized  in  the  study 
of  law,  he  never  sought  admission  to  the  bar. 

After  graduating  from  university  he  entered 
the  Confederate  States  Army  as  first  lieutenant  of 
Company  K,  Sixty-Seventh  North  Carolina  Regi- 
ment of  Cavalry.  His  military  record  is  found  in 
Clark 's  North  Carolina  Regiments,  Vol.  3,  In 
March,  1865,  in  a  brush  with  the  enemy  near  Kins- 
ton,  his  horse  fell  and  he  was  captured.  He  re- 
mained in  prison  at  Fort  Delaware  until  the  end 
of  the  war.  While  on  the  way  to  prison  the  young 
•  officer  in  charge  of  the  prisoners,  being  a  member 
of  the  same  college  fraternity,  gave  him  forty 
dollars  in  gold.  To  the  possession  of  this  money  he 
attributed  the  preservation  of  his  life  under  the 
hard   conditions   of   imprisonment. 

Like  hosts  of  other  young  men  in  the  South, 
reared  in  afSuence,  educated  for  the  profession  of 
law-,  returning  after  the  close  of  the  war  and  find- 
ing all  swept  away,  he  turned  to  the  first  thing 
that  offered,  the  cultivation  of  mother  earth,  for 
which  he  had  strong  natural  inclinations.  De- 
scended from  a  long  line  of  land  owners  and  land 
lovers,  this  occupation  was  most  agreeable  to 
him.  Leaving  his  father's  home,  which  happily 
had  escaped  tlie  ravages  of  war,  he  struck  out  for 
himself.  Within  a  year  after  his  return  from  a 
northern  prison  he  married,  and  took  his  bride  into 
a  virtual  wilderness  in  Greene  County,  where  he 
became  a  jilanter  and  merchant,  and  in  time  bought 
and  operated  large  tracts  of  farming  lands.  Ac- 
companying him  to  his  new  home  were  a  few  of 
the  faithful  family  slaves  who  went  with  him  to 
accept  relations  with  their  former  master  upon 
a  new  and  strange  basis,  that  of  hired  employes. 
Notable  among  these  former  slavey  was  Louis, 
early  playfellow  of  his  master,  his  personal  ser- 
vant at  school  and  university,  who  had  followed 
him  faithfully  through  the  war  and  who,  surviving 
his  master  by  several  years,  died  only  recently. 
By  personal  effort  Titus  William  Carr  carved  out  a 
modest  fortune  for  himself  and  encouraged  his 
neighbors  to  do  likewise.  He  reared  and  educated 
four  children,  all  of  whom  received  college  and 
university  training.  With  great  personal  pride 
he  made  of  his  home  a  place  of  note  in  Eastern 
North  Carolina,  and  died  there  mourned  as  a  true 
friend  of  all  classes. 

Though  his  influence  in  his  community  was  of 
exceptional  power  and  benefit,  he  never  held  public 


office,  though  often  solicited  to  do  so.  He  was  a 
democrat,  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Order,  and  of 
the  Missionary  Baptist  Church. 

Mr.  Carr  was  twice  marrie<l  and  his  wives  were 
sisters.  The  first  was  Ada  Gray  Little,  whom  he 
married  February  27,  1866,  and  who  died  Febru- 
ary 8,  1882.  oil  Seiitember  1,  1887,  he  married 
Dora  E.  Little,  who  is  still  living.  Their  father 
was  Col.  James  Little  of  Beaufort  County.  They 
were  descended  from  John  Eborne  (VonEborne)  of 
Hyde  County,  who  took  an  active  part  in  the 
Revolutionary  war  and  afterwards  for  many  years 
represented  his  county  in  the  State  Legislature. 
The  wives  of  Mr.  Carr  were  descended  through 
their  mother  from  the  Huguenot  family  of  Laniers. 

The  four  children  ot  Titus  W.  Carr  III  are: 
William  (Jray  Carr,  who  lives  in  Wilson,  North 
Carolina,  and  married  Sallie  Herring;  Dr. 
Matthew  L.  Carr,  who  is  unmarried  and  lives  in 
New  York  City;  Frederick  L.  Carr,  mentioned  on 
following  pages;  and  Dorothy  Carr,  who  lives  in 
Wilson,   the   wife   of   Charles   Har[ier. 

Frederick  Louis  Cark,  a  son  of  the  late  Titus 
William  Carr,  III,  was  born  on  his  father's  planta- 
tion in  Greene  County  on  August  7,  1873;  was  for 
a  number  of  years  actively  associated  with  his 
father  in  business  affairs,  and  latterly  has  formed 
various  influential  bu.siness  connections  at  Wilson. 
He  is  a  large  stockholder,  a  director  and  memlier 
of  the  finance  committee  of  the  Branch  Banking 
and  Trust  Company;  director  and  treasurer  of  the 
Wilson  Cotton  Mills,  and  actively  connected  with 
other  business  enterjirises  in  his  community. 

He  was  educated  at  home  under  a  private  tutor, 
afterwards  attended  the  Horner  Military  Institute 
at  Oxford,  North  Carolina,  and  in  1895  graduated 
' '  summa  cum  laude  ' '  from  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  being  a  charter  member  of  the  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  chapter  at  that  institution.  For  one  year  he 
was  instructor  in  Latin  at  the  university,  pursuing 
advanced  studies  in  political  .science,  and  was 
awarded  a  scholarship  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  In- 
stitute. But  preferring  the  activities  of  business, 
he  found  ample  opportunities  for  his  talents  in  the 
management  of  his  father 's  interests,  and  has 
always  manifested  a  strong  family  trait  which  has 
kept  the  Carrs  close  to  the  land.  Mr.  Carr  directs 
the  operation  of  a  splendid  farming  estate  of  many 
thousand  acres,  and  his  individual  efforts  have 
contributed  much  to  the  sum  total  of  North 
Carolina  's  agricultural   industry. 

In  1901  and  again  in  1903  Mr.  Carr  represented 
his  county  in  the  State  Legislature.  For  six  years 
he  was  jjrivate  secretary  to  Senator  Lee  S.  Over- 
man, resigning  when  he  was  married  to  devote 
his  time  to  his  business  interests.  Mr.  Carr  is  a 
member  of  the  Wilson  Country  Club,  a  Royal  Arch 
Mason,  and  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

He  was  married  on  December  10,  1908,  to  Nancy 
("Nan")  Barnes  Branch,  noted  for  her  skill  as 
a  horsewoman  and  for  her  proficiency  in  outdoor 
sports.  She  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  Alpheus 
Branch  and  a  granddaughter  of  Gen.  Joshua 
Barnes,  both  well  known  and  prominent  North 
Carolinians.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carr  have  two  children, 
Frederick   Louis,   Jr.,   and   Alpheus   Branch   Carr. 

Gen.  Joshu.\  Barnes,  whose  name  is  so  closely 
linked  with  the  early  history  of  the  City  of  Wilson 
and  the  formation  of  Wilson  County,  was  born  in 
that  part  of  old  Edgecombe  County  which  later 
became  Wilson  County  on  .January  15.  1813.  He 
was    of   long   lived,   vigorous   stock.     His   parents 


#  *^ 


GENERAL  JOSHUA  BARNES 
Jan.  15,  1813— Oct.  5,  1890 


THE  riLV--'  YOKK     j 

PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


tS'  OR.  LENOX. 

•ndations 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


129 


were  Jesse  aud  Edith  (Dew)  Barnes,  both  of  whom 
exceeded  the  allotted  span  of  life.  Jesse  Barues 
was  born  in  17(51  and  died  in  lS4o,  aud  his  wife 
was  born  in  1775  and  died  in  1849.  General 
Barnes  was  married  May  16,  1845,  to  Matilda 
Bynum,  who  was  born  May  21,  1819,  and  died 
December  5,  188;J.  Her  parents  were  likewise  long 
lived.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Turner  Byuum, 
who  was  born  October  5,  1787,  and  died  in  1867, 
and  his  wife,  Nancy  Bynura,  lived  from  1787  to 
1859.  The  Byuuras  were  very  prominent  in  Eastern 
Carolina,  and  were  proprietors  of  large  land  hold- 
ings there.  General  Barnes  and  his  wife  had  only 
two  children:  Louise  Wilson  Barnes,  who  died  on 
the  verge  of  manhood;  and  Nannie,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Aljiheus  Branch,  a  prominent  banker 
and  merchant  elsewhere  referred  to. 

General  Barnes,  who  died  October  5,  1890,  was 
one  of  the  most  influential  citizens  of  his  time. 
About  a  year  before  his  death,  referring  to  his 
work  in  the  establishment  of  Wilson  County  and 
the  upbuilding  of  the  City  of  Wilson,  the  Raleigh 
State  Chronicle  contained  an  article  from  which 
the  foUowiug  sentences  are  abstracted  as  having 
special  application  to  the  present  purpose: 

"General  Joshua  Barues  probably  enjoys  the 
high  honor  of  being  the  only  man  in  the  state 
who  was  a  commissioner  of  a  town  of  which  he 
was  not  a  resident.  General  Barnes  lived  two 
miles  north  of  Wilson,  was  the  most  distinguished 
citizen  of  his  section  and  had  often  served  in 
the  Legislature  and  had  been  particularly  zealous 
in  his  efforts  to  secure  the  incorporation  and  up- 
buildiug  of  the  town.  His  election  was  a  compli- 
ment to  his  well  directed  zeal.  On  February  15, 
1855,  the  Town  of  Wilson,  which  had  been  in 
Edgecombe  County,  was  made  the  county  seat  of 
the  newly  established  County  of  Wilson.  During 
1854  the  question  of  making  a  new  county  out  of 
parts  of  Edgecombe,  Wayne,  Nash  and  Johnston 
counties  was  the  leading  topic.  The  opposition  was 
very  great,  especially  around  Tarboro.  The  can- 
vass was  of  the  most  exciting  nature,  but  General 
Joshua  Barnes  and  Colonel  David  Williams,  who 
advocated  the  new  county,  were  elected  to  the 
Legislature.  When  the  news  reached  Wilson  from 
General  Barnes  that  the  new  county  had  been 
established  the  joy  of  the  people  knew  no  bounds. 
.  .  .  The  zeal,  untiring  labor  and  successful 
endeavors,  especially  of  General  Barnes,  won  for 
him  the  lasting  gratitude  of  the  people.  He  had 
been  often  in  the  Legislature  and  had  a  host  of 
friends  throughout  the  state.  His  popularity 
served  the  good  purpose  of  getting  many  votes  for 
the  new  county.  The  future  of  Wilson  was  assured. 
General  Barnes  lives  to  this  day,  an  honored  and 
loved  citizen,  to  see  the  ripened  fruits  of  his 
patriotic  labors.  He  was  the  first  chairman  of  the 
County  Court. ' '  It  should  be  added  that  the 
county  was  named  for  General  Louis  Wilson  of 
Edgeeomb.  General  Wilson  was  an  intimate  friend 
of  General  Barnes,  and  for  him  General  Barnes 
named  liis  only  son  Louis  Wilson. 

Another  account  indicating  the  esteem  in  which 
General  Barnes  was  held  is  found  in  the  Wilson 
Advance  of  October  16,  1890,  a  few  days  after  his 
.leath : 

' '  On  Monday  morning  at  7  o  'clock  at  the  resi- 
dence of  his  son-in-law,  A.  Branch,  Gen.  Joshua 
Barnes  departed  this  life  in  the  peace  of  God  and 
in  charity  for  mankind.  He  has  been  a  sufferer 
over  twenty  years  from  paralysis,  his  splendid  con- 
stitution  having  borne  him   through   two   attacks 


of  that  fearful  disease,  though  entirely  destroying 
his  powers  of  locomotion. 

"Born  in  sight  of  Wilson,  his  whole  life  had 
been  spent  in  our  midst,  exemplifying  the  very  best 
type  of  her  citizens,  the  patriot  and  Christian. 
Full  of  years  and  honors,  and  first  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people,  he  has  been  gathered  to  his  fathers, 
and,  in  the  words  of  John  Randolph  on  the  death 
of  Nathaniel  Macon,  we  feel  that  the  last  of  th6 
old  Romans  is  gone. 

' '  General  Barnes  sprang  from  a  people  of  hardy 
virtues  and  he  inherited  from  his  parents  not  only 
a  good  patrimony  and  a  vigorous  constitution,  but 
a  religion  that  has  moxdded  many  a  hero,  the 
severe  logic  of  which  he  has  never  been  tempted 
to  abandon.  He  married  MatUda,  daughter  of  the 
late  Turner  Bynum  of  Edgecombe  County,  by 
whom  he  had  two  children,  a  son  who  died  on  the 
verge  of  manhood  and  his  daughter  Mrs.  Branch. 
His  wife,  a  most  amiable  lady,  preceded  him  sev- 
eral years  to  the  spirit  land,  and  for  whose  memory 
he  cherished  a  fond  affection. 

' '  General  Barnes  was  a  born  leader  of  men  and 
liis  services  at  home  and  in  the  Legislature  which 
resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  county  will 
not  be  forgotten.  His  influence  with  a  body  com- 
posed of  the  best  talent  of  the  state  contributed 
not  a  little  to  the  successful  issue  of  a  measure 
that  was  vigorously  opposed.  Besides  his  services 
as  a  general  of  the  militia,  as  chairman  of  the 
County  Court  and  justice  of  the  peace,  he  was  al- 
ways foremost  in  every  measure  that  tended  to  the 
advancement  of  the  people.  Social  in  his  tempera- 
ment, he  enjoyed  life  and  made  no  difference  in 
man,  but  had  a  smile  and  a  word  for  every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  the  community  that  came  with- 
in his  reach,  and  knew  them  all  by  name.  There 
was  something  in  his  smile  and  words  that  attracted 
people  and  particularly  children,  yet  when  excited 
he  roared  like  a  lion. 

' '  In  his  youthful  days  he  excelled  in  many  sports 
and  particularly  enjoyed  hunting  and  the  excite- 
ment of  the  chase;  and  to  the  very  last  like  an 
old  war  hor.se  at  the  tap  of  the  drum,  he  was  all 
attention  at  the  recital  of  an  unusual  story  and  out 
of  his  treasures  he  could  usually  produce  one  to 
match  it. 

' '  He  gave  much  to  the  poor,  was  faithful  to  his 
friends,  and  his  honesty,  prudence  and  truthful- 
ness made  up  the  well  rounded  character  that  he 
was.  The  long  procession  and  solemn  funeral 
Tuesday,  with  the  business  of  the  town  entirely 
suspended,  with  tolling  bells,  attest  the  love  and 
respect  of  the  whole  community.  In  his  seventy- 
eighth  year,  having  seen  his  descendants  to  the 
third  generation,  he  has  fallen  on  sleep. ' ' 

General  Joshua  Barnes  was  pre-eminently  a  type 
of  the  Old  South.  Born  to  command,  accustomed 
to  affairs  on  a  lavish  scale,  he  might  have  found  it 
dlfiicult  to  adjust  his  ideas  to  conditions  after  the 
war,  but  no  mention  of  the  early  history  of  Wilson 
is  complete  without  his  name.  Soon  after  the 
war  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis  and  committed 
the  direction  of  his  affairs  more  and  more  to  the 
care  of  hig  son-in-law,  Alpheus  Branch,  while  he 
found  relief  through  many  years  of  helplessness  in 
the  intercourse  of  a  large  circle  of  friends,  and  in 
the  family  circle  of  his  only  daughter,  with  whom 
he  made  his  home  till  his  death. 

Alpheus  Branch  was  one  of  the  notable  charac- 
ters and  vitalizing  forces  of  Eastern  North  Caro- 
lina from  the  close  of  the  war  until  his  death.    He 


330 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


was  still  young  -when  the  great  war  closed.  With 
a  maturity  of  experience  and  a  breadth  of  niiud 
beyond  his  years  he  soon  foresaw  the  possibilities 
of  Eastern  North  Carolina,  and  in  building  his 
own  business  career  he  did  much  to  reconstruct 
and  make  provisions  for  the  future  welfare  of  his 
entire  community.  He  was  never  a  politician,  his 
name  does  not  till  high  places  in  public  affairs, 
but  as  a  business  man  he  still  had  time  for  public 
welfare  and  was  foremost  in  every  public  enterprise 
of  his  section,  his  name  being  among  the  first  to  be 
included  in  any  church,  school  or  philanthropic 
subscriptions.  Of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry,  he 
possessed  the  indomitable  will  and  tireless  energy 
of  his  race,  and  the  success  of  his  life  has  im- 
pressed his  name  upon  the  business  and  social 
interests  of  a  large  community. 

He  was  born  in  Halifax  County,  North  Carolina, 
May  7,  1843,  and  died,  when  still  comparatively 
young,  at  Wilson  on  January  3,  1893.  His  parents 
were  Capt.  Samuel  Warren  and  Mary  Branch. 
His  father  was  an  extensive  planter  before  the 
war  and  also  a  man  who  tilled  a  large  jjlace  in 
his  community.  During  his  early  boyhood  Alpheus 
Branch  attended  the  Academy  of  Dr.  Charles  F. 
Deems  at  Wilson,  the  Horner  School  at  Oxford, 
and  Trinity  College,  which  he  left  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war  at  the  age  of  seventeen. 

During  the  war  he  served  as  a  member  of  the 
Scotland  Neck  Cavalry.  His  military  record  will 
be  found  in  the  Confederate  Military  History 
(Hill)  Volume  4.  He  was  also  interested  in  mili- 
tary organizations,  and  after  the  war  he  served 
as  an  honorary  member  of  the  Wilson  Light  In- 
fantry Company,  and  did  much  to  encourage  its 
discipline  and  supjiort  as  a  creditable  unit  of  the 
military   organizations   of   the   state. 

After  the  war,  like  many  others,  he  turned  his 
first  attention  to  agriculture  and  did  farming  on 
a  large  scale  and  with  unusual  success.  In  1872 
he  founded  the  mercantile  firm  of  Branch  &  Com- 
pany, afterwards  Branch,  Hadley  &  Company,  and 
still  lat«r  Branch,  Briggs  &  Company.  This  busi- 
ness had  a  steady  growth  until  it  was  one  of  the 
wealthiest  firms  in  the  state,  with  branches  in 
many  towns.  In  188.'t  Alpheus  Branch  founded 
and  became  president  of  the  Wilson  Cotton  Mills. 
In  1889  was  founded  the  banking  house  of  Branch 
&  Comiiany,  of  which  he  was  first  president. 
This  enterprise,  always  regarded  by  Mr.  Branch 
as  his  crowning  achievement,  well  justified  his 
confidence.  Under  the  present  title  as  the  Branch 
Banking  &  Trust  Company  it  is  one  of  the  leading 
banks  of  Eastern  North  Carolina.  Mr.  Branch 
was  also  a  large  stockholder  and  a  member  of  the 
audit  committee  of  the  W.  &  W.  Railroad  Com- 
pany. 

When  his  achievements  as  a  business  man  are 
considered,  his  disinclination  to  public  office  and 
the  lack  of  time  which  prevented  his  acceptance 
of  such  honors  appear  in  the  nature  of  a  real  loss 
to  the  community.  He  was  a  democrat  in  politics 
and  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

On  November  7,  1865,  Alpheus  Branch  married 
Nannie  Barnes,  only  daughter  of  the  late  Gen. 
Joshua  Barnes,  whose  individual  career  and 
family  connections  are  traced  on  other  pages. 
Mrs.  "Alpehus  Branch  died  July  1,  1901.  The 
record  of  their  children  is:  Ximena,  who  was  born 
March  10,  1867,  died  June  28,  1900,  she  married 
first  James  Rolierts  and  second  R.  G.  Briggs,  and 
had  her  home  for  many  years  in  Wilson.  A.  Paul, 
born  October  27,  1869,  died  March  14,  1910.     He 


married  Annie  Harris.  Mattie,  born  August  10, 
1874,  died  December  27,  1914,  she  was  first  the 
wife  of  Edgar  Gay  and  afterwards  of  J.  B. 
Williams.  Nancy,  born  January  11,  1879,  is  the 
wife  of  Frederick  L.  Carr  of  Wilson.  Ellen,  born 
August  21,  1881,  is  the  wife  of  S.  H.  Anderson 
of  Wilson.  Joshua,  born  June  28,  1883,  died 
April   5,   1904. 

Rev.  Thom.\s  Paul  Griffin.  For  seventeen 
years,  during  the  greater  part  of  his  ministry, 
Rev.  Thomas  Paul  Griffin  has  been  one  of  the  able 
and  constructive  workers  in  the  Catholic  Diocese 
of  North  Carolina.  During  that  time  he  has  been 
continuously  pastor  of  the  Church  of  Sacred  Heart 
at  Raleigh. 

He  was  born  at  Baltimore,  Maryland,  July  10, 
1871,  a  son  of  Michael  and  Catherine  (Eaton) 
Griffin.  Early  in  life  he  determined  to  devote  his 
services  to  the  church,  and  his  early  training  was 
carried  on  under  the  direction  of  the  Jesuit  Fa- 
thers at  Loyola  College  and  he  studied  theology 
and  philosophy  at  St.  Mary 's  Seminary  at  Balti- 
more and  in  the  Benedictine  Monastery  at  Beatty, 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  ordained  a  priest  July  26, 
1896,  and  was  at  once  assigned  to  service  in  North 
Carolina.  The  first  three  years  he  spent  at  Fay- 
etteville,  and  since  then  has  been  at  the  head  of 
the  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart  at  Raleigh.  His 
parish  comprises  forty-five  families  and  about 
160  pupils  are  enrolled  in  the  schools.  It  was 
during  his  pastorate  that  the  Dominican  nuns 
opened  up  the  Sacred  Heart  Academy  and  that 
institution  has  steadily  grown  in  merit  among  all 
creeds.  Although  a  Catholic  school  the  large  at- 
tendance of  those  not  of  that  faith  shows  the 
effective  methods  of  the  Dominican  nuns  as  teach- 
ers. Father  GrifSji  in  1916  completed  the  beauti- 
ful granite  rectory  at  a  cost  of  $8,000,  and  he 
and  his  congregation  now  look  forward  to  the 
erection  of  a  beautiful  church  building. 

S.'VCRED  Heart  Catholic  Church  of  Raleigh 
began  its  corporate  existence  in  1834.  At  that 
time  it  was  known  as  the  Church  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist.  Prior  to  its  existence  mass  had  been 
offered  up  in  the  homes  of  the  faithful  where  a 
visiting  priest  ministered  to  their  spiritual  needs. 
The  first  church  was  built  in  1834.  It  is  said  that 
the  first  mass  ever  celebrated  in  Raleigh  was  by 
Rev.  PetCT  Whelan  in  1832  in  the  house  of  Mat- 
thew Shaw,  a  Presbyterian.  Raleigh  was  then  in 
the  diocese  of  Charleston  under  the  spiritual  care 
of  the  learned  and  eminent  Bishop  England,  who 
frequently  ministered   and   preached  there. 

Father  Whelan,  the  first  pastor,  was  succeeded 
about  1840  by  Father  McGowan.  Father  Dunn 
was  pastor  from  1848  to  18.54.  Rev.  Dr.  P.  Ryan 
came  in  1854,  during  the  period  when  "Know 
Nothingism ' '  was  rampant.  He  was  recalled  to 
Charleston  in  1859,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
Thomas  Quigley.  During  his  pastorate  he  secured 
the  church  and  lot  formerly  the  jiroperty  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  of  Raleigh.  The  church  was 
dedicated  under  the  title  and  invocation  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist  June  3,  1860.  Bishop  Lynch  of 
Charleston  officiated  and  there  was  also  present 
Most  R«v.  John  Hughes,  Archbishop  of  New  York, 
who  was  on  his  way  to  Chapel  Hill  to  lecture  at 
the  University  of  North  Carolina  by  invitation  of 
the  students.  Father  Quigley  left  Raleigh  in  1867 
and   was    succeeded   by   Rev.   Henry   P.   Northop, 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


131 


who  later  on  became  Bishop  of  Charlestoii,  his 
native  city,  where  he  died  in  June,  1916. 

From  1870  to  1874  Rev.  J.  V.  McNamara  and 
Bev.  Mark  Guss  were  pastors.  Rev.  John  J. 
Reilly  was  pastor  from  1874  to  1877,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  Rev.  James  B.  White.  Rev.  Wil- 
liam J.  Wright  took  the  place  of  Father  White 
for  nearly  two  years  while  the  former  was  busy 
in  effecting  the  purchase  of  new  church  property. 

To  Father  White  belongs  the  honor  of  securing 
for  the  Catholics  of  Raleigh  the  maguitieent  prop- 
erty now  occupied  for  church,  school  and  rectory. 
Father  White  was  a  man  of  wonderful  executive 
ability.  Having  filled  an  office  of  high  trust  under 
the  Federal  government  he  retired  from  the  world 
and  was  ordained  a  priest  by  Bishop  Gibbons,  now 
Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 

This  property  is  in  the  heart  of  Raleigh  adjacent 
to  the  capitol.  At  present  the  Dominican  nuns  of 
Newburgh  conduct  a  day  school  for  boys  and  girls 
and  accommodate  a  limited  number  of  girls  as 
boarders.  This  school  was  opened  in  1909.  The 
program  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  graded  and 
high  school  departments  in  Raleigh.  These  sisters 
have  also  establishments  at  Newton  Grove  and 
Durham.  It  is  the  earnest  hope  of  their  patrons 
that  the  Sacred  Heart  Academy  in  Raleigh  will 
continue  to  grow  and  add  another  name  to  the 
long  list  of  educational  institutions  under  the  care 
of  the  Dominican  sisters. 

The  Catholics  of  Raleigh  are  beginning  to  look 
forward  to  the  erection  of  a  church  worthy  of 
the  Catholic  religion  and  of  the  capital  of  the 
State  of  North  Carolina.  At  present  they  worship 
in  a  temporary  structure.  Recently  there  has  been 
furnished  a  beautiful  rectory  of  Salisbury  granite 
under  the  direction  of  the  present  pastor,  Rev.' 
Thomas  P.  Griffin.  It  is  hoped  that  this  building 
will  prove  an  inspiration  to  adorn  the  property 
with  other  buildings  comporting  with  the  site  ac- 
quired largely  by  the  sacrifice  of  Father  White. 

Father  White  was  succeeded  in  1887  by  Rev. 
John  Reilly.  From  1889  to  1892  the  pastorate  was 
filled  for  short  terms  by  Rev.  Father  Charles  and 
Father  Francis  of  the  Benedictine  Order.  Rev. 
Peter  Marian  was  appointed  in  1892  and  after 
faithful  service  was  removed  to  Asheville,  North 
Carolina.  In  September,  1895,  Rev.  James  Pren- 
dergast  took  charge  and  after  a  pastorate  of  four 
years  died  of  pneumonia  at  the  Rea  Hospital  in 
Raleigh.  He  was  a  gentle,  sweet  character  and  is 
remembered  today  for  his  extensive  charity.  He 
was  buried  in  Plulippburg,  New  Jersey,  his  birth- 
place. Rev.  Thomas  P.  Griffin  was  appointed  in 
1899. 

Lee  Vance  Phillips.  An  able  and  prominent 
business  man  of  Lexington,  Lee  Vance  Phillips  is 
actively  identified  with  the  manufacturing  and 
mercantile  interests  of  Davidson  County,  being 
proprietor  of  a  veneer  plant  at  Linwood,  the  fac- 
tory, established  through  his  enterprise,  having 
been  the  third  of  the  kind  in  North  Carolina  to 
make  veneering.  He  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Yadkin 
College  Township,  a  son  of  J.  Sanford  Phillips, 
coming  from  English  ancestry. 

Barnes  Phillips,  his  grandfather,  was  a  native, 
it  is  understood,  of  Montgomery  County,  North 
Carolina.  Locating  in  Arcadia  Township  in  early 
manhood,  he  bought  a  tract  of  land,  and  was  there 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  during  his  re- 
maining years.     He   married   a  Miss   Cowles,  and 


they  became  the  parents  of  five  sons,  as  follows: 
J.  Sanford,  James,  F.  M.,  Benjamin,  and  Frank. 

.J.  Sanford  Phillips  was  born  in  Arcadia  Town- 
ship March  2,  1824,  and  while  young  acquired 
valuable  experience  in  the  art  and  science  of 
agriculture.  After  his  marriage,  he  settled  on  land 
that  his  wife  had  inherited,  and  began  his  career 
as  an  agriculturist.  During  the  Civil  war,  he  was 
detailed  by  the  Confederate  government  to  work 
at  the  salt  petre  plant.  Subsequently  resuming  his 
former  employment,  he  continued  as  a  tiller  of  the 
soil  until  his  death,  in  1905.  He  was  twice  married. 
His  first  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Nancy 
Sheets,  died  in  early  life,  leaving  one  child.  Wes- 
ley A.  Phillips.  The  maiden  name  of  his  second 
wife  was  Margaret  Wagler.  She  was  born  in 
Yadkin  College  Township,  Davidson  County, 
Mar-ch  28,  1826,  a  daughter  of  Hon.  Henry  and 
Elizabeth  (Warner)  Wagler.  Her  father,  an  ex- 
tensive planter  and  slave  holder,  was  prominent  in 
public  affairs,  and  represented  his  county  in  the 
State  Legislature  for  a  numljer  of  terms.  Mrs. 
Margaret  (Wagler)  Phillips  died  July  29,  1892.  To 
her  and  her  husband  nine  children  were  born, 
namely :  Henry  Thomas,  Elizabeth  died  at  the  age 
of  four  years,  John  F.,  Mary  E.,  Martha,  M.  F., 
D.  W.,  Leila  B.,  and  Lee  Vance. 

Having  eomjileted  his  studies  in  Yadkin  College 
Township,  Lee  Vance  Phillips  began  life  on  his  own 
account  as  a  commercial  salesman,  and  for  twelve 
years  traveled  throughout  North  Carolina  and 
South  Carolina  selling  tobacco.  Resigning  his  posi- 
tion in  1892,  Mr.  Phillips  embarked  in  an  entirely 
new  venture.  Locating  in  Linwood,  he  established 
a  veneer  plant,  it  being  the  third  one  of  the  kind 
in  the  state.  Meeting  with  genuine  success  in  his 
undertaking,  he  has  operated  the  plant  ever  since, 
finding  much  profit  in  his  industry,  his  home,  how- 
ever, being  iu  Lexington. 

On  January  10,  1901,  Mr.  Phillips  was  united  iu 
marriage  with  Mary  Wells  Hall,  who  was  born 
in  Steel  Township,  Rowan  County,  a  daughter 
of  Newberry  Hall.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Phillips  are 
active  and  consistent  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  which  he  is  a  deacon,  and  both  are 
actively  interested  in  its  Sunday  School,  she  being 
a  teacher,  and  he  a  member  of  the  Bible  class. 
Mr.  Phillips  is  warmly  interested  iu  political  and 
public  affairs,  and  as  a  menilier  of  the  county 
board  of  road  commissioners  was'  an  earnest  and 
faithful  worker  for  good  roads.  Fraternally  Mr. 
Phillips  is  a  member  of  Lexington  Lodge,  No. 
473,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons; 
of  Lexington  Chapter,  Order  of  Eastern  Star,  to 
which  Mrs.  Phillips  also  belongs;  and  a  member 
of  Lexington  Lodge,  Knights  of  Pythias. 

Howard  Thach  Shannonhouse.  Prosperity 
comes  not  to  the  man  who  idly  waits  but  to  the 
faithful  toiler  whose  labor  is  characterized  by 
intelligence  and  force  and  who  has  the  foresight 
and  sagacity  to  know  when,  where  and  how  to 
exert  his  energies.  Thus  it  hap]iens  that  only  a 
small  portion  of  those  who  enter  tlie  world  's  broad 
arena  in  business  competition  come  off  victors  in 
the  struggle  for  wealth  and  position.  Some  lack 
perseverance,  others  business  sagacity  and  still 
others  are  negligent  and  dilatory,  but  the  record 
of  Howard  Thach  Shannonhouse,  of  Hertford, 
proves  that  he  possesses  all  the  requisite  qualities 
necessary  to  cope  with  the  complex  conditions  of 
the  business  world.  He  is  connected  with  a  num- 
ber of  ]irominent  enterprises  at  Hertford,  and  has 


132 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


so  capably  directed  his  activities  that,  although 
still  a  young  mau,  he  is  now  accounted  one  of  the 
prosperous  citizens  of  the  community. 

Mr.  Shannonhouse  was  born  at  Hertford,  Xortli 
Carolina,  February  18,  188-1,  and  is  a  sou  of  Wil- 
liam Robert  and  Addie  Honeywood  (Thaeh)  Shau- 
nonhouse.  His  father  was  a  general  merchant  and 
farmer  and  a  respected  and  well  to  do  citizen, 
and  the  youth  was  given  excellent  opportunities  for 
the  gaining  of  a  general,  military  and  business 
education.  After  attending  tlie  public  schools 
and  Hertford  Academy,  he  was  a  student  at  the 
Horner  Military  School,  and  when  he  left  that 
admirable  institution  was  well  equipped  to  take 
his  place  among  the  world  's  workers.  For  a  period 
of  ten  years  Mr.  Shannonhouse  had  the  benefit  of 
experience  in  a  business  way  in  association  with 
his  father  in  the  general  merchandise  line,  and 
at  present  is  engaged  in  the  sale  of  fertilizers,  pea- 
nuts, etc.,  possesses  large  and  important  farming 
interests,  and  is  prominently  connected  in  other 
ways.  He  is  manager  of  the  firm  of  Shannonhouse 
&  Blanehard,  dealers  in  cotton  seed,  peanuts  and 
soy  beans,  is  a  director  of  the  Hertford  Banking 
Company,  and  is  manager  of  the  Shannonhouse 
Estate,  doing  business  under  the  firm  style  of 
Shannonhouse  &  Company.  With  W.  T.  Shannon- 
house  and  Mrs.  W.  0.  Elliott,  a  brother  and 
sister,  he  owns  the  old  Harvey  Estate,  which  first 
belonged  to  the  old  and  honorable  family  of  that 
name  who  settled  in  Harvey  Neck,  this  estate  in- 
cluding the  old  home  of  Col.  John  Harvey  and  the 
1,400  acres  of  land  connected  with  it. 

While  he  is  primarily  a  business  man,  Mr. 
Snannonhouse  has  not  neglected  the  duties  of 
citizenship,  and  in  addition  to  serving  as  town 
commissioner,  has  aided  every  public-spirited  move- 
mait  which  his  judgment  has  told  him  would  have 
been  beneficial  to  the  community.  He  is  energetic 
in  his  actions  and  operations,  reliable  in  his  busi- 
ness transactions,  and  faithful  to  his  engagements, 
and  therefore  his  reputation  in  the  business  world 
is  an  enviable  one.  He  belongs  to  the  Hertford 
Baptist  Church,  with  Mrs.  Shannonhouse,  and  at 
present  is  serving  as  a  member  of  the  church 
board  of  trustees.  In  addition  to  the  training 
which  he  secured  during  the  period  of  his  educa- 
tion at  the  militarv  institute,  Mr.  Shannonhouse 
has  had  practical  experience  as  a  soldier,  having 
served  as  lieutenant  of  Company  F,  Second  Regi- 
ment, North  Carolina  National  Guards,  during  the 
administrations  of  Governors  Russell,  Aycock  and 

Glenn.  ,  .^  , 

On  July  16,  1913,  Mr.  Shannonhouse  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Annie  Hughes,  of  Hertford, 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Anna  Elizabeth  (Caroone) 
Hughes. 

Millard  Mial.  Among  the  progressive  agri- 
culturists of  Wake  County  who  have  been  called 
to  fill  positions  of  high  trust  in  the  government 
•of  the  state,  Millard  Mial,  of  Raleigh,  holds  a 
foremost  position.  Born  of  a  family  of  lovers  of 
nature  and  tillers  of  the  soil  for  many  generations 
it  is  only  natural  that  he  should  be  first,  last  and 
all  the  time  a  farmer.  Although  a  county  official 
for  a  number  of  years,  with  duties  preventing  him 
from  spending  as  much  time  on  his  farm  as  he 
would  like,  he  has  not  lost  one  whit  of  interest  in 
things  agricultural,  nor  neglected  to  get  close  to 
nature  in  field   and  wood  whenever  possible. 

Millard  Mial  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Mark's 
Creek  Township,  Wake  County,  North  Carolina, 
and  is  a  descendant  of  two  of  the  oldest  and  most 


pronfinent  families  in  the  Old  North  State.  His 
father,  Alonzo  T.  Mial,  was  an  extensive  planter 
and  a  mau  well  known  for  the  deep  interest  he 
took  in  the  political,  educational  and  religious  life 
of  his  community.  The  Mial  family  were  among 
the  first  settlers  'in  the  state,  the  land  upon  which 
Millard  Mial  was  born  having  been  granted  to 
the  family  by  King  George  III  of  England.  This 
grant  was  preserved  by  the  Mial  family  until  the 
time  of  the  war  between  the  states,  when  the  wax 
bearing  the  official  seal  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment was  used  for  some  other  purpose,  wax  at 
that  time  being  almost  impossible  to  procure. 
Mr.  Mial 's  mother  was  before  marriage  Miss  Vic- 
toria LeMay,  daught-er  of  Thomas  J.  LeMay,  who 
more  than  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago  was 
editor  and  publisher  of  the  Raleigh  Star  and 
North  Carolina  Gazette,  one  of  the  leading  -whig 
papers  of  the  state. 

Milliard  Mial  as  a  youth  attended  the  country 
schools  and  Trinity  College,  from  which  latter 
he  was  graduated  "in  1872.  He  was  interested 
in  agricultural  pursuits  and  after  leaving  college 
took  up  farming  and  followed  this  vocation  con- 
tinuously untU  the  year  1891,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  board  of  county  commissioners 
to  fill  an  "unexpired  term  as  register  of  deeds  of 
Wake  County.  Although  always  actively  inter- 
ested in  politics  and  the  cause  of  democracy,  Mr. 
Mial  had  not  been  a  candidate  for  public  office 
up  to  that  time,  but  so  well  did  he  fill  the  office 
to  which  he  was  appointed  that  he  was  urged  by 
friends  to  become  a  candidate  in  the  following 
election.  He  was  fully  elected  and  served  untU 
1894,  establishing  an  'excellent  record.  In  1898 
he  was  appointed  one  of  two  county  commission- 
ers authorized  by  the  Legislature  to  bring  the  total 
membership  of  that  body  up  to  five  and  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  board  two  years  later.  ^  He 
served  as  a  member  of  the  Legislature  from  Wake 
Countv  in  1907  and  was  elected  clerk  of  the  Su- 
perior" Court  of  Wake  County  in  1910.  He  was 
re-elected  in  the  election  of  1914  and  is  stiU 
serving  in  that  office. 

Although  in  the  public  limelight  for  many 
years,  Mr.  Mial  has  never  been  a  seeker  after 
"office,  nor  has  he  used  his  position  of  trust  as  a 
means  of  personal  aggrandizement.  His  accept- 
ance of  nomination  for  office  has  always  been  at 
the  earnest  urging  of  fellow-citizens  actuated  by 
a  desire  to  see  public  positions  of  trust  and  re- 
sponsibility filled  by  men  of  high  ideals,  stead- 
fastness of  character  and  unimpeachable  hon- 
esty. Throughout  his  career  both  public  and  pri- 
vate, Mr.  Mial  has  always  maintained  an  hon- 
orable standard  and  in  the  discharge  of  his  official 
duties  has  been  faithful,  exact  and  systematic. 

Mr.  Mial  is  by  faith  and  church  membership  a 
Methodist  and  "is  affiliated  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  of  Mark's  Creek  Town- 
ship. He  was  a  member  of  the  Seaton  Gales  Lodge 
of  Odd  Fellows  and  of  the  Raleigh  Country  Club. 
He  has  extensive  farming  interests  and  holdings 
in  Wake  and  Johnson  counties  and  is  numbered 
among  the  most  advanced  and  progressive  agri- 
culturists of  North  Carolina. 

■  Rupus  A.  Shore  early  chose  the  newspaper 
business  as  his  career  and  has  for  many  years 
been  identified  with  the  Twin  City  Sentinel  at 
Winston-Salem,  being  now  its  business  manager. 
He  was  born  at  Salem.  North  Carolina.  His 
grandfather,  Thomas  Shore,  was  born  near  Hope- 


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HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


133 


well  Church  iu  what  is  now  Forsyth  County  and 
was  of  German  stock.  At  one  time  he  owned  a 
farm  near  Hopewell  Church  and  operated  it  with 
slave  labor.  He  married  Mary  Sliutt,  who  was 
born  in  the  same  locality,  daughter  of  George 
Shutt,  also  of  German  ancestry.  Both  grand- 
parents lived  to  a  good  old  age  and  are  buried  in 
Hopewell  Churchyard.  Tlieir  four  sons  and  two 
daughters  were  named  Samuel,  Jonas,  Henry  W., 
Lucy,  Mary  and  Nathaniel. 

Jonas  A.  Shore,  the  father  of  Eufus,  was  born 
near  Hopewell  Church,  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  and  when  a  young  man  he  was  employed 
in  driving  stage  from  Salem  to  High  Point.  Later 
he  was  in  the  wood  working  department  of  the 
Salem  Iron  Works  for  several  years,  and  continued 
a  resident  of  Salem  until  his  death.  He  married 
Martha  Elizabeth  Thomas,  who  was  born  near 
Friedburg,  and  her  father,  John  W.  Thomas,  at 
one  time  had  a  dairy  farm  in  South  Pork  Town- 
ship and  subsequently  removed  to  Salem,  establish- 
ing the  first  dairy  in  that  town.  Mrs.  Jonas  Shore 
died  December  27,  1916,  the  mother  of  two  sons, 
Rufus  A.  and  Fred  E.,  who  is  now  a  merchant 
at  Kings,  North  Carolina. 

Eufus  Shore  was  educated  at  Salem  in  the  Boys 
School,  and  on  leaving  school  became  a  clerk  in 
J.  B.  Whittaker  's  book  store.  Prom  that  he  went 
to  work  with  the  Sentinel  in  the  circulating  de- 
partment, and  in  1903  was  promoted  to  his  present 
responsibilities  as  business  manager  of  that  well 
known  and  influential  journal.  He  is  also  busi- 
ness manager  of  the  Wachovia  Moravian,  the  or- 
gan of  the  southern  province  of  the  Moravian 
Church. 

On  November  10,  1901,  Mr.  Shore  married  Miss 
Susie  J.  James,  who  was  born  at  Old  Town,  daugh- 
ter of  Prauklin  and  Jane  (Spaugh)  James.  The 
James  family  is  of  early  Virginia  ancestry,  while 
the  Spaughs  are  members  of  that  well  known  fam- 
ily in  Western  North  Carolina  elsewhere  referred 
to.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shore  have  two  children :  Eufus 
James  and  Mary  Louise.  Mr.  Shore  is  active  in 
the  Home  Moravian  Church,  while  his  wife  is  a 
Baptist. 

Matthew  Lewis  Ogburn.  now  deceased,  was 
long  a  prominent  resident  of  Oldtown  Township, 
Forsyth  County.  He  served  with  distinction  in 
the  war  between  the  states  and  during  the  greater 
part  of  his  active  career  was  more  or  less  closely 
identified  with  the  tobacco  culture  and  tobacco 
maniifactui'e.  However,  he  operated  a  large  estate 
as  a  general  farmer,  and  for  his  achievements  and 
for  his  character  his  name  is  spoken  with  high  re- 
spect and  with  grateful  memory  in  his  part  of  the 
state. 

He  was  born  on  a  plantation  in  Oldtown  Town- 
ship June  1,  1832.  His  father,  Edward  Ogburn, 
was  born  in  Virginia,  moved  to  North  Carolina, 
and  bought  land  in  Oldtown  Township,  in  Stokes 
but  now  Forsyth  County.  There  he  prospered  as 
a  farmer  and  lived  in  that  community  until  his 
death.    He  married  Miss  Williams. 

Matthew  L.  Ogburn  gi'ew  up  on  his  father 's 
farm,  had  such  advantages  in  school  and  home 
training  as  were  then  possible  and  was  making 
his  work  count  as  an  independent  farmer  when  the 
war  broke  out.  On  May  22,  1S61,  he  enlisted  in 
Company  D  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment,  North 
Carolina  troops.  That  regiment  went  to  Virginia 
and  became  a  part  of  the  command  under  Gen. 
Stonewall  Jackson.    Mr.  Ogburn  was  with  his  com- 


rades until  severely  wounded  at  the  Battle  of 
Pavillion  Station  in  Virginia,  and  being  incapaci- 
tated was  granted  an  honorable  discharge  in 
.\ugust,  1862.  While  recuperating  he  went  to 
South  Carolina  and  planted  a  crop  of  cotton.  On 
June  24,  1864,  he  enlisted  in  Company  G  of  the 
Xinth  North  Carolina  Cavalry,  and  was  in  the 
c-avalrv  Ijranch  of  the  Confederate  army  until  the 
close  of  hostilities. 

Tlie  war  over  Mr.  Ogburn  entered  the  employ 
of  the  l.ate  Nathaniel  D.  Sullivan,  long  prominent 
as  a  pioneer  tobacco  manufacturer  in  Forsyth 
County.  As  a  traveling  salesman  he  carried  the 
Sullivan  tobaccos  for  distribution  all  over  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  continued  as  a  tobacco 
salesman  about  five  years.  Mr.  Ogburn  then  set- 
tled down  in  Oldtown  Township,  wliere  he  bought 
300  acres.  He  raised  all  the  staple  crops,  but 
emphasized  tobacco  culture  and  also  the  manufac- 
ture of  tobacco.  His  products  as  a  tobacco  grower 
were  sent  to  the  southern  markets. 

In  1870  Mr.  Ogburn  bought  300  acres  of  land 
in  Oldtown  Township,  only  a  small  part  of  which 
was  improved,  and  he  subsequently  added  another 
100  acres.  Here  he  continued  his  work  as  a  farmer 
and  tobacco  manufacturer  and  grower,  and  lived 
to  find  himself  surrounded  with  all  the  material 
comforts  and  conveniences.  That  was  his  home 
when  death  came  to  him  March  9,  1913,  when  past 
eighty  years  of  age. 

Mr.  Ogburn  was  married  in  February,  1870,  to 
Anna  Eliza  (Huckabee)  Clowney.  Mrs.  Ogburn, 
who  is  still  living  at  the  old  home  in  Oldtown 
Township,  was  born  in  Kershaw  County,  South 
Carolina,  November  25,  1841.  Her  grandfather, 
Hon.  Richard  Huckabee,  was  a  prominent  South 
Carolina  planter  and  slave  owner  and  made  a 
name  in  public  affairs  in  the  early  days  of  the 
state  being  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature. 
Richard  Huckabee  married  Mary  Booker,  and  both 
of  tliem  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  William  Booker 
Huckabee,  father  of  Mrs.  Ogburn,  was  born  either 
in  Wake  or  Cumberland  County,  North  Carolina, 
and  spent  practically  all  his  life  as  a  farmer.  Re- 
moving to  South  Carolina,  he  bought  a  plantation 
on  the  Wat«ree  River  in  Kershaw  County  and  was 
one  of  the  aristocratic  and  successful  planters  of 
that  section.  He  had  a  large  number  of  slaves 
to  perform  the  field  work  and  also  to  spin  and 
weave  and  carry  on  the  varied  activities  of  the 
household.  The  cloth  that  was  woven  by  the 
slaves  was  made  into  dresses  and  suits  by  Mrs. 
Ogburn 's  mother,  and  in  the  early  days  all  the 
family  dressed  in  homespun.  Mrs.  Ogburn  well 
remembers  how  when  she  was  a  girl  the  cooking 
was  done  entirely  by  an  open  fire.  Her  father 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-one.  William  B. 
Huckabee  married  Catherine  Hudson,  who  was  born 
in  Kershaw  County,  South  Carolina,  daughter  of 
Rush  and  Annie  Hudson,  and  she  died  at  the  age 
of  sixty-nine. 

Mrs.  Ogburn  was  married  in  1860  to  John  Clow- 
ney of  Fairfield  County,  North  Carolina.  Mr. 
Clowney  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  army  at  the 
lieginning  of  the  war  and  died  while  in  the  serv- 
ice. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ogburn  reared  six  children:  Cath- 
erine E.,  Sally  B.,  Willis,  Minnie,  Maude  and 
Pearl.  Catherine  is  the  wife  of  Walter  E.  Glad- 
stone and  her  seven  children  are  Ewell,  Emmet, 
Ruth,  Howard,  Hunter,  Ruby  and  Mary.  Sally 
is  the  wife  of  Jeff  Zigler  and  has  two  children, 
Otto  and  James.  Minnie  married  Jerry  Newton 
and  has  six  children,  Clara,  Anna  May,  Jerry  L., 


134 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Dona,  Edward  and  Evelyn.  Maude  married  John 
Pratt,  and  their  five  children  are  Hazel,  Lillian, 
Beryl,  Jiianita  and  Russell.  Pearl,  the  youngest 
daughter  of  Mrs.  Ogburn,  is  the  wife  of  Robert 
Ferguson,  and  has  two  children  named  Mildred  and 
Ogburn. 

Mrs.  Ogburn  is  an  active  member  of  the  Oak 
Summit  Church  and  her  husband  was  also  affiliated 
with  that  congregation.  Fraternally  he  was  a 
member  of  Winston  Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons,  and  was  an  honored  and 
respected  member  of  Norfleet  Camp  of  the  United 
Confederate  Veterans. 

Rev.  William  B.  Duttera,  Ph.  D.,  S.  T.  D. 
Salisbury,  North  Carolina,  numbers  among  its 
honored  and  valued  residents  many  who  have  won 
noble  distinction  in  one  or  another  field  of  activity ; 
and  in  the  founding  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church  and  Parish  House  as  a  religious  and  social 
center  here.  Dr.  William  B.  Duttera  lias  won  a 
place  among  the  most  worthy.  It  was  the  culmina- 
tion of  years  of  hope  and  effort  on  his  part,  and 
in  its  final  achievements  is  a  monument  of  things 
yet  hoped  for. 

William  B.  Duttera  was  born  at  Littlestown,  near 
Gettysburg,  Adams  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  1865. 
He  is  a  son  of  Amos  and  Martha  (Babylon)  Dut- 
tera, the  latter  of  whom  is  deceased.  Doctor 
Duttera 's  ancestors  on  coming  to  America  settled 
near  Gcrmantown,  Pennsylvania.  In  William  B. 
Duttera 's  boyhood  the  family  moved  to  Maryland, 
and  later  locating  at  Taneytown,  here  his  father 
engaged  in  banking  business  for  a  while,  but  he  is 
now  living  retired. 

William  B.  Duttera  attended  both  public  ami 
private  schools,  and  as  he  was  designed  for  the 
lianking  business,  he  was  given  a  commercial  edu- 
cation in  Eastman 's  National  Business  College, 
Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  but  later  decided  to  give 
his  life  to  religious  and  social  work.  With  this 
end  in  view  he  entered  upon  a  period  of  study  at 
Pennsylvania  College,  Gettysburg,  where  he  was 
graduated  in  1894.  In  1897  he  finished  his  theo- 
logical course  at  Heidelburg  University,  Ohio,  and 
was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  B.  D.,  and  in  the 
same  year  became  a  licensed  minister  of  the  Re- 
formed Church.  Subsequently  he  took  extensive 
post  graduate  study  in  the  Chicago  University, 
the  University  of  Wisconsin  and  at  Harvard. 
While  in  Chicago,  through  the  facilities  offered  by 
Hull  House  and  Graham  Taylor's  Chicago  Com- 
mons, the  young  man  became  deeply  interested 
both  in  study  and  participation  in  social  work. 

Going  then  to  Cincinnati,  Doctor  Duttera  in- 
augurated the  university  social  settlement  work 
in  that  city,  where  he  was  located  until  stricken 
with  typhoid  fever.  It  was  in  1901  that  this 
enthusiast  came  first  to  Salisbury,  and  here  he  has 
found  a  congenial  home  and  has  made  this  city 
the  scene  of  his  useful  activities.  Taking  charge 
as  ])astor  of  a  weak  and  struggling  church,  at  a 
time  when  its  prospects  were  discouraging  and  its 
whole  organization  needed  his  revivifying  energy, 
he  built  it  up  to  self  support,  both  materially  and 
spiritually  and  continued  its  pastor  for  fourteen 
years. 

In  191o  Doctor  Duttera  withdrew  from  that 
denomination  and  founded  the  First  Congregational 
Church  of  Salislniry,  becoming  a  member  of  the 
latter  communion  at  that  time,  and  doing  this 
in  order  to  carry  out  long  cherished  plans  to 
combine  social  and  religious  work  at  Salisbury, 
believing  the  democratic  nature  of  the  Congrega- 


tional organization  the  true  ideal  under  which  to 
carry  out  such  plans  and  affording  the  widest 
scope.  There  went  with  him  into  his  new  en- 
deavor a  gratifying  number  of  members  of  his 
former  congregation,  for  many  were  in  thorough 
accord  with  Doctor  Duttera 's  broad,  liberal  and 
progressive  ideas  for  carrying  on  a  modern  relig- 
ious and  social  enterprise  in  Salisbury,  for  every- 
body, regardless  of  creed  or  lack  of  creed.  The 
original  list  of  members  has  been  substantially 
augmented  by  other  dependable  and  influential 
people. 

Doctor  Duttera.  held  ser^ces  first  in  the  new 
$1.50,000  courthouse,  and  later  in  the  old  court- 
house, converted  into  a  community  building,  until 
the  spring  of  1917,  when  he  had  the  satisfaction 
of  dedicating  the  new  Parish  House,  one  block 
away,  which  has  a  most  central  location,  standing 
on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Liberty  streets.  Doctor 
Duttera  not  only  looked  after  the  financing  of 
this  enterprise,  but  he  designed  the  building, 
personally  selected  the  lumber,  brick  and  other 
material,  and  superintended  its  construction.  He 
may  justly  feel  proud  of  this  achievement.  He 
is  a  pioneer  in  this  line,  there  being  no  other 
like  it  in  the  South,  and  it  has  been  modeled  upon 
the  most  approved  of  such  structures  in  the 
northern  cities  where  social  work  is  a  part  of  the 
life  of  the  people.  This  beautiful  and  appro- 
priate building  is  of  brick  construction  through- 
out, two  stories  in  height,  with  a  basement  equal 
to  another  story,  and  a  roof  that  can  be  utilized 
during  the  summer  season,  thus  providing  four 
floors.  A  commodious  main  auditorium  provides 
abundant  space  for  religious  services,  concerts, 
etc.  There  are  game  rooms  adjacent  for  the 
young  people,  besides  a  number  of  other  rooms 
for  use  of  individual  societies,  circles,  musical 
organizations,  etc.  An  admirable  feature  of  the 
building  is  the  adequate  lightuig,  a  flood  of  light 
pouring  in  on  every  side,  no  agent  more  exhilarat- 
ing or  therapeutic,  while  the  ventilating  system  is 
perfection.  The  basement  has  been  fitted  up  as  a 
gymnasium  for  both  sexes  and  is  equipped  with 
lavatories  and  shower  baths  of  modern  type.  The 
Iiasement  is  also  used  for  basket  and  volley  ball, 
and  a  completely  fitted  kitchen  and  dining  room 
provides  for  other  needs. 

Doctor  Duttera  is  a  great  believer  in  the  power 
of  illustration,  and  with  his  other  methods  of 
entertaining,  on  two  Sundays  of  the  month  he 
delivers  interesting  and  instructive  lectures  which 
he  illustrates  with  his  comiiound  stereoptican. 
He  is  an  eloquent  and  forceful  speaker  and  has  a 
winning  personality,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to 
find  any  other  better  fitted  for  such  great  work 
as  he  has  undertaken.  His  name  is  already  coupled 
witli  other  great  men  of  the  Congregational  body. 

Doctor  Duttera  was  married  to  Mary  R.  Julian, 
the  only  daughter  of  the  late  well-known  David 
R.  Julian,  this  family  being  prominent  not  only 
in  Rowan  County,  but  in  North  Carolina.  They 
have  four  children,  namely:  Martha  Dorothy, 
Wayne  Bradford,  Maurice  Julian  and  Mary  White. 

On  many  occasions  and  by  many  bodies.  Doctor 
Duttera  has  been  honored.  He  is  registrar  and 
treasurer  of  the  Congregational  churches  in  the 
stale,  and  no  official  is  better  informed  or  more 
zealous  in  advancing  religious  and  social  propo- 
ganda  through  the  church.  He  is  state  president 
for  North  Carolina  of  the  Patriotic  Order  of  Sons 
of  America,  and  is  a  national  representative  of  the 
Junior  Order  of  United  American  Meehajiics,  of 
which   body   he   was   formerly   state   chaplain,   ami 


1 


'^ 


~>J 


r^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


135 


later  made  national  fhaplaiu.  He  is  also  state 
editor  of  tlie  national  organ  of  the  Sons  and 
Daughters  of  Liberty,  The  Visitor.  He  has  also 
held  sundry  state  oflices  in  other  fraternal  organ- 
izations. In  closing  this  all  too  brief  record  of 
an  unusual  man,  a  torchbearer  along  |iioneer 
paths  at  is  were,  it  seems  appropriate  as  indica- 
tive of  his  aims  and  beliefs,  to  append  his  sum- 
mary of  what  Congregationalism  means :  De- 
mocracy iu  religion  and  life;  sane  evangelism  and 
aggressive  missionary  extension;  a  civic  vision  and 
a  social  consciousness ;  church  unity  in  diversity ; 
education  and  tlie  open  mind;  the  proclamation 
of  the  Gosi)el  with  the  right  of  Jesus  Christ  to 
rule  all  life  and  tlie  spirit  of  love  expressed  in 
service. 

Napoleon  B.  McCanless.  Endowed  by  nature 
with  rare  judgment,  energy  and  discrimination, 
thoroughly  public-spirited  and  progressive,  and 
one  whose  interests  are  always  of  a  vital  nature, 
Napoleon  B.  McCanless,  of  Salisbury,  has  de- 
voted much  of  his  time  to  the  advancement  of  his 
home  city,  aiding  in  its  upbuilding,  furthering 
its  material  pros]ierity,  and  promoting  in  every 
possible  manner  the  higher  and  better  interests 
of  the  county  and  the  state.  Identified  with  vari- 
ous projects,  he  is  associated  with  the  agricul- 
tural, manufacturing  and  mining  interests  of 
Rowan  County,  and  is  now  serving  as  president 
of  the  Halifax  Cotton  Mill  Company.  He  was 
born  at  Gold  Hill,  Rowan  County,  North  Carolina, 
a  son  of  Joseph  McCanless,  and  grandson  of  "Wil- 
liam McCanless,  who  immigrated  to  North  Caro- 
lina from  Scotland,  settling  on  a  farm  in  Iredell 
County. 

Joseph  McCanless  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Ire- 
dell County,  in  1818,  and  there  lived  until  about 
1845.  Coming  then  to  Gold  Hill,  Rowan  County, 
he  was  engaged  in  mining  until  sometime  during 
the  progress  of  the  Civil  war,  when  he  served  for 
awhile  in  the  Confederate  army.  At  the  close 
of  the  conflict,  the  owner  of  the  mine  having  re- 
covered its  possession,  he  was  given  charge  of 
the  mill.  Late  in  life,  he  removed  to  Winston, 
and  there  resided  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
three  score  and  ten  years.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  was  Catherine  Wasson.  She  was  born  in 
Iredell  County,  a  daughter  of  William  Wasson, 
and  died  at  Gold  Hill,  Rowan  County.  Five  chil- 
dren blessed  their  union,  as  follows :  William 
Lafayette,  James  C,  David  A.,  Laura,  and  Na- 
poleon B. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  enthused  with 
patriotic  zeal.  Napoleon  B.  McCanless  tried  to 
enlist  in  Wheeler 's  Cavalry,  but  failed  in  the 
attempt.  Coming  to  Salisbury  soon  after  the 
close  of  the  conflict,  he  was  a  clerk  in  the  firm 
of  McCabbins,  Foster  &  Company,  and  its  suc- 
cessors, for  nearly  three  years.  Going  then  to 
New  York,  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  firm  of 
McCanless  &  Burrell,  of  which  his  brother,  Wil- 
liam L.  McCanless,  was  the  head,  and  remained 
until  the  death  of  his  brother.  Going  from  there 
to  Kansas,  Mr.  McCanless  became  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Wichita,  where  he  remained  for  a 
year,  being  employed  in  the  construction  depart- 
ment of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Rail- 
road. 

Mr.  McCanless  then  returned  to  Gold  Hill,  and 
soon  after  entered  the  employ  of  Amos  Howe,  who 
had  at  that  time  purchased  a  mine,  and  contin- 
ued   with    him    for    a    year.      The   North    Carolina 


Reduction  Comjiany  then  bought  the  mine,  and 
he  took  a  contract  to  mine  for  them  for  a  year. 
The  following  year,  he  filled  a  contract  to  haul 
the  granite  for  the  Post  Office  Building  at  Raleigh. 
Mr.  McCanless  subsequently  contracted  vfith  the 
state  to  build  a  mile  of  the  North  Carolina  Rail- 
road, beginning  at  the  west  end  of  tlie  Swan- 
nauoa  Tunnel,  but  at  the  end  of  a  year  the  state 
annulled  the  coutract.  Returning  to  Salisbury, 
Mr.  McCanless  was  engaged  iu  the  uiercantile 
business  for  a  year,  when  he  sold  his  interest  in 
the  firm  to  his  partner.  Then,  in  company  with 
Dr.  William  Murdock  aud  others,  he  organized  the 
Vance  Mill  Company,  and  built  aud  equipped 
the  Vance  Mill,  which  he  operated  for  a  time. 
Later,  with  D.  R.  Julian  and  others,  he  organ- 
ized the  Kesler  Mill  Company,  and  built  and 
equipped  the  Kesler  Mill. 

Prior  to  that  date  the  streets  of  Salisbury  had 
not  been  improved,  and  were  in  a  sad  condition, 
at  times  being  almost  impassable.  Mr.  McCan- 
less, with  J.  S.  McCabbins  and  D.  R.  Julian,  signed 
a  contract  to  macadamize  a  part  of  some  of  the 
streets,  the  city  issuing  bonds  to  the  amount  of 
$.50,000,  the  bonds  being  taken  by  the  contractors 
in  payment  for  their  work.  The  contract  being 
filled,  Mr.  McCanless  and  Mr.  Julian  built  and 
equipped  the  North  Side  Roller  Mill,  and  operated 
it  successfully  for  two  years.  Later,  in  partner- 
ship with  Thomas  St.  Vanderford,  he  built  and 
equipped  the  Spencer  Street  Railway,  which  they 
sold  to  a  Grand  Rapids  firm. 

Prior  to  that  time,  Mr.  McCanless  and  D.  R. 
Julian  had  organized  the  Salisbury  Savings  Bank, 
and  erected  for  its  use  the  building  on  the  corner 
of  North  Main  and  West  Council  streets.  After 
disposing  of  the  Spencer  Street  Railway,  these 
enterprising  gentlemen  organized  the  Peoples 
National  Bank,  of  which  Mr.  McCanless  is  the 
president.  As  a  contractor  and  builder,  Mr.  Mc- 
Canless has  erected  many  private  residences,  and 
having  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  city  platted  it,  and  built 
Thomas  Street.  In  company  with  Lee  Overman, 
D.  R.  Julian  and  C.  L.  Welch,  he  erected  the  Wash- 
ington Building  in  Salisbury,  and  with  J.  D. 
Norwood,  C.  L.  Welch  and  J.  S.  McCabbins,  erected 
the  Empire  Block. 

Mr.  McCanless  has  always  been  interested  in 
agriculture,  aud  in  partnership  with  J.  D.  Nor- 
wood, owns  a  farm  of  800  acres  in  Iredell  County, 
two  miles  from  Statesville,  operating  it  through 
tenants.  In  1916,  he,  with  J.  D.  Norwood,  M. 
L.  Johnson,  and  D.  D.  Campbell,  organized  the 
Yadkin  Finish  Company,  and  erected  a  mill  on 
the  river,  in  the  fall  of  1917  having  it  completed, 
and  fully  equipped  witii  all  the  modern  appliances 
used  iu  the  manufacture  of  mercerized  goods,  it 
being  the  second  largest  plant  of  the  kind  in 
the  country. 

Mr.  McCanless  is  president  of  the  Harris  Gran- 
ite Company,  which  has  quarries  at  Neverson,  Bal- 
four, Stacey,  and  at  Salisbury  has  a  well-equipped 
finishing  plant,  it  being  the  largest  in  the  South 
to  manufacture  monuments  and  mausoleums.  At 
the  present  writing,  in  1917,  he  is  financially  in- 
terested iu  a  ship  building  plant  that  is  filling 
large  government  contracts  at  Alexandria,  Vir- 
ginia. 

Mr.  McCanless  married,  April  26,  1872,  Georgia 
Frances  Mauney.  She  was  born  at  Gold  Hill, 
Rowan  County,  a  daughter  of  Ejihraim  and  Rachel 
(McMackin)    Mauney,  and  granddaughter  of  Val- 


136 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


entine  and  Jemima  (Black)  Mauney.  Nine  chil- 
dren have  been  born  of  the  union  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  McCanless,  namely:  Carrie,  Mary,  Lena,  Wil- 
liam A.,  Kate,  John,  Walter,  Charles,  and  "Na- 
poleon B.,  Jr.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McCanless  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
he  is  a  member  of  its  building  committee.  Fra- 
ternally Mr.  McCanless  belongs  to  Rowan  Lodge 
No.  110,  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  to  the  Royal 
Arcanum.  Politically  he  is  a  democrat,  but  his 
private  interests  prevent  him  from  taking  part 
in   public  affairs. 

Lawrence  Bagge  Beickenstein  has  been  a 
business  man  at  Winston-Salem  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  while  not  a  native  of  the  state  he  is 
connected  in  the  maternal  line  with  one  of  the 
very  oldest  families  in  Western  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Briekenstein  was  born  at  Bethlehem,  Penn- 
sylvania. His  grandfather.  Rev.  John  Henry 
Briekenstein,  was  a  native  of  Basel,  Switzerland, 
came  to  America  when  a  young  man  and  became 
a  minister  of  influence  and  power  in  the  Moravian 
Church.  He  held  various  pastorates,  including  the 
churches  at  Nazareth  and  Lititz,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  spent  his  last  years. 

Mr.  Briekenstein 's  father  was  also  a  minister. 
He  was  Rev.  Herman  Briekenstein,  born  at  Emaus 
in  Lehigh  County,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  educated 
in  the  Moravian  school  at  Bethlehem,  where  he 
graduated  in  theology,  and  after  his  ordination  he 
went  to  Olney,  Illinois,  and  was  pastor  of  the 
Moravian  Church  there  and  subsequently  at  Brook- 
lyn, New  York.  Returning  to  Pennsylvania,  he 
became  principal  of  the  Linden  Hall  Seminary  at 
Lititz,  Pennsylvania,  and  filled  that  responsible 
post  for  thirty-five  years.  He  died  in  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1894.  His  wife  was  Susan  Shultz.  She 
was  born  at  Friedburg,  North  Carolina,  daughter 
of  Rev.  Augustus  Henry  Shultz.  Her  father  was 
born  in  South  America,  where  his  father  was  sta- 
tioned as  a  missionary.  Augustus  Henry  was 
ordained  as  a  preacher  in  the  Moravian  CHiurch 
at  the  early  age  of  eighteen  years  and  became 
pastor  of  the  Friedburg  Church  in  Western  North 
Carolina  and  was  active  in  that  community  for 
many  years.  This  early  Moravian  minister  mar- 
ried Rebecca  Matilda  Bagge.  Her  father  was 
Charles  Frederick  Bagge  and  her  grandfather  was 
Traugott  Bagge,  who  was  born  in  Gothenburg, 
Sweden,  July  27,  1729.  Traugott  Bagge  came  to 
America  prior  to  1770,  locating  at  Bethabara, 
North  Carolina.  The  store  he  established  there 
he  moved  to  Salem  in  1772,  and  was  a  successful 
merchant  and  the  recognized  business  head  of  the 
old  Salem  Colony.  At  different  times  he  appeared 
before  the  Legislature  at  Raleigh  in  the  interest 
of  this  colony.  Traugott  Bagge  married  Rachael 
Nieholsen.  Both  were  active  members  of  the  Home 
Moravian  Church.  Traugott  Bagge  died  April  1, 
1800,  and  his  wife  in  1799.  They  reared  four  chil- 
dren. 

Mr.  Briekenstein 's  mother  died  in  1891.  She 
reared  five  children,  named  Charles,  John  Henry, 
Mary,  Lawrence  B.  and  Lucy.  Mr.  Briekenstein 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Bethlehem, 
Pennsylvania,  but  at  the  age  of  fifteen  was  ap- 
prenticed to  learn  the  tinsmith's  trade.  His  ap- 
prenticeship continued  for  three  years,  and  he  then 
removed  to  New  York  City  and  for  two  years  was 
a  student  in  the  technical  department  of  the  New 
York  Trade  School.  In  AprU,  1900,  coming  to 
Winston-Salem,  he  put  in  one  year  as  a  journey- 


man worker  and  then  engaged  in  business  for  him- 
self as  a  contractor  for  plumbing  and  tin  work  of 
all  kinds.  This  business  he  has  built  up  to  large 
and  prosperous  proportions. 

Mr.  Briekenstein  was  married  in  1892  to  Gwen- 
nie  Leibert,  a  native  of  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania. 
Her  father,  Harry  Leibert,  also  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, was  reared  and  educated  there  and  as  a 
young  nmn  helped  to  build  the  Bethlehem  Steel 
Company.  He  laid  the  first  brick  in  the  first 
factory  of  that  company,  and  was  identified  with 
much  of  its  early  prosperity.  While  working  in 
the  plant  he  helped  make  the  first  armor  plate  ever 
manufactured  in  the  United  States  and  also  the 
first  twelve-inch  high  power  gun  and  the  first  armor 
piercing  projectile.  Thus  he  was  identified  in 
the  early  stages  with  America's  greatest  armor 
]ilate  and  munition  factory.  This  venerable  in- 
dustrial pioneer  died  in  South  Bethlehem  on  De- 
cember 28,  1917,  aged  eighty-four  years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Briekenstein  have  one  daughter, 
named  Margaret.  The  family  are  members  of  the 
Home  Moravian  Church,  and  Mr.  Briekenstein  is 
active  in  the  Twin  City  Club. 

Robert  J.  .Jordan,  one  of  the  substantial  mer- 
chants of  Winston-Salem,  is  a  native  of  that  town 
and  belongs  to  early  colonial  ancestry.  According 
to  the  information  contained  in  the  reports  of  the 
United  States  census  in  1790,  ninety-five  Jordans 
were  enumerated  as  heads  of  families  living  in 
several  different  counties  of  North  Carolina.  Mr. 
Jordan 's  great-grandfather  was  .John  Jordan,  and 
he  was  born  probably  in  Randolph  County.  Late 
in  life  he  moved  to  that  portion  of  Rowan  County 
that  is  now  included  in  Davie  County,  and  lived 
on  a  farm  with  his  son,  James,  until  his  death. 
Grandfather  .Tames  Jordan  was  born  in  Randolph 
County,  went  when  a  young  man  to  Davie  County 
and  bought  a  tract  of  land  about  two  miles  east  of 
the  courthouse.  He  was  engaged  in  general  farm- 
ing and  also  became  a  tobacco  manufacturer. 
'Wlien  the  war  broke  out  he  employed  a  substitute 
and  rendered  his  own  best  service  in  civil  life, 
looking  after  his  farm  and  raising  supplies  for  the 
government.  However,  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  war  he  was  in  the  ranks  fighting  as  a  soldier. 
Following  the  war  he  sold  his  farm  and  bought 
another  place  on  Yadkin  River  in  Davidson  County. 
That  was  his  home  until  his  death  in  his  eighty- 
fourth  year.  Grandfather  James  Jordan  married 
Malona  Ann  White.  She  was  born  in  what  is  now 
Davie  County.  Her  father,  James  White,  was 
jirobably  a  native  of  the  same  locality  and  a  farmer 
there.  He  married  for  his  first  wife  a  Miss  Booe, 
whose  father,  .Jacob  Booe,  owned  1,000  acres  of  the 
liest  land  in  Davie  County,  located  along  Dutch- 
man and  Elisha  creeks.  Jacob  Booe  operated  his 
land  with  a  large  number  of  slaves  and  also  con- 
ducted a  distillery.  He  died  before  the  war.  Mrs. 
James  Jordan  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years, 
having  reared  nine  children. 

Robert  Lindsay  Jordan,  father  of  Robert  J.,  was 
born  on  a  farm  near  Mocksville  in  Davie  County, 
North  Carolina,  August  31,  1853.  As  a  boy  he 
assisted  his  father  on  the  farm  and  also  in  the 
tobacco  factory,  and  from  the  age  of  twenty-one 
until  he  was  twenty-six  conducted  his  father's  land. 
He  then  removed  to  Elberville  in  Davie  County, 
worked  in  a  tobacco  factory  a  few  years,  and  re- 
Tuoving  to  Winston  continued  in  a  local  factory 
from  1882  until  1899.  For  a  time  he  was  in  the 
provision  business  and  is  now  assisting  his  sons 
in  their  store  in  Winston-Salem. 


(/fC. 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


137 


At  the  age  of  twenty-eight  Robert  L.  Jordan 
man-ied  Stelle  Novella  Hege.  She  was  born  in 
Davidson  County,  daughter  of  George  W.  and 
Hattie  R.  Hege.  Of  the  children  of  Robert  L. 
Jordan  and  wife  one,  Luna  Viola,  died  at  the  age 
of  sixteen.  Seven  grew  up :  Robert  Jackson,  Hat- 
tie,  Maude,  Walter,  Everett  Lindsay,  Alice  and 
Malona.  The  jiarents  are  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Clmreh. 

Robert  J.  Jordan  acquired  a  good  education 
in  the  public  schools  and  Agricultural  and  Me- 
chanical College.  On  leaving  school  he  worked  at 
different  kinds  of  employment  and  in  1906-07 
was  manager  of  the  sul^seription  department  of 
tlie  Winston-Salem  Journal.  As  soon  as  his  experi- 
ence justified  it  and  as  soon  as  he  had  sufficient 
capital  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  at 
the  corner  of  Ninth  and  Hickory  streets.  Subse- 
quently the  store  was  removed  to  Fourth  and  Maple 
streets  and  in  1909  came  to  its  present  location  at 
the  corner  of  Highland  and  Fourth  streets.  Here 
Mr.  Jordan  is  associated  with  his  brother,  Walter 
E.,  under  the  firm  name  of  R.  J.  Jordan  &  Com- 
pany. They  have  a  fine  trade,  handle  a  well  se- 
lected stock  of  general  merchandise,  and  are  rap- 
idly becoming  prominent  and  successful  business 
men  of  Winston-Salem. 

In  1916  Mr.  Jordan  married  Clarice  McKee. 
They  are  both  members  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church.  They  have  one  little  daughter,  Elsie 
McKee. 

Charles  AVilli.\m  Grice.  The  important  and 
varied  interests  which  have  engrossed  the  time 
and  attracted  the  abilities  of  Charles  William 
Grice  have  brought  him  to  the  very  forefront 
among  the  business  men  of  Elizabeth  City.  His 
career  has  been  one  characterized  by  a  continuous 
and  steady  climb,  from  the  bench  of  a  machinist 
to  the  directing  head  of  numerous  important  en- 
terprises, and  during  this  period  of  advancement 
he  has  relied  solely  on  his  own  ability  and  energies. 

Mr.  Grice  is  one  of  the  native  sons  of  Elizabeth 
City  who  have  won  success  in  the  community  of 
their  birth.  He  was  born  March  21,  1854,  his 
parents  being  Dr.  Samuel  Davis  and  Susan 
(Charles)  Grice,  the  former  of  whom  was  for 
many  years  a  prominent  and  leading  physician 
and  surgeon  of  Elizabeth  City.  After  attending 
pri\ate  schools  Charles  W.  Grice  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  machinist 's  trade,  at  which  he  served 
a  four  years'  apprenticeship,  but  subsequently  took 
up  railroading  and  for  several  years  had  an 
engineer's  run  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad. 
In  various  ways  he  was  brought  into  contact  with 
large  development  and  other  enterprises,  and  soon 
realized  that  he  possessed  abilities  that  made  him 
successful  in  the  organization  and  promotion  of 
stock  eomjianies.  Accordingly,  he  gave  up  his 
position  with  the  railroad  in  order  to  devote  his 
entire  time  to  the  new  line  of  work,  wliich  carried 
him  to  San  Francisco,  California,  and  the  Puget 
Sound  country,  and  in  which  he  was  unusually 
successful.  In  1886  Mr.  Grice  became  interested 
in  the  hotel  business,  taking  over  the  proprietorship 
of  the  Hotel  Albemarle,  which  he  conducted  for 
about  four  years.  Later  he  had  a  similar  ex- 
perience at  the  summer  resort,  Nags  Head,  where  he 
was  the  boniface  of  the  well  known  hostelry,  Nags 
Head  Hotel,  for  four  years,  and  in  this  time  was 
also  interested  in  various  other  ventures  and  enter- 
prises. In  1898  he  entered  the  general  insurance 
field,  and  later  became  connected  with  Messrs. 
Culpepper,  Griffin  and  Old  in  the  handling  of  in- 


surance and  bonds,  this  company  finally  being  in- 
corporated OS  the  Culpepper-Griffin-Old  Grice 
Company,  of  which  he  was  president  until  Janu- 
ary, 1917,  when  he  disposed  of  his  interests  and 
retired  from  the  company. 

At  the  present  time  Mr.  Grice 's  interests  are 
large  and  important.  Among  other  connections  he 
is  secretary  and  treasurer  and  general  manager 
of  the  Norfolk  &  Carolina  Telephone  and  Tele- 
graph Company,  vice  president  of  the  Elizabeth 
City  Electric  Light  Company,  vice  president  of 
the  Elizabeth  City  Water  and  Power  Company,  and 
a  director  in  the  Shorber  &  White  Hardware  Com- 
pany. He  is  a  York  Rite  and  Scottish  Rite  Mason 
and  a  Shriner,  and  is  well  and  favoralily  known 
in  club  and  fraternal  life.  In  the  promotion  of 
the  civic  interests  of  his  native  place  he  has  always 
taken  an  active  and  leading  part. 

On  January  31,  1900,  Mr.  Grice  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Mary  Alice  Kramer,  of  Eliza- 
beth City. 

Hon".  Pbitchard  Sylvester  Carlton.  Note- 
worthy among  the  talented  and  eneregtio  citizens 
of  Salisbury  who  have  gained  distinction  at  the 
bar,  and  a  position  of  influence  in  public  circles, 
is  Hon.  Pritchard  Sylvester  Carlton,  who  is  well 
adapted  to  his  profession  not  only  by  his  natural 
gifts,  but  by  his  legal  learning  and  skill,  while 
his  deep  convictions  and  strong  beliefs  on  public 
questions  of  importance  have  made  him  a  leader 
in  political  matters.  He  was  born  on  a  plantation 
lying  three  miles  south  of  Warsaw,  Dujilin  County, 
North  Carolina,  a  son  of  Sylvester  M.  Carlton, 
Esq.,  whose  birth  occurred  on  the  same  large  plan- 
tation, but  about  one  mile  further  south,  June 
6,  1850. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  John  Lewis  Carlton, 
was  born  January  30,  1819.  He  and  his  two 
brothers,  A.  Wright  Carlton  and  Royall  Carlton, 
were  prominent  planters  of  Duplin  County,  carry- 
ing on  farming  with  slave  labor.  He  died  June 
23,  1884,  on  the  plantation  which  he  had  improved. 
He  married  Bathsheba  Mathis,  who  was  born 
September  17,  1816,  and  died  January  20,  1867. 
They  reared  three  sons  and  four  daughters :  John 
Wright,  who  served  in  the  Confederate  Army  dur- 
ing the  Civil  war,  was  killed  in  battle,  May  30, 
1864;  William  CHiauncey  also  served  in  the  Con- 
federate Army;  Sylvester  M.,  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch ;  Susan  M.  married  O.  P.  Middle- 
ton;  Jemima  married  L.  R.  Carroll;  Celistia  mar- 
ried W.  H.  Middleton;  and  Emma  married  Dr. 
James  Nicholson. 

Receiving  excellent  educational  advantages  when 
young,  Sylvester  M.  Carlton,  Esq.,  entered  Wake 
Forest  College,  but  before  completing  the  course 
of  study  was  stricken  with  a  fever  and  forced  to 
leave  the  institution.  After  recovering  his  health, 
he  married,  and  having  erected  a  house  on  his 
father's  plantation  embarked  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits, first  as  a  general  farmer,  and  later  as  a 
truck  farmer,  or  market  gardener,  after  he  became 
owner  and  proprietor  of  the  ' '  Willowdale  Farm. ' ' 
Finding  the  occupation  both  pleasant  and  profit- 
able, he  resided  on  the  farm  until  his  death,  Sep- 
tember 25,  1911.  Although  never  an  office  seeker, 
he  served  several  years  as  justice  of  the  peace. 
He  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  to  which  his  wife  also  belonged,  being  a 
deacon  in  the  church,  which  was  located  in  War- 
saw, and  for  upwards  of  twenty  years  served  as 
superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school,  holding  the 


138 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


position  until  failing  health  compelled  him  to  re- 
sign. 

The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Virginia 
Emeline  Wells.  She  was  born  on  a  farm  lying  six 
miles  west  of  Magnolia,  in  Duplin  County,  October 
4,  1849,  and  died  March  22,  1908.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  James  W.  and  Sarah  Wells,  and  sister 
of  John  E.  Wells,  a  planter  and  former  treasurer 
of  Dupliu  County;  Ellis  D.  and  Chauncey  Graham 
Wells,  both  ministers  of  the  Baptist  Church  and 
now  located  in  South  Carolina,  and  James  D.  Wells 
deceased. 

To  Sylvester  M.  Carlton  and  his  wife,  Virginia 
Emeline,  were  born  four  sons,  one  of  whom, 
Chauncey  Graham  Carlton,  born  J'anuary  14,  1888, 
died  May  2.'{,  1891.  The  three  living"  are  John 
William,' Pritchard  Sylvester  and  James  Delaney. 
John  William  Carlton  was  graduated  from  Wake 
Forest  College,  after  which  he  entered  the  dental 
department  of  the  University  of  Maryland,  and 
since  his  graduation  from  that  institution  has  been 
actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  dentistry  at 
Spjeucer,  although  he  lives  in  Salisbury.  He  mar- 
ried Pearl  Kern,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  M.  and 
Dorg  M.  Kern,  and  they  have  one  son,  Thomas 
Kern  Carlton,  James  Delaney  Carlton  attended 
Wake  Forest  College,  and  later  was  graduated 
from  the  dental  department  of  the  University  of 
Maryland.  He  immediately  began  the  practice  of 
his  profession  in  Salisbury,  where  he  is  meeting 
with  satisfactory  success.  He  married  Meta  May 
Winstead,  a  daughter  of  William  Robert  and 
Martha  King  Winstead,  of  Nash  County. 

Pritchard  Sylvester  Carlton  prepared  for  col- 
lege at  the  Warsaw  High  School,  and  in  1899 
was  graduated  from  Wake  Forest  College  with 
the  degree  of  A.  M.  During  his  senior  year  in 
college  he  was  elected  orator  by  the  Philomathesian 
Literary  Society,  senior  speaker  by  the  faculty 
and  was  awarded  the  senior  orator 's  medal.  Ac- 
cepting a  position  then  in  Elizabeth  City,  he 
taught  Latin  and  Greek  in  the  Atlantic  Collegiate 
Institute  for  three  years,  after  which  he  continued 
his  studies  in  the  law  department  of  Wake  Forest 
College.  In  February,  1903,  Mr.  Carlton  was 
licensed  to  practice  law,  and  in  July  of  that  year 
settled  in  Salisbury,  where  he  has  since  built  up 
a  substantial  and  remunerative  patronage. 

A  democrat  in  politics.  Mr.  Carlton  cast  his  first 
presidential  vote  for  William  J.  Bryan.  In  1912 
he  was  elected  to  represent  Eowan  County  in  the 
State  Legislature,  and  in  1914  he  was  elected  judge 
of  Rowan  County  Court.  Religiously  he  is  an 
active  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  of  which  he 
was  for  many  years  a  trustee,  and  the  treasurer, 
while  for  the  past  ten  years  he  has  served  as  super- 
intendent of  the  Sunday  school. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Carlton  is  a  member  of  Rowan 
Lodge,  No.  "lOO,  Knights  of  Pvthias;  of  Cordon 
Lodge,  No.  168,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows; and  of  Winona  CoimcU,  No.  18,  Junior  Or- 
der of  United  American  Mechanics.  Socially  he 
belongs  to  the  Old  Hickory  Club,  and  a  number 
of  other  social,  civic,  business  and  religious  or- 
ganizations. 

Mr.  Carlton  married,  August  28,  1917,  Beulah 
Mary  Kern,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Thomas  M. 
and  Dora  M.  Kern.  She  was  born  on  the  farm  of 
her  father  about  six  miles  northeast  of  Salisbury, 
but  moved  with  her  parents  to  Salisbury  in  1904. 
Mrs.  Carlton  is  an  active  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  and  a  member  of  the  leading  social  and 
book  clubs  of  the  city. 


WiLLi.\ii  Stephen"  Lixville  has  for  many  years 
been  actively  identified  with  business  affairs  at 
Kernersville  as  a  general  merchant.  With  the  aid 
of  his  two  enterprising  sons  he  has  built  up  a 
large  establishment,  a  completely  stocked  depart- 
ment store,  and  along  with  good  business  judg- 
ment he  has  displayed  much  public  spirit  in  the 
advancement   of   that  community. 

Mr.  Linville  is  of  an  old  family  in  this  section 
of  North  Carolina.  He  was  himself  born  on  a 
farm  in  Belews  Creek  Township  in  Forsyth  Coun- 
ty. His  Linville  ancestors  are  said  to  have  come 
to  America  with  the  William  Penn  Colony.  His 
great-grandfather,  from  the  best  of  information 
at  hand,  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  from 
there  came  to  North  Carolina  and  was  a  pioneer 
settler  in  Belews  Creek  Township.  When  he 
reached  there  he  was  on  the  outermost  fringe  of 
civilization,  and  the  wilderness  was  filled  with 
game,  wild  Indians  and  other  obstacles  to  cultiva- 
tion and  settled  life.  He  hewed  a  farm  from  out 
the  woods  and  lived  there  quietly  and  prosperously 
until  his  death. 

Fuell  Linville,  grandfather  of  the  Kernersville 
merchant,  was  born  in  Belews  Creek  Township  and 
also  took  up  the  vocation  of  agriculture.  He 
bought  land  in  his  native  township  and  spent  his 
entire  life  in  that  community.  He  married  Eliza- 
beth Hallhroak,  who  was  also  probably  a  life-long 
resident  of  that  township.  She  and  her  husband 
were  active  members  of  the  Missionary  Baptist 
Church. 

Moses  Linville,  father  of  William  S.,  was  born 
in  Belews  Creek  Township  in  1831.  After  he  was 
grown  he  bought  some  land  in  the  township,  but 
after  a  few  years  sold  it  and  secured  a  tract  of 
land  in  the  northern  part  of  Kernersville  Town- 
ship. He  possessed  the  industry  and  thrift  re- 
quired for  a  successful  career  as  a  farmer,  and  he 
lived  in  his  community  honored  and  respected  until 
the  age  of  eighty-four  years.  During  the  war  be- 
tween the  states  he  served  as  an  oflScer  of  the 
Home  Guards.  Moses  Linville  married  Elizabeth 
Hester.  She  was  born  in  Belews  Creek  Township, 
daughter  of  Stephen  and  Mary  (Linville)  Hester. 
Her  grandfather,  John  Hester,  at  one  time  had  a 
home  in  Granville  Township,  where  his  father  had 
spent  his  entire  life.  Mary  Linville 's  father  was 
Henry  Linville,  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812  under 
General  Jackson,  and  he  died  while  in  the  service 
at  New  Orleans.  Mrs.  Moses  Linville  lived  to  be 
seventy-eight.  She  was  the  mother  of  only  two 
sons,  William  Stephen  and  Newton.  Newton  is 
now  a  resident  in  Walkertown. 

William  S.  Linville  grew  up  in  this  section  of 
North  Carolina,  which  had  been  completely  trans- 
formed since  his  great-grandfather  settled  there. 
His  early  environment  was  the  farm,  his  first 
training  came  from  the  district  schools,  and  after- 
ward he  attended  Kernersville  Academy.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen  he  was  a  teacher,  and  for  twenty 
years  he  followed  teaching  part  of  each  annual 
season,  while  the  rest  of  the  year  was  spent  as  a 
farmer.  Between  these  vocations  he  alternated 
with  usefulness  to  himself  and  others  until  1891, 
when  he  removed  to  Kernersville  and  invested  Ms 
modest  capital  in  a  stock  of  general  merchandise. 
That  business  has  grown  and  flourished,  and  he 
now  has  his  sons,  Addison  N.  and  James  A.,  as 
his  associates.  They  have  a  large  store,  and  their 
stock  includes  all  staple  provisions,  drugs,  men's 
furnishings,  dry  goods  and  a  large  line  of  farm 
implements. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


139 


Mr.  Liuville  was  married  iu  1871  to  Mary  Vance, 
a  native  of  Kernersville.  Her  parents  were  Martin 
and  Hepsey  (Smith)  Vance.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  I;in- 
ville  have  reared  eight  children,  named  Addison 
N.,  William  C,  James  A.,  Elizabeth,  Ed  M.,  Mary, 
Walter  and  Frannie.  William  C.  studied  medicine 
in  the  University  of  North  Carolina  and  in  the 
University  of  Maryland  at  Baltimore,  where  he 
was  graduated,  and  is  now  a  successful  practition- 
er. Elizabeth  is  the  wife  6f  Gideon  H.  Hastings. 
Mary  married  Clyde  A.  Holt.  Frannie  is  the  wife 
of  William  H.  Morton.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Linville 
are  active  members  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church.  He  is  affiliated  with  Kernersville  Council 
of  the  Junior  Order  of  United  American  Me- 
chanics. 

Joseph  J.  Korner  is  a  carpenter  and  contractor 
and  resident  of  Kernersville  in  Forsyth  County. 
His  family  have  many  interesting  associations 
with  that  locality. 

It  is  said  that  King  Charles  the  First  divided 
tlie  province  of  North  Carolina  into  eight  districts, 
granting  each  of  them  to  a  personal  friend.  One 
of  these  grantees  was  Lord  Granville.  His  dis- 
trict included  many  thousands  of  acres,  part  of 
which  was  the  present  site  of  Kernersville,  North 
Carolina.  The  tradition  is  that  a  man  named 
Caleb  Story,  an  Irishman,  bought  400  acres,  in- 
cluding the  town  site,  and  paid  four  gallons  of 
rum  for  the  land.  He  held  it  only  a  short  time, 
then  sold  to  Nathaniel  Shober,  of  Salem,  North 
Carolina,  and  the  latter  passed  it  on  to  William 
Dobson,  and  for  a  time  the  place  was  known  as 
Dobson  's  Corners.  Dobson  sold  to  .Joseph  Korner, 
grandfather  of  Joseph  J.  Korner.  During  his  own- 
ership the  locality  became  known  as  Korner 's 
Corners  or  Cross  Koads. 

This  Joseph  Korner  was  born  in  the  Black  Forest 
of  Germany  March  13,  176,^,  a  son  of  Peter  and 
a  grandson  of  Jacobus  Korner.  Joseph  Korner 
leai-ned  the  trade  of  clock  maker  and  in  178;!,  came 
to  America,  working  at  his  trade  a  short  time  in 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  and  then  coming  South 
into  North  Carolina  selling  clocks.  He  located  at 
Friedland  (a  Moravian  church),  which  was  his 
home  until  1817,  when  he  bought  the  400  acres 
aliove  noted,  including  the  site  of  Kernersville. 
His  house  was  on  the  main  road  from  Salem  to 
Greensborough.  That  house  he  used  as  a  tavern 
for  a  numl)er  of  years.  He  was  a  very  successful 
man  in  a  business  way  and  acquired  other  lands 
until  his  ownership  extended  to  1,100  acres.  He 
died  in  1830.  This  pioneer  married  Christina  Cost- 
ner,  who  was  born  at  Friedland.  They  reared 
three  children:  John  F.,  Phillip  and  Sarah.  John 
inherited  that  part  of  his  father  "s  estate  l.ving 
west  of  the  Salem  Road.  Phillip  acquired  that 
portion  lying  between  the  Greensborough  ami  Dan- 
ville Road,  while  Sarah,  wlio  married  ApoUos 
Harman  of  Connecticut  liad  all  the  land  between 
the  Greensborough  and  Salem  Road. 

Phillip  Korner,  father  of  Joseph  J.,  was  born 
at  Friedland  in  1805.  He  sold  his  inheritance  to 
William  Penn  Henley,  of  Lexington,  North  Caro- 
lina, who  in  turn  sold  to  Levi  Bodenhamer,  the 
latter  sold  to  Dr.  J.  B.  Sapp.  who  left  the  place  to 
his  son,  Carey  Sapp,  and  the  latter  in  turn  sold 
to  David  Bodenhamer,  the  present  owner. 

Phillip  Korner  sold  his  part  of  the  ancestral 
domain  in  1848  and  then  bought  a  farm  two  miles 
to  the  west.  There  he  engaged  in  farming  until 
his  death  in  187.5.  His  wife  was  Judith  Gardner, 
a  native  of  Kernersville.  Her  father,  William 
Gardner,  was  a   native   of  Nantucket,   Massachu- 


setts, but  came  to  North  Carolina  when  a  young 
man  and  located  in  what  is  now  Forsyth  County, 
where  the  rest  of  his  days  were  spent.  William 
Gardner  married  Abigail  Weisner,  a  native  of  For- 
syth County.  Judith  Gardner  Korner  died  in  1853, 
and  Phillip  Korner  subsequently  married  Sally 
Gibbons,  who  is  still  living  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
one.  By  his  first  wife  he  had  the  following  chil- 
dren: Fiorina  Eliza,  Antoinette  Marie,  William 
Gaston,  Sally  Harmon,  Joseph  John,  Medora  Cor- 
nelia and  J.  Gilmer.  By  the  second  marriage  there 
were  two  children,  Henry  C.  aud  Consin. 

Joseph  J.  Korner  was  a  native  of  Kernersville, 
grew  up  and  attended  the  high  school  there  and 
subsequently  took  a  course  in  the  Normal  School 
at  Lebanon,  Ohio.  When  a  young  man  he  learned 
the  trade  of  carpenter  aud  now  for  many  years 
has  been  a  successful  building  contractor.  He 
has  not  only  built  but  has  sold  many  residences 
in   his   section   of  the  state. 

Mr.  Korner  married  Virginia  Elizabeth  Doggett, 
a  native  of  Guilford  County,  North  Carolina.  Her 
parents  were  James  Doggett,  of  English  ancestry, 
and  Mary  Ann  (Lambeth)  Doggett.  Her  mother 
was  the  daughter  of  Rev.  John  and  Mildred 
(Flack)  Lambeth,  of  Virginia.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Korner  have  three  children :  Cullen  Leggett,  Rus- 
sell DeLessep  and  Estelle  Gertrude.  Cullen  is  a 
traveling  salesman,  and  married  Pearl  Link,  their 
only  child  dying  at  the  age  of  four  years.  The 
son,  Russell,  was  a  traveling  salesman  but  is  now 
in  the  navy  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  Estelle 
Gertrude  is  a  graduate  of  Guilford  College  and 
is  now  principal  of  the  school  at  Guthrie.  Mr. 
Korner  was  reared  in  and  has  always  held  to  the 
faith  of  the  Moravian  Church.  He  is  a  well  known 
citizen  as  well  as  business  man,  and  formerly 
ser%'ed  as  county  treasurer  of  Forsyth  County. 

Dexnis  Luther  Fox,  M.  D.  Hundreds  of  fam- 
ilies in  Randolph  County  have  come  to  appreciate 
the  ability  and  splendid  services  of  two  genera- 
tions of  the  Fox  family  as  physician.  Dr.  Dennis 
Luther  Fox  is  iu  practice  at  Randlenian,  and  his 
present  standing  in  the  profession  is  the  result  of 
nearly  twenty-five  years  of  active  experience.  His 
father  before  him  was  an  old  time  country  doctor 
and  a  man  really  eminent  in  his  profession  and  as 
a  splendid  type  of  citizen. 

The  late  Dr.  Michael  L.  Fox  was  a  son  of  Chris- 
tian Fox,  who  owmed  and  occupied  a  farm  on 
Sandy  Creek  in  Liberty  Township  of  Randolph 
County.  On  this  farm  Michael  grew  up,  enjoyed  a 
good  education,  and  as  a  youth  taught  school  for 
a  time.  He  began  the  study  of  medicine  under 
Doctor  Black  and  later  entered  Jefferson  Medical 
College  at  Philadelphia  and  earned  his  degree  from 
tliat  great  institution.  Returning  home,  he  took 
up  practice,  and  soon  had  a  patronage  that  taxed 
his  great  energy  and  jierseverance.  He  practiced 
in  the  days  before  automobiles  and  improved  high- 
ways, and  traveled  for  miles  in  all  kinds  of  weather 
and  both  night  and  day.  His  usual  method  of 
reaching  his  patients  was  by  horseback,  though  he 
also  \ised  a  two-w-heeled  gig.  He  lived  in  that  one 
locality  and  served  it  faithfully  and  well  with  the 
exception  of  1%  years  at  Conover  in  Catawba 
County,  where  he  lived  for  the  purjiose  of  giving 
his  children  the  benefit  of  the  schools.  His  death 
occurred  in  his  old  home  township  in  188.5,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-three.  He  married  Sarah  Lutterlow, 
who  also  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-tliree.  They  had 
seven  children,  named :  William  Alexander,  Lewis 
M.,  Sally  A.,  Cora  M.,  Thomas  I.,  Dennis  Luther 
and  .Junius  Claudius. 


140 


HISTOKY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Dennis  Luther  Fox  was  born  on  his  lather's 
fai-m  in  Liberty  Township  of  Randolph  County, 
and  in  his  generation  had  many  of  the  experiences 
which  were  common  to  his  fathei-.  He  attended 
Liberty  Academy  and  Conover  College  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty  began  teaching.  As  a  teacher  he 
had  one  term  at  Black  Schoolhouse  in  Liberty 
Township,  one  term  in  the  Coble  School  in  Guilford 
County,  and  one  term  at  Xew  Salem.  His  early 
medical  studies  were  directed  by  his  brotlier,  Dr. 
William  Alexander  Fox,  and  "he  supplemented 
these  by  attending  Vanderbilt  University  Medical 
College"  at  Nashville,  Tennessee.  He  graduated  in 
1894,  and  since  then  has  been  a  busy  man  in  his 
profession.  For  three  years  he  practiced  at  Ram- 
seur,  at  Worthboro  two  years,  and  since  then  at 
Randleton.  Doctor  Fox  is  a  member  of  the  Ran- 
dolph County  and  North  Carolina  Medical  societies, 
and  the  American  Medical  Association. 

Thomas  Pincknet  Johnston.  Of  the  many 
enterprising  and  prosperous  agriculturists  and 
esteemed  citizens  of  Rowan  County,  Thomas  P. 
Johnston,  of  Salisbury,  is  a  worthy  representative, 
his  life  record  being  creditable  to  himself,  and 
also  to  his  good  mother,  who  reared  him  in  the 
paths  of  industry  and  integrity,  instilling  into  his 
youthful  mind  those  lessons  of  truthfulness,  hon- 
esty and  justice  that  have  been  his  guiding  prin- 
ciples through  life.  A  son  of  J.  Sloan  Johnston, 
he  was  born  in  Salisbury,  September  8,  1845.  His 
father,  and  his  grandfather,  Lemuel  D.  Johnston, 
were  both  born  on  Beaver  Dam  Creek,  in  Scotch 
Irish  Township,  Rowan  County,  on  the  farm  where 
his  great-grandfather,  'William  Jolmston,  settled 
in  pioneer  days.  A  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
war,  William  Johnston  took  an  active  part  in  the 
engagements  at  Guilford  Courthouse  and  at  Ala- 
mance. His  last  years  were  spent  in  Rowan  County, 
on  his  home  plantation,  on  Beaver  Dam  Creek.  He 
married  a  Miss  Dickey,  who,  like  himself,  was  of 
Scotch  ancestry. 

Lemuel  D.  Johnston  succeeded  to  the  ownership 
of  the-  home  farm,  and  was  there  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  during  his  entire  life,  carrying 
on  his  work  with  slaves  until  his  death,  in  1852. 
He  also  had  a  country  tauyard.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Nancy  Hall. 

Born  about  1816,  J.  Sloan  Johnston  grew  to 
manhood  in  his  native  township,  and  having  been 
crippled  in  his  right  side  and  arm  in  early 
life,  being  scholarly  inclined  he  received  a  good 
education.  Locating  in  Salisbury  as  a  young  man, 
he  purchased  property  on  the  west  corner  of  Lee 
and  Fisher  streets,  and  there  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  carriages  and  wagons.  He  also 
purchased,  and  occupied  as  a  home,  the  house  that 
once  stood  on  the  corner  of  Inniss  and  Church 
streets,  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Marble  XJ.  S. 
Postoflfice  Building.  Going  security  for  friends, 
he  lost  his  entire  property  prior  to  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1868.  He  filled  various  public 
offices,  having  served  as  coroner,  magistrate,  and 
registrar  of  deeds.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Reeves,  was  born  in  Salisbury,  March 
22,  1822,  being  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary 
Ann  (Hughes)  Reeves,  and  grand-daughter  of  Col. 
Andrew  Balfour,  of  Revolutionary  fame. 

As  previously  mentioned,  J.  Sloan  Johnston  lost 
his  property,  and  it  devolved  upon  his  widow  to 
support  her  family.  Having  an  excellent  educa- 
tion, she  taught  school  successfully  for  a  number 
of  years.     Kind-hearted  and  sympathetic,  she  was 


widely  known  for  her  charity  and  benevolence,  and 
during  the  Civil  war  no  soldier,  be  he  Rebel  or 
Yankee,  ever  came  to  her  for  assistance  that  he 
did  not  get  it.  Her  home,  which  was  but  a  block 
from  the  garrison,  became  the  refuge  for  soldiers 
of  both  armies.  Hugh  Berry,  a  Yankee  soldier 
from  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin,  being  sick,  was  taken 
to  her  home,  and  there  nursed  by  her  until  his 
death,  when  his  body  was  tenderly  laid  to  rest  in 
her  garden.  It  was  while  assisting  this  sick  sol- 
dier that  she  received  from  a  Confederate  a  slight 
liayonet  wound.  For  caring  for  Hugh  Berry  and 
other  Yankee  soldiers,  she,  by  a  special  act  of 
Congress,  was  granted  by  the  Federal  Government 
a  colonel's  life  pension. 

After  the  war  had  closed,  Mrs.  Sarah  (Reeves) 
Johnston  moved  with  her  family  to  Cincinnati,  in 
order  that  her  children  might  have  better  educa- 
tional advantages,  and  all  of  the  younger  mem- 
bers of  her  family  became  teachers.  She  remained 
in  that  city  about  twenty-five  years,  but  after  the 
death  of  her  youngest  child  returned  to  Salisbury, 
and  here  spent  her  remaining  days,  with  her 
youngest  daughter,  Mrs.  S.  D.  J.  Parker,  dying 
May  13,  1906,  having  lived  a  widow  for  thirty- 
eight  years.  She  was  a  woman  of  much  force  of 
character,  strong  mentally  and  physically,  and  re- 
tained her  health  and  faculties  to  the  last,  passing 
to  the  life  beyond  at  the  venerable  age  of  four 
score  and  four  years. 

She  reared  two  sons,  Thomas  Pinekney  and  Wil- 
liam, and  three  daughters,  Mary  Ann,  Harriet  M. 
and  Sally  Dayton.  Harriet  'married  William 
Tubbs;  Mary  A.  married  Robert  Hendry;  Sally  D. 
became  the  wife  of  Alexander  Parker.  William, 
who  entered  the  United  States  Mail  Service,  lost 
his  life  in  a  railway  accident  at  Mingo  Junction 
when  but  twenty-two  years  old. 

Thomas  Pinekney  Johnston  was  educated  under 
the  tutorship  of  Prof.  Samuel  Wiley.  At  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  war,  lie  entered  the  Confederate 
service  as  ordnance  messenger,  and  continued  in 
that  capacity  for  nearly  three  years.  Joining  the 
naw  in  January,  1864,  he  went  to  Halifax,  this 
state,  where  the  Albemarle  was  built.  He  assisted 
in  its  building,  and  was  on  board  that  boat  con- 
tinuously in  all  its  active  service  including  the 
sinking  of  the  Federal  boats  ' '  Bombsliell ' '  and 
' '  Southfield, ' '  and  was  aboard  the  ' '  Albemarle ' ' 
when  it  was  torijedoed  and  sunk,  making  his 
escape  with  the  remainder  of  the  crew.  With 
others,  Mr.  Johnston  was  then  ordered  to  Wil- 
mington to  ship  on  the  privateer  "Owl."  An 
accident  on  the  W.  and  W.  Railroad  at  Tarboro 
delayed  them  two  days,  and  the  ' '  Owl ' '  sailed 
without  them.  Mr.  Johnston  and  the  crew  were 
then  ordered  to  Fort  Fisher,  and  assisted  in  its 
defense  on  December  25  and  January  16,  when 
it  was  captured,  he  escaping  to  Wilmington,  and 
retreating  from  there  to  Richmond.  There,  on 
April  3,  1865,  he  was  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
when  he  saw  a  messenger  deliver  to  the  minister 
a  telegram  announcing  the  surrender  of  Peters- 
burg, Virginia,  and  saw  President  Jefferson 
Davis  walk  out  of  the  church  with  the  whole  con- 
gregation. With  some  of  his  comrades,  Mr.  John- 
ston left  Richmond  at  four  o  'clock  the  next  morn- 
ing, on  the  last  train  that  left  the  city  carrying 
Confederate  soldiers,  who  then  fired  the  bridge. 

At  that  time  provisions  were  very  scarce  in  that 
city,  and  Mr.  Jplinston  applied  at  a  house  for 
food,  being  unable  to  buy  any.  The  woman  re- 
plied that  she  had  nothing  but  one  loaf  of  bread, 


n 


IJBLIC 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


141 


which  she  offered  to  divide  with  him,  hopiug  that 
some  one  would  treat  her  boy  iu  the  same  way. 
Landing  with  his  companions  iu  Danville,  Vir- 
ginia, Mr.  Johnston  started  with  his  friends  to 
walk  to  Greensboro;  on  the  way  they  met  a  supply 
train  going  north  to  escape  capture.  The  train 
crew  had  not  heard  of  the  surrender  of  Kichmond. 
The  boys  got  something  to  eat  there,  and  then 
forced  the  engineer  to  take  them  to  the  Yadkin 
River,  from  which  point  they  walked  to  Salisbury, 
seven  miles  away,  Mr.  Johnston  taking  with  him 
a  pair  of  Government  blankets  which  he  had  se- 
cured in  Greensboro. 

After  trying  farming  iu  the  vicinity  of  Salis- 
bury tor  a  time,  Mr.  Johnston  went  to  Cincinnati, 
where  he  spent  two  years,  working  first  as  street 
car  conductor,  and  later  as  correspondent  in  the 
Andes  Amazon  &  Triumph  Insurance  Company. 
Returning  then  to  Rowan  County,  he  bought  land 
in  Salisbury  Township,  and  on  the  farm  which  he 
improved  carried  on  farming  extensively  and  suc- 
cessfully for  upwards  of  forty  years.  As  a  civil 
engineer,  he  formerly  did  much  surveying  in  and 
around  Rowan  County,  and  served  for  some  time 
as  county  surveyor.  Industrious  and  thrifty,  he 
acquired  considerable  wealth,  and  in  addition  to 
his  farm  owns  much  valuable  city  property. 

Mr.  Johnston  has  been  twice  married.  He  mar- 
ried, on  September  4,  1866,  Julia  A.  Brown,  who 
was  born  in  Salisbury  Township,  youngest  daugh- 
ter of  Moses  L.  and  Letitia  (Hartman)  Brown,  her 
father  having  been  a  large  laijdholder,  and  a 
prosperous  agriculturist.  She  died  in  1890.  Mr. 
Johnston  married  second,  in  1892,  Mrs.  Jennie 
(Keistler)  Wincoff,  a  native  of  Concord,  North 
Carolina.  Her  father,  Jeremiah  Keistler,  was 
liorn  in  Salisbury,  this  state ;  her  grandfather, 
Ralpel  Keistler,  came  from  Pennsylvania  to  North 
Carolina  to  sell  clocks.  Meeting  pretty  Nancy 
Reeves,  he  fell  in  love  with  her,  married  her 
when  she  was  but  fourteen  years  old,  and  subse- 
quently lived  in  Salisbury  until  his  death.  Jer- 
emiah Keistler  learned  the  tailor  's  trade,  and  fol- 
lowed it  in  Concord  until  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  war.  Enlisting  then  in  Company  E,  Thirty- 
third  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops,  he  served 
until  the  surrender  at  Appomattox.  He  returned 
home  broken  in  health,  and  though  he  lived  until 
February  12,  1872,  he  never  recovered  his  former 
physical  vigor.  The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of 
Jeremiah  Keistler  was  Nancy  Haithcox.  She 
was  born  in  Cabarrus  County,  a  daughter  of  Lee 
and  Sarah  (Wilhelm)  Haithcox,  and  died  No- 
vember 8,  1893.  She  was  the  mother  of  five  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Jennie,  now  Mrs.  Johnston; 
Fannie;  Moselle;  Robert  Lee;  and  Laura.  Mrs. 
Johnston 's  first  husband,  J.  N.  Wincoff,  died 
November  8,  1893,  in  Concord. 

Of  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnston,  three 
sons  have  been  born,  namely:  Thomas  Pinckney, 
Jr.;  Ralph  Balfour,  who  was  accidentally  killed 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  years;  and  Robert  K.  By 
his  first  marriage,  Mr.  Johnston  had  seven  chil- 
dren, of  whom  four  grew  to  maturity,  namely: 
Anna,  Thomas  Edgar,  Samuel  Reeves,  and  Wil- 
liam M.  Anna  married  D.  J.  Miller,  and  has  four 
children,  Robert  Lee,  a  graduate  of  the  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  in  Philadelphia;  Jesse  N.  and 
Council  J.,  now  members  of  the  United  States 
Regular  Army  and  Navy;  and  Julia  B.,  wife  of 
Harry  Edwards,  of  Jasper,  Florida.  Thomas 
Edgar  married  Mabel  Kizer,  who  was  a  most  suc- 
cessful   teacher,    and    is    now    a    member    of    the 


State  Board  of  School  Examiners.  Samuel  Reeves 
first  married  Ada  Cathcart,  who  died,  leaving  one 
son,  Edgar  Reeves  Johnston.  He  then  married 
for  his  second  wife,  Mrs.  Edith  Bowman,  by  whom 
he  has  one  daughter,  Ada  M.  William  M.,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  thirty  years,  married  Jessie 
Sims,  who,  with  their  two  daughters,  Dorothy 
Sims  and  Julia  E.,  survive  him.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Johnston  are  valued  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  Mr.  Johnston  is  a  life-long  advocate 
and  practitioner  of  prohibition  and  votes  and 
prays  as  he  lives. 

John  C.  Spacii.  For  a  long  period  of  years 
the  name  Spach  has  been  identified  iu  Forsyth 
County  with  manufacturing  and  industrial  inter- 
ests. Farmers  of  half  a  century  or  more  ago  used 
wagons  and  other  vehicles  manufactured  in  the 
Spach  factory  at  Waughtown,  and  today  the  Spach 
vehicles  are  noted  for  the  same  qualities  of  durabil- 
ity and  service  as  the  old  hand  made  wagons  were. 
The  proprietor  of  the  wagon  industry  at  Waugh- 
town is  John  C.  Spach,  a  son  of  its  original 
founder. 

Mr.  Spach  was  born  May  15,  1854.  His  father, 
William  Elias  Spach,  was  born  in  what  is  now 
Forsyth  County,  and  the  grandfather  was  Chris- 
tian Spach,  a  native  of  the  same  locality. 

The  name  Spach  has  historic  associations  with 
the  early  history  of  this  part  of  Western  North 
Carolina.  There  is  some  confusion  in  the  family 
records,  and  the  genealogy  through  the  earlier 
generations  cannot  be  exactly  traced.  However, 
from  the  best  information  at  hand  Christian 
Spach  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  son  of  Gottlieb 
Spach,  while  Gottlieb  was  a  son  of  the  pioneer  of 
the  family,  Adam  Spach.  A  record  in  the  Fried- 
berg  Church  register  states  that  Adam  Spach  was 
born  in  Alsace  January  20,  1720,  was  married  in 
1752  to  Elizabeth  Hueter,  and  came  to  North 
Carolina  in  1753.  He  died  August  23,  1801.  From 
another  source  it  is  stated  that  Adam  Spach  lived 
a  time  in  Pennsylvania  before  coming  to  North 
Carolina.  In  this  state  he  located  about  two  miles 
from  the  present  site  of  Friedberg,  and  was  the 
first  premanent  settler  in  that  vicinity.  There  he 
built  a  substantial  rock  house.  The  basement  was 
pierced  for  port  holes,  showing  that  the  house  was 
meant  to  serve  the  purpose  of  a  fort  in  case  the 
Indians,  then  numerous  in  North  Carolina,  should 
prove  hostile.  This  old  house  is  still  standing 
as  a  relic  of  early  days  and  is  shown  elsewhere 
in  this  work.  Adam  Spach  and  wife  joined  the 
Friedberg  Moravian  Church. 

Grandfather  Christian  Spach  was  a  farmer,  and 
spent  his  last  years  on  the  farm  near  Salem.  Wil- 
liam Elias  Spach,  though  reared  on  a  farm,  early 
left  home  to  learn  the  trade  of  carriage  builder. 
He  did  his  first  work  in  the  shop  of  John  Vaugh- 
ters  and  later  was  connected  with  the  wagon 
factory  of  J.  P.  Nissen.  During  the  last  year  of 
the  war  he  was  in  the  Confederate  army.  Follow- 
ing the  war  he  engaged  in  business  for  himself. 
He  had  a  shop  16  by  24  feet,  had  a  limited  capi- 
tal and  equipment,  and  did  all  the  work  connected 
with  the  making  of  a  wagon  himself.  His  work- 
manship was  unsurpassed,  and  there  was  no  dearth 
of  buyers  for  the  vehicles  that  came  out  of  his 
shop.  He  continued  this  business  many  years, 
but  finally  retired  to  his  farm,  where  he  died  in 
1892.  He  was  four  times  married.  His  first  wife, 
the    mother    of    John    C.    Spach,    was    Mary   Ann 


142 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Vaughters.  She  was  boru  in  Waughtowu,  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  M.  and  Polly  (CanipDell)  \  aughters. 
John  Vaughtcis  was  born  in  Nortli  Carolina  and 
was  one  of  the  first  wagon  manufacturers  in  the 
state.     Mrs.  William  E.  Spach  died  in  18.5S. 

John  C  Spach  was  contented  with  a  limited 
education  in  schools  and  displayed  his  enthusiasm 
as  a  boy  chiefly  by  work  in  nis  father 's  shop. 
Aided  by  unusual  natural  talent,  he  advanced 
rapidly  in  proficiency  and  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen was  entrusted  with  the  buying  of  materials 
and  also  had  charge  of  the  sale  ot  the  output  of 
.,he  wagon  factory.  In  1S86  he  bought  the  plant. 
At  that  time  it  was  employing  twelve  men,  and 
the  factory  had  a  limited  output,  in  1S94  Mr. 
Spach  took  in  as  a  partner  his  brother,  Samuel  h. 
The  business  has  shown  a  steady  and  most  satis- 
factory growth  tor  many  years.  The  brothers 
bought  live  acreji  of  ground  at  Waughtown  and 
subsequently  purchased  other  land  until  they  had 
eleven  acres  as  a  factory  site.  On  this  land 
they  constructed  commodious  brick  and  frame 
buildings,  equipped  them  with  modern  machinery, 
and  on  the  same  land  they  put  up  a  flour  mill. 
These  enterprises  were  run  jointly  by  the  broth- 
ers until  January,  1914,  when  the  partnership  was 
dissolved,  Samuel  L.  taking  the  flour  mill,  which  he 
still  operates,  while  John  C  continues  the  wagon 
business  being  assisted  by  his  sou  and  son-in-law. 

Mr.  Spach  was  married  December  27,  188U,  to 
Miss  Lucy  Masten.  She  was  born  about  two 
miles  from  Salem,  daughter  of  Mathias  Masten, 
who  for  fourteen  years  held  the  office  of  sheriff 
of  Forsyth  County.  Mathias  Masten  married 
Catherine  Masten.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spach  have 
reared  two  children :  Mary  Catherine  and  William 
Mathias.  The  daughter  is  the  wife  of  Charles  L. 
Creech.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Creech  have  three  chil- 
dren, Charles,  Jr.,  Mary  Catherine  and  John  Spach. 
Mr.  John  C.  Spach  is  a  member  ot  the  Missionary 
Baptist  Church,  and  is  affiliated  with  Winston 
Lodge  No.  167,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Ma- 
sons. 

Hexrt  W'alter  Horton.  A  live,  wide-awake 
business  man,  thoroughly  public-spirited  and  pro- 
gressive, Henry  Walter  Horton,  of  North  Wilies- 
boro,  WOkes  County,  has  been  conspicuously  con- 
cerned in  many  important  commercial  enterprises, 
his  remarkable  capacity  for  the  handling  of  multi- 
tudinous details  having  made  him  a  leader  in  the 
establishment  of  the  numerous  beneficial  projects 
with  which  he  has  been  actively  and  officially 
identified.  A  native  of  North  Carolina,  he  was 
born  on  a  plantation  near  Boone,  Watauga  County, 
being  a  son  of  Hon.  William  Horton,  and  a  descend- 
ant in  the  ninth  generation  from  one  Barnabas 
Horton,  his  ancestral  record,  for  which  we  are 
indebted  to  the  "History  of  the  Horton  Family," 
published  by  George  F.  Horton,  of  Tarrytown, 
being  thus  traced:  Barnabas,  Caleb,  Barnabas, 
Caleb,  Capt.  Nathan,  Col.  Nathan,  Phineas,  WiU- 
iam,  and  Henry  "Walter. 

Barnabas  Horton  was  born  in  Moulsey,  Leicester- 
shire, England,  July  13,  1600.  Sometime  between 
1635  and  1638  he  came  to  America  in  the  good  ship 
Swallow,  locating  first  in  Hampton,  Massachusetts. 
In  the  spring  of  16-10  he  migrated  to  New  Haven, 
Connecticut,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  settled  in 
Southold,  Long  Island,  New  York,  where,  in  1660, 
he  erected  a  house  which  is  still  standing,  and  is 
now  occupied  by  one  of  his  descendants. 

Caleb   Horton  was  born  in  Southold,  Long  Is- 


land, in  1640,  and  when  ready  to  begin  life  for 
himself  located  at  Cutchogue,  Long  Island,  and 
was  there  a  resident  until  his  death,  October  3, 
1702.  The  maiden  name  of  his  second  wife,  the 
mother  of  his  children,  was  Abigail  Hallock.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Peter  Hallock,  the  pilgrim  an- 
cestor of  the  Hallock  family  of  America.  She 
died  in  1697. 

Barnabas  Horton  was  born  at  Cutchogue,  Long 
Island,  in  September,  1666.  He  was  twice  married. 
His  second  wife,  the  mother  of  his  children,  was 
before  marriage  Sarah  Hines.  Their  son,  Caleb 
Horton,  was  born  at  Southold,  Long  Island,  Decem- 
ber 22,  1687.  He  married  Sarah  Terry,  who  was 
a  native  of  Southhold,  being  a  daughter  of  Na- 
thaniel Terry,  and  granddaughter  of  Eichard  Terry, 
men  of  prominence  in  the  early  annals  of  Long 
Island.  In  1748  they  moved  to  New  Jersey,  set- 
tling in  Chester,  where  his  death  occurred  August 
6,  1772.  His  wife  survived  him,  passing  away  De- 
cember 24,  1776,  and  on  her  tombstone  may  be 
seen  the  following  epitaph: 

"Martha's  care  she  had  at  heart 
And    also    chosen    Mary 's   better    part. ' ' 

Capt.  Nathan  Horton  was  born  at  Southold, 
Long  Island,  in  1725.  He  served  as  a  soldier 
in  the  Eevolutionary  war,  and  was  commander  of 
the  guard  that  executed  Major  Andre.  The  gun 
that  he  carried  while  in  the  army  is  in  the  Hall 
of  History,  in  Raleigh,  having  been  loaned  by  J.  B. 
Horton,  one  of  his  descendants.  In  1749,  soon 
after  his  marriage  with  Mehitabel  Case,  of 
Southold,  he  moved  to  Chester,  New  Jersey,  and 
there  spent  his  remaining  days. 

Col.  Nathan  Horton  was  born  in  Chester,  New 
Jersey,  February  25,  1757.  He  joined  the  State 
MiUtia  when  but  eighteen  years  old,  and  being 
elected  lieutenant  of  his  company  was  subsequently 
promoted  through  the  different  grades  until  com- 
missioned colonel  of  his  regiment.  Colonel  Horton 
married  July  10,  1783,  in  New  York  City,  Eliza- 
beth Eagles,' daughter  of  Johu  and- Hannah  Eagles, 
and  about  two  years  later  came  to  North  Carolina, 
settling  on  New  River,  in  what  is  now  Watauga 
County,  as  pioneers,  and  on  the  farm  they  cleared 
and  improved  reared  their  sons  and  daughters. 

Phineas  Horton  was  born  on  New  River, 
Watauga  County,  January  9,  179o.  He  became  one 
of  the  extensive  landholders  of  the  county,  operat- 
ing his  estate  with  the  assistance  of  slaves.  Pa- 
triotic and  public-spirited,  he  volunteered  his  serv- 
ices as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812.  He  became 
prominent  in  public  life,  serving  for  many  a  term 
as  magistrate,  and  also  being  county  treasurer 
several  years.  He  married,  about  1827,  Rebecca 
Council,  a  daughter  of  Jordan  and  Sarah  (Howard) 
Council. 

William  Horton  was  born  on  a  plantation  bor- 
dering on  New  River,  Watauga  County,  March  9, 
1828.  and  was  there  brought  up  and  educated. 
Following  in  the  ancestral  footsteps,  he  was  eri- 
gaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  during  his  life, 
dying  on  his  plantation  in  1875.  Active  in  public 
affairs,  he  was  elected  county  surveyor  m  1849, 
and  served  efficiently  in  that  capacity  until  1862. 
In  that  vear  he  was  elected  to  represent  his  district 
in  the  State  Legislature,  and  there  proved  himself 
so  loval  to  the  interests  of  his  constituents  that  he 
was  honored  with  a  re-election  to  the  same  office 
in  1864,  and  again  in  1866. 

Hon.  WUliam  Horton  married,  m  1860,  Nancy 
Rebecca  Blair,  who  was  born  in  Caldwell  County, 
North  Carolina,   August  26,  1835,   a  daughter  of 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


143 


Henry  and  Mary  (Steele)  Blair.  Eight  children 
were  born  of  their  union,  namely:  James  Critten- 
den, Julia  Eebecea,  Mary  Emma,  Henry  Walter, 
Jonathan  Blair,  William  Phineas,  Annie  Elizabeth, 
and  Sally  Hill.  The  father  died  in  1875,  and 
the  mother  is  still  living  (March  23,  1918). 

Henry  Walter  Horton  was  born  on  the  home 
farm  July  4,  1873.  He  was  educated  in  the  rural 
schools  and  at  New  Eiver  College,  and  as  a  boy 
acquired  some  knowledge  of  agriculture.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen  years  he  entered  upon  a  business 
career,  becoming  a  clerk  in  the  commissary  depart- 
ment of  the  North  Carolina  Midland  Railroad 
Company,  which  was  then  building  a  railway  ex- 
tending from  Goldsboro  to  Cliarlotte.  Returning 
home  at  the  end  of  a  year,  he  worked  ou  the  farm 
for  awhile,  and  then  accepted  a  position  as  travel- 
ing salesman  in  Georgia.  Coming  to  North  Wilkes- 
boro  in  1898,  Mr.  Horton  was  assistant  station 
agent  for  about  two  years,  and  during  the  ensuing 
eight  years  was  a  clerk  in  the  Bank  of  North 
Wilkesboro. 

In  the  meantime,  Mr.  Horton,  with  characteristic 
foresight  and  energy,  had  organized  the  Citizens 
Loan  and  Trust  Company,  of  which  he  has  since 
been  secretary  and  treasurer.  In  1900  he  purchased 
the  Wilkesboro  telephone  properties,  which  he  now 
owns,  and  is  operating  under  the  name  of  the 
Horton  Telephone  Company.  Mr.  Horton  was  also 
the  organizer,  and  is  the  secretary  and  treasurer 
of  the  Gwyn-Horton  Fire  and  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany. In  1911  he  organized  the  Kensington 
Heights  Land  Company,  of  which  he  was  made 
secretary  and  treasurer.  Purchasing  in  the  center 
of  the  town  ten  acres  of  land,  in  which  is  included 
the  site  of  the  ' '  Red  House, ' '  the  first  dwelling 
erected  in  the  place,  the  company  platted  the  tract, 
and  put  it  on  the  market.  If  the  full  history  of 
this  old  house  was  written  it  would  fill  a  large 
volume,  but  below  are  recorded  a  few  items  that 
may  be  q^  interest  to  the  future  generations: 

About  1760,  in  colonial  days,  Charles  Gordon 
came  to  this  part  of  North  Carolina,  which  was 
then  a  wilderness,  through  which  Indians  and  wild 
beasts  of  all  kinds  roamed  at  will,  and  on  the 
site  of  the  present  building  erected  what  was 
called  "The  Red  House."  The  house  was  built 
of  logs  sawed  flat  on  two  sides  by  a  cross-cut  saw, 
one  man  standing  on  the  log  and  the  other  be- 
neath, and  the  dooi-s  were  made  with  port-holes, 
in  order  that  the  occupants  could  look  out  and 
ascertain  whether  it  was  friend  or  foe  demanding 
admittance  before  opening  the  door.  The  slope 
of  the  hill  in  each  direction  was  kept  clear  so 
that  in  case  of  an  attack  the  savages  might  be 
shot  before  reaching  the  house,  the  range  of  the 
firearms  of  that  day  being  about  100  yards.  When- 
ever the  Indians  living  in  the  jungles  in  the  bot- 
toms became  enraged,  and  started  on  the  war  path, 
the  settlers  would  gather  from  far  and  near,  and 
go  to  • '  The  Red  House  ' '  for  protection,  the  women 
and  children  remaining  inside,  while  the  men  went 
out  to  fight.  Wilkes  County  was  not  then  formed, 
the  only  inhabitants  being  a  small  band  of 
Moravians,  who,  a  few  years  before,  had  taken 
up  land  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  in  the 
vicinity   of  Wilkesboro   and   Moravian  Falls. 

The  present  house,  the  first  frame  house  erected 
in  this  section,  was  built  by  Chapman  Gordon,  son 
of  Charles  Gordon,  and  grandfather  of  Gen.  John 
B.  Gordon,  of  Georgia,  one  of  the  noted  generals 
of  the  Confederate  army.  There  may  be  some  of 
the  original  house  in  the  one  now  standing.  The 
nails  were  made  by  a  blacksmith,  machine  made 


nails  being  then  unknown  and  unthought  of.  In 
the  early  days  the  "Red  House"  was  the  scene 
of  many  social  events,  and  a  center  of  interest.  Its 
first  occupants  tought  in  many  engagements  with 
the  enemy,  including  the  Battle  of  Kings  Moun- 
tain. They  also  served  in  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate, and  Chapman  Gordon  had  the  distinction  of 
being  the  first  clerk  of  the  court  of  Wilkes 
County. 

Several  years  before  the  war  between  the  states, 
Mr.  A.  W.  Finley  married  Miss  Martha  Gordon, 
bought  the  place,  then  called  ' '  Fairmount, ' '  and 
occupied  it  until  his  death.  Before  the  Town  of 
North  Wilkesboro  was  started,  the  place  was 
bought  by  the  Winston  Land  and  Improvement 
Company,  and  its  name  was  changed  to  ' '  Kensing- 
ton Heights." 

While  on  his  march  northward  at  the  close  of 
the  war.  General  Stoneman  camped  his  army  in 
Wilkesboro,  and  made  this  pilace  his  headquarters. 
Soon  after  the  war.  Gen.  Robert  F.  Hoke,  being 
sent  here  to  put  down  the  "Bushwhackers,"  also 
made  it  his  headquarters.  It  is  said  that  General 
Lee  had  recommended  General  Hoke  as  eommand- 
er-in-chief  of  the  Southern  army,  if  he.  General 
Lee,  should  be  killed  or  incapacitated  for  the  posi- 
tion. 

Mr.  Horton  now  owns  the  site  of  the  ' '  Red 
House, ' '  and  also  owns  and  occupies  the  house 
that  was  built  on  that  spot  by  Chapman  Gordon, 
it  having  been  removed  from  its  original  site. 

Ill  addition  to  the  many  organizations  of  which 
Mr.  Horton  is  serving  as  secretary  and  treasurer, 
he  is  vice  president  and  director  of  the  North 
Wilkesboro  Deposit  and  Savings  Bank.  He  is  in- 
terested in  the  automobile  business,  and  has  always 
been  an  earnest  advocate  of  good  roads.  A  zealous 
worker  in  the  latter  cause,  he  is  now  secretary  of 
the  Wilkes  County  Good  Roads  Association,  which 
lias  charge  of  the  extensive  work  in  that  line  now 
going  on,  and  upon  which  upwards  of  $300,000  will 
be  expended. 

Mr.  Horton  married,  December  18,  1912,  Charity 
Susan  Usher,  who  was  born  near  Charlotte,  North 
Carolina,  a  daughter  of  John  W.  and  Sarah  Usher. 
Three  children  have  brightened  the  union  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Horton,  namely:  Sarah  Lillian,  Rebecca 
Sue,  and  Hem-y  Walter,  Jr.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Horton 
are  active  and  faithtul  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  and  are  bringing  up  their  children  in  the 
same  religious  faith.  Mr.  Horton  is  a  deacon  in 
the  church,  and  for  fifteen  years  has  taught  a  class 
in  its  Sunday  school.  When  the  present  church 
edifice  was  erected,  he  served  as  treasurer  of  the 
building  committee. 

LoG.\N  Edward  Old.  In  business  circles  of 
Elizabeth  City,  and  more  particularly  in  the  field 
of  fire  insurance  and  bonds,  a  name  that  has  be- 
come prominent  within  recent  years  is  that  of 
Logan  Edward  Old.  This  energetic  and  progres- 
sive business  man,  who  is  secretary  and  treasurer 
of  the  Culpepper-Griffin-Old-Grice  Company,  has 
passed  practically  his  entire  career  in  the  handling 
of  fire  insurance,  and  while  other  matters  have 
claimed  a  part  of  his  attention,  it  is  in  this  line 
of  business  that  he  is  best  known. 

Logan  E.  Old  was  born  in  Norfolk  County,  Vir- 
ginia, September  20,  1872,  a  son  of  Rev.  James 
Young  and  Agenora  (Ives)  Old,  his  father  being 
a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
His  education  w-as  secured  in  public  and  private 
schools  of  his  native  county,  and  at  Elizabeth 
City,  whence  he  came  while  still  a  youth,  and  his 


144 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


first  independent  venture  when  lie  faced  life 's 
responsibilities  on  his  own  account  %vas  in  the  posi- 
tion of  dispatching  clerk  in  the  Elizabeth  City 
postotfice.  After  one  year  in  that  position  he 
decided  that  that  was  not  his  forte,  and,  in  search 
of  a  more  congenial  and  profitable  occupation, 
decided  upon  the  general  insurance  business, 
but  particularly  upon  that  of  fire  indemnity.  This 
was  work  for  which  he  had  been  peculiarly  fitted, 
and  he  was  soon  in  possession  of  a  clientele  that 
was  representative  and  pirofitable.  Finally,  with 
other  prominent  business  men  of  the  city,  he  or- 
ganized what  is  now  one  of  the  largest  firms  of  its 
kind  in  the  state,  the  Culpepper-Griffin-Old-Grice 
Company,  of  wiiich  he  became  secretary  and 
treasurer,  jjositions  which  he  still  retains.  This 
concern  does  a  general  business  in  insurance  and 
bonds  and  has  figured  in  some  of  the  largest  trans- 
actions in  the  history  of  the  city.  Aside  from  his 
business,  Mr.  Old  has  few  interests,  but  is  a  popu-- 
lar  member  of  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order 
of  Elks,  and  treasurer  of  the  First  Methodist 
Church,  where  he  is  also  a  member  of  the  board  of 
stewards.  He  lends  his  support  in  all  worthy 
measures  for  the  benefit  and  advancement  of  the 
city  of  his  adoption,  and  is  accounteil  a  good  and 
jiublic-spirited  citizen. 

Mr.  Old  was  married  August  19,  1903,  to  Miss 
Helen  Holmes  Cone,  of  Rivcrton,  Virginia,  who 
died  September  16,  1909,  leaving  one  son:  Logan 
Edward,  Jr. 

Walter  Norman  Old,  brother  of  Logan  Edward 
Old,  was  born  in  Norfolk  County,  Virginia, 
August  5,  1866.  He  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Norfolk  County  and  at  Norfolk  Acad- 
emy, and  after  his  graduation  from  that  institution 
in  1889,  came  to  Elizabeth  City  and  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  lumber.  He  and  his  father 
erected  five  lumber  mills  in  North  Carolina,  three 
of  which  were  located  at  Elizabeth  City,  but  they 
subsequently  sold  these  mills  and  for  two  years 
Walter  N.  Old  acted  as  assistant  superintendent 
in  these  enterprises.  His  next  venture  was  in  the 
grocery  business,  but  he  sold  out  his  establishment 
to  engage  in  the  proprietorship  of  horse  and  mule 
sales  stables,  which  he  disposed  of  after  two  years 
to  become  a  member  of  the  firm  of  E.  S.  Chesson 
Company.  Retiring  from  that  concern,  he  spent 
some  time  as  manager  and  ad.iuster  for  lumber 
companies,  but  in  .Tanuary,  1917,  joined  the  Cul- 
pepper-Griffin-Old-Grice Company  as  assistant  sec- 
retary and  solicitor.  Mr.  Old  is  widely  known  in 
business  circles  of  Elizabeth  City,  and  is  accounted 
a  capable  and  shrewd  man  of  affairs,  of  high  in- 
tegrity. He  is  a  member  of  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

Hon.  Walter  Murphy.  Prominent  among  the 
able  and  influential  members  of  the  Rowan  County 
bar  is  Hon.  Walter  Murphy,  of  Salisbury,  who 
has  won  professional  precedence  by  reason  of  his 
legal  ability  and  his  devotion  to  liis  work,  while 
his  personal  characteristics  have  gained  for  him 
a  place  of  importance  in  the  public  life  of  city  and 
county.  He  was  born  in  Salisbury,  North  Caro- 
lina, which  was  likewise  the  birthplace  of  his 
father,  Andrew  Murphy,  and  of  his  grandfather, 
John  Murphy. 

His  great-grandfather,  James  Murphy,  was  born 
and  bred  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  as  a  young 
man  came  with  two  of  his  brothers  to  America. 
He   located   first   in   Wilmington,   North   Carolina, 


but  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  war  settled  in  Salis- 
bury, where  he  embarked  in  mercantile  pursuits, 
his  store  having  been  at  the  corner  of  Main  and 
Fisher  streets.  There  were  no  railways  in  the 
state  at  that  early  day,  and  all  of  his  merchandise 
was  transported  by  teams  from  either  Fayetteville, 
or  from  Charleston. 

John  Murphy  succeeded  to  the  business  estab- 
lished by  his  father,  and  managed  it  successfully 
until  his  death,  in  1848.  He  married  Mary  Furr, 
who  was  born  in  Rowan  County,  the  daughter  of  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  and  died  at  her  home  in 
Salisbury,  in  1867. 

Andrew  Murphy  was  born  in  Salisbury  in  1832, 
and  as  a  boy  began  working  in  his  father  's  store. 
After  the  death  of  his  father  he  and  one  of  his 
brothers  assmned  the  management  of  the  store, 
with  which  he  was  identified  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  During  the  Civil  war,  he  was  detailed  for 
railroad  service.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Helen  Long. 

She  was  born  in  Salisbury,  North  Carolina,  as 
was  her  father.  Dr.  Alexander  Long,  while  her 
paternal  grandfather,  Alexander  Long,  Sr.,  was 
born  on  the  Long  plantation,  located  about  six 
miles  from  Salisbury.  She  was  the  mother  of 
eight  children,  as  follows:  Alexander,  Frederick, 
Elizabeth,  Charles,  Hamilton,  Edgar,  Carrie  and 
Walter.  The  great-grandfather  of  Mrs.  Murphy, 
John  Long,  a  native  of  England,  came  to 
America  with  two  of  his  brothers,  Alexander, 
who  settled  in  Massachusetts,  and  William,  who 
located  in  Pennsylvania.  John  Long  came  to 
North  Carolina,  locating  in  Rowan  County,  where 
he  received  a  grant  of  16,000  acres  of  land.  He 
erected  a  frame  house,  having  bricks  brought  from 
England  with  which  to  build  the  chimneys.  He 
was  a  commander  in  the  militia  of  Western  North 
Carolina,  and  was  killed  in  the  skirmish  with  the 
Indians,  in  McDowell  County,  in  1675.  He  mar- 
ried for  his  second  wife  a  Miss  Harrisoif,  through 
whom  the  line  of  descent  was  continued. 

Alexander  Long,  Sr.,  being  an  only  son,  inher- 
ited his  father's  estate,  and  for  many  years  was 
one  of  the  leading  planters  of  Rowan  County,  the 
census  of  that  time  showing  that  he  owned  112 
slaves.  Although  a  graduate  of  Princeton  Col- 
lege, he  did  not  adopt  a  profession,  preferring  to 
devote  his  time  to  agricultural  labors.  He  married 
Susan  Stokes,  a  sister  of  George  Montford  Stokes, 
and  they  reared  thirteen  children.  Dr.  Alexander 
Long  was  born  in  Salisbury,  North  Carolina,  in 
1789.  He  was  graduated  from  the  University  of 
North  Carolina  with  the  class  of  1811,  and  three 
years  later,  in  1814,  received  the  degree  of  M.  D. 
at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Beginning  the 
practice  of  his  chosen  profession  in  Hillsboro, 
Orange  County,  he  remained  there  untU  1818, 
when  he  settled  in  Salisbury,  where  he  built  up  a 
large  patronage,  as  a  physician  being  very  suc- 
cessful. He  died  in  1877,  at  the  venerable  age  of 
ninety  years.  He  married  Mary  Williams,  who 
was  born  in  Petersburg,  Virginia,  being  a  sister 
of  Maj.  Joseph  Williams,  who  won  distinction  as 
a  soldier.     She  died  in  1877,  at  an  advanced  age. 

Walter  Murphy  turned  his  attention  to  the  study 
of  law,  and  was  graduated  from  the  law  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  in  1894. 
Returning  to  Salisbury,  he  immediately  began 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  has  since  been 
an  active  and  prominent  attorney  of  the  city,  his 
legal  success  having  been  assured  from   the  first. 


V  ' 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


145 


Mr.  Murphy  married,  in  1903,  Maude  Horney,  a 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Elizaljcth  Homey,  and 
into  their  home  two  children  have  made  their 
advent,  Spencer  and  Elizabeth. 

Having  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for 
Grover  Cleveland,  Mr.  Murphy  has  since  been  an 
active  and  consistent  supporter  of  the  principles 
of  the  democratic  party,  and  has  taken  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  management  of  public  affairs.  He 
has  rendered  able  service  as  city  attorney,  and 
seven  times  has  he  been  elected  to  represent  Rowan 
County  in  the  State  Legislature,  and  twice  as 
speaker  of  the  House,  an  honorable  record,  of 
which  he  may  well  be  proud,  being  proof  of  his 
popularity  as  a  public-spirited  citizen,  and  of  his 
ability  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs. 
Mr.  Murphy  was  a  delegate  to  the  Democratic 
National  Conventions  of  1912  and  1916. 

Intelligently  interested  in  everything  pertaining 
to  the  advancement  of  the  educational  status  of 
tlie  state,  Mr.  Murphj-  has  been  a  member  of  the 
board  of  trustees  of  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina since  1901,  and  also  one  of  its  executive  com- 
mittee. He  has  served  as  secretary  of  the  Alumni 
Council  of  that  institution,  and  as  secretary  of  the 
Alumni  Association.  The  founder  of  the  Alumni 
Re\  lew,  he  has  always  served  on  the  editorial  staff'. 
From  1907  until  1914  he  was  one  of  the  direc- 
torate of  the  State  Tuberculosis  Hospital. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Murphy  is  a  member  of  An- 
drew Jackson  Lodge,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Order  of  Masons;  of  Salisbury  Chapter,  No.  20, 
Royal  Arch  Masons;  of  Salisbury  Commandery, 
No.  24,  Knights  Templar;  and  of  Oasis  Temple, 
at  Charlotte.  Mrs.  Murphy  is  a  l>irth-right  Quak- 
er, and  ever  true  to  the  faith  in  which  she  was 
reared.  A  keen-witted  and  successful  lawyer,  an 
able  statesman,  and  a  ready  and  fluent  speaker, 
Mr.  Murphy  is  often  called  upon  to  address  large 
gatherings,  whether  of  a  social  or  political  nature, 
and  has  the  happy  knack  of  jjleasing  and  enter- 
taining his  audiences,  as  well  as  giving  them  some- 
thing to  ponder  over. 

Henrv  E.  Faircloth,  though  one  of  the  younger 
men  of  Winston-Salem,  has  found  himself  as  it 
were  in  the  field  of  commercial  endeavor,  and  is 
already  prosperously  located  as  one  of  the  mer- 
chants of  this  city. 

Thougli  his  own  career  has  been  brief  as  to 
years,  he  represents  one  of  the  old  and  well 
known  families  in  this  section  of  North  Carolina. 
He  was  himself  born  on  a  fax'm  near  Advance  in 
Davie  County  December  25,  188.5.  The  founder 
of  the  Faircloth  family  in  North  Carolina  was 
his  ancestor  six  generations  back,  that  is,  his 
great-great-great-grandfather.  This  ancestor  lived 
in  Pennsylvania  and  there  joined  a  colony  of  thirty 
families  to  come  to  North  Carolina.  They  made 
the  removal  down  the  ridge  of  the  Alleghenys 
with  wagons  and  teams.  Nearly  all  of  North 
Carolina  was  then  a  wilderness  and  these  Penn- 
sylvania colonists  had  to  combat  not  only  the 
natural  obstacles  of  a  new  country  but  also  the 
dangers  incident  to  wild  animals  and  wild  In- 
dians. They  located  near  what  is  now  Old  Town 
in  Forsyth  County.  This  ancestor  and  the  founder 
of  the  family  in  North  Carolina  was  a  brave  and 
gallant  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war  and  for 
his  services  was  granted  160  acres.  The  laud  he 
selected  is  in  that  part  of  Stokes  County  now  in- 
cluded in  Yadkin  County.  Thus  the  Faircloth 
Vol.  rv— 10 


family  has  lived  in  this  section  of  North  Carolina 
considerably  more  than  a  century  and  its  mem- 
bers have  been  industrious  and  worthy  leaders 
in  their  respective  communities. 

The  great-grandfather  of  Henry  E.  Faircloth 
was  William  P.  Faircloth  who  was  born  in  Surry 
County,  North  Carolina.  He  owned  and  occupied 
a  farm  in  Yadkin  County.  The  next  generation 
was  represented  by  Thomas  Anderson  Faircloth, 
grandfather  of  Henry  E.  He  was  born  in  Surry 
County,  North  Carolina,  May  1,  1822,  and  at  this 
writing,  February,  1917,  he  is  still  living,  at  the 
remarkable  age  of  ninety-five.  In  his  youth  he 
learned  the  trade  of  bricklayer,  and  in  the  early 
days  of  Winston  was  a  contractor  and  builder. 
Later  he  bought  a  farm  in  Davie  County,  where 
he  now  resides.  For  one  year  he  was  a  soldier 
in  the  Confederate  army.  He  married  Louisa 
Roadhorse,  and  they  reared  children  named  Jacob 
D.,  .John  A.,  James  Edward,  Julia,  Thomas  E., 
Frank  M.,  Sarah  A.,  Mary  and  Anna.  Of  these 
the  son  Jacob  gave  three  years  of  active  service 
to  the  Confederate  cause  during  the  war  between 
the  states. 

James  Edward  Faircloth,  father  of  Henry  E., 
was  born  near  Salem,  North  Carolina,  grew  up  on 
a  farm  and  has  made  farming  his  regular  pur- 
suit and  means  of  livelihood.  He  now  owns  and 
occupies  a  farm  two  miles  from  Advance  in  Davie 
County.  He  married  Cora  D.  McCorkle,  and  they 
became  the  parents  of  four  children,  Clarence  E., 
Henry  E.,  Annie  G.  and  Grace. 

Mr.  Henry  E.  Faircloth  grew  up  on  his  fa- 
ther 's  farm  in  Davie  County,  attended  district 
schools  and  his  experiences  were  limited  to  the  farm 
and  rural  districts  until  he  was  twenty  years  of 
age.  Coming  to  Winston,  he  put  in  four  years 
as  a  street  car  conductor,  but  resigned  that  po- 
sition to  engage  in  merchandising.  He  bought 
an  interest  in  a  general  store  and  since  1912 
has  been  steadily  building  up  a  large  and  pros- 
jieroys  trade  at  400  South  Main  Street  in  Winston- 
Salem. 

lu  1911  Mr.  Faircloth  married  Miss  Mary 
Petree.  She  was  born  in  Salem,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam R.  and  Harriet  Petree.  William  R.  Petree 
was  born  in  a  log  house  near  Mount  Taber  in 
Forsyth  County.  His  grandfather,  Daniel  Petree, 
was  a  farmer  near  Mount  Taber  and  spent  his 
last  years  with  his  son,  Isaac,  in  that  vicinity. 
Daniel  Petree  married  a  widow,  Margaret  Fidler, 
and  they  reared  nine  children.  Jacob  Petree, 
father  of  William  R.,  was  born  near  Mount  Taber 
in  what  is  now  Forsyth  County  in  1827,  grew  up 
on  a  farm,  and  after  his  marriage  bought  a  place 
near  the  old  homestead.  This  land  had  a  set 
of  log  buildings  as  its  chief  improvement,  but  only 
a  few  acres  had  been  cleared.  He  was  busily  en- 
gaged with  the  task  of  developing  the  land  and 
making  a  home  when  the  war  between  the  states 
broke  out.  Giving  up  everything  for  the  cause  of 
the  South  he  entered  the  Confederate  army,  went 
to  the  front,  and  was  soon  captured  by  the  enemy 
and  died  while  a  prisoner  of  war  at  Point  Look- 
out, Maryland.  After  that  the  responsibilties  of 
his  home  and  family  devolved  upon  his  noble 
widow,  whose  maiden  name  was  Henrietta  Celina 
Crouse.  She  was  born  at  Bethabia,  now  known  as 
Old  Town  in  Forsyth  County.  Her  father,  Ben- 
jamin Crouse,  was  a  native  of  the  same  locality 
and  of  German  ancestry,  was  a  tanner  by  trade, 
and  for  several  years  operated  a  tannery  at  Beth- 


146 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


abia,  but  subsequently  moved  to  Stokes  County, 
where  he  spent  his  last  years.  Benjamin  Grouse 
married  Eebecea  Butner,  who  spent  her  entire 
life  at  Bethabia.  Mrs.  Faireloth's  grandmother 
in  the  early  days  cooked  by  the  open  tire  and 
was  skilled  in  those  housewifely  accomplishments 
of  carding  and  spinning  and  weaving.  Mrs.  Ja- 
cob Petree  had  eight  children  to  support  when  her 
husband  went  into  the  Confederate  army,  and  be- 
ing unable  to  keep  her  family  together  in  the 
country  she  removed  to  Salem  and  lived  there 
until  her  death  when  upwards  of  eighty  years  of 
age.  Six  of  her  eight  children  grew  up,  named 
Margaret  R.,  Amanda  M.,  Benjamin,  Mary  Jane, 
Samuel  Newton,  and  William  R.  Margaret  is  still 
living  in  Salem.  William  R.  Petree,  father  of 
Mrs.  Faircloth,  attended  the  Salem  Boys  School, 
but  at  the  age  of  ten  years  began  earning  his 
own  living  as  a  worker  in  a  woolen  mill.  He  con- 
tinued as  a  factory  hand  for  a  nupiber  of  years, 
and  finally  used  his  experience  and  modest  capital 
to  engage  in  merchandising.  Mrs.  Faircloth 's  par- 
ents are  active  members  of  the  Home  Moravian 
Church,  in  which  she  is  also  a  member.  Mr.  Fair- 
cloth retains  membership  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  South  at  Advance.  They  have  one 
daughter,  Venus  Louise. 

< 

Benj.\iiin  Rice  Lacy.  Among  the  men  in 
North  Carolina  who  by  pluck,  energy,  ability 
and  common  sense  have  trampled  obstacles  under 
foot  and  risen  to  places  of  usefulness  and  honor, 
Benjamin  Rice  Lacy  is  easily  conspicuous.  He 
had  the  will  to  rise  and  he  rose.  Fortunately  too 
he  inherited  ability  and  character  from  a  long 
line  of  thoughtful  ancestors,  and  this  combination 
enabled  him  to  fill  and  not  merely  occupy  the 
places  which  his  courage  had  won. 

Mr.  Lacy  is  a  son  of  Rev.  Drury  Lacy,  D.  D., 
and  Mary  Rice  Lacy.  His  father,  after  a  pastorate 
of  eighteen  years  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Raleigh,  was  in  1855  elected  president  of  Dav- 
idson College,  and  administered  the  affairs  of  the 
institution  with  force  and  success  until  the  open- 
ing of  the  Civil  War.  Then  Doctor  Lacy,  with 
the  same  patriotism  which  his  grandsons  are  now 
showing,  went  into  the  Confederate  service  as  a 
chaplain.  The  unaccustomed  hardships  of  the  life 
left  him  at  the  close  of  the  war  virtually  wrecked 
in  health. 

His  sou  Benjamin  was  born  in  Raleigh  in  1854. 
A  child  of  Reconstruction  Days  in  North  Caro- 
lina, when  the  fortunes  of  even  the  wealthiest 
had  been  swept  away,  young  Lacy  was  forced 
by  the  hardness  of  the  times  and  liy  his  father 's 
failing  health  to  enter  active  life  while  still  very 
young.  '  Happily,  however,  he  was  privileged  be- 
fore taking  his  place  with  the  sturdy  young  work- 
ers of  that  generation  to  spend  a  few  years  under 
the  instruction  of  two  of  the  state's  ablest  teach- 
ers, Mr.  R.  H.  Graves  and  Col.  William  Bingham. 
No  boy  could  study  under  two  such  masters  and 
not  consciously  or  unconsciously  have  his  after  life 
enriched  by  their  virility  of  mind. 

After  leaving  school  Mr.  Lacy  entered  the  Sea- 
board Air  Line  machine  shops  at  Raleigh,  subse- 
quently rose  to  be  foreman  of  these  shops.  In  the 
shops  he  learned  to  know  men  and  their  habits  of 
thought,  and  this  acquisition  has  been  a  source 
of  strength  to  him  throughout  his  life.  No  man  is 
quicker  than  he  to  penetrate  the  veneer  of  a  hol- 
low life. 

He  left  the  shops  to   take  up  the   responsibili- 


ties of  a  locomotive  engineer,  and  was  soon  known 
as  one  of  the  most  dependable  and  skilful  engi- 
neers of  the  system.  Seeing  the  opportunities  for 
service  to  his  profession  which  were  offered  by 
the  newly  formed  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  En- 
gineers he  joined  that  organization  and  has  lived 
to  see  his  faith  justified  by  the  wonderful  changes 
for  good  brought  about  by  that  body  in  the 
characters,  standing,  and  general  welfare  of  the 
sterling  body  of  men  who  compose  its  member- 
ship. AVith  his  accustomed  energy  he  was  no  idler 
in  the  Brotherhood  and  his  aptness  for  organiza- 
tion led  to  his  becoming  one  of  its  safe  and 
trusted  leaders.  His  duties  in  the  growing  organi- 
zation broadened  his  sympathies,  widened  the 
range  of  his  thought,  and  made  him  with  his  nat- 
urally warm  heart  quick  to  reach  out  a  brotherly 
liand  to  any  man  whose  misfortunes  or  tempta- 
tions   had    left   him    helpless. 

In  1893  Governor  Elias  Carr  appointed  Mr. 
Lacy  commissioner  of  labor  and  printing.  He  ac- 
cejited  the  office  at  a  financial  sacrifice  with  the 
hope  of  accomplishing  what  he  did  accomplish — 
the  bringing  of  tlie  department  into  closer  rela- 
tionship with  both  laborers  and  manufacturers. 
After  the  close  of  his  term  of  office  Mr.  Lacy  or- 
ganized what  is  now  the  Mechanics  Savings  Bank. 
As  cashier  of  the  bank  he  started  it  on  the  suc- 
cessful career  which  it  has  enjoyed. 

In  1899  the  Legislature,  having  made  a  change 
in  the  method  of  selecting  a  commissioner  of  labor 
and  printing,  unanimously  elected  Mr.  Lacy  to 
that  office,  and  he  served  his  second  term  of  four 
years. 

At  the  general  election  in  1900  he  was  elected 
treasurer  of  the  state  and  took  charge  of  North 
Carolina's  finances  in  1901.  So  satisfied  have  the 
)ieople  been  with  the  administration  of  this  high 
office  that  they  have  reelected  him  four  succes- 
sive times. 

Like  most  men  who  have  to  mingle  with  their 
fellows,  Mr.  Lacy  is  a  member  of  several  orders. 
He  is  treasurer  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Masons, 
maintains  membership  in  the  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics,  and  the  Brotherhood  of 
Locomotive  Engineers.  He  is  an  Elder  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

In  June,  1882,  Mr.  Lacy  married  a  thoughtful 
and  cultured  woman,  Miss  Mary  Burwell,  daughter 
of  Capt.  John  B.  Burwell,  and  granddaughter  of 
Rev.  Robert  Burwell,  D.  D.,  who  were  among  North 
Carolina's  pioneers  in  the  education  of  women. 

Mr.  Lacy  has  seven  children— five  daughters 
and  two  sons.  At  the  opening  of  America's  war 
with  Germany  both  of  the  sons  offered  their 
services  to  their  country.  The  elder,  Rev.  B.  R. 
Lacy,  Jr.,  is  chaplain  of  the  One  hundred  and 
Thirteenth      Fielil      Artillery.  The      younger, 

Thomas  Allen,  volunteered  as  a  private  in  the 
same  company  in  his  nineteenth  year. 

Judge  Edw.\rd  Jenneb  Warben.  In  the  words 
of  Cliief  Justice  Walter  Clark  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Supreme  Court,  "Judge  Edward  J.  Warren 
was  one  of  the  most  forceful  and  able  men  that 
this  state  has  produced."  He  was  a  splendid 
type  of  lawyer  and  also  a  man  of  leadership  in 
public  affairs  at  a  time  when  North  Carolina  stood 
in   greatest  need  of  such  men. 

Though  his  active  career  was  identified  with 
North  Carolina,  he  was  a  native  of  New  England 
and   of   rugged  New   England  ancestry.     Edward 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


147 


Jeimer  Warren  was  born  at  Wardsboro,  Vermont, 
December  23,  1826,  a  son  of  Jolm  Parker  and 
Lucy  Maynard  (Wheeloekj  Warren.  Judge 
Warren  was  of  Puritan  and  patriotic  ancestry. 
Through  four  distinct  lines  Ids  ancestry  goes 
back  to  Revolutionary  soldiers.  His  great-grand- 
father, Nathaniel  Warren,  and  his  graudfatlier, 
Stephen  Warren,  father  and  son,  saw  long  serv- 
ice in  that  war.  His  maternal  grandfather,  Asa 
Wheeloek,  his  maternal  great-grandfather,  Ebe- 
nezer  Read,  and  also  Ebenezer  Cliapin,  another 
great-grandfather  on  his  mother's  side,  were  in 
the  war  for  independence.  Two  of  these  ancestors, 
Stephen  Warren  and  Ebenezer  Read,  were  minute- 
men  at  the  Lexington  alarm.  One  of  his  Wheeloek 
connections  was  Frederick  Eleaser  Wheeloek,  who 
was  president  of  Dartmoutli  College.  Prior  to  the 
founding  of  the  college  Doctor  Wheeloek  had  been 
intensely  interested  in  tlie  education  of  the  In- 
dians and  had  established  schools  for  their  in- 
struction. Probably  these  schools  were  successful 
to  a  degree  in  civilizing  the  savages  but  one 
notable  instance  of  failure  was  the  case  of  the 
infamous  Brandt.  Brandt  was  very  friendly  to 
Doctor  Wheeloek  personally  and  apparently  ap- 
preciative of  his  kindness,  but  his  reversion  to 
savagery  and  his  virulent  hostility  to  the  white 
settlers  added  greatly  to  the  horrors  of  the  Revo- 
lution iu  New  York,  where  he  led  his  Indians  in 
horrible  massacre  and  deeds  of  terror,  familiar  to 
every  American  schoolboy. 

John  Parker  Warren,  father  of  Judge  Warren, 
■was  a  physician  of  prominence  iu  A'ermont  and 
also  a  noted  botanist.  It  is  said  he  had  the  most 
complete  botanical  collection  in  Vermont.  He  also 
assisted  materially  in  writing  Hemenway's  His- 
tory of  Vermont.  Judge  Warren  inherited  nnndi 
of  the  character  and  appearance  of  his  mother, 
who  was  a  woman  of  unusual  beauty,  dignity, 
refinement  and  cultivation. 

Because  of  the  family  affiliation  above  noted 
Judge  Warren  was  educated  at  Dartmouth  College, 
where  he  graduated  in  1847.  After  graduation, 
owing  to  financial  reverses  in  his  family,  he  came 
to  North  Carolina  and  engaged  in  teaching  for  a 
year  or  two,  studying  law  at  the  same  time.  He 
obtained  his  license  to  practice  in  1849  and  settled 
in  the   Town   of  Washington. 

He  early  became  prominent  in  the  bar  and  was 
employed  in  many  important  cases.  One  ease  in 
which  he  was  OJie  of  the  leading  counsel  was  of 
much  notoriety  partly  on  account  of  its  tragic 
ending,  but  mainly  because  of  his  masterly  conduct 
of  the  prosecution  and  scathing  arraignment  of 
the  criminal.  When  the  verdict  was  brought  in 
the  murderer  committed  suicide.  He  had  uiana'^ed 
to  secrete  a  pistol  and  he  endeavored  to  send  Mr. 
Warren  into  eternity  by  tiring  it  point  blank  at 
the  lawyer  's  heart.  The  end  of  this  trial  has  been 
said  to  be  the  most  dramatic  event  which  ever 
occurred  in  a  courthouse  in  North  Carolina.  .Tudge 
Warren  always  deprecated  the  sort  of  prominence 
which  was  accorded  the  affair.  In  the  practice  of 
his  profession  .ludge  Warren  received  large  fees 
but  he  also  did  much  work  for  which  he  charged 
nothing  and  received  nothing.  His  legal  knowl- 
edge was  always  at  the  service  of  his  friends 
without  thought  of  remuneration,  and  though  for 
years  he  stood  among  the  leaders  of  the  state 
bar  he  never  acquired  that  degree  of  wealth  which 
might  properly  have  been  incidental  to  such  a 
high  standing  and  success. 

His    great    intellectual    power    and    leadership 


among  men  are  only  partially  in  his  public  record. 
Reared  in  New  England,  he  was  naturally  a 
Federalist,  and  by  conviction  and  party  affiliation 
was  an  old-line  whig.  In  the  rapid  evolution  of 
Iiolitics  before  the  war  he  was  in  favor  of  pre- 
serving the  Union  if  possible,  because  he  realized 
the  unprepardness  of  the  South  and  knew  from  his 
frequent  visits  to  the  North  the  determined  liitter 
spirit  with  which  that  section  of  the  country 
would  wage  war.  When  all  efforts  failed  he 
voted  for  the  secession  of  his  state.  He  was  elected 
a  memlier  of  the  convention  which  voted  to  secede 
from  the  Union.  After  the  war  he  became  a 
conservative  democrat,  though  it  was  a  difficult 
matter  for  an  old  line  whig  to  call  himself  a  demo- 
crat. He  bent  all  his  energy  to  help  redeem  the 
state  from  radical  rule  and  tlie  horrors  of  Recon- 
struction. He  was  repeatedly  elected  a  member 
of  the  Legislature,  both  of  the  House  of  Commons 
and  of  the  Senate.  He  was  president  of  the 
Senate  at  the  time  the  Governor,  W.  W.  Holden, 
was  impeached.  He  was  appointed  judge  of  the 
Superior  Court  of  North  Carolina  in   1866. 

Early  in  the  war  Judge  Warren  was  elected 
captain  of  a  cavalry  company  raised  by  a  group 
of  his  friends.  There  was  at  this  time  only  one 
vacancy  in  the  two  regiments  of  cavalry  organized 
at  first  by  the  state,  and  another  company  was 
given  the  coveted  jiosition.  While  not  a  member 
of  any  church  Judge  Warren  was  a  sincere  believer 
in  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity. 

At  Washington,  North  Carolina,  May  16,  1849, 
he  married  Miss  Deborah  Virginia  Bonner, 
daughter  of  Col.  Richard  H.  and  Elizabeth  Lee 
(Bowen)  Bonner.  Mrs.  Warren  was  a  beautiful 
woman,  of  fine  intellect  and  vivacious  manners. 
Her  grandfather.  Rev.  Thomas  Bowen,  was  one 
of  the  ])ioneers  of  Methodism  in  North  Carolina. 
Parson  Bowen,  as  he  was  known,  was  converted 
in  Baltimore  under  Whitfield 's  preaching,  and 
immediately  became  a  Methodist  minister.  Mrs. 
Warren's  father  was  in  the  War  of  1812  and 
her  great-grandfather.  Rev.  .James  Adams,  was 
a  chaplain   in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

.ludge  and  Mrs.  Warren  had  two  children,  Lucy 
Wheeloek  and  the  late  Charles  Frederic  Warren, 
whose  distinguished  career  as  a  North  Carolina 
lawyer  has  been  appropriately  sketched  on  other 
pages.  The  daughter,  Lucy  Wheeleek,  now  liv- 
ing at  Washington,  is  the  widow  of  the  late  Wil- 
liam Rodman  Myers,  a  North  Carolina  lawyer  who 
was  at  one  time  associated  in  practice  with  Judge 
Warren. 

Charles  Frederic  Warren.  The  legal  profes- 
sion in  North  Carolina  has  been  honored  by  the 
services  of  three  successive  generations  of  the 
Warren  family.  'the  first  was  .Judge  Edward 
Jenner  Warren,  the  second  was  Charles  Frederic 
Warren,  and  at  the  present  time  a  leading  mem- 
ber of  the  Washington  bar  is  Lindsay  Carter 
Warren. 

In  1914  Judge  S.  G.  Bragaw  in  behalf  of  the 
family  presented  to  the  Supreme  Court  a  portrait 
of  the  late  Charles  Frederic  Warren.  Chief  Justice 
Walter  Clark  in  accepting  the  portrait  said: 
' '  Judge  Edward  J.  Warren  was  one  of  the  most 
forceful  and  able  men  that  this  state  has  produced. 
His  son,  Charles  F.  Warren  lived  scarcely  past  his 
meridian,  but  he  inherited  his  father's  ability 
and  though  he  did  not  live  long  enough  to  render 
the  full  measure  of  service  to  his  state  and  people 
of  which  he  was  capable  he  lived  long  enough  to 


148 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


establish  his  own  fame  aud  to  entitle  him  to  an 
acknowledged  place  among  the  leaders  of  North 
Carolina. ' ' 

Judge  Edward  Jenner  Warren,  his  father,  was 
Ijorn  in  Vermont,  graduated  at  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, and  shortly  afterwards  moved  to  Beaufort 
County,  North  Carolina,  where  later  he  practiced 
law.  He  belonged  to  a  distinguished  family  which 
produced  many  eminent  men  who  had  a  great  part 
in  the  developing  and  shaping  the  destiny  of 
New  England.  In  mind  and  personality  Judge 
Edward  Warren  seemed  to  typify  the  strong,  stern 
aud  rugged  state  from  whence  he  sprang.  Of 
high  character,  deep  purpose,  uncompromising 
will  and  great  intellectual  strength,  he  made  last- 
ing impress  upon  those  among  wliom  he  lived.  He 
soon  took  high  rank  in  his  profession.  In  1862 
he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  and  was  again 
a  member  of  the  Senate  in  1870-71-72  and  its 
president.  In  1866  he  was  appointed  judge  of 
the  Superior  Court  of  North  Carolina. 

Judge  Edward  J.  Warren  married  Deborah  V. 
Bonner.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Col.  Richard 
H.  Bonner  of  Beaufort  County  a  man  of  ability 
and  distinguished  lineage.  Another  daughter  of 
Colonel  Bonner  was  the  mother  of  Associate  Jus- 
tice George  H.  Brown  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
North   Carolina. 

Charles  Frederic  Warren  was  born  in  the  Town 
of  Washington,  Beaufort  County,  September  6, 
1852,  and  had  just  attained  the  full  measure  of 
intellectual  strength  and  power  when  he  died  July 
11,  1904.  When  he  was  ready  to  enter  college 
the  University  of  his  native  state  offered  no 
opportunity  and  in  1869  he  was  sent  to  Washing- 
ton College  at  Lexington,  Virginia,  then  presided 
over  by  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee.  He  was  a  student 
there  when  General  Lee  died,  and  it  is  said  that 
upon  General  Lee 's  death  among  the  papers  left 
by  him  were  examination  papers  of  Charles  F. 
Warren.  Mr.  Warren  graduated  with  high  honors 
in  1873.  Among  his  college  mates  and  associates 
were  a  number  of  men  who  afterwards  attained 
distinction.  Upon  his  graduation,  returning  to 
Washington,  he  studied  law  under  his  father  and 
was  admitted  to  the  North  Carolina  bar  by  the 
Supreme  Court  in  the  June  term  of  1874.  He  at 
once  began  practice  in  Beaufort  County,  associ- 
ated with  his  father.  Judge  Warren,  and  the  late 
Col.  David  Miller  Carter  and  William  Rodman 
Myers,  under  the  firm  name  Warren,  Carter, 
Myers  &  Warren.  After  the  retirement  or  death 
of  the  senior  members  Charles  F.  Warren  suc- 
ceeded to  the  practice  of  the  firm  and  continued 
alone  until  his  death. 

In  1879  he  married  Elizabeth  Mutter  Blount, 
daughter  of  Maj.  John  Gray  Blount,  of  the  family 
referred  to  by  the  late  Gov.  Henry  T.  Clark,  who 
is  quoted  in  Wheeler 's  Reminiscences  as  expressing 
the  opinion  that  "no  family  whose  name  survives 
in  this  state  can  trace  its  origin  back  to  a  period 
so  remote  in  the  history  of  North  Carolina."  At 
the  death  of  Mr.  Warren  he  was  survived  by  his 
widow,  also  his  mother,  his  sister,  Mrs.  William 
Rodman  Myers,  and  by  two  sons  and  two 
daughters.  The  oldest  son,  Frederick  B.  Warren, 
has  gained  high  distinction  as  a  journalist  at 
New  York   City. 

In  addition  to  this  brief  biography  it  is  proper 
to  quote  some  of  the  sentences  from  Judge 
Bra^aw's  address  at  the  time  of  the  presentation 
of   Mr.   Warren 's  portrait. 

"Charles  F.  Warren  was  but  a  boy  when  this 
country  writhed  in  the  mightv  throes  of  civil  war. 


He  would  have  been  a  magnificent  soldier.  No 
man  ever  lived  who  knew  less  of  the  sensation  of 
fear.  He  was  the  bravest  man  I  ever  knew. 
Whether  from  his  association  with  the  greatest 
war  captain  of  all  time,  for  during  the  days  he 
sat  at  the  feet  of  Robert  E.  Lee  he  imbibed  a  love 
of  things  military,  or  whether  he  inherited  the 
instinct  from  his  ancestors  of  New  England  or 
his  Southern  forebears,  one  cannot  know,  but  the 
militant  spirit  was  strong  within  him.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  the  state  had  a  more  thorough 
student  of  the  history  of  the  period  from  1861 
to  186.5,  or  one  more  accurately  informed  other 
than  those  who  took  part  in  the  great  conflict. 

' '  Mr.  Wajren  was  profoundly  interested  in 
politics  and  was  not  without  political  ambition. 
But  it  was  an  ambition  based  upon  the  earnest 
desire  to  be  of  service  to  his  state  and  not  the 
selfish  yielding  to  the  lure  of  ofiice  from  the  mere 
sordid  lust  for  ofiice.  The  term  politician  in  its 
modern  acceptation  had  no  application  to  him.  He 
could  not  dissemble  and  had  supreme  contempt 
for  political  duplicity  and  the  doctrine  of  political 
expediency.  He  formed  and  expressed  his  opinions 
of  men  and  measures  without  thought  of  the  effect 
of  such  expressions  upon  himself.  He  was  mayor 
of  Washington  for  five  years,  1881  to  1886.  In 
1886  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  where  he 
took  first  rank  with  the  ablest  lawj-ers  and  states- 
men in  that  body.  In  1896  he  was  a  delegate  to 
the  National  Democratic  Convention  held  at  Chi- 
cago at  which  William  J.  Bryan  was  nominated  as 
the  party  candidate  for  the  presidency.  In  1898 
the  opportunity  was  given  him  to  accept  the 
nomination  for  Congress  from  the  First  Congres- 
sional District,  the  Hon.  John  Small  having  de- 
clined to  permit  the  use  of  his  name  until  after 
the  nomination  had  been  tendered  to  Mr.  Warren 
and  by  him  refused. 

"In  1899  he  was  unanimously  elected  president 
of  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association,  being  the 
second  i>resident  of  that  organization.  Mr.  War- 
ren 's  administration  of  this  high  ofiice  was  emi- 
nently satisfactory  and  aided  in  strengthening  the 
influence  of  the  association  for  more  progressive 
methods  and  higher  ideals.  To  his  interests,  zeal 
and  admirable  address  as  president  in  1900  should 
be  attributed  the  request  made  by  the  Bar  Asso- 
ciation to  the  Supreme  Court  for  a  restoration  of 
the  requirement  that  a  two  years  course  of  study 
be  a  condition  upon  applicants  for  license  to  prac- 
tice law  in  the  state,  and  that  Sharswood's  Legal 
Ethics  be  added  to  the  course  of  study.  It  is 
gratifying  to  recall  that  both  requests  were 
Iiromptly  granted  by  the  Supreme  Court.  Your 
speaker  recalls  that  previously  he  had  prepared 
and  procured  the  adoption  by  the  local  bar  of 
Beaufort  County  of  a  condensed  Code  of  Ethics 
applicable  to  the  members  of  that  bar. 

"His  address  as  president  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Bar  Association  in  1900  was  on  the  subject 
'  Tlie  Standard  of  Admission  and  Legal  Ethics, " 
and  those  who  heard  or  have  read  it  agreed  that 
no  stronger  appeal  was  ever  made  in  a  worthy 
cause.  To  those  who  knew  Charles  F.  Warren  it 
is  manifest  that  he  wrote  aud  spoke  as  he  prac- 
ticed, that  he  was  expressing  in  precept  the  faith 
that  he  expressed  in  daily  work  and  living. 

' '  For  several  years  preceding  his  death  he 
suffered,  intensely  at  times,  from  an  incurable 
malady  which  ultimately  proved  fatal;  but  with  a 
courage  and  devotion  that  uo  Roman  centurion 
ever  surpassed  and  with  the  fortitude  of  an  ideal 
martvr  he  sat  at  his  desk  dav  after  dav  and  far 


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HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


149 


iuto  the  night  guarding  the  interests  of  his  clients 
and  ceased  from  labor  only  when  the  stricken  and 
weary  body  could  no  longer  respond  to  the  strong 
and  ever  ready  will.  In  the  great  battles  of  war 
wlieu  a  soldier  falls  another  takes  his  place  and 
the  gap  is  closed.  When  Warren  fell,  among  all 
the  worthy  ones  left  there  was  none  to  take  his 
I.lace;  and  it  is  no  disparagement  of  my  brethren 
to  say  the  vacancy  created  when  Oiarles  F.  War- 
ren was  called  remains  today  unfilled. 

"Charles  F.  Warren  was  a  great  lawyer.  All 
size  is  relative.  The  true  measure  of  a  man  and 
lawyer  is  taken  by  comparison  with  his  associates 
and  contemporaries.  'Warren,  in  the  activities  of 
professional  life,  stood  by  the  side  of  or  before 
Judge  W.  B.  Rodman,  Colonel  David  Miller  Carter, 
Hon.  James  E.  Shepherd,  who  later  became  chief 
justice  of  North  Carolina,  Hon.  George  H.  Brown, 
now  a  member  of  this  court.  He  met  in  combat 
and  in  conference  Major  Lewis  Latham,  Gover- 
nor Jarvis,  Thomas  G.  Skinner,  James  Edwin 
Moore  and  W.  D.  Pruden.  And  measured  by  these 
men  of  great  height  he  was  known  among  them 
and  in  comparison  with  them  as  a  great  lawyer 
and  a  strong  man. 

' '  He  was  cautious  and  safe  in  counsel,  giving 
no  opinion  not  fortified  by  authority  searched 
for  and  found.  Earnest,  forceful  and  convincing 
as  a  jury  advocate;  always  frank  and  respectful 
to  the  court;  but  unyielding  and  fearless  in 
demanding  due  consideration  for  liimself  and  his 
cause  by  the  court;  bold  in  presenting  and  plaus- 
ible in  maintaining  his  side  of  a  debated  and 
debatable  question;  quick  at  court  house  repartee, 
and  a  past  master  in  the  art  of  directing  cross 
examination,  he  was  without  a  superior  within  my 
observation  in  the  nisi  prius  court. 

"Yet  nothing  contributed  more  to  his  success 
in  the  trial  of  causes,  with  all  his  skill  and  ability, 
than  his  fixed  habit  of  thoroughness  in  prepara- 
tion. He  left  nothing  to  the  element  of  chance 
or  luck.  He  hunted  for  the  weak  points  of  his 
own  case  with  pitiless  thoroughness  and  prepared 
the  case  of  his  adversary  as  though  it  were  his 
own.  To  investigate  and  master  the  two  sides  of 
a  controversy  thus  and  to  remain  the  partisan 
advocate,  with  keenness  and  zeal  and  courage  un- 
abated, requires  a  mental  fibre  and  a  moral  temper 
precisely  as  rare  as  real  greatness.  In  the  appel- 
late court  this  habit  of  thoroughness  was  apparent 
again.  He  never  concluded  and  completed  the  prep- 
aration of  his  case  till  further  preparation  could 
no  longer  avail. 

"His  energy  and  zeal  in  a  cause  depended  in 
not  the  slightest  degree  upon  the  personality  or 
position  of  his  client.  The  humblest  negro  became 
the  biggest  man  in  the  land  to  Warren  when  that 
negro  's  case  was  in  his  care.  The  strongest  storms 
of  public  clamor  against  his  client  swayed  him  not 
the  slightest  nor  caused  him  to  abate  one  jot  or 
one  tittle  in  the  defense  of  his  cause. 

"He  was  absolutely  honest  with  himself,  his 
neighbor  and  his  God,  and  no  man  ever  had  a 
higher  sense  of  honor.  It  never  occurred  to  any- 
one who  knew  him  to  question  his  word  or  his 
complete  fidelity  to  every  trust. 

"In  1901,  in  his  admirable  address  as  president 
of  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association,  Hon. 
Charles  M.  Stedman,  describing  the  'model 
lawyer, '  said :  '  The  simplicity  of  his  character 
commands  confidence.  He  loves  the  companion- 
ship  of   friends.      He   delights   in   the    society  of 


books.  A  pure  and  irreproachable  private  life 
places  him  above  the  shatt  of  petty  gossip.  He 
is  free  from  any  taint  of  malice,  envy  or  false- 
liood.  He  is  brave  and  chivalrous,  always  respect- 
ful to  but  never  obsequious  to  the  judge.  His 
clients  confide  to  him  their  troubles  with  the  con- 
fidence that  he  will  not  reveal  them.  He  is  fear- 
less when  combating  for  his  client  amid  the  whole 
weight  of  an  irresistible  clamor.  He  is  cool, 
tliough  tried  by  all  means  which  could  overcome 
the  finest  patience.  He  is  cautious  when  prudence 
counsels  reserve.  He  is  aggtfessive  when  the 
moment  for  action  has  arrived.  The  love  of  gain 
does  not  tempt  him.  He  is  learned  in  the  law;  not 
only  in  its  technicalities  but  in  the  tiroad  and  deep 
]irinciples.  He  manifests  and  feels  a  strong 
interest  in  all  that  affects  the  welfare  of  the 
community.  In  advancing  his  client 's  interest  he 
spares  no  laltor  but  is  governed  by  a  supreme 
sense  of  duty.  He  has  an  absolute  scorn  for  every 
artifice  or  trick  by  which  an  undue  advantage 
might  be  gained.  He  fights  his  battles  in  the 
open  field. '  It  is  said  that  later  a  number  of  prom- 
inent lawyers  of  wide  acquaintance  among  the 
members  of  the  bar  of  this  state  were  discussing 
this  address  and  the  question  arose  as  to  what 
lawyer  then  living  the  description  would  most 
accurately  fit.  I  have  heard  that  it  was  agreed 
that  none  came  nearer  to  the  realization  of  this 
ideal  than  Cliarles  P.  Warren.  Prom  an  inti- 
mate knowledge  and  close  observation  of  him  it 
is  my  deliberate  judgment  that  every  sentence  in 
that  description  fits  Charles  P.  Warren,  the  lawyer, 
without  exaggeration. ' ' 

Lindsay  Carter  Warren,  grandson  of  Judge 
Edward  J.  Warren  and  son  of  the  late  Charles 
Frederic  Warren,  was  born  at  Washington,  North 
Carolina,  December  16,  1889.  He  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools,  in  the  Bingham  School  at 
Asheville,  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  February,  1912. 
During  the  five  years  he  has  practiced  at  Wash- 
ington his  ability  and  talents  have  justified  the 
expectations  of  his  friends  as  a  lawyer  who 
individually  will  contribute  something  to  the  lustre 
which  the  name  Warren  has  long  enjoyed  in  the 
legal   profession   of   North   Carolina. 

Mr.  Warren  has  held  the  office  of  county  attor- 
ney of  Beaufort  County  since  1912.  He  was 
elected  and  is  a  member  of  the  State  Senate  for 
1917-18  and  has  been  chairman  of  the  Democratic 
Executive  Committee  of  his  home  county  since 
1912.  In  1917  he  was  appointed  a  member  of 
the  North  Carolina  Code  Commission.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association, 
the  Alpha  Tau  Omega  College  fraternity  and  the 
Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks.  His 
church  is  St.  Peter's  Episcopal  at  Washington. 

January  29,  1916,  Mr.  Warren  married  Miss 
Emily  Harris,  daughter  of  James  H.  and  Annie 
Harris.  Her  father  is  the  sheriff  of  Beaufort 
County. 

.James  D.  Heilig.  A  man  of  pronounced  abil- 
ity and  great  enterprise,  James  D.  Heilig,  of 
Salisbury,  is  endowed  with  at  least  two  substan- 
tial virtues,  perseverance  in  purpose  and  excellent 
business  judgment,  and  is  making  good  use  of  his 
t.alents,  as  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Taylor 
Mattress  Manufacturing  Company,  being  identified 
with  one  of  the  prominent  industries  of  the  city. 


150 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


He  was  born  in  Gold  Hill  Township,  which  was 
the  birthplace  of  his  father,  Paul  Nathaniel  Heilig, 
and  of  his  grandfather,  George  Heilig. 

He  comes  of  pioneer  stock,  his  great-grandfa- 
ther, Michael  Heilig,  who  was  of  German  ancestry, 
having  come  with  two  of  his  cousins  from  Penn- 
sylvania to  Bowan  County  at  an  early  day.  Se- 
curing a  tract  of  land  in  Gold  Hill  Township,  he 
cleared  and  improved  a  homestead,  and  was  thei'e 
engaged  in  farming  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He 
was  a  Lutheran  in  religion,  ami  a  member  of  the 
Organ  Church,  which  w'as  so  called  because  it 
was  the  first  church  in  the  vicinity  in  which  an 
organ  was  placed.  , 

George  Heilig  and  liis  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Furr,  were  life-long  residents  of  Gold 
Hill  Township,  living  and  dying  on  their  farm. 
Both  belonged  to  the  Organ  Cliureh,  and  con- 
tributed of  tlieir  means  towards  its  support. 

Paul  Nathaniel  Heilig  was  reared  to  agricultural 
pursuits,  and  was  prominent  not  only  as  a  farmer, 
but  in  the  public  affairs  of  the  county.  In  early 
manliood  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  which 
at  tliat  time  w-as  a  judicial  office,  and  he  often ' 
presided  at  important  trials.  During  the  progress 
of  the  Civil  war,  he  served  as  colonel  in  the  State 
Militia,  and  as  tithing  man  conscription  officer. 
After  the  war,  he  came  with  his  family  to  Salis- 
Ijury,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the  har<iware  busi- 
ness until  his  retirement  from  active  pursuits,  con- 
tinuing his  residence  in  the  city,  however,  until  his 
death,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  He  was  an 
active  and  useful  member  of  the  Organ  Church, 
and  prominent  in  the  management  of  its  affairs. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Amelia  Miller. 
She  was  of  German  ancestry,  and,  like  lier  parents, 
Daniel  and  Mary  (vSossaman)  Miller,  was  a  native 
of  Cabarrus  County,  North  Carolina.  She  sur- 
vived her  husband,  dying  in  the  eighty-fifth  year 
of  her  age.  She  reared  three  sons,  namely:  John 
G.,  James  D.,  and  A.  Sidney,  now  deceased. 

Having  completed  the  course  of  study  in  the 
public  schools,  James  D.  Heilig  was  a  student  at 
Boanoke  College,  in  Salem,  Virginia.  Later  he 
entered  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  but  hav- 
ing become  nearly  blind,  was  forced  to  leave  that 
institution,  much  to  his  disappointment.  On  re- 
covering his  eyesight,  Mr.  Heilig  was  employed 
as  a  clerk  until  1906,  working  first  in  his  father  's 
establishment,  and  later  in  a  gentlemen's  clothing 
and  furnishing  store.  In  that  year,  with  others, 
Mr.  Heilig  organized  the  Taylor  Mattress  Com- 
pany, and  embarked  in  the  manufacture  of  the 
celebrated  Taylor  Mattresses,  which  he  says,  with- 
out fear  of  contradiction,  are  superior  to  any  other 
manufactured  in  North  Carolina.  He  is  secretary 
and  treasurer  of  the  company,  and  for  the  past 
twelve  years  has  devoted  his  time  and  attention 
to  the  business. 

In  1896  Mr.  Heilig  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Mary  Elizabeth  Thompson,  who  was  born  in  Tyro 
Township,  a  daughter  of  Hon.  C.  M.  and  Mary 
Adelaide  Thompson.  Three  children  have  been 
born  of  their  union,  namely :  Mary  Elizabeth, 
Cliarles  Sydney,  and  James  I).,  Jr.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Heilig  are  members  of  the  Saint  John  Lutheran 
Church,  and  since  1896  Mr.  Heilig  has  been  treas- 
urer of  the  North  Carolina  Lutlieran  Synod.  Po- 
litically Mr.  Heilig  is  a  democrat,  and  though  not 
active  in  party  ranks  always  does  his  duty  at  the 
polls.  Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of  Fultou 
Lodge,   No.    99,    Ancient   Free   and   Accepted  Or- 


der of  Masons;  of  Salisbury  Chapter,  No.  20, 
Boyal  Arch  Masons;  of  Salisbury  Commandery, 
No.  13,  Knights  Templar;  and  of  Oasis  Temple, 
at  Charlotte. 

John  Hugh  King.  Modern  business  requires 
practical  and  thorough  training  in  the  same  de- 
gree as  the  professions  and  sciences.  In  North 
Carolina  there  are  no  institutions  which  afford 
a  better  curriculum  of  practical  business  educa- 
tion than  the  King 's  business  colleges  at  Baleigh 
and  Cliarlotte,  both  of  whicli  were  founded  and 
are  still  conducted  by  John  Hugh  King.  These 
schools  since  they  were  established  in  1901  have 
trained  and  graduated  many  hundreds  of  young 
men  and  women,  and  given  them  a  thorough  prepa- 
ration to  serve  as  a  passport  into  actual  business 
life.  Professor  King  stands  high  among  the  fore- 
most commercial  educators  in  the  country,  and  his 
school  is  one  of  the  strong  units  in  the  educational 
life  of  North  Carolina,  and  consequently  has  its 
appropriate  place  in  a  history  of  the  state. 

Of  southern  birth  and  ancestry,  John  Hugh 
King  was  born  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  March  12, 
1865,  a  son  of  John  Henry  and  Emma  E.  (Den- 
ton )  King.  His  father  was  a  merchant  and 
farmer.  Educated  in  public  schools,  Mr.  King  at- 
tended the  normal  school  at  Madisonville,  Ken- 
tucky, and  was  both  a  student  and  teacher  for 
three  years  in  Grayson  College  at  Whitewright, 
Texas.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  identified 
with  educational  affairs  in  Texas,  teaching  for 
three  years  at  Greenville,  and  in  1891  establish- 
ing King 's  Business  College  at  Dallas.  After 
selling  out  the  school  at  Dallas,  Mr.  King  was 
manager  of  a  business  college  at  Jacksonville, 
Florida,  from  1897  to  1901. 

He  established  King 's  Business  College  at  Ba- 
leigh in  1901  and  in  the  following  year  estab- 
lished a  similar  school  at  Charlotte.  It  is  the 
jiroud  record  of  Professor  King  that  fully  12,000 
students  have  been  under  his  instruction,  and 
most  of  them  were  qualified  for  and  held  positions 
in  the  business  world.  For  several  years  the 
enrollment  in  his  schools  at  Baleigh  and  Char- 
lotte has  aggregated  800  students.  While  the 
King  Business  College  is  an  incorporated  institu- 
tion, all  the  common  stock  is  owned  by  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  King. 

In  the  years  since  its  establishment  King's  Busi- 
ness College  has  accumulated  all  the  facilities  and 
has  been  so  thoroughly  organized  and  systematized 
that  it  affords  every  opportunity  to  the  young 
man  or  young  woman  seeking  a  practical  training 
for  business  life.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  King  are 
active  in  the  departments  of  instruction,  Mrs.  King 
being  connected  with  the  school  acting  as  a 
counselor  and  adviser  to  the  young  women  students. 
The  departments  maintained  are  liookkeeping, 
banking,  penmanship,  English,  Pitman  and  Gregg 
systems  of  shorthand,  and  touch  typewriting.  A 
feature  of  the  school  which  deserves  special  men- 
tion is  that  Mr.  King  has  never  boasted  of  the 
rapidity  with  which  his  students  are  passed 
through  his  school.  His  pride  consists  in  the 
fact  that  his  students,  when  they  have  com- 
pleted their  course,  are  able  to  command  excellent 
positions  and  hold  them,  and  there  are  hundreds  of 
business  men  and  women  throughout  the  South  who 
constitute  by  their  careers  the  best  advertisement 
for  this  institution. 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


151 


Mr.  King  was  first  made  a  Master  Mason  in 
Wm.  6.  Hill  Lodge  No.  218,  Ancient  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons,  August  13,  1906,  at  Ealeigh, 
North  Carolina,  and  on  January  2.3,  1907,  became 
a  member  of  Ealeigh  Chapter  No.  10,  Royal  Arch 
Masons.  He  is  past  high  priest  of  this  chapter, 
having  served  as  high  priest  one  term.  On  Janu- 
ary 25,  1907,  he  became  a  member  of  Enoch 
Council  No.  5,  Royal  and  Select  Masters,  and  be- 
came a  member  of  Raleigh  Commandery  No.  4, 
Knights  Templar,  on  Novemlier  29,  1911.  He 
is  past  eminent  commander  of  this  commandery 
and  when  his  term  of  office  expired  he  was  pre- 
sented with  a  past  commander's  jewel.  On  De- 
cember 8,  1911,  he  became  a  member  of  Oasis  Tem- 
ple at  Charlotte,  North  Carolina.  He  is  a  thirty- 
second  degree  Mason,  being  a  member  of  Wil- 
mington Consistory  No.  4  at  Wilmington,  North 
Carolina.  He  also  belongs  to  the  Knights  of 
Pythias.  Mr.  King  is  a  member  of  the  National 
Association  of  Commercial  Educators  and  of  the 
Rotary  Club  of  Raleigh. 

On  December  24,  1891,  he  married  Miss  Mary 
Colvin,  of  Campbellsville,  Kentucky.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
King  have  two  children:  Olive  Colvin,  now  Mrs. 
Wade  S.  Marr  of  Columbia,  South  Carolina;  and 
Liell  Colvin. 

Mitchell  Lee  Shipman.  From  a  career  as  a 
successful  newspaper  publisher  at  Hendersonville 
and  an  influential  factor  in  the  democratic  party 
in  the  western  jiart  of  the  state,  Mitchell  Lee  Ship- 
man  was  called  to  one  of  the  executive  commissions 
in  the  state  service  in  1905,  when  he  became  as- 
sistant commissioner  of  labor  and  printing.  lu 
1908  he  was  elected  to  full  command  of  that  of- 
fice, was  re-elected  in  1912,  and  in  1916  became  a 
candidate  for  re-election. 

It  was  largely  due  to  his  efficiency  in  bringing 
this  department  to  a  high  standard  of  service  to 
the  state  at  large  that  the  Legislature  in  1915 
placed  the  office  on  the  same  plane  with  other  state 
offices  as  regards  salary.  Concerning  his  accom- 
plishments as  commissioner  of  labor  and  printing 
the  State  Journal  recently  summarized  as  follows : 
' '  The  Department  of  Labor  and  Printing  under 
the  present  commissioner  has  been  made  of  real 
value  to  the  state.  Its  annual  report  is  now  recog- 
nized as  a  most  excellent  exposition  of  North  Caro- 
lina 's  industrial  growth.  The  circidation  of  this 
report  is  practically  world  wide,  and  is  the  prin- 
cipal medium  through  which  the  state's  economic 
progress  is  given  the  world.  The  last  legislature 
enacted  into  law  certain  measures  endorsed  by  Mr. 
Shipman  seeking  to  limit  the  public  printing  and 
to  give  the  department  more  adequate  control  of 
that  printing.  This  alone  will  save  the  state  be- 
tween ten  and  twelve  thousand  dollars  annually. 
In  so  many  ways  and  by  so  many  different  methods 
has  Mr.  Shipman  increased  the  efficiency  of  his 
department  that  to  enumerate  them  all  would  be 
quite  unnecessary.  Suffice  it  to  repeat  them  that 
the  General  Assembly  has  jiroperly  recognized  this 
efficiency  and  the  vastly  increased  importance  of 
the  department  to  the  state,  and  that  this 
efficiency  has  been  attained  during  the  two  terms 
Mr.  Shipman  has  served  the  people. ' ' 

Mitchell  Lee  Shipman  was  born  at  Bowman 's 
Bluff  in  Henderson  County,  North  Carolina,  De- 
cember ?,i,  1866,  a  son  of"  F.  M.  and  Martha  A. 
(Dawson)  Shipman.  He  jjrew  up  in  the  western 
part   of   the   state,   attending   the   public   schools, 


and  early  conceived  a  horizon  of  opportunity  far 
beyond  his  commonplace  surroundings  and  environ- 
ment. 

In-  1891  he  moved  to  Brevard  in  Transylvania 
County,  became  a  teacher  in  that  locality,  studying 
industriously  for  his  own  advancement  at  the  same 
time,  and  also  contributed  to  the  local  weekly  news- 
paper. It  is  said  that  when  he  arrived  at  Brevard 
his  cash  capital  consisted  of  only  $16.  When  the 
newspaper  to  which  he  was  a  contributor  sus- 
pended for  luck  of  funds,  he  was  induced  to  revive 
it  and  thus  originated  The  Hustler,  which  is  now 
the  French  Broad  Hustler  of  Hendersonville,  one 
of  the  most  successful  and  influential  newspapers 
in  Western  North  Carolina,  and  with  Mr.  Shipman 
still  president  of  the  publishing  company.  At  the 
beginning  Mr.  Shipman  had  a  hand  in  practically 
every  detail  of  the  newsjjaper  work,  setting  type, 
writing  news  items  and  editorials,  soliciting  ad- 
vertisements, running  the  hand  press,  and  collect- 
ing the  money. 

,  Having  succeeded  in  building  up  a  good  news- 
paper, he  mo%'ed  it  in  1896  to  Hendersonville,  and- 
made  it  the  official  democratic  organ  of  Henderson 
and  Transylvania  counties,  the  name  then  being 
changed  to  the  French  Broad  Hustler.  That  sec- 
tion of  North  Carolina  has  long  been  a  republican 
stronghold,  and  it  was  around  the  French  Broad 
Hustler  that  a  permanent  democratic  organization 
grew  up,  which  more  than  once  during  the  last 
twenty  years  has  polled  a  majority  vote  for  its 
candidates.  The  French  Broad  Hustler  is  now 
published  from  a  modern  plant,  including  a  power 
press,  a  linotype  machine,  and  a  number  of  em- 
ployes are  now  banded  together  under  the  direction 
of  Mr.  Shipman  in  getting  out  this  paper.  Mr. 
Shipman  is  a  member  of  the  National  Editorial 
Association,  and  has  long  been  active  in  the  North 
Carolina  Press  Association,  which  he  served  twice 
as  first  vice  president,  twice  as  historian,  and  once 
as  president. 

Soon  after  moving  to  Brevard  Mr.  Shipman  was 
appointed  superintendent  of  public  instruction  of 
Transylvania  County,  an  office  he  held  from  1892 
until  1895.  A  change  in  the  system  of  appointing 
county  superintendents,  made  by  the  Legislature 
of  1895,  caused  him  to  be  removed  from  office  dur- 
ing his  second  term.  From  1898  to  1906  Mr.  Ship- 
man  was  chairman  of  the  Henderson  County  Demo- 
cratic Executive  Committee.  He  first  became  chair- 
man during  the  year  when  the  white  supremacy 
campaign  was  being  waged,  and  he  accomplished 
the  remarkable  result  of  lacking  only  fifteen  votes 
of  carrying  Henderson  County  for  his  party.  From 
1899  to  1905  Mr.  Shipman  served  as  calendar  clerk 
of  the  State  Senate.  In  1904  he  was  chairman  of 
the  Tenth  Congressional  District  Committee,  and 
succeeded  in  electing  a  democratic  congressman 
from  the  district.  Mr.  Shipman  has  served  as  vice 
president  of  the  International  Association  of  Labor 
Commissioners  and  chairman  of  its  executive  com- 
mittee. 

Fraternally  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  in 
which  he  is  a  past  chancellor,  the  Royal  Arcanum, 
and  the  Junior  Order  of  United  American  Me- 
chanics. In  May,  1913,  he  was  elected  grand 
master  of  the  North  Carolina  Odd  Fellowship  and 
in  May,  1915,  was  elected  grand  representative. 
During  his  administration  there  occurred  a  revival 
of  Odd  Fellowship  in  North  Carolina,  the  total 
membership  increasing  to  more  than  16,000.     He 


152 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


is  an  active  member  of  the  Baptist  Church  and  in 
1902  served  as  clerk  of  the  North  Carolina  As- 
sociation. 

A  man  who  understands  through  his  own  early 
career  the  hardships  of  poverty,  Mr.  Shipman  has 
always  been  charitably  inclined  and  a  supporter 
of  the  philanthropic  organizations  of  community 
and  state.  He  is  treasurer  of  the  North  Carolina 
Orphans'  Association,  an  organization  for  the  care 
of  orphans  who  have  not  been  admitted  to  the  care 
of  some  institution. 

On  July  12,  1896,  Mr.  Shipman  married  Lula 
Osborne  of  Brevard.  Their  children  are:  Josephine 
M.,  WiUiam  Franklin,  Mitchell  Lee,  Jr.,  and  Dor- 
othy Mae. 

Hon.  Lucius  Virginius  Bassett.  Por  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  North  Carolina  state  democracy 
one  may  need  look  no  further  than  Hon.  Lucius 
Virginius  Bassett,  than  whom  no  more  strong, 
forceful  or  capable  figure  has  arisen  in  Edgecombe 
County  in  the  past  several  decades.  A  lawyer  by 
profession,  he  has  attained  a  commanding  position 
at  the  bar,  where  he  has  been  the  victor  in  many 
hard-fought  legal  battles,  but  his  greatest  service 
to  the  public  has  been  rendered  as  the  incumbent 
of  a  number  of  positions  of  official  importance, 
where  he  labored  faithfully  and  unceasingly  in  the 
interests  of  the  people  's  welfare. 

Senator  Bassett  was  born  at  Tarboro,  North 
Carolina,  March  2,  1861,  and  is  a  son  of  the  late 
William  Amos  and  Chloe  (Miller)  Bassett.  His 
father  was  a  painting  contractor  at  Tarboro,  and 
at  that  place  the  youth  attended  the  public  schools 
and  the  Tarboro  Male  Academy,  following  which, 
in  December,  1877,  he  came  to  Rocky  Mount  and 
became  a  student  in  tlie  George  M.  Liudsey  School. 
Following  the  completion  of  his  education  from 
that  excellent  institution  he  began  working  with 
his  father,  and  in  1883  went  to  Bethel,  North 
Carolina,  where  he  followed  painting  contracting, 
and  while  there  served  as  mayor  for  one  term. 
In  April,  1887,  he  was  called  back  to  Rocky  Mount 
by  the  death  of  his  brother,  and  shortly  afterward 
accepted  a  contract  with  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line 
Railway,  painting  along  its  line  until  January, 
1896.  During  this  time  Mr.  Bassett  had  become 
interested  in  the  law,  and  in  February,  1896, 
entered  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  one  year 
later  being  admitted  to  the  bar.  Since  that  time 
he  has  been  engaged  in  a  constantly  growing  prac- 
tice, which  has  increased  in  importance  in  propor- 
tion to  its  increase  in  size  and  emoluments.  His 
work  is  largely  of  a  corporation  and  advisory 
character,  and,  possessing  in  all  respects  the  ideal 
legal  mind,  and  reinforcing  this  with  tireless 
energy  and  his  natural  high  sense  of  honor  and 
pride  in  the  profound  principles  and  great  tradi- 
tions of  his  profession,  he  has  won  a  command- 
ing position  among  the  most  eminent  members  of 
the  bar  of  Eastern  North  Carolina.  At  present 
Mr.  Bassett  is  attorney  for  the  Bank  of  Rocky 
Mount  and  a  director  of  that  institution,  which  is 
the  oldest  and  most  noted  financial  organization 
of  the  city;  attorney  for  the  Rocky  Mount  Mills, 
the  largest  manufacturing  institution  of  the  city; 
attorney  for  the  Rocky  Mount  Homestead  and 
Loan  Association,  the  oldest  concern  of  its  class  of 
the  city  and  attorney  for  numerous  other  enter- 
prises, in  addition  to  controlling  a  large  practice  of 
a  purely  private  nature.  In  May,  189.5,  he  was 
made  one  of  the  commissioners  of  Rocky  Mount, 
but  resigned  this  office.     He  was  attorney  for  the 


board  of  county  commissioners  of  Edgecombe  for 
six  years,  surrendering  this  position  in  1908,  when 
he  was  elected  to  the  North  Carolina  Senate,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  board  of  elections  for 
Edgecombe  from  its  creation  in  1899  until  his 
first  election  to  the  Senate,  and  chairman  of  this 
board  during  eight  of  the  ten  years  that  he  was 
a  member. 

Senator  Bassett  has  been  prominently  before 
the  people  of  this  county  as  an  able  leader  of  the 
state  democracy  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  In  1892  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Democratic  Central  Executive  Committee, 
which  had  in  charge  the  campaign  of  that  year  in 
Edgecombe,  this  being  the  year  of  a  magnificent 
democratic  victory,  not  alone  in  Edgecombe  but 
in  North  Carolina  and  the  nation,  Grover  Cleve- 
land being  elected  President  for  the  second  time 
and  Elias  Carr  governor  of  North  Carolina.  Ever 
since  that  time  Senator  Bassett  has  l>een  growing 
in  ability,  in  usefulness,  and  in  the  respect  and 
admiration  felt  for  him  by  all  the  people  of  the 
county  and  this  section.  During  recent  years  his 
reputation  has  become  statewide  as  a  safe  and  use- 
ful legislator  and  a  sane  and  effective  leader  in 
the  North  Carolina  Senate.  Elected  first  in  1908, 
he  at  once  took  rank  as  one  of  the  really  liig  men 
in  that  body,  whose  views  were  always  profoundly 
considered  and  whose  opinions  when  exjiressed 
were  always  potent  in  the  delilierations  of  the 
chamber.  Re-elected  in  1910,  his  influence  in  the 
Senate  of  1911  was  an  accentuation  of  his  promi- 
nence in  the  previous  Senate,  and  he  was  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  potential  of  the  group  of 
democratic  leaders  who  shaped  the  important 
legislation  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1911.  He 
was  chairman  of  the  democratic  caucus  of  the 
Senate  and  was  also  chairman  of  the  democratic 
joint  caucus  of  the  Senate  and  the  House,  this 
position  carrying  with  it  the  formal  leadership 
of  the  Legislature.  It  is  a  very  unusual  occurrence 
for  any  one  senator  to  receive  the  honor  of  both 
these  chairmanships.  Chairman  Bassett  was  also 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  the  revisal  and  a 
member  of  the  judiciary  committee;  of  the  com- 
mittees on  appropriations  ami  finance,  the  next 
two  ranking  committees  of  tlie  Senate;  of  the 
committees  on  counties,  cities  and  towns,  legisla- 
tive appointment,  constitutional  amendments, 
insurance  and  of  the  conference  committee  on  the 
part  of  the  Senate  to  consider  and  adjust  the 
differences  between  the  two  houses  as  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  revenue  and  machinery  acts.  Sen- 
ator Bassett  was  also  chairman  of  the  calendar 
committee,  this  being  a  position  of  the  very  great- 
est responsibility,  in  that  it  is  the  province  of  this 
committee  (and  most  of  the  work  devolves  upon 
the  chairman)  to  sift  the  wheat  from  the  chaff 
in  the  last  days  of  the  Legislature,  when  it  is  too 
late  to  refer  the  hundreds  of  bills  awaiting  passage 
to  the  various  committes  in  regular  order.  The 
stamp  of  approval  or  disapproval  put  upon  any 
bill  by  the  calendar  committee  at  this  stage 
almost  invariably  means  the  life  or  death  of  such 
bill.  It  is  a  splendid  tribute  to  the  great  respect 
and  regard  in  which  Senator  Bassett  was  held  by 
his  colleagues  in  the  Senate  that  he  was  made 
chairman  of  this  powerful  committee ;  for  none 
but  the  most  trusted  and  capable  leaders  ever 
receive  this  honor.  He  left  the  Senate  in  1912, 
but  this  by  no  means  ended  his  usefulness  to  the 
public  and  to  this  state,  for  he  was  appointed  by 
Governor  Craig  as  a  member  of  the  commission  on 


NEW  'i 


:  ^.  Jv7^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


153 


revision  of  courts  and  court  procedure,  serving 
with  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark,  of  Raleigh,  W. 
J.  Adams,  of  Carthage,  judge  of  the  Superior 
Court,  William  P.  Bynum,  of  Greensboro,  W.  A. 
Graham,  of  Raleigh,  commissioner  of  agriculture, 
and  W.  S.  Wilson,  of  Raleigh.  In  1916  he  was 
further  honored  when  he  was  offered  a  seat  on 
the  bench  of  the  Superior  Court  by  Governor 
Craig,  but  did  not  accept  this  offer.  He  has  been 
a  member  since  its  organization  in  1901  and  is 
now  secretary  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
graded  schools  of  Rocky  Mount.  Fraternally  he 
is  identified  with  the  Masons  as  an  influential 
member  of  Corinthian  Lodge  No.  230,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  is  a  trustee  of  the 
Masonic  Temjjle,  and  belongs  to  the  Sagamore 
Club.  In  connection  with  his  profession  he  be- 
longs to  the  North  Carolina  and  American  Bar 
associations.  He  is  jiresident  of  the  Rock  Mount 
Bar  Association,  being  its  first  president  and 
member  of  the  United  States  Army  Commission 
of  1918.  During  his  career  as  a  lawyer  he  has 
become  identified  with  a  number  of  business  or- 
ganizations, and  at  this  time  is  president  of  the 
New  South  Development  Company.  At  Rocky 
Mount,  Senator  Bassett  is  an  active  foi'ce  in  Sun- 
day school  work,  and  has  performed  faithfully 
and  diligently  the  full  duties  of  true  manhood 
and  fine  citizenship.  His  forceful  personality  is 
enlisted  in  favor  of  every  proper  cause  as  it  is 
given  liim  to  see  it. 

Eev.  William  Capees  Nokman.  Consecrated 
in  early  life  to  the  Master's  service,  the  late  Rev. 
William  Capers  Norman,  for  many  years  a  prom- 
inent member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Confer- 
ence, was  an  ardent  believer  and  upholder  of  the 
truths  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  his  pure  and  blame- 
less Ufa  having  been  a  testimony  to  his  strong 
and  loving  faith.  A  native  of  North  Carolina,  he 
was  born,  in  1847,  in  Davidson  County,  a  son  of 
Eev.  Alfred  and  Mary  (Eucker)  Norman.  His 
father,  born  in  Plymouth,  Washington  County, 
North  Carolina,  was  converted  when  young,  and 
after  joining  the  North  Carolina  Conference  held 
pastorates  in  several  different  places,  in  each  serv- 
ing the  full  period  of  time  then  allotted  by  the 
Methodist  discipline. 

As  a  young  man,  William  C.  Norman  mani- 
fested decided  religious  tendencies,  and  after  com- 
pleting his  early  education  at  Old  Trinity  CoOege 
he  entered  the  ministry,  being  ordained  at  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Greensboro,  North 
Carolina  Conference.  He  was  at  first  associated 
with  tlie  North  Carolina  Conference,  but  later  lie- 
came  actively  identified  with  the  East  North  Caro- 
lina Conference,  and  served  acceptably  as  a 
minister  in  various  cities  and  towns  of  this  state. 
Among  the  more  important  pastorates  which  Mr. 
Norman  held  we  may  mention  the  following  named : 
the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Raleigh, 
of  which  he  had  charge  two  terms;  the  Second 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  that  city;  the  Cen- 
tenary Church  at  Winston,  where  he  remained  four 
years;  and  Grace  Church,  Wilmington,  North  Caro- 
lina, four  years;  he  also  served  four  years  at  Lewis- 
burg,  North  Carolina;  and  the  pastorate  of  the 
Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Durham. 
He  died  in  1902.  during  the  session  of  Conference 
at  Wilmington,  North  Carolina.  Of  Eev.  Mr, 
Norman  it  can  well  be  said  that  he  bore  fitly  the 
name  of  Christian,  and  also  that  he  possessed  the 
true  charity,  benevolence  and  sympathy  that  won 
the  love  of  all  who  knew  him. 


Mr.  Norman  married  in  1877,  Miss  Sallie  Har- 
grave.  She  was  born  in  Lexington,  North  Carolina, 
at  the  old  Hargrave  home,  which  then  occupied  the 
site  of  the  present  Post  Office  building.  Mrs. 
Norman  is  a  daughter  of  Jesse  Hamilton  ana 
Martha  (Clement)  Hargrave;  grand-daughter  of 
Jesse  and  Elizabeth  Jane  (Lindsay)  Hargrave; 
and  great-grand-daughter  of  Robert  Lindsay,  who 
married  a  Miss  Do  Vane,  and  whose  father,  John 
Lindsay,  was  one  of  the  very  early  pioneers  of 
Guilford  County,  North  Carolina.  On  the  maternal 
side,  Mrs.  Norman  is  a  grand-daughter  of  Jesse  and 
Malinda  (Nail)  Clement.  Mrs.  Norman  is  now 
living  in  Lexington,  her  native  city,  coming  back 
here  after  the  death  of  her  husband  in  order  to  be 
near  her  brothers  and  sisters. 

Charleys  Earl  Johnson.  More  than  forty 
years  ago  Charles  Earl  Johnson  was  a  student  of 
law.  On  account  of  the  death  of  his  father  he 
had  to  give  up  his  ambition  to  become  a  lawyer 
and  find  means  to  support  himself.  Thereby 
his  energies  were  directed  into  the  broad  field 
of  commerce,  while  for  many  years  he  has  been 
a  recognized  power  in  North  Carolina.  It  is  said 
that  Mr.  Johnson  has  done  as  much  to  develop 
water  power  in  this  state  as  any  other  indi- 
vidual, aud  his  influence  and  management  are 
potent  in  many  of  the  large  banking,  industrial, 
and  other  business  affairs  of  Raleigh  and  in  di- 
verse parts  of  this  state  and  South  Carolina. 

A  native  of  Raleigh,  where  he  was  born  August 
13,  1851,  Charles  Earl  Johnson  during  his  youth 
gained  the  equivalent  of  a  liberal  education.  He 
attended  Lovejoy's  Academy  at  Raleigh,  was  also 
under  the  instruction  of  Eev.  Dr.  E.  S.  Mason,  and 
under  his  own  father's  tuition  gained  an  ac- 
quaintance with  both  secular  and  religious  stu- 
dies. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  was  working  as  clerk 
in  a  dry  goods  store.  During  1874-75  he  served 
as  assistant  secretary  of  the  North  Carolina  Sen- 
ate, and  at  that  time  he  was  diligently  pursuing 
the  study  of  law.  In  1876  his  father  died,  and 
forced  him  to  other  fields.  He  entered  the  cotton 
business,  became  connected  with  a  large  cotton 
firm  and  in  1876  established  a  business  of  his  own, 
which  for  years  has  been  the  C.  E.  Johnson  & 
Company,  one  of  the  largest  firms  of  the  kind  in 
the  South. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  iustrumental  in  building  the 
first  cotton  compress  at  Raleigh,  and  one  of  the 
first  in  the  interior  part  of  the  state.  This  com- 
pany has  furnished  large  quantities  of  cotton  to 
the  mills  in  the  state  and  its  export  trade  aver- 
aged  about   150,000   bales   a   year. 

With  his  success  as  a  cotton  merchant  his  influ- 
ence rapidly  spread  to  many  other  important  lines 
of  business.  For  years  he  was  a  director  of  the 
Seaboard  Air  Line  Railroad.  Since  1898,  when 
the  Mechanics  Bank  of  Raleigh  was  established, 
he  has  served  as  its  president,  for  years  was  vice 
president  of  the  National  Bank  of  Raleigh,  is  now 
president  of  the  Raleigh  Banking  aud  Trust  Com- 
pany, president  of  the  Carolina  Ice  Company,  and 
the  Hamlet  Ice  Company,  is  president  of  the  Caro- 
lina Light  and  Power  Company,  the  Yadkin  River 
Power  Com)iany,  the  Asheville  Light  and  Power 
Company,  the  Atlantic  Fire  Insurance  Company, 
and  is  associated  financially  or  otherwise  with 
many  other  local  and  state  organizations. 

Mr.  Johnson  has  never  failed  to  extend  a  liberal 
hand  to  every  movement  designed  to  promote  the 


154 


HISTORY  OF  XOETH  CAROLINA 


prosperity  and  welfare  of  the  capital  city  and  the 
state  at  large.  For  over  twenty  years  he  has 
been  treasurer  of  the  Diocese  of  North  Carolina, 
and  is  active  in  the  work  of  the  Episcopal  Cliureh. 
Governor  Glenn  appointed  him  a  member  of  his 
staff  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Capitol  Club  and  the  Country  Club  at  Ra- 
leigh, and  belongs  to  various  clubs  in  New  York 
City,  Richmond  and  Norfolk,  Virginia.  On  De- 
cember 7,  1876,  he  married  Mary  Ellis  Wilson  of 
Charlotte,  North  Carolina.  Mrs.  Johnson 's  father 
was  Joseph  H.  Wilson,  a  prominent  attorney. 
They  have  three  children :  Mary  Wilson,  wife  of 
Frank  M.  Kimbark,  Toronto,  Canada;  Charles 
Earl,  insurance  and  stockbroker,  thirt^'-five  years 
of  age,  and  first  lieutenant  Company  G,  Fifty- 
second  Infantry;  Fanny  Hines,  wife  of  Morris 
Harriss,   Wilmington,   North   Carolina. 

William  Sydney  Wilson.  One  of  the  very  im- 
portant departments  of  the  state  government  at 
Raleigh  is  the  legislative  reference  department, 
presided  over  by  William  Sydney  Wilson.  Mr. 
Wilson  is  a  lawyer  by  training  and  profession,  and 
has  had  a  long  and  active  relationship  with  public 
and  governmental  affairs  at  Raleigh,  and  conse- 
quently has  at  hip  command  a  great  volume  of 
experience  and  information  in  addition  to  the 
records  of  his  office  which  are  thus  made  available 
to  the  members  of  the  Legislature  in  their  work 
as  lawmakers,  as  well  as  furnishing  much  material 
and  information  to  the  public. 

A  native  of  North  Carolina,  born  in  Caswell 
County  December  29,  1873,  William  Sydney  is  a 
son  of  Robert  Peyton  and  Virginia  Adelaide 
(Travis)  Wilson.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  a  na- 
tive of  North  Carolina,  while  his  mother  was  born 
in  Virginia.  Reared  on  a  farm,  educated  first  in 
the  public  schools  and  afterwards  in  the  Danville 
Military  Institute,  William  S.  Wilson  received  his 
higher  education  in  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, where  he  graduated  in  June,  1899.  He  was 
given  his  license  to  practice  law  in  September, 
1900.  In  August  preceding  he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Legislature,  serving  one  term.  Follow- 
ing that  for  fourteen  years  Mr.  Wilson  was  chief 
clerk  to  the  secretary  of  state,  and  then  with  this 
unusual  experience  took  charge  of  the  legislative 
reference  department  in  1915  and  was  elected  state 
librarian  in  1918. 

As  a  business  man  he  is  also  a  factor  in  the 
City  of  Raleigh,  being  secretary  of  the  Raleigh 
Improvement  Company,  vice  president  of  the 
Raleigh  Building  and  Loan  Association,  and  one 
of  the  organizers  and  since  secretary,  treasurer 
and  manager  of  the  Suburban  Water  Company. 
He  has  served  as  secretary,  vice  president  and 
president  of  the  Raleigh  Country  Club,  and  is  a 
past  exalted  ruler  and  past  district  deputy  of  the 
Benevolent  and   Protective   Order   of  Elks. 

On  June  8,  1909,  Mr.  Wilson  married  Mary 
Walker  Strong  of  Raleigh,  daughter  of  Judge 
George  B.  and  Anna  (Cowan)  Strong. 

Walter  Gwtnn  MacRae.  One  of  the  survivors 
of  the  war  between  the  states,  Walter  Gwynn  Mac- 
Rae of  Wilmington,  has  been  no  less  a  fig)i*:er  of 
the  battles  of  peace;  and  during  his  active  career 
has  enjoyed  many  positions  of  responsibility  and 
trust  in  his  native  state. 

He  was  born  in  Wilmington,  North  Carolina 
on  the  27th  of  January,  1841,  in  the  house  where 
he  still  resides.     He  is  of  Highland  Scotch  ances- 


try. The  Highlanders  of  the  state  have  borne 
conspicuous  parts  in  North  Carolina  history  from 
colonial  times  to  the  present.  Captain  MacRae 's 
gi'andfather  was  born  in  Kintail,  Ross  Shire,  Scot- 
land. His  parents  were  Alexander  and  Anna 
Jane  (Martin)  MacRae,  his  father  a  native  of 
Cumberland  County  and  his  mother  of  Wilming- 
ton. A  man  of  prominence  and  action  in  business 
affairs,  the  father  at  one  time  was  president  and 
superintendent  of  the  Wilmington  &  Weldon  Rail- 
road. 

Mr.  W.  G.  MacRae  was  given  a  liberal  education 
in  keeping  with  the  circumstances  of  the  family. 
He  was  educated  in  private  schools  at  Wilming- 
ton later  graduated  at  the  English  High  School, 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  receiving  the  Franklin 
medal,  and  from  there  entered  the  Dane  Law 
School  of  Harvard  University.  While  in  that 
school  the  Civil  war  began  and  all  the  southern 
students  returned  home.  Henry  MacRae,  a 
brother,  became  major  of  the  Eighth  North  Caro- 
lina Infantry  and  died  in  service.  Robert  B. 
MacRae  became  major  of  the  Seventh  North 
Carolina  State  Troops;  was  twice  desperately 
wounded  and  died  shortly  after  the  close  of  the 
war.  William,  a  third  brother,  became  a  brigadier 
general  in  Lee 's  army.  Roderick  was  a  lieuten- 
ant in  the  Eighteenth  North  Carolina  Infantry. 
Still  another  brother,  who  died  a  short  time  before 
the  outbreak  of  the  war,  was  Archibald,  a  captain 
conmiander  in  the  United  States  Navy. 

W.  G.  MacRae  first  enlisted  in  the  Eighteenth 
North  Carolina  Infantry.  He  was  then  assigned 
to  duty  in  the  heavy  artillery  at  Fort  Fisher, 
and  following  that  was  with  McNeill 's  Company 
of  Partisan  Rangers  in  the  cavalry  branch.  With 
that  troop  he  participated  in  a  number  of  skir- 
mishes in  North  Carolina.  His  hardest  service 
he  saw  as  lieutenant  of  Companj'  C  of  the  Seventh 
North  Carolina  Infantry,  Lane 's  Brigade,  A.  P. 
Hill's  Division,  .Jackson's  Corps,  in  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia.  With  his  company  he  was  in 
the  battle  of  Mine  Run,  Fredericksburg,  Chan- 
cellorsville  and  Gettysburg.  In  the  last  moment 
of  the  fight  at  Gettysburg  he  was  wounded, 
taken  to  the  hospital  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  and 
later  home;  and  after  reco%'ery  rejoined  his  com- 
mand and  was  promoted  to  captain  of  Company 
C.  During  the  last  battle  of  the  Wilderness  Cap- 
tain MacRae  was  captured  by  the  Federal  troops. 
He  was  sent  to  Fort  Delaware  prison,  and  from 
that  fortress  he  was  one  of  the  six  hundred  Con- 
federate prisoners  who  were  taken  to  Morris  Island 
and  put  under  fire  from  their  own  batteries  in 
retaliation  for  alleged  mistreatment  of  some  of 
the  northern  prisoners. 

For  an  account  of  this  see  Clark 's  History  of 
North  Carolina  Regiments,  volume  4,  page  712. 

On  returning  to  Wilmington  he  took  up  the 
threads  of  civil  life  as  an  employe  of  the  Weldon 
railroad.  For  a  time  he  was  ticket  agent,  pay 
master  on  the  road  and  had  charge  of  the  supply 
department;  later  he  was  promoted  to  general 
freight  agent  for  the  Wilmington  &  Manchester 
Railroad,  and  also  helped  survey  the  line,  which 
was  a  short  cut  between  Wilson  and  Florence. 
Later  he  was  in  charge  of  survey  and  construction 
of  the  Nashville  branch  from  Rocky  Mount  to 
Nashville,  North  Carolina.  Part  of  the  time  after 
the  war  he  spent  as  treasurer  and  superintendent 
of  the  Wilmington  Cotton  Mill.  This  was  the 
first  plant  in  the  South  to  manufacture  64x64  cot- 
ton  print   cloth. 

Captain  MacRae  in  1898  was  elected  sheriff  of 


M^.ThiUiCui. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


155 


New  Hanover  County.  Later  lie  served  as  mayor 
of  Wilmington,  am!  for  several  years  vras  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  tlie  James 
Walker  Memorial  Hospital.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  and  a  member  iu  good  stand- 
ing of  St.  John  's  lodge  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons. 

Though  this  record  is  brief,  it  is  sutficieut  to 
indicate  Captain  MacBae's  honored  position  and 
service  during  a  lifetime  of  more  than  three 
quarters  of  a  century  in  his  native  state. 

Hon.  John  Gideon  Hill  Mitchell.  The 
Mitchell  family  in  western  North  Carolina  have 
always  been  identified  with  those  substantial  in- 
terests and  vocations  which  make  a  prosperous  and 
contented  state  and  community.  Mr.  Mitchell,  who 
now  lives  at  Walnut  Cove  in  Stokes  County,  has 
had  a  very  long  and  active  career,  much  of  the 
time  spent  in  public  affairs,  and  also  as  a  farmer 
and  farm  manager. 

He  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Beaver  Island  Town- 
ship of  Stokes  County  October  22,  1839.  The 
Mitchells  are  largely  of  Scotch  ancestry.  His 
grandfather,  Hugh  Mitchell,  was  so  far  as  known  a 
life  long  resident  of  Stokes  County,  had  a  large 
plantation,  and  before  the  war  employed  numerous 
slaves  to  cultivate  it.  He  married  Annie  Davis, 
whose  father,  James  Davis,  was  a  wealthy  Stokes 
County  farmer. 

Hon.  William  A.  Mitchell,  father  of  John  G.  H. 
Mitchell,  was  born  in  Stokes  County  in  November, 
1796.  He  was  reared  in  a  time  when  not  so  much 
thought  was  given  to  public  education  as  in  modern 
times,  but  he  made  the  best  of  his  opportunities 
and  for  a  number  of  years  was  a  successful 
teacher.  He  early  became  interested  in  public  life, 
served  as  justice  of  the  peace  a  number  of  years 
and  was  elected  to  represent  Stokes  County  in  the 
Legislature  in  1842  and  1844.  He  bore  an  in- 
fluential part  in  the  Legislature  of  that  interesting 
epoch  in  North  Carolina 's  history.  By  inheritance 
he  had  three  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  subse- 
quently added  to  that  by  purchase  and  became  a 
very  successful  farmer.  He  owned  slaves  and  he 
continued  to  live  on  his  farm  until  his  death  m 
his  eighty-second  year.  William  A.  Mitchell  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Wilson,  who  was  born  in  Stokes 
County  in  1798.  Her  grandfather,  William  Wilson, 
was  a  native  of  Ireland  but  of  Scotch  ancestry  and 
married  Prudence  Hamilton,  a  native  of  Scotland. 
They  came  to  America  in  Colonial  times,  landing 
at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  subsequently  locating  in 
Patrick  County  of  that  state,  and  from  there  com- 
ing to  Stokes  County,  North  Carolina.  Elizabeth 
Wilson's  father  was  Elder  John  L.  WOson,  who 
owned  and  occupied  a  farm  in  Beaver  Island 
Township,  where  he  lived  untO  his  death  at  the  age 
seventy-eight.  He  was  an  elder  in  the  Primitive 
Baptist  Church  and  was  very  active  and  iniluential 
in  upholding  the  cause  of  religion  and  morality  in 
his  community.  He  married  Rebecca  Vaughan,  who 
died  when  upwards  of  seventy  years.  William  A. 
Mitchell  and  wife  reared  ten  children:  Ann  Eliza, 
Rebecca,  Nancy  Jane,  Martha,  William,  Benjamin, 
Mason,  Minerva,  John  G.  H.  and  Mary.  The  only 
survivors  of  this  family  are  Mason  and  John  G.  H. 
Mason  was  lieutenant  in  Company  H  of  the 
Twenty-second  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops, 
in  the  war  between  the  states,  and  in  the  battle  of 
Seven  Pines  was  severely  wounded.  He  carried  the 
b'dlet  in  his  Icf  for  about  forty  years.  He  was 
also  wounded  at  Gettysburg. 

John  Gideon  Hill  Mitchell  grew  up  on  the  old 


plantation  of  his  father  and  had  all  the  advantages 
which  a  family  of  means  and  social  position  could 
supply.  He  attended  school  regularly  in  his  youth, 
and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  began  a  career  as  teacher. 
As  a  teacher  he  was  exempt  from  military  service 
in  the  war  between  the  states,  his  work  being  con- 
sidered more  useful  in  that  capacity  than  as  a 
soldier  in  the  ranks.  However,  he  performed  much 
service  besides  teaching.  He  was  elected  justice  of 
the  peace,  and  in  1863  was  elected  registrar,  au 
office  he  held  two  years.  In  1865  Mr.  Mitchell  was 
elected  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court,  and  filled  that 
position  three  years.  In  1870  another  public  honor 
came  to  him  when  he  was  elected  representative  iu 
the  Legislature,  and  he  was  re-elected  in  1872. 
In  1875  Stokes  Coimty  chose  him  as  register  of 
deeds,  and  he  was  continued  in  that  office  by  re- 
election for  a  period  of  eleven  years. 

During  all  this  time  he  lived  at  the  old  home- 
stead and  looked  after  its  management.  He  suc- 
ceeded to  the  ownership  of  the  land  formerly 
operated  by  his  father,  and  by  the  purchase  of 
other  tracts  acquired  a  splendid  estate,  which  he 
still  owns.  In  1912  Mr.  Mitchell  went  to  Florida 
and  invested  in  some  of  the  lands  of  that  state. 
Since  1913  he  has  lived  retired  at  Walnut  Cove 
and  owns  one  of  the  pleasant  homes  of  that  town. 

Mr.  Mitchell  was  married  in  1907  to  Nannie 
Scales,  who  was  born  in  Rockingham  County, 
North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Effie 
(Webster)  Scales.  Mrs.  Mitchell  died  in  1913, 
the  mother  of  four  children,  named  Bessie,  Mary, 
Rebecca  and  John  G.  H.,  Jr.  Mr.  Mitchell  has 
been  almost  a  life  long  member  of  the  Primitive 
Baptist  Cliurch. 

Joseph  James  Lane  McCullers,  M.  D.  With 
the  exception  of  two  years  Doctor  McCullers  has 
served  as  county  physician  and  quarantine  officer 
of  Wake  County  continuously  since  1900.  He  still 
keeps  his  home  at  the  old  family  seat  of  McCul- 
lers in  Wake  County,  and  from  that  town  his 
services  have  radiated  over  a  wide  territory  as  a 
physician  and  surgeon  during  the  past  thirty 
years. 

He  was  born  at  tlie  old  homestead  in  Wake 
County  March  18,  1851.  His  parents  were  John 
Joseph  I;ane  McCullers  and  Willia  Richardson 
(Nance)  McCullers.  His  father  was  a  Wake 
County  farmer.  Doctor  McCullers  grew  up  at 
the  old  homestead,  attended  the  public  schools, 
and  in  1886  graduated  from  the  College  of  Phy- 
sicians and  Surgeons  at  Baltimore,  Maryland.  He 
at  once  returned  to  his  old  home  and  began  the 
general  practice  which  has  continued  steadily 
since  1886.  In  1898-1900  he  served  as  coroner  of 
Wake  County,  and  was  then  chosen  to  the  official 
responsibilities  which  he  now  holds. 

Doctor  McCullers  organized  and  served  as  the 
first  president  of  the  Wake  County  Medical  So- 
ciety, and  since  1886  has  been  a  member  of  the 
North  Carolina  Medical  Association.  He  has 
been  surgeon  of  the  Norfolk  and  Southern  Railway 
since  that  line  was  constructed  and  also  of  the 
Raleigh  and  Cape  Fear  Railroad.  Besides  his 
large  practice  and  official  responsibilities  Doctor 
McCullers  owns  some  fine  farming  land  and  gives 
considerable  time  to  its  management  and  culti- 
vation. He  has  always  been  an  active  democrat 
and  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church. 

On  February  16,  1881,  he  married  Miss  Alice  B. 
Perkinson  of  Wake  County.  They  are  the  par- 
ents   of   five    daughters,    all   of   whom   have   been 


156 


HISTORY  OF  XORTII  CAROLINA 


college  trained.  Mary  is  Mrs.  W.  B.  Hobby,  wife 
of  a  farmer  and  stockman  at  Culpepper,  Virginia; 
Claudia  B.  is  the  wife  of  N.  L.  Simmons,  an  at- 
torney at  Washington,  North  Carolina;  Alice  is  a 
teacher  in  this  state;  Josie  is  a  member  of  the 
class  of  1917  in  the  State  Normal  School  at 
Greensboro;  and  Evelyn  is  a  member  of  the  class 
of  1918  in  the  state  normal. 

James  Yadkin  Joyneb.  For  the  past  twelve 
years  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction  in 
North  Carolina,  James  Yadkin  joyner  has  long  been 
recognized  as  one  of  the  men  of  light  and  leading 
in  educational  affairs  in  the  Old  North  State.  He 
began  his  active  career  as  a  teacher,  turned  from 
it  to  follow  what  he  believed  was  his  real  voca- 
tion, the  law,  but  after  a  few  years  gave  it  up  and 
returned  to  his  first  choice. 

Born  at  Yadkin  College,  Davidson  County,  North 
Carolina,  August  7,  1862,  he  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Sallie  A.  (Woot.cn)  Joyner.  His  ancestors  came 
from  England  and  from  Germany.  His  grandfa- 
ther, .John  Joyner,  was  a  prominent  citizen  of  Pitt 
County,  served  in  the  Senate  of  the  state  five  terms 
and  was  one  of  tlie  two  delegates  from  that  county 
to  the  constitutional  convention  of  1835. 

James  Y.  Joyner  prepared  for  college  in  the 
LaGrange  Academy,  entered  the  University  of 
North  Carolina  in  1878,  and  was  graduated  Bach- 
elor of  Philosophy  in  1881.  He  was  at  that  time 
nineteen  years  of  age.  He  soon  afterwards  took 
up  public  school  work,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty 
was  made  principal  of  the  LaGrange  Academy.  He 
subsequently  was  superintendent  of  the  public 
schools  of  Lenoir  County.  While  thus  engaged  he 
took  up  the  study  of  law  in  private  offices,  and  in 
1886  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  Mr.  Joyner  prac- 
ticed at  Goldsboro  until  1889,  and  during  that 
time,  from  1887  to  1889,  served  as  chairman  of  the 
board  of  education  of  Wayne  County. 

Eealizing  that  school  work  was  the  vocation 
calling  forth  his  best  powers  and  the  one  most 
congenial  to  his  tastes,  he  gave  up  a  promising 
practice  as  a  lawyer  and  accepted  the  superintend- 
ency  of  the  Goldsboro  graded  schools.  In  1893 
he  resigned  tliat  position  to  become  professor  of 
English  in  the  North  Carolina  Normal  and  In- 
dustrial College  at  Greensboro. 

In  1902  Governor  Aycock  appointed  him  state 
superintendent  of  public  instruction  to  fill  a  va- 
cancy and  in  1904  he  was  regularly  elected  and 
has  been  the  choice  of  the  people  for  that  position 
up  to  the  present  time.  During  these  years  he 
has  done  much  to  imjirove  the  standards  of  the 
public  school  system  throughout  North  Carolina, 
has  been  a  real  leader  in  educational  progress,  and 
his  administration  is  likely  to  stand  for  many 
years  as  an  impressive  epoch  in  North  Carolina 
education. 

In  1896  he  was  elected  president  of  the  State 
Teachers'  Association.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  Baptist  University  for 
Women  at  Raleigh,  and  since  its  organization  has 
served  as  secretary  or  president  of  the  State  Su- 
perintendents' Association.  During  1899-01  he  was 
director  of  the  Colored  Agricultural  and  Me- 
chanical College  at  Greensboro.  At  the  same  time 
he  served  as  an  alderman  of  that  city.  In  1901 
he  was  chairman  of  the  North  Carolina  Text  Book 
Commission.  Since  1902  he  has  been  ex-otficio 
chairman  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Normal 
and  Industrial  College,  and  in  1906  was  elected 
president  of  the  North  Carolina  Summer  School  at 
Raleigh.      He   was   elected    president    of   the   Na- 


tional Education  Association  in  1910  and  has 
served  as  secretary  of  the  board  of  trustees  of 
that  association  since  1912. 

In  1887  Professor  Joyner  married  EfSe  E. 
Rouse  of  LaGrange,  North  Carolina.  They  have 
two  children:  James  N.,  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  and  William  T.,  who 
is  also  an  alumnus  of  North  Carolina  State  Uni- 
versity. 

Samuel  Timothy  Nicholson,  M.  D.  One  of 
Washington's  physicians  and  surgeons  for  more 
than  a  third  of  a  century.  Dr.  Nicholson  has  em- 
ployed his  professional  skill  in  many  ways  to 
serve  the  public  welfare  and  his  name  has  been 
associated  with  much  that  is  substantial  in  his 
community's  affairs. 

Dr.  Nicholson  was  born  in  Halifax  County, 
North  Carolina,  December  2.5,  1855,  son  of  Major 
Blake  Baker  and  Lucy  (Thorn)  Nicholson.  His 
early  life  was  spent  in  the  period  of  the  war  and 
the  years  of  depression  immediately  following,  but 
he  acquired  partly  through  liis  own  efforts  a  liberal 
education.  He  attended  school  at  Warrenton  and 
the  John  Graham  High  School,  from  which  he 
entered  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons, 
now  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of 
Maryland,  where  he  was  graduated  M.  D.  in 
March,  1881.  Doctor  Nicholson  located  soon  after- 
ward at  Washington,  North  Carolina,  and  through 
all  the  subsequent  years  has  been  a  general  practi- 
tioner of  medicine.  He  was  formerly  superin- 
tendent of  health  of  Beaufort  County,  and  from 
1882  to  1902  was  United  States  Examining  Sur- 
geon. For  one  year  lie  was  surgeon  in  chief  of 
the  S.  R.  Fowle  Memorial  Hospital,  then  resign- 
ing, but  is  now  one  of  the  Surgical  Board  of  the 
liospital.  He  is  well  known  among  medical 
fraternities,  being  a  member  of  the  Beaufort 
County,  First  District  and  North  Carolina  Medi- 
cal societies.  Doctor  Nicholson  is  chairman  of  the 
lioard  of  trustees  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  of  Washington.  On  July  4,  1876, 
the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  he  married  Miss  Annie  E.  Lucas, 
of  Washington,  daughter  of  Jesse  B.  and  Eliza- 
lieth  (Sasswell)  Lucas.  Her  father  was  for  many 
years  a  merchant  and  banker.  Doctor  and  Mrs. 
Nicholson  became  the  parents  of  fourteen  chil- 
dren, eight  of  whom  are  now  deceased.  Those 
living  are:  Dr.  John  L.;  Lucile,  wife  of  Henry 
Clay  Carter,  Jr.,  an  attorney  at  law;  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  Dr.  Louis  Mann,  a  dentist;  Annie  E., 
Neck ;  Winifred  E.  Taylor,  a  farmer  of  Scotland 
Neck;  Winifred  Wiggins,  still  at  home;  and 
Carlotta,  wife  of  Harold  J.  Washburn,  of  Ossing, 
New  York. 

John  Warrick  Thomas.  Standing  prominent 
among  the  brave,  energetic,  far-seeing  and  opti- 
mistic pioneers  who  contributed  liberally  toward 
redeeming  the  western  central  portion  of  North 
(-'arolina  from  its  primitive  wildness  was  John 
Warrick  Thomas,  noteworthy  as  the  founder  of 
the  present  prosperous  city  of  Thomasville.  A 
native  of  this  state,  he  was  born  in  June,  1800,  in 
Guilford  County,  a  son  of  David  Thomas. 

David  Thomas  was  born,  without  doubt,  in 
Pennsylvania.  In  early  manhood,  soon  after  the 
close  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  he  came  to  North 
Carolina  and  bought  a  tract  of  land  on  Reedy 
Creek  in  Guilford  County,  near  the  present  site 
of  Gibsonville.  He  labored  industriously,  and  on 
the   homestead   which    he   improved   spent   his   re- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


157 


maining  days.  He  reared  three  cliiliheii:  John 
Warrick,  the  special  subject  of  this  sketch;  Jen- 
nie, wlio  married  Shadi-ach  Lambetli :  and  Polly, 
who  became  the  wife  of  Silas  Lambeth. 

Migrating  from  Guilford  County  to  what  is  now 
Davidson  County,  John  Warrick  Thomas  purchased 
1,500  acres  of  wild  land,  a  large  tract  that  in- 
cluded the  present  site  of  Thoniasville.  He  en- 
gaged in  farming,  with  the  help  of  slaves,  and 
with  characteristic  enterprise  established  a  cop- 
per mill  three  miles  south  of  Thoniasville,  and 
ojierated  it  successfully  a  number  of  years. 

Ever  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand  toward  the 
development  of  beneficial  projects,  Mr.  Thomas 
was  one  of  the  larger  stockholders  of  the  Nortli 
Carolina  Railroad,  and  it  was  entirely  through 
his  influence  that  its  route  was  extended  through 
Davidson  County.  He  built  under  contract  5% 
miles  of  the  road,  and  when  it  was  completed 
there  was  held  in  Thoniasville  a  grand  celebra- 
tion, Mr.  Thomas  furnishing  an  ox  and  a  sheep 
for  the  barbecue. 

A  leader  in  the  administration  of  public  af- 
fairs, Mr.  Thomas  represented  his  county  in  the 
State  Legislature  for  upwards  of  thirty  years. 
He  was  a  whig  in  politics  until  the  formation  of 
the  republican  party,  when  he  became  one  of 
the  most  earnest  of  its  supporters.  He  was  a 
thorough  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  protection  for 
American  industries,  and  the  country  's  prosperity 
under  the  protective  system  bears  visible  proof 
of  his  wisdom  and  sound  judgment. 

Mr.  Thomas  married  Mary  Lambeth,  and  of  the 
ten  children  born  of  their  union,  three  are  now- 
living,  namely:  John  W. ;  Pleasant  C. ;  and  Mary 
J.,  wife  of  John  G.  Cramer. 

Robert  Lee  Stone.  Three  generations  of  the 
Stone  family  have  been  identified  with  the  com- 
munity in  Rockingham  County  known  as  Stone- 
ville.  The  principal  mercantile  enterprise  of  that 
village  is  carried  on  by  Robert  Lee  Stone,  whose 
father  was  the  main  factor  in  establishing  the 
first  store  that  gave  prominence  to  this  particular 
locality. 

This  branch  of  the  Stone  family  was  estab- 
lished in  America  by  George  Stone,  a  native  of 
England,  w-ho  came  with  his  three  brothers  to  this 
country,  all  of  them  young  men.  They  first  lo- 
cated on  land  that  is  now  included  in  the  site 
of  the  famous  Bull  Run  Battlefield  in  Virginia. 
Three  of  the  brothers  subsequently  went  west 
and  their  descendants  are  now  found  in  different 
states.  George  Stone  remained  in  Henry  County. 
Virginia,  married  a  Miss  Spencer,  and  both  died 
there.  They  had  four  children,  Nancy,  Sally,  Polly 
and  John. 

John  Stone  was  born  in  Henry  County,  Virginia, 
and  when  a  young  man  removed  to  Rockingham 
County,  North  Carolina.  He  bought  land  a  mile 
from  the  present  site  of  Stoneville.  His  land 
extended  on  both  sides  of  the  Mountain  Run 
Creek.  This  property  had  been  sadly  neglected 
by  its  previous  owners,  the  house  being  in  a  di- 
lapidated condition.  Under  his  ownership  the 
house  was  repaired,  the  wet  land  was  (Trained,  and 
in  course  of  time  he  had  a  plantation  in  a  high 
state  of  cultivation.  He  lived  there  until  his 
death  in  1872,  when  about  eighty-two  years  of 
age.  He  married  Matilda  Roberts.  She  was  born 
in  Mayo  Township  of  Rockingham  County,  daugli- 
ter  of  Henry  Roberts,  a  farmer  and  planter  wlio 
spent  his  life  in  that  community.     Matilda  Stone 


died  in  1884.  She  had  eight  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters: James  Madison,  John  Henry,  Thomas,  Piuk- 
ney  M.,  Francis  J.,  Elizabeth  A.,  William,  Jack- 
son L.,  Washington  and  Loula.  Four  of  tliese  sons 
were  Confederate  soldiers.  John  Henry  died  while 
in  the  service  and  William  died  from  the  ef- 
fects of  wounds  received  at  Gaines  Mills,  Virginia. 
Jackson  L.  was  in  Company  F  of  the  Forty-fifth 
North  Carolina  Troops,  and  after  the  war  suc- 
ceeded to  tlie  ownership  of  the  old  homestead.  He 
died  July   15,  1918. 

Francis  J.  Stone,  father  of  Robert  L.,  was  born 
on  a  farm  a  mile  from  Stoneville,  was  accustomed 
to  agricultural  methods  from  early  youth,  and  at- 
tended a  log  school  in  the  community.  This 
schoolhouse  was  frequently  described  by  him  to 
Iiis  children.  It  had  no  seats  excejit  rough  slabs 
elevated  from  the  floor  by  wooden  pins,  and  there 
were  neither  backs  nor  desks,  the  only  desk  being 
a  plank  laid  along  one  side  of  the  wall.  The 
building  had  no  floor  and  was  heated  by  a  rough 
fireplace.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  Francis  .J. 
Stone  went  to  Henry  County,  Virginia,  and  for 
one  year  clerked  in  tlie  general  store  of  Reed 
Ayers.  In  1857  his  brothers  Pinkney  and  Thomas 
erected  a  brick  building  at  the  ju-eseut  site  of 
Stoneville.  It  was  the  first  structure  erected  on 
that  townsite.  In  the  employ  of  his  brothers 
Francis  went  to  Richmond  to  buy  a  stock  of  goods. 
In  the  absence  of  railroads  this  merchandise  was 
hauled  from  Danville  with  wagon  and  team.  Francis 
clerked  for  his  brothers  until  1862,  when  he  enlisted 
in  Company  H  of  the  Forty-fifth  North  Carolina 
Infantry.  After  a  few  months  he  was  granted  dis- 
charge from  the  army  in  order  to  take  charge  of 
his  father-in-law's  plantation  and  give  service 
oqually  valuable  in  raising  supjdies  for  the  Con- 
federacy. When  the  war  was  over  he  resumed 
merchandising,  opening  his  first  stock  with  a  cap- 
ital of  only  .$35.  However,  his  previous  experi- 
ence enabled  him  to  secure  ample  credit.  He  con- 
tinued merchandising  with  increased  success  un- 
til 1892,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son.  After 
that  he  lived  retired  until  his  death  in  March, 
1904.  He  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the 
Primitive  Baptist  Church.  He  married  Martha 
Dalton.  Her  father,  Capt.  Billy  Daltou,  was 
an  extensive  planter  and  slave  owner,  his  plan- 
tation being  IV2  miles  west  of  Stoneville.  Captain 
Dalton  married  Nancy  Jones,  of  Ridgeway,  Henry 
County,  Virginia.  Martha  Stone  died  in  1882,  the 
mother  of  five  children :  Cornelia,  John  F.,  William 
J.,  Cora  E.  and  Robert  Lee.  The  father  married 
for  his  second  wife  Mary  Sue  Roberts,  and  by  that 
marriage  had  one  son,  Buford  R.,  who  is  located 
in  Reidsville,  North  Carolina,  and  manager  of  the 
George  Washington  Life  Insurance  Company  of 
Charleston,  West  Virginia,  for  North  Carolina. 

Robert  Lee  Stone  was  born  in  his  father's  home 
at  Stoneville  in  1871,  and  after  making  the  best 
of  such  advantages  as  were  supplied  by  the 
Stoneville  schools  he  pursued  his  studies  in  the 
Leaksville  High  School  and  the  Oak  Ridge  Insti- 
tute. In  the  fall  of  1890,  at  the  age  of  nineteen, 
he  began  a  steady  job  clerkiug  for  his  father,  arid 
in  1892  succeeded  to  the  business,  he  and  R.  T. 
Stone,  a  third  cousin,  buying  the  stock  and  good 
will.  His  father  gave  him  $1,000  of  the  amount. 
In  1900  Mr.  Stone  bought  his  partner's  interest 
and  has  since  continued  as  sole  proprietor  of  the 
establishment. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  married  Miss  Sallie 
L.   Claybrook.     She   was  born   near   Stoneville,   a 


158 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


(laughter  of  Jasj)er  and  Mary  Fleming  (Smith) 
Claybrook.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stone  have  three  sons: 
Eobert  Boaz,  Carl  B.  and  Otis  C.  Roliert  married 
Marie  S.,  a  daughter  of  W.  A.  Newlierry,  of  Bland, 
Virginia,  May  8,  1916,  and  has  a  danghter  eigliteen 
montlis  old,  named  Mildred  Marie,  and  a  son,  Wil- 
liam Larry,  horn  August  15,  1918.  The  son  Carl 
enlisted  in  the  United  States  Navy  at  tlie  age  of 
seventeen  and  saw  active  service  one  year  on  the 
battleship  Arkansas.  He  is  now  connected  with 
the  Baldwin-Felts  Detective  Agency  of  Norfolk, 
Virginia. 

Two  daughters,  Mamie  and  Nellie  Stone,  are 
tlie  only  survivors  of  Pinkney  M.  Stone 's  family. 
They  now  live  in  Baltimore,  to  which  place  they 
moved  with  their  mother  and  one  older  sister  and 
one  brother,  after  their  father 's  death.  The 
mother  was  Miss  Alice  Gosnell  of  that  city. 

John  Mary  Shbrrod  Salsbubt  is  one  of  the 
comparative  newcomers  to  High  Point,  and  is  a 
successfxd  young  business  man  and  one  of  the  ex- 
ecutive oflScers  in  an  industry  that  is  one  of  the 
group  of  furniture  factories  wliich  gives  impor- 
tance to  this  city  among  the  manufacturing  com- 
munities of  the  South. 

Mr.  Salsbury  was  born  on  a  farm  adjoining 
Hamilton  in  Martin  County,  North  Carolina.  His 
father,  Richard  Brinkley  Salsbury,  a  native  of  the 
same  county,  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  army 
when  onl}'  seventeen  years  old.  He  was  in  service 
with  his  regiment  until  the  close  of  the  war  and 
then  took  up  general  farming  and  merchandising 
at  Hamilton,  where  he  had  his  home  until  liis 
death  at  the  age  of  forty-seven.  He  married 
Mary  Elizabeth  Shcrrod,  who  was  born  in  Martin 
County,  daughter  of  John  M.  and  Mary  (Best) 
Sherrod.  The  Slierrods  were  among  the  pioneers 
of  Martin  County,  and  their  descendants  are  now 
numerous  and  widely  scattered.  Mrs.  Richard  B. 
Salsbury  also  died  at  the  age  of  forty-seven,  and 
only  two  of  her  children  are  now  living,  John 
Mary  Sherrod  Salsbury  and  Sallie,  tlie  latter  the 
wife  of  Robert  Hodgin  of  Greensboro. 

John  Mary  Slierrod  Salsbury  was  educated  in 
his  native  locality  and  was  prepared  for  college 
in  the  schools  of  Hamilton  and  was  a  student  in 
Wake  Forest  College.  After  completing  his  edu- 
cation he  was  in  the  mercantile  business,  and  thus 
learned  the  details  of  merchandising.  For  a  time 
lie  was  an  independent  merchant  at  Hamilton,  but 
finally  took  up  farming  on  the  old  homestead.  In 
1913  Mr.  Salsbury  came  to  High  Point,  and  for 
two  years  was  a  traveling  salesman.  He  was  tlipn 
chosen  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Ideal  Table 
Company,  and  has  had  much  to  do  with  the  suc- 
cess and  prosperity  of  this  industry. 

In  1904  he  married  Miss  Mary  Louise  Baker, 
who  was  born  at  Hamilton,  daughter  of  Charles  H. 
and  Mollie  (Sherrod)  Baker.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sals- 
bury have  four  children,  Richard  Brinkly,  Charles 
Baker,  Mary  Louise  and  John  Mary,  Jr.  Mr.  Sals- 
bury is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  while 
his  wife  belongs  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South. 

Virgil  Otis  Parker.  After  graduating  at  Wake 
Forest  College  in  1896  Mr.  Parker  taught  school 
at  Morehead  City,  Smithfield  and  Clyde.  The 
work  of  the  school  room  not  being  congenial  he 
gave  this  up  and  came  to  Raleigh  in  1902  and 
entered  the  real  estate  and   insurance  business. 

The  most  marked  achievement  in  connection  with 
his    real    estate    work    was    the    development    of 


Cameron  Park,  which  is  regarded  by  many  as  one 
of  the  most  attractive  suburban  residence  sec- 
tions of  the  south.  His  most  earnest  efforts,  how- 
ever, were  made  in  connection  with  tenement  con- 
ditions in  the  City  of  Raleigh.  When  Mr.  Parker 
first  began  his  work  as  rental  agent  the  tene- 
ment houses  of  Raleigh  were  far  from  being  at- 
tractive. By  persistent  efforts  he  succeeded  in 
getting  the  greater  part  of  the  poorer  houses  put 
in  good  condition.  In  many  instances  when  the 
owners  could  not  be  induced  to  make  proper  re- 
pairs he  bought  the  property  outright  in  order 
that  he  might  put  the  houses  in  comfortable  shape. 
Led  on  by  his  efforts  general  improvements  were 
made  all  over  the  city,  and  now  tenement  condi- 
tions in  Raleigh  compare  favorably  with  any 
town  in  the  state. 

For  about  ten  years  Mr.  Parker  has  given  spe- 
cial care  to  state  mission  work  in  the  Baptist 
Church  of  wliich  he  is  a  member.  When  America 
joined  the  war  against  Germany,  he  was  made 
chairman  of  the  Young  Men 's  Cliristian  Associa- 
tion work  for  the  Fourth  Congressional  District, 
and  conducted  these  campaigns  successfully. 

Mr.  Parker  was  born  in  Wake  County,  1871. 
In  1899  he  married  Miss  Annie  Rose  of  Smith- 
field.  They  have  one  child,  Miss  Jose]ihine  Parker. 
Having  been  reared  in  the  country  Mr.  Parker  still 
finds  his  chief  recreation  in  walking  the  fields  and 
woods  on  the  farm  where  he  was  reared  and  which 
he  now  owns  and  cultivates. 

Hon.  Walter  Clark,  chief  justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  North  Carolina,  and  without  ques- 
tion one  of  the  foremost  jurists  of  the  South,  is  a 
native  son  of  North  Carolina  with  a  long  and  dis- 
tinguished record  of  service  as  a  soldier,  lawyer, 
judge,   student   and   author. 

Born  in  Halifax  County,  North  Carolina,  Au- 
gust 19,  1846,  he  is  a  son  of  David  and  Anna  M. 
(Tliorne)  Clark.  As  a  boy  he  attended  school  at 
the  Horner  and  Graves  Academy  and  at  the  Hllls- 
lioro  Military  Academy.  Early  in  1861,  when  only 
fourteen  years  of  age,  he  was  one  of  a  number  of 
cadets  sent  to  Raleigh  at  the  request  of  the  gov- 
ernor to  assist  in  drilling  tlie  recruits,  then  being 
enlisted  in  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy.  He  him- 
self enlisted,  and  in  spite  of  liis  youth  distinguished 
himself,  and  by  merit  was  promoted  until  at  the 
age  of  seveuteen  lie  was  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the 
Confederate  army.  He  was  the  youngest  officer 
of  this  rank  in  either  the  southern  or  northern 
army. 

With  the  close  of  liis  military  service  he  en- 
tered the  University  of  North  Carolina,  where 
he  graduated  A.  B.  and  in  1867  was  given  the 
degree  A.  M.,  while  in  1888  he  became  a  LL.  D. 

In  1868  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  since 
then  has  devoted  himself  to  his  congenial  and 
valuable  life  profession.  He  was  in  active  practice 
until  188.5,  when  he  was  elected  judge  of  the  Su- 
perior Court.  In  1889  he  was  elected  a  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  has  been  a  member  of 
that  court  now  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  een- 
turv.  He  has  been  chief  justice  since  January  1, 
190.3. 

Judge  Clark  has  been  an  extremely  busy  man 
and  when  not  engaged  b.y  the  duties  of  his  court 
he  is  usually  in  his  study  working  upon  some  his- 
torical or  legal  treatise  or  on  his  farm  in  Halifax 
County,  where  he  finds  both  pleasure  and  recupera- 
tion. Judge  Clark  is  an  author  of  national  reputa- 
tion.     He    annotated    the    ' '  Code    of    Civil    Pro- 


P^^-^tS^^fh-^tf-^-'^t^^^rT^ . 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


159 


eediiie, ' '  third  edition,  and  compiled  and  edited 
"North  Carolina  State  Records,"  sixteen  volumes, 
published  from  1894  to  1897,  and  is  also  author 
of  ' '  Histories  of  North  Carolina  Begiments  in  the 
Civil  War, ' '  published  in  five  volumes.  He  has 
issued  reprints  of  all  volumes  of  ' '  North  Carolina 
Supreme  Court  Reports  with  Annotations,"  from 
volumes  1  to  164  inclusive,  edited  the  article  Ap- 
peal and  Error  in  the  Cyclopedia  of  Law  and  Pro- 
cedure, and  has  been  a  frequent  contributor  to 
magazines  of  legal  and  historical  articles.  He 
translated  from  the  original  French  ' '  Constant 's 
Memoirs  of  Napoleon,"  in  three  volumes,  published 
in  1895. 

On  January  28,  1874,  Judge  Clark  married  Susan 
W.  Graham,  now  deceased.  Her  father  was  W.  A. 
Graham,  at  one  time  governor,  United  States  sen- 
ator, and  secretary  of  the  navy.  Judge  Clark  has 
two  daughters  and  five  sons :  Mrs.  J.  E.  Erwin  of 
Morganton;  Miss  Eugenia  Clark  of  Raleigh;  David 
Clark,  editor  of  the  Textile  Manufacturer;  W.  A. 
Graham  Clark  of  Boston;  John  W.  Clark  of  Dur- 
ham; Walter  Clark,  Jr.,  and  Thorne  Clark,  both 
of  Raleigh. 

Charles  Henry  Wood.  Nothing  can  be  more 
true  than  that  individuals  differ  in  their  natural 
endowments.  When  circumstances  can  be  so  com- 
manded as  to  direct  a  career  along  natural  lean- 
ings, undoubtedly  a  fuller,  more  satisfactory  life 
is  lived  than  otherwise.  Every  community  has 
examples  of  misplaced  activities,  as  it  also  has  of 
unusually  successful  efforts.  In  the  banking  field, 
as  in  others,  these  differences  may  be  noted. 
Banking  often  looks  to  a  youth  as  he  is  faced 
with  the  necessity  of  choosing  a  career  as  a  dig- 
nified and  usually  renumerative  business.  At  any 
time  one  may  visit  the  different  departments  of 
a  large  city  bank  and  note  the  scores  of  young 
men  showing  weariness  as  they  toil  over  the  great 
'books  of  the  institution,  and  a  thoughtful  onlooker 
can  but  wonder  how  many  of  them  have  the 
accuracy,  the  mathematical  talent,  the  unlimited 
patience  this  work  of  cold  ' '  numbers ' '  entails, 
without  considering  the  other  necessary  qualifica- 
tions, that  will  lead  them  from  desk  to  desk  until 
they  reach  the  heart  of  the  bank,  the  cashier 's 
cage.  A  young  man  must  have  business  genius 
to  succeed  in  this  line. 

Among  the  banking  institutions  of  Cliowan 
County,  none  have  a  higher  rating  or  a  greater 
list  of  satisfied  patrons  than  the  Citizens  Bank  of 
Edenton,  of  which  Charles  Henry  Wood  is  first 
cashier.  Mr.  Wood  's  banking  experience  has  prac- 
tically covered  the  entire  period  of  his  business 
life,  and  with  all  the  commercial  enterprises  with 
which  he  is  connected  his  financial  talents  have 
received  official  recognition.  For  twelve  years  he 
has  been  a  resident  of  Edenton,  and  during  this 
time,  both  in  business  and  in  civic  affairs,  has 
demonstrated  sound  financial  knowledge  and  un- 
usual  grasp   of  business. 

Charles  Henry  Wood  was  born  in  Pasquotank 
County,  North  Carolina,  December  .1,  1874.  His 
parents  were  Henry  Clay  and  Malinda  (Harris) 
Wood.  His  people  were  farmers  and  he  was 
reared  in  the  vicinity  of  Elizabeth  City,  first 
attending  a  private  school,  later  the  pulilic  schools 
and  subsequently  Elizabeth  Academy.  His  profi- 
ciency in  mathematics  led  Mr.  Wood  to  decide 
upon  a  commercial  life  and  he  entered  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Elizabeth  City  as  assistant  book- 
keeper,   very    soon    afterward    being    promoted    to 


head  bookkeeper,  in  which  capacity  he  continued 
with  the  bank  for  six  years. 

Mr.  Wood  by  this  time  had  learned  much  about 
the  banking  business  and  found  sueli  environment 
congenial,  so  that  when  he  visited  Shreveport, 
Louisiana,  he  entered  the  Commercial  National 
Bank  in  that  city  and  continued  until  he  became 
associated  with  J.  W. 'Atkins  in  cotton  and  general 
merchandising  at  Atkins,  Louisiana,  where  he  re- 
mained two  years.  On  his  return  to  North  Caro- 
lina, Mr.  Wood  went  with  the  Hertford  Banking 
Company,  at  Hertford,  where  he  continued  until 
1905.  In  1905  he  came  to  Edenton  and  in  the 
same  year  was  elected  first  cashier  of  the  Citizens 
Bank,  which  otfice  he  still  holds.  He  is  treasurer 
of  the  Wilkes  Veneer  Company  and  has  additional 
interests. 

Mr.  Wood  was  united  in  marriage  on  November 
12,  191.S,  to  Miss  Edith  Foster  Bond,  who  was 
liorn  at  Edenton,  North  Carolina.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Henry  A.  and  Emma  C.  (Hudgins) 
Bond.  Her  father  was  engaged  in  the  fishing 
business. 

In  political  matters  Mr.  Wood  takes  a  good 
citizen 's  interest  as  a  public  <luty  and  ever  since 
locating  here  has  lent  his  influence  to  promoting 
the  city 's  best  interests.  As  an  able  business  man 
and  trustworthy  one  he  was  elected  treasurer  of 
the  city  and  is  still  serving.  He  belongs  to 
Ilnaniniity  Lodge  No.  7,  Ancient  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons,  Edenton,  of  which  he  is  past 
master,  and  to  the  Chowake  Club,  of  which  he  is 
treasurer.  He  is  also  a  member  and  treasurer  of 
the  Baptist  Church  at  Edenton. 

Col.  MARCELLTJ.S  Eugene  Thornton.  The  City 
of  Hickory  in  Catawba  County  has  no  more 
interesting  citizen  than  Colonel  Thornton.  He  has 
long  been  prominent  in  business  and  industrial 
affairs  and  has  been  perhaps  mainly  responsible 
for  the  development  of  electrical  power  in  this 
section  of  the  state.  But  business  is  not  his  only 
field  and  interest.  He  practiced  law  for  a  number 
of  years,  and  was  a  boy  soldier  of  the  Confederacy. 
He  is  a  member  of  a  prominent  and  aristocratic 
old  Southern  family,  and  has  the  literary  tastes 
and  interests  of  so  many  Southerners  and  has 
turned  his  attention  to  authorship  not  without 
credit  and  distinction. 

Colonel  Thornton  was  born  in  Pike  County, 
Georgia,  in  1848,  a  son  of  Capt.  Simeon  Willis 
and  Mary  Roby  (Ford)  Thornton.  Capt.  S.  W. 
Thornton  was  also  born  in  Pike  County,  Georgia, 
a  son  of  Elijah  Thornton  and  grandson  of  Wiley 
Thornton.  Elijah  Thornton  died  young  and  Cap- 
tain Thornton  was  reared  in  the  home  of  his 
grandfather  Wiley  Thornton.  Wiley  Thornton  was 
an  aristocratic  gentleman  of  English  ancestry  and 
had  come  to  Pike  County,  Georgia,  from  Virginia. 
He  was  a  man  of  unusual  dignity  and  bearing. 
The  Thornton  ancestors  arrived  in  America  about 
the  same  time  with  the  ancestors  of  Washington, 
to  whom  they  were  related. 

Simeon  Willis  Thornton  was  married  in  1847 
to  Miss  Mary  Roby  Ford,  formally  of  Warren 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
Ford  of  that  county,  and  a  relative  in  the  ma- 
ternal line  of  the  Castlebury  family  of  Warren 
County.  In  1853,  Capt.  S.  W.  Thornton  re- 
moved from  Milner,  Pike  County,  Georgia,  to 
Atlanta,  where  his  children  were  reared.  Before 
the  war  he  served  as  a  railroad  conductor.  Though 
opposed  to  secession  he  enlisted  in  the  Confederate 


160 


HISTORY  OF  XORTH  CAROLINA 


army  when  the  war  broke  out.  He  had  already 
had  some  military  training  as  a  member  of  the 
Fulton  Dragoons  of  Atlanta,  and  with  that  organi- 
zation ho  became  a  part  of  Cobb 's  Legion  in  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  At  the  battle  of 
Yorktown  he  was  badly  disabled  and  after  coming 
home  on  furlough,  Governor  Brown  commissioned 
him  a  captain  of  the  Georgia  State  Eeserve  In- 
fantry. In  that  capacity  he  assisted  in  the  de- 
fense of  Atlanta.  His  home  in  that  city  was  oc- 
cupied by  the  family  during  the  siege  of  Atlanta, 
and  was  not  abandoned  by  them  until  it  was 
being  ruined  by  the  artillery  fire  of  Sherman's 
forces.  Captain  Thornton  after  the  war  resumed 
railroad  work  and  was  kiUed  in  a  railroad  acci- 
dent in  1870. 

Mareellus  Eugene  Thornton's  earliest  recollec- 
tions are  of  his  home  city  of  Atlanta.  He  was 
only  fourteen  years  of  age  when  he  managed  to  get 
himself  accepted  into  the  Confederate  service  at 
Atlanta.  His  otEcers  considered  him  too  young 
to  bear  arms,  and  he  was  consequently  assigned 
to  a  position  in  the  commissary  department.  His 
duties  there  required  him  to  travel  over  various 
sections  of  the  South,  and  his  duties  were  largely 
for  the  requisition  of  supplies  for  the  army.  Thus 
' '  he  did  his  bit ' '  during  the  war  in  spite  of  a 
youthfulness  which  gives  him  an  almost  unique 
distinction  among  the  soldiers  on  both  sides  in 
that  conflict.  The  title  of  colonel  he  enjoys  not 
from  his  Confederate  service  but  through  his  posi- 
tion with  that  rank  on  the  staff  of  two  governors 
of  Georgia. 

Prior  to  the  war  Colonel  Thornton  had  at- 
tended school  at  GrifBn,  Georgia.  He  resumed  his 
studies  in  that  town  after  the  war  and  also  studied 
law  there.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  October 
22,  1867,  in  Henry  County,  Georgia,  and  in  1868, 
went  to  the  State  of  Alabama  and  for  several 
years  practiced  law  successfully  at  Gadsden  and 
in  other  towns  in  the  judicial  circuit  of  which 
Gadsden  was  the  center.  He  was  looked  upon  as 
a  lawyer  of  rising  renown,  but  was  finally  com- 
pelled to  give  up  active  practice  on  account  of  an 
affliction  of  an  asthmatic  nature.  For  some  years 
Colonel  Thornton  lived  at  Washington,  D.  C,  and 
handled  the  responsibilities  of  a  position  in  the 
Interior  Department. 

In  1881  Colonel  Thornton  married  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Camp  (Denison)  Eutherford.  Her  first 
husband,  John  Rutherford,  Jr.,  of  Burke  County, 
North  Carolina,  was  member  of  a  wealthy  and  in- 
fluential family  of  the  state.  Colonel  Thornton 's 
wife  died  at  their  home  in  Hickory,  North  Carolina, 
in  May,  1916. 

After  his  marriage.  Colonel  Thornton  returned 
to  his  old  home  at  Atlanta,  Georgia.  For  some 
years  he  was  engaged  in  the  newspaper  business, 
being  one  of  the  editors  of  the  old  Atlanta  Herald, 
and  a  partner  of  the  late  Gen.  Isaac  W.  Avery, 
in  the  ownership  of  that  paper.  In  the  meantime 
having  acquired  valuable  interests  in  Burke  and 
Catawba  counties,  North  Carolina,  Colonel  Thorn- 
ton removed  to  the  state  in  1892,  and  for  over 
twenty-five  years  his  home  has  been  at  Hickory. 
Much  of  his  time,  however,  has  been  spent  in 
looking  after  his  business  interests,  largely  in 
Kentucky.  He  had  mucli  to  do  with  the  develop- 
ment and  the  management  of  the  coal  business 
in^  Kentucky  operated  by  the  Main  Jellico  Moun- 
tain Coal  Company,  a  company  that  was  engaged 
both  in  mining  and  shipping  coal.  The  headquar- 
ters of  the  company  were  in  Kensee,  "Whitley 
County.     Of  this  company   Colonel  Thornton  was 


both  president  and  general  manager  for  a  number 
of  years. 

It  was  Colonel  Thornton  who  promoted  the 
Water  Power  Electric  Company,  a  North  Carolina 
corporation  of  which  he  is  now  president.  He 
was  formerly  president  of  the  Thornton  Light  and 
Power  Company  of  Hickory.  The  Water  Power 
Electric  Company  owns  a  fine  water  power  site 
on  Colonel  Thornton  's  land  on  the  Catawba  Kiver, 
four  miles  above  Hickorj-.  For  several  years 
Colonel  Thornton  has  given  his  chief  time  and  at- 
tention to  this  project.  When  the  development 
work  is  completed  it  will  result  in  a  hydro-electric 
power  plant  of  9,000  •  primary  horse  power. 
The  project  also  includes  the  building  of  a  great 
electric  furnace  for  manufacturing  steel  direct 
from  the  manganese  and  other  ores  on  another 
property  owned  by  Colonel  Thornton  in  Catawba 
County,  twelve  miles  below  Hickory. 

On  account  of  his  prominent  connection  with 
electrical  power  interests.  Colonel  Thornton  is  a 
member  of  the  Jovian  Order,  and  a  member  of  the 
National    Electric   Light   Association. 

Abnost  from  childhood  Colonel  Thornton  has  as- 
sociated with  men  of  distinction  in  various  walks 
of  life.  His  literary  work  has  been  pursued  as  a 
diversion  and  means  of  recreation  chiefly.  Two 
works  of  fiction  have  been  published  with  his  name 
on  the  title  page.  The  first  came  out  in  1899 
under  the  title  "My  Buddie  and  I,"  and  the  sec- 
ond publislied  in  1901  is  "The  Lady  of  New 
Orleans. ' '  Colonel  Thornton  now  has  in  manu- 
script an  epic  poem,  "Our  Immigrant."  All  his 
writings  have  a  distinctive  literary  flavor,  and 
show  not  only  the  skill  of  the  technical  writer, 
but  the  imagination  which  gives  vitality  to  every 
literary  production.  Colonel  Thornton  has  a  rec- 
ollection rich  in  personal  reminiscences,  and  those 
reminiscences  themselves  would  constitute  litera- 
ture of  the  finest  kind  if  committed  to  writing. 
As  a  youth  he  knew  personally  such  great  southern 
characters  as  Alexander  Stephens,  Gen.  Robert 
Toombs,  the  two  Governor  Browns,  father  and 
son,  of  Georgia,  Gen.  Isaac  W.  Avery  the  journ- 
alist and  historian,  Henry  W.  Grady,  Joel  Chandler 
Harris  and  many  others.  Colonel  Thornton 's 
younger  brother  Mr.  Scott  Thornton,  now  deceased, 
had  a  stage  career  and  achieved  no  little  dis- 
tinction as  a  tragedian. 

F.  Eugene  Hester.  When  Mr.  Hester  was 
graduated  from  the  law  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina  in  1910,  he  at  once 
attacked  with  characteristic  vigor  the  problems  of 
building  up  a  professional  reputation  and  handling 
with  success  such  interests  as  were  entrusted  to 
his  charge,  and  in  the  subsequent  years  has  gained 
rank  as  one  of  the  very  able  and  skillful  attorneys 
of  the  Wake  County  bar. 

He  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, July  22,  1879,  and  spent  his, early  days  on 
a  farm.  His  parents  were  William  Henry  and 
Louie  Virginia  (Goswick)  Hester.  As  a  boy  he 
attended  the  country  schools,  also  the  Wendell 
High  School,  and  spent  three  years  in  the  literary 
department  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 
He  afterwards  returned  to  the  university  to  take 
his  law  course,  and  on  gaining  admission  to  the 
bar  located  at  Raleigh.  He  has  since  practiced 
there  and  at  Wendell,  his  old  home,  where  he 
built  up  a  promising  clientage. 

Mr.  Hester  is  a  republican  in  politics  and  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  He  was  the 
republican  nominee  for  the  State  Senate  in  1915 


J'J/^^^^  i^l  UfoA-^-^^^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


161 


and  was  secretary  of  the  County  Executive  Com- 
mittee in  1917.  On  September  25,  1912,  lie  mar- 
ried Miss  Maude  E.  Baker,  of  Iteidsville,  North 
Carolina. 

Jeff  D.  Lookabill,  Esq.  An  enterprising, 
prosperous  and  progressive  agriculturist,  and  a 
citizen  of  prominence,  Jeff  D.  Lookabill,  Esq.,  of 
Soutlimont,  is  a  typical  representative  of  the 
active,  industrious,  and  able  men  who  are  so 
well  conducting  the  business  affairs  of  this  part 
of  Davidson  County.  A  native  of  Davidson 
County,  North  Carolina,  he  was  born  August  15, 
1861,  in  Conrad  Hill  Township,  which  was  also 
the  place  of  birth  of  his  father,  Jacob  Lookabill, 
and   of   his   grandfather,   John    Lookabill. 

Mr.  Lookabill 's  great-grandfather  Lookabill 
came  to  this  state  from  Maryland  as  a  youug 
man,  and  was  a  pioneer  settler  of  Conrad  Hill 
Township,  where  he  cleared  a  farm.  He  reared 
a  large  family  of  children,  one  of  whom,  Henry 
Lookabill,  was  one  of  the  original  trustees  of 
Becks   Church. 

John  Lookabill  chose  farming  for  his  occupa- 
tion, and  in  course  of  time  became  one  of  the 
large  landholders  of  Conrad  Hill  Township.  There 
were  no  railroads  in  the  state  at  that  early  day, 
and  no  convenient  markets  for  the  extra  farm 
products.  He,  therefore,  like  many  others,  op- 
erated a  distillery,  the  productions  of  which  he 
took  with  teams  to  Fayetteville  to  dispose  of. 
He  was  influential  in  local  matters,  and  served 
for  many  years  as  magistrate.  To  him  and  his 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Charity  Bowers, 
two  sons  and  three  daughters  were  born,  Jacob, 
Frank,    Polly,   Bashia   and   Emily. 

Jacob  Lookaliill  was  reared  on  the  parental 
homestead  in  Conrad  Hill  Township,  and  as  a 
boy  was  well  drilled  in  the  various  branches  of 
agriculture.  He  was  a  natural  mechanic,  and, 
without  serving  an  apprenticeship,  became  an 
expert  carpenter,  brick  mason  and  millwright, 
and  worked  at  all  of  those  trades.  On  account 
of  a  crippled  hand,  he  was  exempt  from  active 
service  in  the  war  between  the  states,  but  he  was 
in  the  employ  of  the  Confederate  Government 
as  a  mechanic.  In  1874  he  bought  the  Peezer 
home,  in  Silver  Hill  Township,  and  was  there 
a  resident  until  his  death,  November  19,  1886, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years.  He  married  Julia 
Ann  Loughlin,  and  they  reared  three  sons,  Wil- 
liam, John  F.,  and  Jeff  D.,  and  three  daughters, 
Laura  A.,  Emily  A.,  and  Julia  I. 

Leaving  the  public  schools,  Jeff  D.  Lookabill 
attended  the  Moravian  Falls  Academy  for  awhile, 
after  which,  for  six  years,  he  taught  school  during 
the  winters,  and  farmed  summers.  In  1885  he 
bought,  in  Southmont,  then  called  Fairmont,  the 
farm  he  now  owns  and  occujiics,  and  in  the  small 
log  cabin  that  stood  u]ion  the  jilace  he  and  his 
bride  began  housekeeping.  But  a  small  bit  of  the 
land  at  the  time  of  purchase  was  cleared,  but  by 
dint  of  energetic  and  intelligent  labor  he  has 
since  improved  the  greater  part  of  it,  placing  it 
in  a  tillable  condition.  He  has  also  bought 
adjoining  land,  a  part  of  which  he  has  sold  for 
house  lots.  After  living  for  awhile  in  the  log 
cabin,  Mr.  Lookabill  built  a  small  frame  house, 
and  in  1895  erected  his  jiresent  commodious 
dwelling,  which  is  modern  in  style  and  equip- 
ments,   and    a    most    desirable    home. 

Mr.  Lookabill  married,  in  1885,  Ellen  Maude 
MeClanny,  of  Silver  Hill  Township,  and  into 
their    household    ten    children    have    been    born, 

VoL  IV— 11 


namely:  Joe  S. ;  Ida  May;  Carl  E.  died  at  the 
age  of  twenty-four  years;  Maude;  Winnie  S.  died 
when  nineteen  years  old;  Clyde  D.;  Lloyd  E.;  Asa 
Lee;  Jackie;  and  Hester  V.  Joe  S.  married  Miss 
Harvey,  and  they  have  one  daughter,  Winnie  Lee. 
Ida  May,  wife  of  C.  A.  Surratt,  has  five  children, 
Carl  Gilmer,  Willie  May,  J.  D.,  Eeba  Lee,  and 
Clyde  A.  Maude  is  the  wife  of  W.  S.  Beckner. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lookabill  are  members  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church,  and  he  is  an  active  worker  in  the 
Sunday  school.  He  has  served  as  justice  of  the 
peace  the  greater  part  of  the  time  since  attain- 
ing manhood,  and  he  is  now  one  of  the  directors 
of  the  Federal  Loan  Bank. 

Oscar  Alonzo  Snipes.  Perhaps  more  value  is 
placed  on  old  names  in  many  sections  of  the  South 
that  on  great  fortunes,  because  the  latter  may  be 
acquired  through  questionable  as  well  as  legitimate 
means,  while  tlie  former  to  have  been  honorably 
jireserved  must  have  represented  sterling  attributes 
and  citizenship  qualities  that  were  fully  recognized. 
A  bearer  of  an  old  name  of  Eastern  North  Caro- 
line is  found  at  Bocky  Mount  in  the  person  of 
Oscar  Alonzo  Snipes,  who  has  been  the  eiiicient 
and  pojiular  postmaster  since  his  appointment  by 
President   Woodrow  Wilson   in   1913. 

Oscar  Alonzo  Snipes  was  born  in  Chatham 
County,  North  Carolina,  February  27,  1869.  His 
parents  were  Presley  and  Permelia  (Ward)  Snipes. 
His  father  was  a  civil  engineer  by  profession. 

Oscar  Alonzo  Snipes  was  reared  in  his  native 
county  and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools. 
He  was  variously  employed  for  a  time  and  then 
learned  the  barber's  trade.  Later  he  moved  to 
Halifax  County  and  resided  at  Scotland  Neck 
until  1906,  when  he  came  to  Rocky  Mount,  where 
he  soon  became  identified  with  its  business  and 
political  life. 

Mr.  Snijies  was  married  January  27,  1895,  to 
Miss  Anna  Eeed,  who  was  born  at  Baltimore, 
Maryland.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Snipes  have  one 
daughter,  Elsie  Blanche  Snipes,  who  has  been  care- 
fully educated. 

Mr.  Snipes  was  reared  to  revere  the  principles 
of  the  democratic  party  and  to  believe  that  polities 
have  an  established  place  as  a  part  of  a  man 's 
public  life.  Hence  he  has  for  years  been  active 
in  his  party  and  to  some  extent  an  organizing 
force.  He  has  ever  been  loyal  to  party  and 
friends  and  his  appointment  to  the  office  he  now 
fills  so  well  was  considered  by  his  friends  but  a 
just  recognition  of  his  merit.  The  postoffice  at 
Rocky  Mount,  with  a  population  of  more  than 
14,000  souls,  is  one  of  much  importance  and  tlie 
proper  and  prompt  methods  whereby  the  govern- 
ment work  is  carried  on  reflects  credit  on  Mr. 
Snipes'  business  ability  and  executive  capacity. 
He  is  as  well  known  in  fraternal  as  in  political 
circles  and  lielongs  to  different  Masonic  bodies 
and  also  to  the  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Knights  of 
Pythias. 

Henry  W.  Warner.  To  make  thousands  of 
highly  specialized  workmen  and  machines  work  to- 
gether harmoniously  and  effectively,  to  keep  them 
contented,  hapjiy  and  healthy,  such  is  the  responsi- 
bility resting  upon  the,  superintendent  of  the  great 
industrial  ])lants  in  modern  days.  While  this 
statement  does  not  cover  all  the  duties  of  such 
careful,  conscientious  and  capable  superintendents 
as  Henry  W.  Warner,  of  the  Ivey  Mills  Com- 
pany, at  Hickory,  North  Carolina,  it  indicates 
the  scope  of  his  work  and  the  ability  necessary  to 


162 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


properly  perform  it.  Mr.  Waruer  is  an  experi- 
enced cotton  mill  man  and  has  been  connected  with 
this  manufacturing  industry  since  boyhood. 

Henry  W.  Warner  was  born  at  Mount  Gilead,  in 
Montgomery  Coimty,  North  Carolina,  in  1869. 
His  parents  were  Jolm  A.  and  Elizabeth  J.  (Sig- 
ler)  Warner,  both  of  whom  are  deceased.  His 
maternal  grandfather  was  born  in  England,  and 
when  he  first  came  to  North  Carolina  engaged  for 
a  time  in  gold  mining.  The  father  of  Mr.  Warner 
was  born  in  Montgomery  County,  North  Carolina, 
and  for  many  years  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount 
Gilead.  By  trade  he  was  a  miller,  was  also  a 
farmer  and  additionally  operated  the  old  yarn  mill 
on  Swift  Island.  During  the  war  between  the 
states,  he  used  his  mill  to  grind  grain  for  the 
Confederacy. 

When  seventeen  years  of  age  Henry  W.  Warner 
started  to  work  in  a  cotton  mill  and  has  been  iden- 
tified with  the  industry  ever  since.  He  had  fewer 
educational  advantages  than  many  youths,  but 
none  excelled  him  in  ambition  and  industry.  The 
cotton  mill  in  which  he  took  his  first  industrial 
lessons,  was  located  at  Eandleman,  in  Randolph 
County,  beginning  naturally  at  the  liottom  of  the 
ladder,  later  working  for  better  wages  in  Vir- 
ginia and  In  South  Carolina,  and  in  the  course  of 
time  he  became  foreman  of  a  mill.  In  that  cajiac- 
ity  he  worked  for  some  years  but  in  1904  he  was 
apjiointed  mill  sujierintendent  and  for  the  eighteen 
years  preceding  his  coming  to  Hickory,  he  was 
foreman  and  superintendent  of  different  mills  at 
Charlotte,  North  Carolina. 

For  six  years  Mr.  Warner  was  with  the  Highland 
Park  mills  at  Charlotte,  and  for  twelve  years 
was  with  the  Cliadwick-Hoskins  mill,  the  latter  be- 
ing one  of  tlie  largest  mill  estalilishments  in  the 
South,  its  builder  being  E.  A.  Smith.  Through 
Mr.  Smith 's  recommemlation  to  the  Ivey  Mills 
Company  of  Hickory,  he  was  invited  to  come  to 
this  place  and  take  charge  of  the  Ivey  mill,  an 
enterprise  that  was  not  succeeding,  in  fact  was 
losing  money  for  its  owners.  Although  Mr.  Warner 
was  called  on  to  face  many  discouraging  conditons 
he  did  not  give  up,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  worked 
night  and  day  for  more  than  a  year.  His  ef- 
forts were  carried  on  with  so  much  intelligence  and 
good  judgment  that  gradually  .the  great  cliange 
was  effected  and  now  the  mill  is  one  of  the  most 
profitable   industries  of  its  kind  at   Hickory. 

Too  great  credit  cajinot  be  given  Mr.  Warner. 
He  has  every  detail  of  the  mill  systematized,  its 
different  departments  co-ordinated  and  working  in 
harmony  all  the  machinery  and  equipment  in  first 
class  condition,  and  everything  in  fine  running  or- 
der. Not  tlie  least  of  what  he  has  aecom]5lished 
is  the  spirit  of  enthusiasm  that  he  has  aroused 
in  the  employes.  Formerly,  on  ac<"Ount  of 
neglected  surroundings  illness  had  prevailed  and 
neither  workmanshiji,  pride  nor  fidelity  to  em- 
ployers were  notable  features  of  the  mill  worker's 
life. 

Mr.  Warner  soon  had  the  mill  and  its  surround- 
ings on  a  clean  and  thoroughly  sanitary  basis 
and  since  then  there  has  not  been  a  single  case 
of  fever,  and  additionally  he  interested  himself 
personally  in  the  welfare  of  every  em]>loye  and 
urged  and  assisted  in  bringing  about  changes  that 
have  actually  regenerateil  the  mill  community  and 
have  made  adjacent  sections  anxious  to  be  neigh- 
borly as  never  before.  Mr.  Warner  has  taught 
the  people  concerning  the  preservation  of  their 
health  and  has  shown  approval  in  all  their  efforts 
to    improve    their    homes    and    grounds    and    has 


given  them  a  great  deal  of  substantial  assistance. 
It  was  Mr.  Warner  who  secured  from  the  Ivey 
Mills  Company  an  appropriation  that  made  possi- 
lile  the  erection  of  a  community  house,  for  the  ex- 
clusive use  of  the  employes  of  this  miU.  It  has 
proved  a  wonderfully  helpful  factor.  It  is  a 
neat  club  house,  free  to  all,  of  frame  construc- 
tion. In  its  commodious  assembly  hall  educational 
classes  are  held,  concerts  are  given  by  the  mill  band 
and  other  entertainments  amuse  and  instruct,  while 
leading  matter  is  provided  for  those  of  quieter 
taste.  One  of  the  most  appreciated  features  per- 
haps, are  the  swimming  pool  and  shower  baths  in 
tlie  basement.  The  community  house  is  under  the 
direct  management  of  Mr.  Warner. 

"Captain"  Warner,  as  he  is  familiarly  known, 
was  married  to  Miss  Hattie  Lassiter,  who  belongs 
to  one  of  the  old  families  of  Randolph  County. 
They  have  two  children,  Ola  Lee  and  Robert 
.Jackson  Warner.  The  former  is  a  student  in 
Lenoir  College,  Hickory,  and  the  latter  attends 
the   public   school. 

The  Ivey  Mills  Company  is  a  large  corporation. 
Its  president  is  G.  H.  Geitner,  and  its  secretary 
and  treasurer  is  A.  A.  Shuford,  Jr.  The  Ivey 
mill  at  Hickory,  over  wiiieh  Captain  Warner  pre- 
sides, has  15,360  spindles  and  400  looms,  and  man- 
ufactures sateens,  its  fine  product  being  distributed 
over  the  entire  country. 

D.  Matt  Thompson.  Success  has  many  ratings 
and  methods  of  measurement.  Some  men  won 
battles  and  military  campaigns,  some  achieved 
position  as  captains  of  industry,  others  build 
bridges  and  railroads,  some  win  high  political  for- 
tune, other  accumulate  wealth.  It  is  sufficient  to 
estimate  their  achievements  Vjy  pointing  out  the 
things  done.  With  another  class  of  successful 
men  estimate  and  measurement  are  vastly  differ- 
ent and  more  difficult.  Their  success  is  the  re- 
sidt  of  long  and  constant  human  service,  a  doing 
well  of  commonplace  and  routine  tasks  in  years 
of  close  relationship  with  their  fellow  men.  Such 
men  and  women  contribute  the  finest  things  to  the 
sum  total  of  human  happiness  and  welfare,  but 
very  often  are  unconscious  of  their  own  value  and 
the  world  seldom  gives  them  the  credit  that  is 
due. 

It  is  this  kind  and  type  of  success  that  has 
been  achieved  by  I).  Matt  Thompson  of  States- 
vUle,  North  Carolina.  He  is  a  veteran  educator, 
has  been  at  his  various  posts  of  responsibility  for 
over  forty-five  years,  and  a  year  or  so  ago  com- 
]deted  a  quarter  century's  continuous  work  as 
superintendent  of  the  city  schools  of  Statesville. 
In  that  city  at  least  his  work  has  had  some  con- 
siderable measure  of  appreciation.  This  appreci- 
ation was  happily  set  forth  in  the  editorial  col- 
umns of  a  local  paper  at  the  time  Superintendent 
Thompson  completed  his  twenty-fiftli  year,  1916, 
as  head  of  the  schools.  He  is  still  head  of  these 
schools,  1918.  Some  of  the  editorial  deserves 
quotation    as    a   matter    of   public   record. 

' '  Superintendent  Thompson  has  filled  a  most 
difficult  and  trying  place  in  the  community  serv- 
ice. Coming  to  Statesville  when  the  public  schools 
were  established  he  took  charge  and  by  his  faith- 
ful am!  untiring  efforts  through  the  years  he  has 
brought  the  Statesville  schools  to  first  rank  among 
the  city  schools  of  the  state.  The  fact  that  he  has 
served — and  successfully — the  whole  community 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  has  in  a  way  managed 
about   all   the   children  of   States\'ille  for  twentv- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


163 


five  years,  and  through  it  all  maintained  the  re- 
sj)eet  and  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  community, 
jji-oclaims  him  an  unusual  man.  In  that  i^eriod 
he  has  had  the  great  burden  of  selecting,  super- 
vising and  being  responsible  for  the  teachers  under 
him.  Of  hearing  the  troubles  of  children — en- 
couraging the  dull  and  the  backward,  restraining 
and  discip.lining  the  vicious,  arbitrating  and  com- 
posing differences  between  children  and  teachers, 
and  worse  still — hearing  and  reconciling  the  com- 
plaints of  some  jjareuts  who  sliould  have  helped 
him  but  instead  added  to  his  burdens  by  unde- 
served complaints  and  reproaches.  Through  it 
all  Superintendent  Thompson  has  managed  the 
schools  with  patience  and  firmness  and  ability  and 
tact  that  would  give  him  first  rank  iu  the  diplo- 
matic service  in  any  country ;  and  has  made  the 
Statesville  public  schools  an  institution  of  which 
every  citizen  is  justly  proud;  an  institution  that 
will  stand  through  the  years  as  a  monument  to  the 
first  superintendent — a  monument  more  enduring 
than  brass  or  marble. 

"And  Superintendent  Thompson  has  not  only 
labored  to  train  the  children  in  the  schoolroom. 
With  little  or  no  means  and  little  help  or  en- 
couragement he  has  made  the  grounds  of  the  first 
school  building,  with  grass  and  trees  and  shrub- 
bery, about  the  most  attractive  place  in  town; 
and  if  he  lives  long  enough  he  will  have  similar 
grounds  at  tlie  new  school  building.  Wliile  train- 
ing the  children  mentally  and  morally,  he  has 
taught  them  habits  of  neatness  and  love  for  the 
beautiful,  so  that  in  Statesville  today  will  be 
found  the  best  kept  school  buildings  in  the  state — 
building's  practically  unmarred  by  marks  left  by 
any  of  the  hundreds  of  children  who  have  gone 
in  and  out  for  twenty-five  years. 

"All  honor  to  the  honored  head  of  the  States- 
ville Public  Schools  on  this  twenty-fifth  anni- 
versary of  his  work  here.  The  'Landmark'  con- 
gratulates him  on  his  successful  achievement — on 
his  splendid  work  in  the  community  and  that  he 
has  lived  to  see  it  reach  in  a  measure  at  least 
what  he  had  hoped  and  planned  for.  But  it  con- 
gratulates him  most  of  all  that  his  work  is  re- 
ceiving recognition  while  he  is  here  to  know  it^— 
and  that  he  is  made  to  know  in  some  measure  the 
appreciation  of  his  work  by  the  community  and 
the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held.  And  the  com- 
munity is  to  be  congratulated  on  its  good  fortune 
in  securing  at  the  beginning,  to  manage  its  schools, 
one  whose  service  has  been  so  successful  and  so 
acceptable. ' ' 

D.  Matt  Thompson  was  born  at  Long 's  Mills  in 
Eandolph  County,  North  Carolina,  and  has  an 
early  colonial  ancestry.  In  the  paternal  line  the 
Thompsons  came  out  of  England  at  an  early  period 
of  American  colonization  and  some  of  them  fought 
in  the  Revolutionary  war.  Samuel  Thompson,  fa- 
ther of  the  veteran  educator,  married  in  1843 
Elizabeth  Moser,  whose  ancestors  had  come  to  the 
American  colonies  from  Holland.  Some  of  the 
Mosers  were  more  or  less  prominent  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.  One  of  them  was  hanged  by  Gov- 
ernor Tryon. 

D.  Matt  Thompson  grew  up  on  a  farm,  worked 
in  the  fields  and  attended  public  and  private  schools 
during  his  boyhood.  Later  he  completed  the 
course  in  the  Sylvan  Academy  in  Alamance  County, 
and  afterward  attended  the  Cook  County  Normal 
School  at  Englewood,  Illinois.  Later  he  received 
the  degree  of  A.  M. 

He  is  not  only  a  veteran  in  educational  work  but 


also  of  the  great  war  between  the  states.  From 
1862  to  1865,  he,  a  mere  boy,  was  with  the  Con- 
federate army.  He  was  severely  wounded  on  July 
.1,  I860,  at  the  last  day  of  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
l)urg.  He  was  a  member  of  Company  H,  Third 
North  Carolina  Infantry.  Again  ou  August  15, 
1864,  at  Deep  Bottom  near  Richmond,  Virginia, 
he  was  wounded  and  permanently  disabled  for 
active  duty.  He  was  then  a  member  of  Company 
F,  Second  Noi-th  Carolina  Cavalry.  After  that  he 
was  attached  to  the  Confederates  States  Provost 
Marshal's  Corps  at  Richmond  until  the  time  of 
General  ■  Lee 's  surrender  on  April  9,  1865.  See 
map  on  page  198,  volume  4,  Battles  and  Leaders  of 
the  Civil  War.  Mr.  Thompson  has  been  continu- 
ously either  principal  or  superintendent  of  schools 
since  the  year  1870.  For  the  year  1870-71  he  was 
principal  of  Aurora  Academy,  Chatham  County, 
was  principal  of  Sylvan  High  School  from  1871  to 
1873,  of  Piedmont  Seminary,  Denver,  North  Caro- 
lina, 1873-84,  and  head  of  Piedmont  Seminary, 
Lincolnton,  North  Carolina,  from  1884  to  1890. 
During  about  eight  years  of  this  period  he  was 
county  superintendent  of  public  instruction  and 
chairman  of  the  county  board  of  education  in  Lin- 
coln County,  North  Carolina.  During  1890-91  he 
served  as  superintendent  of  public  schools  at 
Gainesville,  Florida,  and  in  1891  came  to  his  pres- 
ent office  as  superintendent  of  the  Statesville  pub- 
lic schools.  When  he  took  charge  of  the  local 
schools  there  were  only  seven  teachers  including 
liimself,  and  he  has  not  only  improved  the  build- 
ing equipment,  the  standards  of  training,  and  the 
efficiency  of  the  personnel,  but  is  now  head  of  a 
staff  of  teachers  numbering  twenty-seven. 

Mr.  Thompson  has  been  continuously  a  mem- 
ber of  the  North  Carolina  Teachers  Assembly  from 
its  organization,  was  a  member  of  its  executive 
committee  for  a  number  of  years,  was  its  vice 
president  in  1899,  and  president  in  1900.  In  1898 
he  was  also  president  of  the  City  Superintendents 
Assofiatiou  of  the  State.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  National  Education  Association,  a  member  of 
the  National  Geographic  Society,  Washington,  D. 
C,  and  of  the  North  Carolina  Historical  and  Lit- 
erary Association,  the  Commercial  Club  of  States- 
ville and  for  many  years  has  been  prominent  as 
a  member  and  oificial  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South.  He  has  filled  the'  office  of  stew- 
ard in  the  church  from  boyhood,  was  superintend- 
ent of  Sunday  school  for  more  than  thirty  years, 
and  has  been  a  member  of  either  the  Board  of 
Education  or  the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  North 
Carolina  and  then  of  the  Western  North  Carolina 
conferences  since  1886.  During  all  that  time  he 
has  missed  but  two  sessions  of  conference.  In  the 
way  of  public  service  besides  his  office  as  county 
superintendent  of  public  instruction  in  Lincoln 
County  from  1882  to  1890  he  was  mayor  of  the 
village  of  Denver  from  1878  to  1880.  Mr.  Thomp- 
son is  a  director  of  the  Liberty  Hosiery  Manu- 
facturing Company.  He  has  always  been  a  dem- 
ocrat, though  he  has  at  times  exercised  a  choice  iu 
selection  of  men  for  local  office. 

August  1.  1872,  at  Farmer,  Randolph  County, 
North  Carolina,  he  married  Mary  Elizabeth  Rice, 
daughter  of  Captain  Thomas  and  Absilah  (Win- 
bourne)  Rice.  Mrs.  Thompson  was  a  teacher 
when  she  married  and  taught  for  some  years 
afterward.  Her  father  -syas  widely  known  in  Ran- 
dolph County  and  for  many  years  filled  the  office 
of  justice  of  the  peace.  Her  mother  was  of  Welsh 
descent.  The  Rice  and  AVinbourne  families  have 
long   been    prominent   in   Randolph    and   Guilford 


164 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


counties.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson  have  three 
children.  Holland  Thompson,  Ph.  D.,  is  now  pro- 
fessor in  the  department  of  history  in  the  City 
College  of  New  ^ork.  He  married  Isabel  Aitkins, 
New  York  City.  Walter  Thompson  is  superin- 
tendent of  tlie  Children 's  Home  at  Winston-Salem, 
North  Carolina,  and  married  Emily  Gregory  of 
Greensboro.  Dormau  Thompson  is  a  prominent 
attoruey-at-law  at  Statesville  and  has  served  two 
terms  as  senator  in  the  Legislature  of  North 
Carolina,  and  is  a  member  of  the  general  confer- 
ences of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
for  the  years,  1914  and  1918.  He  married  Luda 
Morrison  of  Statesville.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.  Matt 
Thompson  also  have  an  adopted  daughter,  Lucy, 
still  with  them  in  their  home  at  Statesville. 

Walter  Thompson.  A  man  of  scholarly  attain- 
ments and  much  executive  ability,  Walter  Thomp- 
son, superintendent  of  the  Children 's  Home  at 
Winston-Salem,  is  devoting  his  time  and  energies 
to  the  uplifting  of  the  children  under  his  care, 
more  especially  along  the  lines  of  industrial  de- 
velopment. A  son  of  Prof.  D.  Matt  Thompson, 
superintendent  of  the  public  schools  of  States- 
ville, he  was  born,  in  1875,  in  Denver,  Lincoln 
County,  North  Carolina,  and  received  his  elemen- 
tary education  in  Lincolnton. 

After  teaching  for  a  short  time  in  Statesville 
and  Concord,  Mr.  Thompson  entered  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina,  from  which  he  was  grad- 
uated with  the  class  of  1898.  Resuming  his  for- 
mer profession,  he  subsequently  taught  in  Greens- 
boro, and  later  was  superintendent  of  the  city 
public  schools  of  Concord,  Cabarrus  County.  He 
resigned  that  i)Osition  to  become  superintendent  of 
the  Jackson  Training  School,  where  he  remained 
until  1913.  Since  that  time  he  has  had  charge 
of  the  Children's  Home  in  Winston,  and  in  its 
supervision  has  been  eminently  successful,  his 
work  being  carried  along  on  a  high  plane  of  effi- 
ciency. 

Mr.  Thompson  married,  in  1901,  Miss  Emily 
Gregory,  who  was  born  in  Greensboro,  North  Car- 
olina, a  daughter  of  George  H.  and  Emily  (Mul- 
len) Gregory.  Three  children  have  blessed  their 
marriage,  Winbourne,  Evelyn  and  Jack.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Thompson  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Church. 

Prop.  GRirriN  G.  Wall.  Scholarly  in  his  at- 
tainments, and  possessing  excellent  business  talent 
and  judgment,  Prof.  Griffin  G.  Wall,  of  South- 
mont,  is  widely  known  as  a  successful  educator, 
and  as  an  enterprising  manufacturer,  at  the 
present  time  being  associated  with  one  of  the 
prominent  industries  of  Davidson  County,  the 
Sout)imont  plant  of  the  G.  W.  &  C.  M.  Wall  Com- 
pany. He  was  born,  April  23,  1890,  in  Wallburg, 
Davidson  County,  a  son  of  George  W.  and  Hasel- 
tine  V.   (Charles)    Wall. 

Hon.  Samuel  W.  Wall,  the  professor's  grand- 
father, was  for  many  years  the  leading  carriage 
manufacturer  of  Davidson  County,  and  was  a 
large  slave  holder,  at  one  time  having  u|iwards  of 
sixty,  all  of  whom  he  kept  busily  employed  if  old 
enough  to  work.  Now,  an  honored  and  venerable 
man  of  eighty-four  years,  he  is  living  retired  from 
active  pursuits.  Prominent  in  public  affairs,  he 
has  served  as  a  representative  to  the  State  Leg- 
islature, and  as  Congressman,  in  both  bodies  being 
active,  and  ever  loyal  to  the  interests  of  his  con- 
stituents. The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Christina  Teague. 


George  W.  Wall  was  for  many  years  associated 
with  his  brother,  Charles  M.  Wall,  in  the  manu- 
facture of  wagons,  with  a  plant  at  Wallburg. 
The  business  grew  apace,  and  in  addition  to  manu- 
facturing lumlier  the  firm  of  G.  W.  &  C.  M.  Wall 
enlarged  its  operations,  establishing  at  Southmont 
a  large  plant  that  is  now  devoted  to  the  manu- 
facture of  building  materials  and  box  shooks. 
George  W.  and  Charles  M.  Wall  have  ever  been 
interested  in  the  public  welfare,  and  as  a  stimulus 
to  the  advancement  of  education  in  town  and 
county  founded  the  Liberty  Piedmont  Institute,  at 
Wallburg. 

Prof.  Griffin  G.  Wall  received  his  first  instruc- 
tion in  books  at  a  private  school,  and  later  at- 
tended the  Wallburg  High  School,  which,  through 
the  generosity  of  his  father  and  uncle,  is  now 
the  Liberty  Piedmont  Institute.  Continuing  his 
studies,  he  entered  Wake  Forest  College,  and 
there  was  graduated,  in  1912,  with  the  degree  of 
bachelor  of  arts.  The  ensuing  year.  Professor  Wall 
taught  school  in  Southmont,  and  then  accepted  a 
jiosition  in  the  Liberty  Piedmont  Institute,  with 
which  he  was  connected  until  1916.  Becoming  in 
that  year  associated  with  the  G.  W.  &  C.  M.  Wall 
Company,  he  came  to  Southmont  to  take  charge 
of  the  company 's  plant,  aud  in  its  management 
has  met  with  eminent  success. 

On  December  25,  1916,  Professor  Wall  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Maude  V.  Brown,  a 
woman  of  culture.  Beligiously  the  professor  is 
a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  Mrs.  Wall 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Fraternally  Professor 
Wall  belongs  to  Wallburg  Council,  Junior  Order 
of  United  American  Mechanics. 

Theodore  S.  Morrison  of  Asheville,  is  one  of 
the  men  of  commanding  influence  aud  position 
in  business,  industrial  and  civic  affairs  in  West- 
ern North  Carolina. 

He  was  born  March  14,  1852,  on  the  Swananea 
River,  six  miles  east  of  Asheville  in  Buncombe 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  son  of  Rev.  William 
Newton  and  Sarah  Varick  (Cozens)  Morrison. 
His  great-grandfather,  James  M.  Morrison,  was  a 
native  of  Scotland  and  came  to  this  country  and 
settled  in  Pennsylvania  in  1750.  The  grandfather, 
John  M.  Morrison,  came  to  Cabbarus  County, 
North  Carolina,  in  1764,  and  was  a  planter  in 
that  section  of  the  state.  Rev.  William  Newton 
Morrison  was  born  in  Cabarrus  County,  was  edu- 
cated in  Rockbridge,  Virginia,  under  his  oldest 
brother,  James,  a  minister  and  teaclier,  and  also 
attended  Washington  College,  now  Wasliington 
and  Lee  University.  He  took  his  theological 
course  in  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  of  New 
Jersey  and  completed  his  work  in  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary  of  Virginia.  For  a  time 
he  was  pastor  of  Goshen  Church  in  Lincoln  County, 
North  Carolina,  and  then  became  a  pioneer  in 
upbuilding  the  cause  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Western  North  Carolina.  For  many  years  he 
was  located  at  Piney  Grove,  twelve  miles  above 
Asheville  on  the  Swananea,  and  afterward  carried 
on  extensive  missionary  work  and  labored  assidu- 
ously in  the  development  of  many  remote  congre- 
gations in  the  western  part  of  the  state.  He  was 
licensed  to  the  ministry  at  the  age  of  twenty-five 
and  followed  it  unremittingly  for  half  a  century. 
He  was  born  in  1810  and  died  in  1885,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-five.  He  spent  his  last  days  at  the 
home  of  his  youngest  son,  Theodore  S.  Morrison. 
His  wife,  Miss  Cozens,  was  born  on  the  Hudson 
River    in    New    York    in    1814.      She    moved    to 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


165 


Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  with  her  parents  in 
1820  and  was  married  to  Eev.  William  Morrison 
iu  1830.  Her  last  years  were  spent  in  the  home 
of  her  son  Theodore  S.  Morrison,  dying  August 
11,   1888,   at  the  age   of  seventy-five  years. 

Theodore  S.  Morrison's  years  from  nine  to 
twenty  cover  the  period  of  the  Civil  war  ami  the 
subsequent  Reconstruction.  His  father  lost  practi- 
cally all  his  property  during  that  time  and  the 
son  lacked  many  of  the  advantages  and  the  school 
opportunities  which  otherwise  would  have  been 
given  him.  Part  of  his  education  was  acquired 
in  the  school  near  Asheville  conducted  by  Col. 
Stephen  D.  Lee  and  later  at  the  Academy  of 
Faucett  and  Dixon,  Lenoir,  North  Carolina.  At 
the  age  of  nineteen  he  left  the  home  farm  and 
went  to  work  as  clerk  in  a  mercantile  and  naval 
store  business  on  the  Pee  Dee  river  in  South 
Carolina.  He  was  there  two  years  and  then  came 
back  home  to  take  care  of  his  parents,  who  were 
in  ill  health.  For  two  years  he  clerked  in  Ashe- 
ville, and  then  established  a  general  store  on  his 
own  account,  which  was  the  beginning  of  his 
successful  career.  He  later  had  stores  at  Marshall 
and  Alexander,  North  Carolina  and  had  his  home 
at  the  latter  town  for  five  years.  On  selling  out 
these  interests  and  returning  to  Asheville  in  1887, 
he  resumed  general  merchandising  on  North  Main 
Street,*  and  soon  established  an  agricultural  imple- 
ment house,  which  has  grown  until  now  it  is  one 
of  the  leading  firms  in  Western  North  Carolina, 
handling  agricultural  implements,  engines,  mills 
and  other  machinery.  In  1899  he  retired  from 
general  merchandise  to  concentrate  his  attention 
upon  his  other   interests. 

Mr.  Morrison  was  a  charter  stockholder  of 
Battery  Park  Bank,  established  in  1891,  and  was 
a  director  for  a  number  of  years.  He  is  vice 
president  and  director  of  the  "Wachovia  Bank  and 
Trust  Company  of  Winston-Salem,  North  Carolina, 
and  has  been  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  Asheville  branch  since  it  was  established. 
He  is  also  a  director  of  the  Nakomis  Cotton  Mills 
at  Lexington,  North  Carolina;  and  of  the  Maline 
Cotton  Mills  at  Winston-Salem.  In  191ti  he  was 
elected  president  of  the  North  Carolina  Electric 
Power  Company  and  has  since  been  at  the  head 
of  one  of  the  largest  hydro-electric  companies  in 
the  state,  the  company  having  three  plants,  two  of 
them  on  the  French  Broad  Eiver.  The  hydro- 
electric plants  have  a  capacity  of  developing  ten- 
thousand  horse  power,  and  they  also  maintain  a 
steam  auxiliary  plant  producing  four  thousand 
horse  power. 

Mr.  Morrison  is  one  of  the  prominent  Presby- 
terians in  Western  North  Carolina.  He  is  an 
elder  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ashe- 
ville, is  a  member  of  the  Home  Mission  Committee 
of  Asheville  Presbytery,  and  is  president  of  that 
committee. 

On  .Tune  12,  1877,  he  married  Miss  Ella  Hen- 
rietta Davidson,  a  daughter  of  Col.  Allen  Turner 
and  Adeline  (Howell)  Davidson.  Her  father  was 
a  lawyer  of  ]irominence  in  Western  North  Caro- 
lina, ajid  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Congress 
of  the  '60s.  Mrs.  Morrison  is  of  Revolution- 
ary antecedents,  and  is  one  of  the  most  jirominent 
members  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution in  North  Carolina,  being  state  regent  at 
the  present  time  and  also  served  for  several  years 
as  regent  of  the  Edward  Buncombe  Chapter  and 
as  vice   regent   of   the  state. 

Mr.   and  Mrs.  Morrison  became  the  parents   of 


four  children,  James  Harold,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  five  years,  Theodore  Davidson,  Allen  Turner  and 
Eleanor  Varrick.  The  daughter,  wife  of  Dr.  Paul 
H.  Ringer  of  Asheville,  was  prepared  for  college 
in  Asheville  and  graduated  from  Converse  College, 
Spartanburg,  South  Carolina. 

Theodore  Davidson  Morrison,  the  elder  son,  was 
bom  at  Alexander,  North  Carolina,  February  9, 
188a,  was  educated  in  the  Bingham  School  at  Ashe- 
ville, iu  Davidson  College  and  finished  his  course 
in  the  University  of  North  Cai'olina  in  1904, 
graduating  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science. 
For  two  years  he  was  connected  with  the  Wachovia 
Bank  and  Trust  Company,  and  tlien  entered  the 
firm  of  T.  S.  Morrison  and  Company,  agricultural 
implements,  vehicles,  etc.,  at  Asheville.  December 
15,  19U9,  he  married  Miss  Eleanor  Fakes.  They 
have  four  children:  Thomas  Slaydeu,  Theodore 
Davidson,  Jr.,  Martha  and  James  Fakes.  Mr.  T. 
D.  Morrison  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  is  a  member  of  the  Asheville  Reserve 
Intantry,  Second  Company,  North  Carolina  Reserve 
Militia. 

Allen  Turner  Morrison,  the  second  son,  born  at 
Alexander,  North  Carolina,  March  23,  1886,  is  al- 
ready making  a  distinguished  record  for  himself 
as  a  soldier,  having  given  up  a  promising  law  prac- 
tice to  volunteer  in  the  service  of  his  country.  He 
was  educated  in  private  schools,  including  the 
Bingham  School  at  Asheville,  graduated  A.  B.  from 
the  University  of  North  Carolina  in  1907,  and  re- 
ceived his  law  degree  from  the  State  University 
in  1908.  He  practiced  law  at  Asheville  with 
Davidson,  Bourne  and  Parker,  and  later  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm.  Bourne,  Parker  and  Morrison.  In 
May,  1917,  though  he  was  beyond  draft  age,  he 
volunteered  and  became  a  candidate  in  the  oflieers 
training  camp  at  Fort  Oglethorpe,  Georgia,  and 
on  August  13  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant  to 
the  Coast  Artillery  of  the  United  States  Reserves 
at  Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia.  He  is  now  serving 
with  the  heavy  artillery  division  in  France  with 
the  American  Expeditionary  Forces.  He  is  a  past 
chancellor  of  the  ICnights  of  Pythias  and  a  deacon 
in  First  Presbyterian  Church. 

Some  interesting  comments  and  side  lights  upon 
Mr  Morrison's  business  career  were  recently  made 
in  a  North  Carolina  magazine.  Some  sentences 
from  this  article  should  be  quoted  as  supplementing 
what  has  already  been  told  in  the  preceding  para- 
graphs. 

A  fine  measure  of  success  has  come  to  Mr.  Mor- 
rison and  he  looks  back  with  pleasure  to  begin- 
ning his  career  as  a  clerk  iu  a  dry  goods  store 
in  1872.  He  commenced  business  for  himself  on 
borrowed  capital  in  1875,  establishing  a  retail 
mercantile  business  of  modest  dimensions.  Since 
that  time  Mr.  Morrison  has  been  interested  iu  dif- 
ferent pliases  of  the  mercantile  business  and  today 
heads  a  firm  which  covers  the  surrounding  states. 

During  the  past  twenty  years  Mr.  Morrison  has 
taken  a  great  interest  in  the  cotton  industry  of  the 
South.  He  has  been  connected  witli  various  cotton 
mills  and  has  been  a  director  of  every  mill  in 
which  he  has  been  interested. 

Mr.  Morrison  is  deeply  interested  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Asheville  and  western  North  Carolina.  He 
has  done  much  for  his  own  ' '  Land  of  the  Sky ' ' 
and  sees  a  great  future  ahead  of  his  community. 
When  the  Asheville  Board  of  Trade  was  estab- 
lished he  was  its  first  president  and  served  as  direc- 
tor for  a  number  of  years  after  resigning  the . 
presidency.    He  has  served  on  numerous  committees 


166 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


and  boards  working  for  the  betterment  of  Ashe- 
ville,  notably  on  the  Building  Committee  of  the 
present   Auditorium. 

Mr.  Morrison  is  the  type  of  a  North  Carolinian 
who  adds  energy  to  vision  and  patriotism  to 
achievement.  He  is  widely  known  throughout  the 
state  and  everywhere  regarded  as  an  aide  leader 
in  business  and  financial  circles. 

James  Franklin  Beall,  M.  D.  While  Davidson 
County  has  been  fortunate  in  the  eminence  and 
character  of  its  citizens,  no  more  worthy  name 
has  been  enrolled  among  its  representative  men 
than  that  of  the  late  Dr.  James  F.  Beall, 
who  spent  the  later  years  of  his  life  at  his 
pleasant  home  in  Boone  Township,  near  Linwood, 
on  the  farm  where  his  birth  occurred,  Septem- 
ber 1,  1837. 

Burgess  Lamar  Beall,  the  doctor's  father,  was 
born  in  Mainland,  and  as  a  child  was  taken,  it  is 
supposed,  to  Georgia,  from  there  coming  with  his 
parents  to  what  is  now  Davidson  County,  North 
Carolina,  when  ten  years  of  age.  After  attain- 
ing manliood,  he  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  Boone 
Township,  about  a  mile  from  Linwood,  and  im- 
proved tlie  farm,  anrl  erected  the  house,  now  occu- 
pied by  Doctor  Beall 's  widow  and  sons.  The  house, 
standing  back  from  the  road,  is  surrounded  by 
am]:ile  grounds,  which  are  ornamented  by  large 
shade  trees.  It  has  been  weather  boarded  and 
jiainted,  and  has  the  appearance  of  a  modernly 
constructed  liome.  A  thrifty  boxwood  hedge  adorns 
the  front  yard,  adding  to  the  attractiveness  of  the 
estate,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  in  this  section  of 
the  state. 

Having  prepared  for  college,  .Tames  Franklin 
Beall,  entered  the  University  of  North  Carolina, 
and  later  took  a  course  of  study  at  the  Universitj' 
of  Virginia.  He  then  began  the  study  of  medi- 
cine with  his  brother  Bol)ert,  a  well-known  and 
successful  physician.  In  June,  1861,  giving  up  his 
studies,  he  enlisted  in  the  Twenty-first  Regiment, 
North  Carolina  Troops,  and  was  commissioned 
major.  Continuing  with  his  regiment,  he  partici- 
pated in  many  of  the  important  battles  of  the 
war,  and  was  five  times  wounded.  An  interest- 
ing article  written  by  Major  Beall,  and  published 
by  Clark,  entitled  ' '  Nortli  Carolina  Regiments, ' ' 
is  without  doubt  the  best  history  of  the  regiments 
ever  written. 

After  the  close  of  the  war.  Doctor  Beall  entered 
the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  in  Philadephia,  and 
was  there  one  year.  The  doctor  immediately  be- 
gan the  practice  of  his  chosen  profession  in  Cot- 
ton Grove  Township,  Davidson  County,  where  he 
remained  for  about  ten  years,  having  a  fine  patron- 
age. Returning  tlien  to  the  old  home  farm,  a 
part  of  which  he  inherited,  Doctor  Beall  resided 
there  until  his  death. 

Doctor  Beall  was  a  member  of  the  Davidson 
County  Medical  Society  of  the  North  Carolina 
State  Medical  Society  and  of  Lexington  Camp, 
Confederate  Veterans. 

Doctor  Beall  married,  in  1869,  Cornelia  Harper. 
She  was  born  at  Lenoir,  Caldwell  County,  North 
Carolina,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Caroline  (Fin- 
ley)  Harper,  and  maternal  granddaughter  of  Sam- 
uel and  Ellen  (Tate)  Finley,  her  ancestors  on 
both  sides  of  the  house  having  been  of  Virginia 
stock.  James  Harper  was  a  wide  awake  business 
man,  and  as  a  farmer,  tanner,  and  merchant  car- 
ried on  a  prosperous  business,  being  successful 
in  each.  Three  chOdren  were  born  of  the  union 
of  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Beall,  namely :    Frank  Harper, 


Carrie,  and  James  Lamar.  Carrie  is  the  wife  of 
James  Clifton  Calvert,  and  has  two  daughters.  Mrs. 
Calvert  is  a  member  of  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution. 

Frank  Harper  Beall,  the  oldest  son,  was  educated 
in  the  North  Carolina  State  University,  and  is 
now,  with  liis  brother,  interested  in  the  dairy  busi- 
ness on  the  home  farm,  and  also  superintends  the 
management  of  the  Craig  farm,  in  Davie  County. 

James  Lamar  BeaU  attended  Davenport  Col- 
lege, in  Lenoir,  and  the  Donaldson  School  at 
Fayetteville,  after  which  he  spent  two  years  as  a 
student  at  Peonian  Springs  University,  in  Loudoun 
County,  Virginia,  and  two  years  as  a  student  in 
the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College,  at  Ral- 
eigh, North  Carolina,  now  the  A.  and  E.  Since 
1907  lie  has  had  charge  of  the  home  farm,  where  he 
is  making  a  specialty  of  dairying.  His  fine  herd  of 
cows,  though  not  thoroughbred,  are  classed  as 
Guernseys  and  Jerseys.  He  has  a  thoroughbred 
laill  at  the  head,  and  in  the  near  future  will  buy 
tlioroughbred  cows.  In  the  sunmier  season  he  sup- 
plies ice  cream  parlors  with  cream,  and  in  other 
seasons  of  the  year  manufactures  butter  of  a  su- 
perior quality.  He  has  erected  a  commodious  barn, 
wliich  is  equipped  in  a  thoroughly  sanitary  manner, 
and  is  kept  as  clean  as  it  is  possible  for  any 
liarn  to  be,  while  everything  pertaining  to  his  dairy 
work  is  conveniently  arranged. 

Harry  Marshall  Uzzle.  The  value  of  a  use- 
ful trade,  of  making  one 's  energy  count  toward 
one  thing,  of  forging  steadily  ahead,  regardless  of 
all  obstacles  and  discouragement  has  found  em- 
])hatic  expression  in  the  career  of  Harry  Mar- 
shall L'zzle,  of  Raleigh.  "When  he  entered  upon 
liis  wage-earning  career  it  was  as  a  machinist 
aiiprentice,  and  in  that  trade  he  steadily  advanced, 
so  that  when  opportunity  came  he  was  ready  to 
grasp  it  and  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
business  of  liis  own.  He  is  now  manager  of  the 
Harry  M.  Uzzle  Undertaking  Company,  one  of  the 
substantial  business  establishments  of  the  City  of 
Oaks. 

Mr.  Lizzie  was  born  at  Raleigh,  June  17,  1877, 
and  is  a  son  of  Peyton  Randolph  and  Mary  Eliza- 
beth (Baker)  Uzzle,  his  father  having  been  en- 
gaged in  mercantile  pursuits  in  this  city  for  a 
number  of  years.  His  education  was  secured  in 
the  graded  and  high  schools,  and  after  his  gradu- 
ation he  served  an  apprenticeship  of  four  years 
to  tlie  trade  of  machinist  in  the  shops  of  the  Sea- 
board Air  Line  Company.  In  1905  Mr.  Uzzle  went 
to  Salisbury,  worked  at  Southern  Railroad  shops 
about  ten  years,  and  for  about  nine  years  was  in 
the  undertaking  business.  In  the  year  1915  he 
returned  to  the  city  of  his  birth  and  opened  an 
undertaking  establishment,  and  January  1,  1916, 
this  business  was  incorporated  under  the  firm 
style  of  Harry  M.  Uzzle  LTndertaking  Company, 
Inc.,  Mr.  Uzzle  being  vice  president  and  man- 
ager. This  business  is  equipped  with  all  modern 
accessories  for  the  reverent  care  of  the  dead,  and 
caters  to  the  most  representative  families  in  the 
capital.  Mr.  Uzzle  is  a  member  of  the  Masons,  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Junior 
Order  of  United  American  Mechanics,  the  Royal 
Arcanum  and  the  International  Association  of 
Machinists.  He  is  a  good  citizen  who  is  ready  to 
assist  in  worthy  and  beneficial  enterprises  and  a 
business  man  who  has  the  confidence  and  respect 
of  his  fellows  because  of  the  honorable  manner  in 
which  he  has  conducted  his  dealings. 

Mr.  Uzzle  was  married  December  26,  1900,  at 


JAMES  F.  BEALL 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


167 


Salisbury,  North  Carolina,  to  Vera  Geneva  Wright, 
and  they  have  five  children :  George  Eandolph,  Nel- 
lie Wright,  Harry  Marshall,  Jr.,  Vera  Marie  and 
Edwin  Clark.  Mr.  Uzzle  is  a  member  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Ealeigh  and  his  wife  and 
children,  are  members  of  the  First  Baptist  Church. 

Hox.  Shelley  Frontis,  D.  D.  S.  The  science 
of  dental  surgery  has  in  more  recent  years  come 
to  be  recognized  as  a  prominent  branch  of  pro- 
fessional knowledge  upon  which  civilized  humanity 
is  more  or  less  dependent  for  the  maintenance 
of  healthful  conditions  and  for  exemption  from 
physical  distress.  As  in  medicine  and  surgery 
the  science  of  dentistry  is  constantly  developing 
new  phases  of  usefulness,  and  in  order  to  insure 
success  the  practitioner  of  today  must  keep  fully 
abreast  of  the  latest  achievements  in  his  profes- 
sion. He  must  add  skill  to  thorough  research  and 
combine  close  application  to  his  task  with  the 
ability  gained  through  experience.  Such  a  prac- 
titioner is  Hon.  Shelley  Frontis,  D.  D.  S.,  who  for 
more  than  nineteen  years  has  been  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  his  calling  at  Mooresville,  Iredell 
County-.  The  high  position  which  Doctor  Frontis 
occupies  in  the  confidence  of  the  people  of  his 
comm\mity  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  he  has  held 
the  oflSce  of  mayor  of  Mooresville  since  1914,  thus 
combining  jirofessional  ability  with  public  useful- 
ness. 

Doctor  Frontis  was  born  in  Rowan  County, 
North  Carolina,  in  1870,  and  is  a  son  of  Stephen 
and  Julia  C.  (Leazar)  Frontis,  natives  of  tlie  same 
county,  the  former  of  whom  is  now  deceased,  while 
tlie  latter  survives  and  makes  her  home  in  Moores- 
ville, Iredell  Count,Y.  The  paternal  grandfather 
of  Doctor  Frontis  was  Rev.  Stephen  Frontis,  a 
minister  of  the  Presbyterian  faith  and  a  native 
of  France.  He  saw  Napoleon  in  his  day,  and 
after  coming  to  Nortli  Carolina  knew  Marshal 
Ney,  who  was  an  exile  in  this  state  from  his 
country.  Rev.  Mr.  Fronj:is  was  familiar  with  the 
life  of  Marshal  Nc,y  and  with  the  history  of  his 
mysterious  death,  about  which  so  much  has  been 
written.  Upon  coming  to  America,  Eev.  Stephen 
Frontis  located  in  Rowan  County,  North  Carolina, 
and  occupied  a  prominent  place  in  the  religious 
and  educational  work  of  his  church.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  original  committee  which  met  at  old 
Prospect  Church  in  Rowan  County  about  six  miles 
east  of  the  present  Town  of  Mooresrille,  to  con- 
sider plans  for  the  proposed  enterprise  which  led 
to  the  founding  of  Davidson  College  in  Mecklen- 
burg County. 

One  of  the  maternal  uncles  of  Doctor  Frontis, 
the  Hon.  Augiistus  Leazar,  was  in  his  day  a  very 
prominent  character  in  public  life.  He  repre- 
sented Iredell  in  the  North  Carolina  Legislature 
and  drew  up  and  introduced  the  liill  providing  for 
the  establishing  of  the  Agricultural  and  Mechani- 
cal College  of  North  Carolina.  He  was  also  su- 
perintendent of  the  North  Carolina  State  Peni- 
tentiary under  Governor  Carr,  and  was  the  first 
official  to  put  that  institution  upon  n  paying 
basis. 

Shelley  Frontis'  birthplace  and  childhood  home 
was  located  in  the  extreme  southwest  71a  vt  of 
Rowan  County,  about  six  miles  east  of  Moores- 
ville, in  Iredell  County.  When  he  was  a  child 
of  four  years  the  family  moved  to  the  latter 
place,  and  Mooresville  has  been  his  home  since 
that  time.  He  attended  the  public  school  of  this 
-community,  and  spent  the  year  1892  at  Davidson 


College,  and  after  some  further  preparation,  in 
189(5  matriculated  in  the  Baltimore  College  of 
Dental  Surgery,  the  oldest  and  largest  educa- 
tional institntion  of  its  kind  in  the  South. 
Doctor  Frontis  spent  the  full  three  years  there, 
and  was  graduated  in  1899.  There  his  work 
proved  promising  for  a  successful  career,  for  his 
ability  and  knowledge  were  shown  when  he  grad- 
uated with  the  highest  honors  in  a  class  of  sixty- 
five  students,  making  the  highest  average  in  all 
the  branches,  and  receiving  the  beautiful  gold 
medal  which  is  bestowed  each  year  upon  the  stu- 
dent gaining  this  honor.  This  is  a  splendid  tribute 
to  Doctor  Frontis'  ability,  an  ability  which  has 
steadily  grown  with  the  passing  of  the  years, 
anil  which  has  kept  pace  with  the  marvelous  de- 
velopments which  have  been  brought  about  in  the 
profession.  Since  tlie  time  of  liis  graduation. 
Doctor  Frontis  has  lieen  engaged  in  practice  at 
Mooresville.  By  diligent  attention  to  his  work, 
he  has  acquired  a  profitable  and  representative 
patronage,  and  by  keeping  himself  fully  abreast 
of  all  current  develo])ments  and  improved  meth- 
ods in  his  art,  has  maintained  an  excellent  jirofes- 
sional standing,  and  inspired  confidence  in  his 
skill  through  the  eonmiunity.  Meanwhile  his 
amiable  disposition  and  genial  deportment  have 
attracted  to  him  many  friends  and  admirers.  He 
takes  a  keen  and  lively  interest  in  civic  affairs 
and  in  the  growth  and  development  of  the  fine 
little  manufacturing  community  of  Mooresville. 
In  1914  he  was  chosen  to  represent  the  city  in  the 
chief  executive 's  chair,  and  so  capably  and  ener- 
getically did  he  discharge  the  duties  of  his  office 
that  the  people  saw  no  reason  for  a  change,  and  in 
1916  gave  him  the  reelection.  He  has  endeavored 
to  the  full  measure  of  his  ability  to  give  the  city 
a  clean  and  progressive  administration,  and  to 
aid  it  in  its  struggle  for  civic  betterment,  indus- 
trial growth  and  honorable  prestige. 

Doctor  Fronfts  married  Miss  Lillian  Frances 
Williams,  of  Wayne  Count.y,  North  Carolina,  and 
the.y  are  the  parents  of  four  children,  namely: 
Shelley,  Jr.,   Irving,   Stephen  and  Mary. 

S.-VMUEL  Young  Bryson,  present  postmaster  of 
Hendersonville,  is  a  civil  and  construction  engineer 
of  wide  experience,  has  done  his  work  in  many  dif- 
ferent states,  but  belongs  to  an  old  and  prominent 
family  of  this  section  of  North  Carolina.  His 
grandfather  was  at  one  time  reiiresentative  from 
the  Hendersonville  District  in  the  State   Senate. 

Samuel  Young  Bryson  was  born  at  Henderson- 
ville October  31,  1877,  and  is  a  son  of  .loseph 
.  Andrew  and  Sarah  L.  ("Taylor)  Bryson.  His  father 
at  one  time  was  associated  with  Grandfather  Bry- 
son in  the  contract  for  carrying  mail  from  Hen- 
dersonWlle  to  Asheville  prior  to  the  building  of 
the  railroads.  In  later  years  he  has  been  engaged 
in    the    stock    and    livery    business. 

Mr.  S.  Y.  Bryson  was  educated  in  private  schools, 
and  during  his  youth  spent  four  years  learning  the 
blacksmith 's  trade.  He  finished  his  technical  edu- 
cation by  three  years  in  the  Agricultural  and  Me- 
chanical College  at  Raleigh.  His  first  position 
after  leaving  that  .school  was  cashier  for  the 
Southern  Railway  at  Hendersonville,  North  Caro- 
lina. He  was  there  a  year  and  a  half,  and  then 
spent  a  year  as  general  superintendent  and  civil 
engineer  in  opening  the  coal  mines  for  the  Vulcan 
Coal  Company  at  Vulcan,  West  Virginia.  For 
about  two  years  he  was  erecting  engineer  with  the 
.\.  Lesehen  Sons  Rope  Company  of  St.  Louis,  Mis- 


168 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


souri.  Following  that  he  did  erecting  work  on 
brick  plants  all  over  the  country.  As  engineer  he 
built  the  plant  of  the   Saco  Flume  Company. 

On  returning  to  North  Carolina  Mr  Bryson 
served  as  city  tax  collector  of  Hendersonville  two 
years  and  then  was  active  in  business  as  con- 
tractor and  builder  for  three  years.  On  March  11, 
1914,  he  was  appointed  postmaster  by  President 
AVilson  and  has  since  that  date  concentrated  all 
his  time  and  energies  in  improving  and  directing 
to  the  highest  degree  of  efficiency  the  local  post- 
oflSee. 

Mr.  Bryson  is  one  of  the  owners  of  the  Caro- 
lina Oil  and  Supply  Company.  He  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  Order,  having  attained  the  thirty- 
second  degree  of  Scottish  Rite  and  membership 
in  the  Mystic  Shrine.  He  also  belongs  to  the 
Knights  of  Pythias  and  the  Woodmen  of  the 
World. 

June  21,  1907,  he  married  Julia  Estelle  Brittner, 
of  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  They  have  two  sons, 
Samuel  Joseph  and  Charles  Taylor. 

Alexander  Aethtje.  Tork,  M.  D.  Identified 
with  one  of  the  most  exacting  of  the  higher  occu- 
pations to  which  one  may  devote  his  time  and 
energies,  Alexander  Arthur  York,  M.  D.,  of  South- 
mont,  has  gained  marked  success  in  his  profes- 
sional career,  and  occupies  a  noteworthy  position 
among  the  active  and  prosperous  physicians  of 
Davidson  County.  A  son  of  I?ev.  Isaac  I.  York,  he 
was  born  May  8,  1877,  on  a  farm  in  Abbotts  Creek 
Township,  Davidson  County. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  John  H.  York,  learned 
the  trade  of  a  hatter,  which  he  followed  as  a  young 
man.  He  subsequently  engaged  in  farming  in 
Iredell  County,  but  later  in  life  settled  in  Davidson 
County,  and  spent  his  last  years  in  Abbotts  Creek 
Township.  He  married  Mary  Brisendyne,  and  they 
reared  five  children,  Abel  H.,  Isaac  I.,  Sarah,  Julia, 
and   Euth. 

Isaac  I.  York  was  bom  in  Iredell  County,  North 
Carolina,  near  Olin,  where,  having  acquired  a 
good  education  in  his  youthful  days,  he  taught 
school  during  the  winter  seasons  for  four  years. 
Soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war,  he  en- 
listed in  Company  A,  Thirty-third  Regiment,  North 
Carolina  Troops,  and  with  his  command  went  to 
the  front,  his  regiment  having  formed  a  part  of 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  He  was  with  his 
command  in  all  of  its  important  engagements  with 
the  exception  of  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg.  Re- 
turning to  Davidson  County  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  he  bought  land  in  Abbotts  Creek  Town- 
ship, and  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  Re- 
ligiously inclined,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 
study  of  theology,  and  having  been  ordained  as  a 
preacher  in  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  was 
active  in  the  ministry  for  thirty-five  years.  He 
still  resides  on  his  farm,  but  is  practically  retired 
from  active  pursuits. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Rev.  Isaac  I. 
York,  was  Julia  A.  Cecil.  She  was  born  in 
Abbotts  Creek  Township,  a  daughter  of  Rev. 
Samuel  A.  Cecil,  and  granddaughter,  on  the  ma- 
ternal side,  of  Charles  Elliott,  a  well-to-do  farmer 
of  that  locality.  Her  father  was  a  successful 
agriculturist,  and  for  many  years  was  a  preacher 
in  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church.  He  was 
tvrice  married,  and  reared  eight  children.  Rev. 
Isaac  I.  and  Julia  A.  York  reared  five  children, 
namely:  Alexander  Arthur,  Minnie  Lou  Ella, 
Mamie  Isabelle,  Samuel  Lee,  and  John  Gurney. 

Alexander    A.    York    acquired    his    preliminary 


education  in  the  district  schools,  after  which  he 
attended  Pinacle  Academy  two  years,  and  con- 
tinued his  studies  at  Fallston  Institute,  in  Cleve- 
land County,  for  an  equal  length  of  time.  Taking 
up  the  study  of  medicine,  he  entered  the  Chatta- 
nooga Medical  College,  where  he  was  graduated  in 
1907.  In  June,  of  that  year,  Dr.  York  was  li- 
censed by  the  State  Board  to  practice,  and  imme- 
diately located  in  Southmont,  where  he  has  gained 
professional  prestige,  by  his  skill  and  ability  hav- 
ing built  up  an  extensive  and  remunerative  patron- 
age, his  services  being  in  demand  in  town  and 
country. 

Dr.  York  married,  in  1902,  Bessie  Blanche  Sur- 
ratt,  who  was  born  in  Jackson  Hill  Township,  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Margaret  (Cunningham) 
Surratt.  Five  children  have  blessed  the  union  of 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  York,  namely:  Minnie  Blanche, 
Claude  Elwood,  Daisy  Lee,  John  Arthur,  and  Mary 
Louise.  The  doctor  was  reared  in  the  faith  of 
the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  and  Mrs.  York 
is  a  member  of  the  Macedonia  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South.  Dr.  York  is  a  member  of  the  David- 
son County  Medical  Society;  of  the  North  Carolina 
State  Medical  Society ;  of  Southmont  Council,  Jun- 
ior Order  of  United  American  Mechanics;  of 
Lexington  Camp,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America; 
and  of  Lexing-ton  Lodge,  Benevolent  and  Pro- 
tective Order  of  Elks.  Dr.  York  is  local  surgeon 
for  the  W.  S.  S.  R.  E.,  and  also  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Health  Board  of  Davidson  County. 

M.  AsHBT  Lambeet.  Among  the  alert  and  en- 
terprising attorneys  who,  during  the  past  decade, 
have  taken  advantage  of  the  opportunities  offered 
for  advancement  in  the  City  of  Oaks  and  have 
thereby  attained  a  large  measure  of  success,  M. 
Ashby  Lambert  is  one  of  the  best  known. 

Mr.  Lambert  was  born  at  Culpeper,  Culpeper 
County,  Virginia.  July  17,  1876,  and  is  a  son  of 
Maurice  W.  and  Blanche  (Ashby)  Lambert.  His 
father,  a  native  of  the  Old  Dominion,  passed  most 
of  his  life  in  that  state,  and  in  Maryland,  where 
he  was  identified  with  a  number  of  enterprises  in 
connection  with  hotel  keeping,  in  which  he  met  with 
much  success,  particularly  in  summer  resorts,  in- 
cluding Orkney  Springs,  and  Deer  Park  and  Oak- 
land. Mr.  Lambert 's  mother  is  of  the  noted  Ashby 
family  of  Virginia,  and  first  cousin  of  the  famous 
Gen.  Turner  Ashby,  of  Black  Horse  Cavalry  fame. 
M.  Ashby  Lambert  was  brought  up  at  Culpeper, 
where  he  secured  his  education  in  the  public 
schools,  and  following  this  went  to  Washington,  D. 
C,  where  he  furthered  his  preparatory  training. 
Having  decided  upon  a  career  in  the  law,  Mr. 
Lambert  enrolled  as  a  student  in  the  University 
of  North  Carolina,  graduating  with  the  class  of 
1904  and  immediately  entering  upon  the  practice 
of  his  profession  at  Raleigh,  which  city  he  had 
chosen  as  his  field  of  endeavor,  and  here  he  has 
continued  in  a  general  business  to  the  present 
time.  Mr.  Lambert  specializes  in  civil  practice. 
From  the  outset  of  his  career  he  has  been  success- 
ful, and  now  enjoys  a  large  practice.  Aside  from 
his  profession,  he  is  identified  with  numerous  busi- 
ness enterprises  of  the  city,  in  which  his  judg- 
ment and  discrimination  are  recognized  as  val- 
uable assets.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Wake  County 
Bar  Association,  and  is  attorney  for  the  Mer- 
chants Association,  which  latter  position  he  has 
held  for  ten  years.  Although  interested  in  all 
that  pertains  to  progress  along  every  line  and 
carefully  watchful  of  the  events  which,  at  the 
present  day,  are  history  making,  Mr.  Lambert  is 


(Z^Cky>r'^-^^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


169 


not  an  ardent  politician.  He  belongs  to  the  cham- 
ber of  commerce,  and  has  done  his  share  in  help- 
ing the  city  of  his  adoption  to  grow  and  develop. 
His  fraternal  connection  is  with  Seaton  Gates 
Lodge  No.  54,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows. 

Mr.  Lambert  was  united  in  marriage  August  7, 
1906,  with  Miss  Sallie  Pickett  Whitaker,  who  was 
born  at  Ealeigh,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  R.  H. 
Whitaker,  a  Methodist  minister  of  this  city. 

James  Fuller  Glass  is  prominently  known  in 
insurance  and  real  estate  circles  in  several  sections 
of  North  Carolina  and  also  in  Virginia.  He  is 
well  fitted  by  temperament  and  talents  for  this 
field  of  business  which  requires  men  of  great  force 
and  capacity,  and  he  has  already  at  the  age  of 
twenty-six  justified  his  choice  of  a  vocation. 

Mr.  Glass  was  born  in  Caswell  County,  North 
Carolina,  .January  4,  1891,  a  son  of  Eugene  Alex- 
ander and  Bettie  (Cobb)  Glass.  His  father  was 
a  Caswell  County  farmer.  James  F.  Glass  was 
educated  in  public  schools  and  the  Trinity  Park 
School,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  in  1909  went 
to  work  for  the  American  Tobacco  Company.  He 
withdrew  from  that  company  in  1914  to  establish 
the  Home  Agency  Company,  insurance  and  real 
estate,  at  Durham',  of  which  he  has  since  been  sec- 
retary and  treasurer.  He  is  also  treasurer  of  the 
Leak-Cobb  Company,  insurance  and  real  estate, 
maintaining  ofiBces  in  Winston-Salem  and  Durham, 
North  Carolina,  and  Danville,  Virginia. 

General  W.  D.  Pender,  who  was  probably  the 
most  distinguished  officer  sent  by  North  Carolina 
into  the  Confederate  Army,  has  his  name  and 
deeds  enshrined  in  the  history  of  the  state,  and 
the  following  is  offered  as  only  a  partial  account 
of   his   career. 

He  was  l>orn  in  Edgecombe  February  6,  1834, 
of  ancient  English  ancestry.  In  1850,  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  he  entered  the  United  States  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point.  On  graduation  he  was 
assigned  to  the  First  Artillery  as  Brevet  Second 
Lieutenant  and  later  saw  active  service  in  the 
First   Regiment   of   Dragoons. 

March  21,  1861,  General  Pender  resigned  his 
commission  with  the  United  States  Army  and  was 
appointed  a  captain  in  the  artillery  service  of  the 
Confederate  Government.  In  1863  he  was  appoint- 
ed major  general  and  assigned  to  A.  P.  Hill 's 
Light  Division.  He  was  the  youngest  major  gen- 
eral in  the  service  of  the  Confederate  Army,  at 
that  time  being  only  twenty-nine  years  of  age. 
In  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  he  was  wounded,  and 
on  the  retreat  of  the  Confederates  suffered  a 
hemorrhage  of  the  wound  from  which  he  died 
after    an    operation    at    Staunton. 

His  ability  as  a  commanding  officer  .was  widely 
recognized.  One  of  the  generals  of  the  Confed- 
erate Army  has  been  quoted  at  saying:  "It  was 
reported  and  firmly  believed  throughout  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  that  Genera!  Lee  had  said 
that  General  Pender  was  the  only  officer  in  his 
army  that  could  fill  the  place  of  Stonewall  Jack- 
son. ' ' 

In  the  spring  of  1917  the  deeds  of  this  gallant 
soldier  were  recalled  when  his  portrait  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Hall  of  History  by  members  of  the 
family,  in  presence  of  Daughters  of  the  Confed- 
eracy and  veterans  from  Tarboro,  General  Pender 's 
old  home,  and  many  other  citizens  of  the  state. 
The  speech  of  presentation  was  made  by  Judge 
W.  A.   Montgomery,  who  in  the  course  of  his  ad- 


dress said :  ' '  The  picture  will  serve  the  three- 
fold purpose  of  enabling  the  visitor  to  look  upon 
the  features  and  the  personal  appearance  of  one 
who  performed  valiant  and  noble  deeds  for  his 
state  and  who  met  a  glorious  death  in  her  service. 
The  greatness  of  General  Pender  is  not  affected 
by  stone  or  picture  because  his  accomplishments 
and  the  activities  of  his  life  were  outside  such 
mementoes  and  his  true  memorial  is  found  and 
felt  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  and  in  the 
written  pages  of  the  history  of  the  times  in  which 
he  lived.  His  fame  as  a  distinguislied  military 
officer  is  secure,  altliough  the  only  monument  that 
has  been  erected  to  his  memory  is  a  pile  of  cannon 
balls  upon  the  mound  above  liis  mortal  re- 
mains— as  modest  and  unpretentious  as  was  his 
character — in  a  quiet  spot  in  the  churchyard  of 
Calvary  at  Tarboro. ' ' 

James  Pender  is  in  point  of  continuous  service 
one  of  the  oldest  members  of  the  bar  of  Tarboro, 
in  whicli  city  he  was  born  and  where  he  has  spent 
practically  all  his  life  except  the  time  he  was  in 
school  at  Baltimore. 

Mr.  Pender  comes  of  a  very  notable  family  of 
North  Carolina.  He  was  born  September  25,  1858, 
son  of  Robert  H.  and  Emeralda  (James)  Pender. 
His  father  was  a  pilanter  and  merchant.  James 
Pender  was  educated  for  three  years  in  the  high 
class  prejiaratory  school  at  Baltimore  conducted 
by  Dr.  Robert  Atkinson.  During  1877-79  he  worked 
in  his  father's  store,  and  in  1879-80  was  a  stu- 
dent in  the  law  department  of  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  from  which  he  received  his 
LL.  B.  degree. 

Since  his  admission  to  the  bar  Mr.  Pender  has 
been  at  work  handling  a  large  general  practice  at 
Tarboro.  He  served  four  years  as  chairman  of 
the  Board  of  Education,  was  mayor  six  terms 
from  1901  to  1907  and  has  been  president  of  the 
Recorder's  Court  since  it  was  organized  in  1909. 
For  seventeen  years  he  was  a  United  States  Com- 
missioner in  this  district,  and  for  one  year,  1883- 
84,  was  deputy  register  of  deeds.  Mr.  Pender  is  a 
memlier   of   the   township   school   board. 

April  12,  1887,  he  married  Miss  Sallie  Pippen, 
daughter  of  William  M.  Pippen,  a  prominent 
merchant  and  farmer.  They  have  two  children: 
Katharine  Marriott   and  Ella  Banning. 

Richard  Beverly  Raney.  The  City  of  Ealeigh 
owes  much  to  the  late  Richard  Beverly  Raney,  not 
only  for  his  substantial  services  as  a  prominent 
business  man  during  his  lifetime,  but  also  for  in- 
fluences which  he  set  in  motion  and  which  con- 
tinue to  exercise  their  beneficent  results  today 
and  will  for  years  to  come. 

He  was  born  February  7,  1860,  at  his  father's 
county  home,  "Retreat,"  in  Granville  County, 
North  Carolina.  He  had  not  quite  rounded  out 
fifty  years  of  life  when  he  died  on  December  8, 
1909.  His  parents  were  Thomas  Hall  and  Eliza 
Partridge  (Baird)  Raney.  His  father  was  a  suc- 
cessful planter  and  farmer.  On  his  maternal  side, 
Richard  Beverly  Raney  was  a  lineal  descendant 
of  James  Speed  who  came  to  America  from  South- 
ampton, England,  and  settled  in  Virginia  about 
1695.  James  Speed  was  the  grandson  of  John 
Speed  who  was  born  in  1552  and  was  a  historian 
and  scholar  of  note,  whose  writings  were  held  in 
high  estimation  in  his  day.  He  wrote  a  number 
of  things,  the  chief  being  a  history  of  "Great 
Brittaine, ' '  including  sixty-six  maps  and  many 
cuts  of  seals,  coats  of  arms,  coins,  etc.     His  first 


170 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


publication  was  a  tabulated  account  of  the  Scrip- 
ture genealogies  which  were  later  published  in  the 
first  edition  of  King  James '  translation  of  the 
Bible.  Kiiig  James  gave  John  Speed  a  patent  se- 
curing the  jiroijerty  iu  these  tables  to  him  and  his 
heirs.  This  love  of  scholarly  pursuits  and  the  writ- 
ing of  books  has  been  shown  iu  a  number  of 
John  Speed  's  descendants. 

Richard  Beverly  Rauey  was  liberally  educated, 
attending  public  schools  and  Fetter  Academy  at 
Kittrell,  North  Carolina.  To  this  he  added  a  love 
of  reading  and  travel,  in  later  life  making  a  tour 
of  the  world  and  writing  a  most  interesting  diary 
during  that  journey. 

At  eighteen,  like  many  other  Southern  young 
men  of  liis  generation  iu  the  days  following  the 
war  between  the  states,  he  left  home  to  make 
his  fortune  in  life.  He  came  to  Raleigh  where  by 
remarkalile  industry,  attention  to  detail  and  busi- 
ness acumen,  united  to  stern  perseverance,  traits 
which  marked  his  career  througli  life,  he  soou 
made  a  place  for  liimself.  Later  lie  became  state 
agent  of  the  Penn  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany, director  of  the  Commercial  National  Bank, 
president  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  and  aflfi- 
iated  with  many  business  and  social  organizations 
of  the  city.  He  was  a  deeply  religious  man,  a 
member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  and  a 
vestryman  of  Christ  Church  for  a  number  of  years. 

Mr.  Raney  first  married  Olivia  Blount  Cowper, 
daughter  of  Pulaski  and  Mary  Blount  (Grimes) 
Cowper.  Mrs.  Olivia  Raney  died  May  4,  ISiKi. 
The  Olivia  Raney  Library,  which  Mr.  Raney  built 
and  gave  as  a  free  public  library  to  the  City  of 
Raleigh  was  iu  memory  of  her.  The  liljrary  is 
housed  in  a  beautiful  three  story  pressed  brick 
building,  and  it  was  opened  to  the  pul)lic  witli 
appropriate  ceremonies  on  January  24,  1001. 
Every  detail  of  its  construction  and  furnisliing 
was  personally  supervised  by  him  and  he  added 
to  the  5,000  volumes  given  with  the  library  some 
of  its  books  from  his  personal  lilirary  and  coins 
and  other  things  gathered  on  his  foreign  travels. 

On  April  28,  196."?,  he  married  Katherine  Whit- 
ing Benson.  Mrs.  Raney  survives  and  still  resides 
at  Raleigh,  and  is  widely  known  in  social  circles 
at  the  capital.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Capt.  Claudius 
Baker  Denson  and  Matilda  Cowan,  his  wife.  Her 
father  was  captain  of  the  Confederate  Grays  of 
Duplin,  North  Carolina,  Volunteers,  and  later 
an  oflScer  in  the  Engineer  Corps  of  the  Confed- 
erate States  Army.  He  was  for  many  years  a 
prominent  educator,  a  speaker  and  writer  and 
served  the  state  as  secretary  of  the  State  Board 
of  Public  Charities  for  fifteen  years.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Raney  had  three  children,  Margaret  Den- 
son, Richard  Beverly,  .Jr.,  and  Katherine  Baird. 
From  early  youth  Mr.  Raney  bore  in  his  heart  the 
conscious  desire  to  do  something  for  his  fellow 
man,"  as  he  expressed  it.  His  gift  of  the  librarv 
to  the  citizens  of  Raleigh  was  the  beautiful  frui- 
tion of  this  desire.  Truly  may  it  be  said  that, 
"he  died  wearing  the  white  flower  of  a  blameless 
life." 

( 
Ephratm  Lash  G.mther.  In  the  annals  of  Davie 
County,  no  name  shines  with  brighter  lustre  than 
that  of  Kphraim  L.  Gaither.  a  well-known  attor- 
ney of  Mocksville,  and  president  of  the  Bank  of 
Davie,  who  is  distinguished  not  only  for  his  legal 
and  financial  powers,  but  for  the  honored  lineage 
from  which  he  is  descended,  many  of  his  ances- 
tors having  figured  prominently  in  the  public  life 
of  the  state.     A  native  of  Mocksville,  he  was  born 


April  30,  18.50,  of  pioneer  stock  being  a  descendant 
in  the  eighth  generation  of  John  Gaither,  the  immi- 
grant, his  line  of  descent  being  as  follows:  John, 
John,  Benjamin,  Edward  G.,  Basil,  Gassaway, 
Ephraim,  and  Ephraim  Lash. 

The  first  .John  Gaither  came,  with  his  young  wife, 
.Joan,  to  America  iu  the  good  ship  "Assurance" 
in  16.35,  and  settled  in  Virginia,  near  Norfolk, 
where  he  lived  for  many  years  acquiring  consid- 
erable   property    for   those   early   days. 

His  son,  John,  was  but  a  boy  when  he  came 
witli  his  parents  to  this  country.  Like  his  fa- 
ther, he  became  active  in  business  circles,  and 
the  name  of  ' '  John  Gaither ' '  appearing  sixth  on 
the  list  of  the  incorporators  of  James  City  belongs 
to  either  him  or  his  father.  He  married  Ruth 
Morley,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Morley,  and  sub- 
sequently removed  to  Anne  Arundel  County,  Mary- 
land, where  he  became  an  extensive  landholder. 

Benjamin  Gaither  was  born  on  the  home  jdanta- 
tion  in  Maryland,  and  spent  his  entire  life  in 
)iis  native  state.  He  married  Sarah  Burgess, 
daughter  of  Capt.  Edward  and  Sarah  (Cliew) 
Burgess.  Their  son,  Edward  G.  Gaither,  married 
Eleanor  Whittle,  and,  as  far  as  is  known,  was 
a  life-long  resident  of  Anne  Arundel  County, 
Maryland. 

Basil  Gaither  was  born,  bred  and  educated  in 
Maryland.  He  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  Rev- 
olutionary war,  and  on  August  30,  1777,  re- 
ceived his  commission  as  a  lieutenant  in  Captain 
Briscoe 's  Company,  and  a  few  days  later,  on 
September  12,  of  the  same  year,  he  had  the  nonor 
of  being  made  captain  of  his  comi)any.  Cap- 
tain Gaither  married  Margaret  Watkins,  daughter 
of  Col.  Nicholas  Watkins,  of  Revolutionary  fame. 
In  1781,  accompanied  by  his  brother.  Burgess 
Gaither,  he  came  to  North  Carolina,  and  settled 
in  that  part  of  Rowan  County  now  included  in 
D.a\-ie  County,  while  his  brother  located  in  Ire- 
dell County.  Basil,  a  man  of  great  ability  and 
strong  personality,  soon  became  active  iu  public 
affairs,  representing  Rowan  County  either  in  the 
House  of  Commons  or  the  Senate  from  1788  until 
1802.  He  owned  a  valuable  plantation  of  500 
acres  on  Elishas  Creek,  and  there  he  and  his 
wife  spent  their  last  years.  They  reared  seven 
children,'  Nicholas  Walter,  Gassaway,  Basil,  Betty, 
Nathan,  and  Nellie. 

Gassaway  Gaither,  a  native  of  Davie  County, 
was  extensively  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits 
during  his  active  career,  his  large  plantation  hav- 
ing been  located  on  the  Wilkesboro  road,  1% 
miles  from  Mocksville.  He  operated  it  successful- 
ly, and  there  resided  until  his  death.  Either  he 
or  his  father  donated  the  land  for  the  Joppa 
Church  and  the  grave  yard  in  which  the  remains  of 
Daniel  Boone 's  parents  now  repose.  He  mar- 
ried Mary.  Smoot,  and  they  became  the  parents  of 
five  children,  namely:  Ephraim;  Burgess;  EUen, 
who  married  Elisha  Gibbs;  Elvira  married  Henry 
4ustin;  and  Mary,  who  married  Col.  William 
March. 

Ephraim  Gaither  was  born,  December  13,  1808, 
in  that  part  of  Rowan  County  now  known  as  Davie 
County,  and  died  at  his  home  in  Mocksville  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty  years.  Eor  many  years  he 
was  prosperously  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits 
in  ilocksville,  at  the  same  time  superintending  the 
work  on  his  plantation.  Just  prior  to  the  Civil 
war,  he  represented  Davie  County  in  the  State 
Legislature,  and  during  the  progress  of  the  war 
he  served  as  clerk  of  the  County  Court.  When, 
just    at   the   close   of   the   war,   Stoneman   passed 


,  ASTOR,  LENOX 

TILDEN  l-OUNDATTON&j 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


171 


through  Mocksvjlle,  he  was  made  prisoner,  and 
taken  out  into  the  country  about  five  miles,  but 
Tie  made  his  escape  and  returned  home. 

Epbraim  Gaither  married  Sarah  Hall  Johnstone, 
who  was  born  in  Eowan  County,  North  Carolina, 
a  daughter  of  Lemuel  Dickey  and  Ann  (Hall) 
Johnstone,  and  granddaughter  of  William  John- 
stone, a  pioneer  of  that  count}'.  Her  gi-eat-grand- 
father,  Rol)ert  Johnstone,  the  great-great-grandfa- 
ther on  the  maternal  side  of  Ephraim  Lash  Gaither, 
came  from  Pennsylvania  with  his  family  to  North 
Carolina  about  17.50.  Locating  in  Eowan  County, 
he  entered  land  on  the  South  Yadkin  River,  and  on 
the  farm  which  he  cleared  from  the  wilderness  he 
and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth 
Smiley,  spent  the  remainder  of  their  lives.  Born 
in  Pennsylvania,  William  Johnstone  was  but  a 
child  when  he  came  with  his  parents  to  this  state. 
He  succeeded  to  the  occupation  to  which  he  was 
reared,  and  as  a  planter  was  quite  successful. 
Public  s|>irited  and  patriotic,  he  enlisted  for  service 
during  the  Colonists  struggle  for  independence  and 
received  a  commission  as  an  officer  in  the  army. 
His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth 
Dickey,  was  born  and  bred  in  South  Carolina. 

Lemuel  Dickey  Johnstone,  the  maternal  grand- 
father of  Mr.  Ephraim  L.  Gaither,  spent  his  entire 
life  of  sixty-tliree  years  in  Eowan  County,  where 
Tie  was  profitably  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 
He  married  Ann  Hall,  who  was  born  in  Iredell 
County,  this  state,  of  pioneer  stock,  having  been 
a  lineal  descendant  of  James  Hall,  who  came  to 
America,  a  j)Oor  orphan  boy,  in  1720,  settling 
in  Pennsylvania.  Industrious  and  energetic,  James 
Hall  soon  became  used  to  the  customs  of  his 
adopted  country,  and  in  course  of  time  won  a  posi- 
tion of  note  among  his  fellow-men.  He  was  speci- 
■ally  active  in  religious  matters,  and  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Conewago  Presbyterian  Church. 
In  1751,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  Prudence  (Rod- 
dy) Hall,  and  their  children,  he  migrated  to  North 
Carolina,  settling  as  a  pioneer  in  Iredell  County, 
where  he  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Bethany 
Presliyterian  Church.  Nine  children  were  born  of 
the  union  of  Ephraim  and  Sarah  H.  (.Johnstone) 
Gaither,  two  sons  dying  in  infancy.  The  others  are 
William  Henry,  who  served  during  the  Civil  war  in 
the  Forty-.second  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops, 
and  was  killed  at  the  Battle  of  ChancellorsvUle, 
le  having  been  the  fifth  child  in  succession  of 
birth  ;  Thomas  Hall ;  Lemuel ;  G.  Ephraim  Lash ; 
Mary  Ellen,  wife  of  Dr.  R.  W.  Woodrufe;  Sarah 
Eliza,  wife  of  James  P.  Hampton;  and  Janfe, 
who  married  Sanford  A.  Woodruff.  The  mother 
died   at   the   age   of   seventj'-four   years. 

Ephraim  Lash  Gaither  acquired  his  preliminary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Mocksville,  sub- 
sequently continuing  his  studies  under  the  tuition 
of  Prof.  Jacob  Eaton,  a  prominent  educator.  In 
September,  1868,  he  entered  Davidson  College,  and 
there  won  such  a  good  record  for  scholarship,  and 
liecame  so  popular,  that  at  the  Commencement,  in 
June,  1871,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Phil- 
anthrojiic  Literary  Society.  During  the  summer  of 
1872,  Mr.  Gaither  suffered  a  stroke  of  facial 
paralysis,  and  was  advised  by  his  physicians  not  to 
resume  his  studies.  In  the  fall  of  that  year,  how- 
ever, he  returned  to  college,  and  there  graduated 
with  the  class  of  1873.  From  that  class  of  twenty- 
six  members,  he  had  the  distinction  of  being  se- 
lected to  deliver  the  philosophical  oration.  And 
here  it  may  be  well  to  mention  that  at  the  Com- 
mencement, in  June,  1876,  Mr.  Gaither  delivered, 


upon  invitation,  the  annual  literary  address  before 
the  Philanthrojiic  Literary  Society. 

In  the  fall  of  1873  Mr.  Gaither  entered  the  law 
school  of  Chief  Justice  E.  M.  Pearson,  of  Rich- 
mond Hill,  North  Carolina,  and  in  1875,  at  the 
June  term  of  the  Supreme  Court,  obtained  his  li- 
cense to  practice.  Locating  in  Mocksville,  his 
legal  skill  and  aliility,  as  well  as  his  comprehensive 
knowledge  of  law,  soon  became  evident,  and  soon 
after  his  marriage  he  was  admitted  to  partner- 
ship with  his  father-in-law,  John  Marshall  Clement, 
one  of  the  keenest  and  briglitest  lawyers  in  the 
country,  the  copartnership  lasting  until  the  death 
of  Mr.  Clement,  in  1886.  The  firm  of  Clement  & 
Gaither  thus  established  became  very  active  and 
prominent,  appearing  in  many  of  the  more  im- 
portant civil  and  criminal  cases  of  the  country. 
One  of  the  more  noteworthy  cases  was  that  of  an 
old  Confederate  soldier,  who  was  charged  with 
murder,  but  after  an  extended  and  hard-fought 
trial  was  acquitted  by  the  jury.  The  case,  how- 
ever, which  gave  Mr.  Gaither  greater  satisfaction 
than  any  other  was  that  of  a  tried  and  trusted 
negro,  a  former  slave  of  his  father  and  grand- 
father. This  negro  had  been  charged  with  larceny 
by  a  white  man  who  had  never  been  a  slave  owner. 
During  the  trying  days  of  the  Civil  war,  he  had 
been  loyal  to  liis  young  master  and  to  his  master's 
family.  Mr.  Gaither  pleaded  the  case  with  force 
and  eloquence,  and  after  a  long  trial  the  ex-slave 
was  acquitted.  Chief  Justice  Furches,  who  well 
knew  all  of  the  parties  concerned,  congratulated 
Mr.  Gaither  u]ion  his  successful  efforts,  and  com- 
mended him  for  kindness  to  the  old  and  faithful 
servant.  Sulisequently  Mr.  Gaither  bought  for  this 
old  negro  a  home  in  Statesville,  and  in  it  supported 
him  as  long  as  he  lived. 

On  December  1,  1880,  Mr.  Gaither  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Florence  Adelaide  Clement, 
daughter,  as  ])reviously  mentioned,  of  John  Mar- 
shall and  Mary  J.  (Haydeu)  Clement.  Cultured, 
accomplished,  and  possessing  rare  traits  of  char- 
acter, Mrs.  Gaither  has  been  a  true  helpmeet  and 
companion  to  her  husband,  her  interest,  sympathy 
and  advice  having  been  an  inspiration  to  him  in  his 
work,  being  almost  as  important  factors  in  win- 
ning him  success  as  were  her  father's  wise  coun- 
sels and  sound  judgment.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gaither 
have  four  daughters,  namely:  Adelaide  Marshall, 
Sarah  Hall,  Jane  Hayden,  and  Dorothy  Sophie. 
Adelaide  M.,  the  eldest  daughter,  married  Rufus 
B.  Sanford,  and  they  have  three  sons.  Lash  Gaither, 
Eufus  B.,  Jr.,  and  Marshall  Clement.  The  four 
daughters  are  all  finely  educated,  having  been 
graduated  from  Salem  CoUege,  their  mother 's  and 
grandmother's  alma  mater. 

In  polities  Mr.  Gaither  is  a  stanch  democrat. 
He  has  ably  and  faithfully  filled  various  offices 
of  responsibility  and  trust.  Wlien  the  Superior 
Court  of  Davie  County  was  established  he  was 
elected  solicitor,  and  in  1890,  Davie  County  unani- 
mously instructed  its  delegates  for  him,  and  his 
name  was  presented  by  them  to  the  Judicial  Con- 
vention, which  was  held  at  WOkesboro.  In  1900, 
Mr.  Gaither  was  his  party's  nominee  for  rep- 
resentative to  the  State  Legislature,  but,  owing  to 
ill  health,  he  declined  the  nomination.  He  has 
ever  evinced  a  warm  interest  in  everything  per- 
taining to  the  welfare  of  city,  county  and  state, 
and  has  been  among  the  foremost  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  beneficial  enterprises. 

Early  in  life  Mr.  Gaither  united  with  the  Pres- 
byterian   Church,    in   which    he    has    served    as    a 


172 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


deacon,  while  for  niany  years  he  has  been  an 
elder  in  the  Mocksville  Church  of  that  denomina- 
tion. In  May,  1906,  the  Concord  Presbytery  sent 
him  as  a  delegate  to  the  General  Assembly,  which 
convened  that  year  in  Greenville,  South  Carolina. 
Mr.  Gaither  is  a  man  of  good  financial  ability, 
and  is  now  one  of  the  directorate  of  the  Wachovia 
Bank  and  Trust  Company  of  Winston-Salem,  and 
is  giving  efficient  and  appreciated  service  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Bank  of  Davie  County. 

I 

George  Washington  Watts  has  been  a  resident 
of  Durham  forty  years.  He  came  here  to  handle 
a  part  interest  in  the  great  tobacco  manufacturing 
industry  which  afterwards  was  incorporated  as 
W.  Duke  Sons  &  Company.  Wliile  he  was  one 
of  the  most  efficient  in  the  group  of  men  who 
built  up  that  industry  as  one  of  the  greatest  to- 
bacco houses  in  America,  his  interests  have  for 
many  years  not  been  consigned  along  one  line, 
and  his  ability  and  capital  have  entered  into  much 
that  constitutes  the  greatness  and  prosperity  of  this 
city. 

Mr.  Watts  was  born  at  Cumberland,  Maryland, 
August  18.  1851,  a  «on  of  Gerard  S.  and  Ann  E. 
(Watts')  Watts.  He  was  reared  at  Baltimore, 
attended  the  public  schools  there,  from  18.59  to 
1S6S,  and  from  1868  to  1S71  was  a  student  of 
civil  engineering  in  the  University  of  Virginia. 
However,  it  has  been  along  manufacturing  and  in- 
dustrial lines  that  his  career  has  been  made.  His 
father  was  an  extensive  wholesale  tobacco  dealer, 
and  from  college  the  son  went  on  the  road  as  a 
salesman  for  G.  S.  Watts  &  Company. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Watts  had  been  traveling 
for  the  tobacco  house  of  G.  S.  Watts  &  Company 
from  1871  to  1878.  In  the  latter  year  he  came 
to  Durham,  and  at  once  used  his  ideas  and  his 
enterprise  to  stimulate  the  growth  of  the  Duke 
firm  and  siibser|uently  aided  in  organizing  and  in- 
corporating W.  Duke  Rons  &  Company,  in  which 
he  became  a  stockholder  and  secretary  and  treas- 
urer. This  business  joined  the  American  Tobacco 
Company  in    1890. 

It  would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  describe  fully 
and  adequately  all  the  many  activities  and  influ- 
ences that  have  radiated  from  Mr.  Watts  since 
he  took  un  his  residence  at  Durham.  In  1884, 
when  the  Commonwealth  Club  of  Durham  was  or- 
ganized, he  was  elected  its  first  president.  This 
club  under  his  presidency  collected  the  capital  and 
furnished  the  faith  and  enthusiasm  which  brought 
about  the  building  of  the  Lynchburg  and  Durham 
T?ailroad,  the  Oxford  &  Durham  Railroad,  and  the 
Durham  and  Northern  Eailroad.  These  railroads 
gave  Durham  what  is  most  required,  adequate 
transportation  facilities,  and  insured  for  all  time 
the  substantial  prosperity  of  the  city  as  a  com- 
mercial center. 

Mr.  Watts  erected  the  Loan  and  Trust  Building 
of  Durham  and  has  been  interested  in  practically 
every  development  enterprise  of  the  city  in  the 
past  thirty  or  thirty-five  years.  He  is  president 
of  the  Pearl  Cotton  Mills," is  vice  president  of  the 
Erwin  Cotton  Mills,  a  director  of  the  Sea  Board 
Air  Line  Railway,  vice  president  of  the  Golden 
Belt  Manufacturing  Company,  has  interests  in  the 
Durham  Cotton  Manufacturing  Company,  Mayo 
Cotton  Mills  at  Mayo  Dam.  North  Carolina,  in  the 
Coolemee  Cotton  Mills,  the  Golden  Belt  Bag  Manu- 
facturing Company,  the  Durham  Loan  and  Trust 
Company,  is  a  director  of  the  Fidelity  B.ank,  di- 
rector Virginia-Carolina  Chemical  Company, 
Southern  Cotton  Oil  Company,  Republic  Iron  and 


Steel  Company,  and  many  other  companies.  He 
is  also  president  of  the  Home  Savings  Bank  of 
Durham. 

What  he  has  done  to  stimulate  business  growth 
and  enterprise  is  matched  by  his  public  spirited 
citizenship  and  his  important  contributions  to  the 
institutions  of  the  city  and  state.  He  erected  the 
Watts  Hospital  of  Durham,  and  has  made  large 
contributions  to  the  Orphan  Asylum  at  Barium 
and  the  Elizabeth  College,  also  to  the  Union  The- 
ological Seminary  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  he  being 
president  of  the  board  of  trustees  and  vice  presi- 
dent of  the  board  of  Davidson  College.  Mr. 
Watts  is  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
has  been  superintendent  of  its  Sunday  school  con- 
tinuously since  1885. 

On  October  19,  1875,  he  married  Miss  Laura 
Valinda  Beall.  Their  only  daughter  is  the  wife 
of  Mr.  John  Sprunt  Hill  of  Durham.  Mr.  Watts 
was  married  the  second  time  on  October  25,  1917, 
to  Miss  Sara  V.  Ecker  of  Syracuse,  New  York. 

Lons  Whitlet  Norman.  Many  of  the  flourish- 
ing enterprises  which  serve  to  make  Hertford, 
North  Carolina,  a  busy  business  center  owe  a  large 
measure  of  their  prosperity  to  the  substantia^  in- 
terest taken  in  them  at  their  start  by  one  of  the 
city's  leading  financiers  and  public-spirited  men. 
No  name  in  Perquimans  or  Pasquotank  County  is 
held  in  higher  regard  than  Louis  Whitley  Norman. 
For  many  years  he  has  been  identified  with  busi^ 
ness  life  at  Hertford,  where  for  sixteen  years  he 
has  been  cashier  of  the  Hertford  Banking  Com- 
pany, and  for  twenty  years  treasurer  of  Perqui- 
mans  County. 

Louis  W.  Norman  was  born  in  Tyrrell  County, 
North  Carolina,  in  a  historic  year  in  the  history 
of  our  country,  on  August  16,  1861.  He  is  a 
son  of  .Joseph  Robert  and  Ellen  (Brabble)  Norman. 
In  the  old  days  his  father  was  an  extensive  planter 
and  also  was  a  merchant.  When  he  grew  to  young 
manhood,  the  business  world  appealed  to  him,  and 
in  1884,  in  association  with  his  brother  Ellis  Stuart 
Norman,  he  embarked  in  a  general  mercantile 
business  at  Hertford,  under  the  style  of  Norman 
Brothers,  and  the  firm  continued  for  ten  years 
and  was  one  of  the  sound  enterprises  of  the  city. 

In  1894  Mr.  Norman  sold  his  interest  in  the 
above  firm  and  until  1897  was  variously  engaged 
in  matters  pertaining  largely  to  local  ventures. 
In  the  latter  year  he  entered  a  private  bank  at 
Hertford,  and  ever  since  has  made  the  financial 
fitld  particularly  his  own.  In  1901  he  assisted  in 
the  reorganization  of  the  bank,  at  which  time  it 
was  incorporated  as  the  Hertford  Banking  Com- 
pany, and  three  months  later,  in  May,  1901,  he 
was  elected  cashier  and  has  continued  such  to 
the  present.  This  banking  company  began  with  a 
capital  of  $15,000,  which  has  been  increased  as  the 
business  has  enlarged,  to  a  capital  of  $25,000  and 
surplus  and  profits  $ij5,000,  and  it  is  considered 
one  of  the  stable  institutions  of  the  county.  Mr. 
Norman  has  additional  banking  and  other  inter- 
ests. He  is  vice  president  and  a  director  of  the 
Citizens  Bank  of  Edenton,  North  Carolina,  of 
which  he  was  the  organizer;  organized  the  Eliza- 
beth City  Brick  Manufacturing  Company,  of  which 
he  is  vice  president,  and  the  Plymouth  Brick  Com- 
pany, of  Plymouth,  North  Carolina,  of  which  he  is 
president.  He  has  been  the  helpful  promoter  of 
many  enterprises  and  the  financial  backer  of  numer- 
ous successful  business  concerns  here  and  in  the 
neighboring  cities.  Possessing  energy,  perseverance, 
adaptibility  and  tact,  Mr.  Norman  has  become  a 


DAVID  K.  CECIL 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


173 


leading  factor  in  tlie  life  of  his  city,  but  he  has 
other  qualities  also,  and  these  may  include  high 
business  ideals,  sterling  integrity  and  a  jicrsouality 
that  iusijires  respect  and  invites  friendly  feeling. 

Mr.  Norman  was  married  at  Hertford,  North 
Carolina,  September  23,  1885,  to  Miss  Donnie  M. 
Shannouhouse,  who  died  September  14,  181)4.  Mr. 
Norman 's  second  marriage  took  place  April  14, 
1897,  to  Miss  Josephine  Elliott,  of  Hertford,  and 
they  have  two  children:  Mattie  Macon,  who  is  a 
student  in  Chowan  College,  Murfreesboro,  North 
Carolina;  and  Donnie  May.  Mr.  Norman  and 
family  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  in 
which  he  is  a  deacon  and  is  church  treasurer. 

While  never  attracted  to  the  political  field, 
Mr.  Norman's  intelligence  and  public  spirit  have 
brought  him  into  active  co-operation  with  his 
fellow  citizens  in  movements  for  the  public  good, 
and  their  appreciation  of  his  trustworthiness  and 
unblemished  integrity  has  Deen  evidenced  by  his 
election  to  the  responsible  ofdce  of  county  treasurer 
for  two  decades.  Fraternally  he  is  a  Mason  and 
has  been  treasurer  of  the  lodge.  He  owns  many 
acres  of  farming  land  near  Hertford,  much  of  it 
finely  improved. 

David  King  Cecil.  Occupying  a  position  of 
note  among  the  worthy  and  highly  esteemed  citizens 
of  Lexington,  David  King  Cecil  has  spent  his 
entire  life  within  the  boundaries  of  Davidson 
County,  and  since  attaining  manhood  has  been  ac- 
tively identified  with  its  industrial  interests,  as 
a  builder  and  contractor  having  contributed  his 
full  share  toward  the  upbuilding  of  city  and  coun- 
ty. A  native  of  Davidson  County,  as  was  his 
father,  Richard  Ijams  Cecil,  and  his  grandfather, 
Samuel  Cecil,  he  was  born,  February  23,  1851,  in 
Arcadia  Township,  coming  from  substantial  pio- 
neer stock. 

Mr.  Cecil's  great-grandfather  on  the  paternal 
side  migrated  from  Maryland,  his  native  state,  to 
North  Carolina  in  early  pioneer  days,  locating  in 
Davidson  County,  which  at  that  time  was  still  a 
part  of  Rowan  County.  Purchasing  land  in  what 
is  now  Abbotts  Creek  Township,  he  cleared  and 
improved  a  farm,  and  there  resided  until  his  death, 
an  active  and  respected  citizen.  He  was  always 
interested  in  public  affairs,  and  it  is  said  that  he 
fought  as  a  brave  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

Bom  on  the  parental  homestead  in  Abbotts  Creek 
Township,  Samuel  Cecil  became  familiar  with  farm- 
ing when  young,  and  when  ready  to  settle  in  life 
bought  land  in  Clemmonsville  'Township,  not  far 
from  his  early  home.  Going  from  there  to  Ar- 
cadia Township,  he  continued  his  agricultural  la- 
bors in  that  locality  during  the  remainder  of  his 
active  life,  passing  away  on  his  farm  at  the  age 
of  seventy-six  years.  During  the  War  of  1812, 
he  served  as  a  soldier.  He  married  a  Miss  Ijams, 
who  was  born  in  Abbotts  Creek  Township,  and 
died,  at  the  age  of  three  score  and  ten  years,  on 
the  home  farm,  in  Arcadia  Township.  Eleven  chil- 
dren were  born  of  their  union,  a  typical  family 
as  regarded,  numbers  in  those  early  days. 

Born  in  1818,  in  Clemmonsville  Township,  Da- 
vidson County,  Richard  Ijams  Cecil  grew  to  man- 
hood on  the  home  farm,  and  as  a  young  man 
learned  the  wheelwright's  trade.  Locating  in  Arca- 
dia Township,  Davidson  County,  he  there  conducted 
a  good  business  as  a  wheelwright  for  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  from  1851  until  1875,  during 
the  Civil  war  being  a  member  of  the  Home 
Guards.  He  was  also  engaged  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits  while  there,  owning  and  occupying  a  farm 


of  212  acres,  located  near-  the  center  of  the  town- 
ship. In  1873  he  bought,  in  Lexington  Town- 
ship, 197  acres  of  land,  twenty  acres  of  which  is 
now  within  the  city  limits,  and  in  1875  assumed 
its  possession,  continuing  to  occupy  it  until  his 
death,  in  1889.  His  wife,  who.se  maiden  name  was 
Seberly  Magdalina  Evans,  was  born  in  Reddy 
Creek  Township,  and  spent  her  seventy-six  years 
of  life  in  Davidson  County.  She  was  the  mother  of 
nine  children,  three  sons  and  six  daughters. 

Attending  first  the  rural  schools  of  his  native 
township,  and  later  the  public  schools  of  Lexing- 
ton, David  King  Cecil  was  subsequently  variously 
employed  until  twenty-four  years  old.  He  then 
served  an  apprenticeship  of  three  years  at  the 
bricklayer's  trade,  and  afterwards  followed  that 
occupation  as  a  journeyman  for  two  years.  Since 
that  time,  Mr.  Cecil  has  built  up  an  extensive  and 
profitable  business  as  a  contractor  and  builder, 
being  busily  employed.  He  has  always  taken  great 
interest  in  agricultural  pursuits,  and  in  addition  to 
his  building  operations  superintends  the  manage- 
ment of  his  farm  of  130  acres,  a  part  of  which  he 
inherited  from  his  father,  and  a  part  of  which  he 
purchased.  It  all  lies  within  a  mile  of  Lexington, 
thirty-eight  acres  of  it  adjoining  the  city,  and 
ten  acres  being  within  the  city  limits. 

Mr.  Cecil  married,  January  26,  1877,  Crissie  Jane 
MUler,  who  was  born  in  Tyro  Township,  Daviilsou 
County,  a  daughter  of  Felix  and  Elizabeth  Miller. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cecil  have  six  children  living,  name- 
ly: Robert  Edgar,  Mary  Wilson,  Mattie  Cleve- 
land, David  Richard,  Sadie  Octa,  and  Joseph  King. 
Robert  E.  married  Maude  Lofton,  and  has  three 
children,  Richard  R.,  Helen  E.,  and  David  King. 
Mary  W.,  wife  of  Fred  O.  Sink,  has  six  children, 
Daphne  Maria,  John  David,  Robert  F.,  Charles 
Varner,  Joe  Stanford,  and  Rachel.  Mattie  C. 
married  Charles  Young.  David  R.  married  Mary 
Mitchell,  and  they  have  three  children,  Mary 
Louise,  David  R.,  Jr.,  and  Charles  Mitchell.  James 
King  married  Lillie  Tysinger,  and  they  have  two 
children,  Margaret  Jane  and  James  King,  Jr.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Cecil  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South,  and  have  reared  their  chil- 
dren in  the  same  religious  faith. 

Edwin  R.  Overman.  One  of  the  more  pros- 
perous business  men  of  Rowan  County,  Edwin  E. 
Overman,  of  Salisbury,  president  and  treasurer 
of  the  well-known  firm  of  Overman  &  Comjiany, 
and  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Boyden-Over- 
man  Company,  has  been  a  commanding  figure  in 
the  mercantile  life  of  the  city  for  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  having  by  means  of  industry,  wise 
management,  and  well  directed  endeavor  attained 
a  noteworthy  success  in  his  undertakings.  A 
native  of  Salisbury,  he  was  born  July  27,  1858, 
being  a  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Slater)  Over- 
man, honored  and  esteemed  residents  of  the  city. 

Having  been  fitted  for  college  in  the  schools 
of  Salisbury,  Edwin  R.  Overman  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  intending  to  complete 
the  course,  but  was  forced  to  give  up  his  studies 
at  the  end  of  two  years  on  account  of  deafness. 
He  then  taught  school  a  year  in  Litaker  Township, 
and  the  following  two  years  was  clerk  in  a  gen- 
eral store.  Resigning  his  position,  Mr.  Overman 
entered  the  service  of  the  Western  North  Caro- 
lina Railroad,  which  at  that  time  was  owned  by 
the  state,  becoming  a  clerk  in  the  auditor's  office. 
Continuing  with  the  road  after  it  was  sold,  it  be- 
coming first  the  Danville  and  Richmond  Railroad, 
and   later   the   Southern    Railroad,   he   was   trans- 


174 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


f erred  to  the  superintendent's  office,  with  -which 
he  was  associated  a  number  of  years.  Giving  up 
the  position  in  1891,  Mr.  Overman  was  for  three 
years  engaged  in  the  clothing  business  at  Dan- 
ville, Virginia.  Returning  to  Salisbury,  his  na- 
tive city,  in  1894,  he  embarked  in  the  wholesale 
grocery  business,  with  which  he  has  since  been 
permanently  and  successfully  identified,  being  one 
of  the  leading  merchants  of  this  section  of  Rowan 
Count}'.  Mr.  Overman  is  also  actively  interested  in 
agi'iculture  and  stock  raising,  having  a  well- 
equipped  farm  in  Steele  Township. 

Mr.  Overman  married,  in  Asheville,  North  Caro- 
lina, in  1SS8,  .Jennie  Weldon  Williamson.  She 
was  born  in  Danville,  Virginia,  a  daughter  of  Col. 
Weldon  and  Mary  (Bethell)  Williamson,  and  grand- 
daughter on  the  maternal  side  of  Major  Bethell,  of 
Rockingham  County,  Virginia.  The  only  child  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Overman,  Mary  Mildred  Overman, 
married,  in  1917,  Owen  Norwell,  cashier  of  the 
Asheville  branch  of  the  Wachovia  Bank  and  Trust 
Company.  ]?eligiously  Mrs.  Overman  is  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  Mr.  Overman  is  a 
member,  and  a  trustee,  of  tlie  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  Fraternally  he  lielongs  to 
Phoenix  Lodge  No.  24,  Knights  of  Pythias;  and 
to  Salisbury  Lodge  No.  699,  Benevolent  and  Pro- 
tective Order  of  Elks. 

John  Frederick  Webb,  superintendent  of  pub- 
lic instruction  in  GranvUle  County,  was  a  teacher 
even  before  he  graduated  from  college,  and  for 
twenty  years  the  best  energies  of  his  life,  directed 
by  high  educational  ideals  and  purposes,  have  gone 
into  the  task  he  chose  as  his  life  vocation. 

Mr.  Weill)  was  born  in  Granville  County,  North 
Carolina,  March  28,  1873,  a  son  of  James  H.  and 
Kate  (Russell)  Webb.  His  father  was  for  many 
years  both  a  merchant  and  farmer  in  Granville 
County.  John  F.  Welib  was  started  on  the  road  to 
learning  through  the  medium  of  private  schools, 
and  later  he  attended  a  well  known  preparatory 
school  at  Belllmckle,  Tennessee.  With  this  equip- 
ment he  taught  some  of  his  first  terms  of  school, 
and  largely  from  his  own  earnings  entered  and 
paid  his  way  through  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, where  he  graduated  in  1898.  Since  then  he 
has  been  in  active  school  work,  and  since  1907  has 
been  superintendent  of  public  instruction  of  Gran- 
ville County.  As  superintendent  he  has  under  his 
supervision  fifty-six  white  schools  and  forty-eight 
colored  schools.  His  staff  of  instructors  comjirise 
104  white  teachers  and  fifty  colored  teachers,  and 
it  is  the  consensus  of  opinion  in  Granville  County 
that  more  has  been  accomplished  for  progress, 
more  adequate  equipment  and  general  raising  of 
the  standards  of  instruction  in  the  county  schools 
during  the  past  ten  years  than  in  a  similar  period 
in  the  history  of  the.  county. 

Mr.  Webb  is  widely  known  among  North  Caro- 
lina educators,  is  a  member  of  the  State  Teachers ' 
Assembly,  is  a  Presbyterian  and  is  affiliated  with 
the  Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics. 
December  30,  1902,  he  married  Miss  Sarah  Gorham 
of  Battleboro,  North  Carolina.  They  have  four 
children,  Olive,  James  Edwin,  Edith  and  John 
Frederick,  Jr. 

Miles  Gilbert  Brown.  In  every  community 
the  manufacturing  interests  are  recognized  as  be- 
ing of  such  great  importance  that  enterprising  and 
progressive  business  men  will  always  be  found  to 
invest  their  capital  and  dedicate  their  energies  lo 
carrying  on  such  enterprises.     Thus  commerce   is 


built  up,  comfortable  living  is  assured  many  in- 
dustrious worsers,  and  through  the  variety  and 
volume  of  the  products  the  town,  eity  or  section 
largely  becomes  known  to  the  world.  In  Eastern 
North  Carolina  the  manufacture  of  lumber  has 
long  been  a  leading  industry  and  it  has  been  the 
foundation  of  many  a  fortune.  One  of  the  fore- 
most lumljer  manufacturers  at  Edenton  is  Miles 
Gilbert  Brown,  a  representative  citizen  both  in 
business   and   public   affairs. 

Miles  Gilbert  Brown  was  born  March  19,  1875, 
in  Gates  County,  North  Carolina.  His  parents 
were  William  Henry  and  Sarah  (Harrell)  Brown, 
wlio  were  natives  of  Gates  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  later  became  residents  of  Chowan  and 
came  to  Edenton  in  1887.  Here  the  father  buOt 
up  a  lumber  manufacturing  business  which  he  con- 
ducted advantageously  until  his  death  in  1893.  He 
was  a  man  of  sterling  character  and  upright  life 
and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the 
Methodist   Episcopal   Church,   South. 

Miles  G.  Brown  was  twelve  years  old  when  his 
parents  moved  to  Edenton  and  he  completed  his 
educational  training  in  the  jiublic  schools  in  this 
eity.  Upon  the  death  of  his  father  he  succeeded 
to  his  lumber  interests  and  has  continued  in  the 
business  ever  since.  In  Ids  planing  mill  he  utilizes 
the  best  machinery  that  is  on  the  market  and 
manufactures  sash,  doors  and  blinds,  together  with 
other  building  material.  Sixty  skilled  workmen  are 
employed  in  his  plant,  good  wages  are  paid  and 
under  Mr.  Brown's  management  all  labor  troubles 
have  been  avoided.  In  addition  to  his  important 
lumber  interests  Mr.  Brown  is  concerned  finan- 
cially and  officially  with  other  important  enter- 
prises here.  He  4s  a  member  of  the  directing 
lioard  of  the  Bank  of  Edenton,  and  is  also  a 
director  of  the  Edenton  Cotton  Mill  Company,  of 
tlie  Edenton  Peanut  Company  and  of  the  Eden- 
ton Building  and  Loan  Association,  displaying  a 
loyalty  to  local  enterprises  that  may  be  considered- 
most    commendable. 

Mr.  Brown  was  united  in  marriage  on  March  8, 
1916,  to  Miss  Pattie  Chappell,  who  was  born  at 
Edenton,  North  Carolina..  Her  parents  were  Rufus 
E.  and  Sarah  (Bond)  Cliappell,  the  former  of 
whom  has  farm  interests  in  Chowan  County.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Brown  are  active  members  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  South,  at  Edenton,  Mr. 
Brown  being  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School. 

Although  Mr.  Brown  has  never  been  absorbed  in 
politics,  nevertheless  he  has  always  been  an  active- 
citizen  and  public  matters  in  the  way  of  substan- 
tial improvements  for  the  city  have  had  his  care- 
ful attention.  He  was  a  member  of  the  board 
that  secured  the  waterworks  utility,  serving  at  th& 
time  of  installation  and  for  a  period  of  eight 
years. 

Ed-ward  John  Hill.  Admitted  to  the  bar  more 
than  thirty-five  years  ago,  Edward  John  HUl  has 
had  many  influential  relations  both  -with  the  law 
and  business  and  public  affairs,  and  is  now  en- 
joying a  large  and  successful  practice,  at  Durham. 
Mr.  Hill  in  his  time  has  filled  public  office  in  North 
Carolina,  has  been  in  the  diplomatic  service,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  lived  in  the  Far  West.  He 
is  a  native  of  North  Carolina  and  now  regards  this 
state    as    his    permanent   home. 

Mr.  Hill  was  born  in  Duplin  County  in  Septem- 
ber, 18.57,  a  son  of  William  E.  and  Frances 
(Faison)  Hill.  His  father  was  in  his  time  a  prom- 
inent man  of  Duplin  County,  planter  and  land 
owner,   and   prior   to   the   war  had   also  practiced. 


<^d.o^^i^j^d^'^l^{-^UiZ 


\-^ 


AS'' 


HISTORY?  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


175 


law.  Edward  J.  HiU  acquired  his  educatioJ  largely 
at  the  hands  of  private  tutors,  including  J.'  '.  Hug- 
gins.  He  attended  Davidson  College  and  t  e  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  and  studied  la^.  in  the 
noted  Dick  and  Dillard  Law  School,  at  '  ireens- 
boro.  He  was  admitted  to  practice  in  June,  1881, 
and  until  1887,  had  his  home  and  offices  in  lieenas- 
ville,  Duplin  County.  During  1883-85,  he  served 
as  a  member  of  the  State  Senate.  In  June,  1887, 
Mr.  Hill  left  North  Carolina  to  take  his  diplomatic 
post  as  United  States  consul  at  Montevideo,  South 
America.  He  lived  there  three  years  and  the 
last  year  had  charge  of  the  United  States  Lega- 
tion. On  returning  to  the  United  States  in 
1890,  Mr.  HUl  went  to  the  far  Northwest,  and  in 
the  new  State  of  Washington  practiced  law  at 
Bellingham  from  1890  to  1896.  While  there  he 
took  an  active  part  in  the  democratic  party,  which 
was  the  minority  party,  and  was  once  candidate  on 
that  ticket  for  the  office  of  county  attorney.  In 
1895  he  was  chairman  of  the  State  Democratic 
Convention.  From  1897  until  1906  Mr.  Hill  prac- 
ticed law  at  San  Francisco,  California,  and  on  re- 
turning to  North  Carolina,  located  at  Durham, 
where  he  has  since  enjoyed  a  large  and  profitable 
general  practice.  Among  other  interests  he  is 
attorney  and  chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee 
of  the  Home  Savings  Bank,  is  attorney  for  the 
Durham  Investment  Company  and  the  Durham 
Loan  and  Trust  Company.  He  owns  extensive  farm- 
ing interests  iu  Duplin  County. 

December  26,  1913,  Mr.  Hill  married  Beatrice 
Eaynen,   of   Kinston,   North    Carolina. 

Joseph  Calvin  Kesler.  Scrupulously  honest, 
painstaking  and  efficient,  Joseph  C.  Kesler,  coiiuty 
treasurer  of  Rowan  County,  is  proving  himself  a 
very  able  jiublic  official,  administering  the  affairs 
of  his  position  with  credit  to  himself,  and  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  tax  payer  and  the  citizen. 
A  native  of  Rowan  County,  he  was  born,  March 
14,  1869,  on  a  farm  iu  Providence  Township,  which 
was  likewise  the  birthplace  of  both  his  father, 
Henry  Roland  Kesler,  and  his  grandfather,  Jesse 
Kesler.  His  gi"eat  grandfather,  George  Kesler, 
married  a  Miss  Christena  EUer,  and  both  spent 
their  last  years  on  the  home  farm  in  Providence 
Township.    . 

Jesse  Kesler,  a  successful  planter,  was  a  life- 
long resident  of  Providence  Township,  dying  there 
in  middle  life.  He  married  Anna  Lentz,  whose 
father,  Henry  Lentz,  and  grandfather,  Bostain 
Lentz,  were  wealthy  planters  in  Providence  Town- 
ship, and  slave  owners.  They  reared  one  son, 
Henry  Roland,  and  a  daughter,  Eliza,  who  married 
David  Emery,  and  settled  in  Wynne,  Arkansas. 
After  the  death  of  her  first  husband,  Mrs.  Anna 
(■Lentz)  Kesler  married  for  her  second  husband 
Caleb  Goodman.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goodman  subse- 
quently removed  to  Union  County,  Illinois,  and 
there  spent  the  remainder  of  their  lives.  They 
reared  one  son,  Charles  Goodman. 

Born  on  the  home  farm  in  Providence  Township, 
in  August,  1841,  Henry  Roland  Kesler  was  reared 
to  agricultural  pursuits.  In  1861  he  enlisted  in 
Company  D,  Tenth  Rowan  Artillery,  and  was 
with  his  command  in  all  of  its  campaigns  and 
battles  until  captured,  a  short  time  before  the 
final  surrender.  Taken  then  to  Point  Lookout, 
Maryland,  he  was  confined  as  a  prisoner  of  war 
until  June  26,  1865,  when  he  was  released.  Re- 
turning home,  he  assumed  possession  of  the  half 
of  his  father 's  estate  which  he  had  inherited  and 
at  once  began  the  improvement  of  its  sixty-nine 


acres.  Successful  in  his  agricultural  labors,  lie 
bought  adjoining  laud,  and  that  added  to  his 
wife 's  inheritance  increased  the  area  of  his  origi- 
nal farm  by  181  acres.  A  man  of  vigorous  mental 
and  jjhysical  powers,  he  continued  active  until 
his  death,  in  January,  1914. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Henry  Roland 
Kesler  was  Julia  Elizabeth  Lentz.  She  was  boru 
in  Providence  Township,  Rowan  County,  and  since 
the  death  of  her  husband  makes  her  home  with 
her  children.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Peter  and 
Polly  (Kesler)  Lentz,  and  a  grand-daughter  of 
Bostain  Leutz.  To  her  and  her  husband  two  chil- 
dren were  born  and  reared,  namely: — Joseph  Cal- 
vin, the  special  subject  of  this  brief  review;  and 
Mary  J.,  wife  of  Lewis  A.  Kesler,  a  farmer  iu 
Providence  Township. 

Obtaining  the  rudiments  of  liis  education  in  the 
rural  schools  of  his  native  township,  Joseph  C. 
Kesler  continued  his  studies  at  Albemarle  Acad- 
emy, iu  Stanly  County,  after  which  he  taught 
school  for  awhde.  Going  then  to  Carbondale,  Illi- 
nois, Mr.  Kesler  there  attended  the  Southern 
Illinois  Normal  College,  fitting  himself  for  a  pro- 
fessional career.  He  subsequently  taught  in 
Providence  Township,  and  later  was  a  teacher  in 
Illinois,  teaching  in  Pulaski  County  several  winter 
terms,  and  iu  Jackson  County  in  the  winter  of 
1897-1898.  In  April,  1898,  Mr.  Kesler  returned  to 
Rowan  County  to  accept  the  position  of  clerk  in 
the  establishment  of  the  Smithdeal  Hardware  Com- 
pany, in  Salisbury.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Smith- 
deal,  in  1901,  Joseph  W.  Kesler  succeeded  to  the 
business,  and  Mr.  Kesler,  of  this  sketch,  continued 
with  him  as  clerk  until  1912.  In  November  of  that 
year,  he  was  elected  county  treasurer,  and  proved 
himself  so  useful  in  that  capacity  that  he  has 
been  continued  in  the  office  by  re-election  ever 
since. 

Mr.  Kesler  married,  September  27,  1897,  Mary 
E.  Kesler.  She  was  born  in  Morgan  Township, 
Rowan  County,  a  daughter  of  Jo.seph  W.  and  Caro- 
line (Kirk)  Kesler.  Three  children  have  been 
born  into  their  household,  namely:  Viola  Juanita 
Sophronia,  Bernie  Barton  Calhoun,  and  Roland 
Lincoln.  Religiously  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kesler  are 
members  of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Fraternally  Mr.  Kesler  belongs  to  the  Royal 
Arcanum ;  to  Salisbury  Council  No.  26,  Junior 
Order  of  United  American  Mechanics;  to  the  Pa- 
triotic Sons  of  America;  and  to  the  Sons  and 
Daughters  of  Liberty. 

William  Henry  Hunt.  It  is  the  exceptional 
man  who  can  carry  the  responsibilities  of  a  success- 
ful business  career  along  with  an  energetic  per- 
formance of  public  duties.  It  is  that  type  of 
citizen  whom  the  people  of  Oxford  recognize  in  Wil- 
liam Henry  Hunt,  who  has  been  one  of  the  lead- 
ing bankers  of  that  city  for  a  long  period  of  years 
and  at  the  same  time  has  worked  diligently  and 
effectively  for  the  upbuilding  and  improvement  of 
the  city,  and  always  in  offices  and  capacities  which 
mean  a  tremendous  amount  of  sacrificing  work 
without   corresponding  compensation. 

Mr.  Hunt  was  born  at  Oxford,  North  Carolina, 
October  12,  1867,  a  son  of  David  Alexander  and 
Elizabeth  (Herndon)  Hunt.  His  father  was  an 
old  time  merchant  at  Oxford.  The  son  attended 
private  schools  and  also  the  Horner  Military  School 
at  Oxford,  and  more  than  thirty  years  ago  when 
a  youth  went  to  work  as  a  runner  or  messenger  in 
the  private  bank  of  his  uncle,  H.  C.  Herndon.  He 
learned  a  great  deal  of  banking  there  and  subse- 


176 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  C,  .ROLINA 


quently  was  with  the  Bank  of  Oxford  and  with 
growing  experience  and  capability  became  one  of 
the  group  of  local  citizens  who  in  June,  1901,  or- 
ganized the  First  National  Banli  of  Oxford.  Mr. 
Hunt  was  cashier  of  this  substantial  institution 
until  1913,  since  which  time  he  has  been  its  presi- 
dent. 

His  most  important  public  .services  have  been 
rendered  through  the  office  of  alderman,  which  he 
has  held  consecutively  for  fourteen  years.  Much 
of  that  time  he  has  been  chairman  of  the  finance 
committee.  Material  improvement  and  civic  bet- 
terment have  been  the  watchword  and  keynote  of 
his  leadership  in  local  affairs.  While  he  has  been 
a  member  of  the  board  of  aldermen  many  of  the 
streets  have  been  paved,  electric  lighting  system 
has  been  installed,  and  an  adequate  sewerage  sys- 
tem constructed.  For  the  construction  of  the 
sewers  an  appropriation  of  $35,000  was  allowed 
and  so  economically  was  the  work  done  that  $5,000 
was  returned  to  the  treasury  and  this  fund  was 
used  in  the  construction  of  the  fire  house.  Mr. 
Hunt  is  also  for  many  years  a  member  of  the 
school  board  and  was  on  the  board  when  the 
graded  schools  were  organized.  He  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  Order,  is  past  noble  grand  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  a  member 
■of  the  First  Baptist  Church. 

December  23,  1889,  he  married  Miss  Janie  Out- 
law of  Bertie  County,  North  Carolina.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Edward  R.  and  Lucy  (Roscoe)  Out- 
law. Her  father  is  a  large  landovnier  and  planter 
in  Bertie  County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunt  have  four 
children :  Edward  Outlaw,  who  is  now  in  the  to- 
bacco business;  Janie  Outlaw,  William  Henry,  Jr., 
and  Roscoe  Bond. 

John  Gilliam  Wood.  Among  the  men  of  busi- 
ness prominence  who  have  done  mucli  to  promote 
and  solidify  the  commercial  importance  of  Eastern 
North  Carolina  is  John  Gilliam  Wood,  one  of  Eden- 
ton  's  substantial  and  representative  citizens.  He 
belongs  to  one  of  the  oldest  families  of  Chowan 
County,  and  his  interests  have  always  been  more 
or  less  centered  here. 

John  Gilliam  Wood  was  born  at  Edenton,  North 
Carolina,  November  20,  1853.  His  parents  were 
Edward  and  Caroline  (Gilliam)  Wood.  During 
liis  active  years  his  father  carried  on  extensive 
agricultural  operations  and  owned  important  fish- 
ing rights. 

John  G.  Wood  enjoyed  excellent  educational 
training,  passing  through  his  academic  course  at 
Edenton,  attending  the  well  known  Horner 's  School 
at  Oxford,  North  Carolina,  and  subsequently 
spending  two  years,  1872  1874,  in  the  University  of 
Virginia.  Upon  his  return  to  Cliowan  County  he 
became  interested  in  the  industries  wliich  had 
formed  the  basis  of  the  family  fortunes,  agricul- 
ture and  fishing,  and  now  is  numbered  with  tlie 
extensive  planters  in  this  section  of  the  state. 
As  a  solid  business  man  he  has  been  welcomed 
on  the  directing  boards  of  many  companies  and 
corporations,  and  in  this  relation  is  highly  valued 
by  the  Bank  of  Edenton,  the  Edenton  Peanut 
Company,  the  Edenton  Cotton  Mill  Company,  anil 
the  Chowan  Cotton  Oil  &  Fruit  Company,  all  of 
these  enterprises  having  profited  through  his  per- 
sonal   influence   and   public   spirit. 

Mr.  Wood  was  married  June  13,  1882,  to 
Miss  Bessie  Martin,  daughter  of  the  late  Col. 
William  Martin,  of  Elizabeth  City,  North  \!aTO- 
lina,    long   one    of    Pasquotank    County's    eminent 


lawyers.  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Wood,  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth {'  cMorine)  Martin,  a  lady  of  great  beauty 
and  ch?'  'm  of  manner,  was  long  a  leader  in  Eliza- 
lieth  C  y  's  social  life  and  clmrch  activities.  Mr. 
and  Mr ,.  Wood  have  three  children,  two  daughters 
and  ore  son:  Sophia  Martin,  John  Gilliam  and 
Annie  Caroline.  The  family  belongs  to  the  Episco- 
pal  Church. 

During  his  college  days  Mr.  Wood  was  a  mcm- 
lier  of  the  Chi  Phi  Fraternity,  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  ever  since  has  maintained  an  interest 
in  tlie  organization.  Otherwise  lie  is  not  identified 
with  secret  organizations  or  clubs.  Many  of  the 
latter  are  formed  for  recreation  purposes  and  busi- 
ness men  often  travel  far  in  order  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  hunting  and  fishing  privileges  thus 
provided,  but  in  Mr.  Wood 's  case,  such  recrea- 
tion is  found  in  abundance  on  his  own  jiroperty. 
He  lias  always  been  willing  to  give  encourage- 
ment to  worthy  enterprises  when  they  appeal  to 
his  sound  and  sensible  judgment,  an  evidence  of 
which  is  his  interest  in  the  Roanoke  Colony  Asso- 
ciation, of  which  he  is  one  of  the  directors. 

John  Moore  Manning,  M.  D.  In  the  profession 
of  medicine  and  surgery  and  as  a  public  leader 
in  the  health  movement,  Dr.  John  Moore  Manning 
has  achieved  a  name  and  prominence  hardly  less 
than  is  associated  with  other  members  of  his  fam- 
ily  in   the   bench   and  bar. 

Doctor  Manning  is  a  son  of  the  late  John  Man- 
ning, founder  and  for  many  years  dean  of  the  law 
school  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  and  is 
a  brother  of  Judge  J.  S.  Manning,  of  Raleigh, 
lioth  of  whom  are  given  some  particular  atten- 
tion in  sketches  elsewhere  in  these  pages. 

John  Moore  Manning  was  born  at  Pittsboro, 
North  Carolina,  April  8,  1857.  His  early  education 
was  privately  instructed,  and  in  1879  he  gradu- 
ated from  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  He 
was  a  student  in  the  medical  department  of  the 
University  of  Virginia  and  in  1882  graduated  from 
the  Bellview  Hospital  Medical  College  of  New 
York  City.  After  five  years  of  private  practice 
at  Pittsboro,  his  native  tovra.  Doctor  Manning  re- 
moved to  Durham  in  1888,  and  here  for  thirty 
years  has  been  steadily  engaged  in  a  large  and 
varied  usefulness  as  a  general  practitioner. 

It  was  Doctor  Manning  who  organized  and  for 
many  years  was  chairman  of  the  Durham  County 
and  City  Board  of  Health  and  gave  to  this  organi- 
zation its  peculiar  usefulness  which  has  made  it 
first  and  foremost  among  the  local  boards  of  health 
in  the  entire  state.  And  it  has  been  results  ac- 
complished at  Durham  that  has  contributed  in  no 
small  degree  to  the  high  standing  North  Carolina 
now  has  in  other  states  in  the  matter  of  -ingilance 
and  efficiency  in  safeguarding  and  protecting  the 
puVilic  health. 

Since  1889,  Doctor  Manning  has  been  local 
surgeon  of  the  Southern  Railway,  having  accepted 
that  office  when  the  road  was  known  as  the  Rich- 
mond &  Danville.  For  ten  years  he  was  surgeon  of 
the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway.  He  is  a  member 
and  former  president  of  the  Durham  Medical  So- 
ciety and  belongs  to  the  North  Carolina  State  and 
American  Medical  associations.  He  is  a  vestryman 
of  St.  Phillip's  Episcopal  Church. 

November  20,  1889,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Am- 
gett,  of  Newborn,  North  Carolina.  They  have 
one   daughter,   Mary   Louise. 

1 

Robert  Prentiss  Dalton,  a  business  man  of 
Winston-Salem  for  many  years,  while  not  a  native 


^^^^--c^ 


^^ .  t^^. 


7 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


177 


of  North  Carolina  represents  one  of  the  old  and 
honored  families  of  this  state. 

He  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  Samuel  Dalton,  who 
with  his  brothers  William  and  Robert  from  Eng- 
land came  to  America  in  Colonial  times.  They 
located  in  New  Jersey,  but  Samuel  subsequently 
went  to  Georgia.  Coming  north,  he  located  in 
Eoekingham  County,  North  Carolina,  where  he 
spent  the  rest  of  his  days.  His  life  in  America 
seemed  to  agree  with  him,  since  he  attained  the 
remarkable  age  of  one  hundred  and  six  years.  The 
next  in  line  was  his  son  Samuel,  who  was  born 
at  Beaver  Island  in  Rockingham  County,  but  died 
after  a  brief  life  of  thirty  years. 

The  next  generation  of  the  family  was  repre- 
sented by  Nicholas  Dalton,  who  spent  all  his  life 
in  Eoekingham  County.  He  married  Rachel  Hun- 
ter, who  was  born  in  Guilford  County,  North  Caro- 
lina. Her  father,  Gen.  James  Hunter,  Jr.,  was 
born  in  the  same  county,  and  his  father,  James 
Hunter,  Sr.,  was  a  native  of  Ireland  but  of  Scotch 
ancestry.  Coming  to  America,  the  senior  Mr.  Hun- 
ter lived  a  time  in  Virginia  and  then  moved  to 
North  Carolina,  settling  at  Beaver  Island  in  Rock- 
ingham County.  He  married  a  Miss  Martin,  aunt 
of  Alexander  and  Col.  James  Martin.  James  Hun- 
ter, Jr.,  was  a  leader  of  the  Regulators  before  and 
during  the  Revolutionary  war  and  was  called  Gen- 
eral Hunter.  He  served  as  sheriff  of  his  home 
county  and  also  represented  his  district  in  the 
House  of  Commons  from  177S  to  1782.  He  mar- 
ried a  Miss  McFarland.  He  owned  and  occupied  a 
plantation  in  Rockingham  County,  operating  it 
with  slave  labor,  and  there  spent  his  last  days. 

James  Hunter  Dalton,  son  of  Nicholas .  and 
Rachel  Dalton,  removed  from  North  Carolina  to 
Patrick  County,  Virginia,  where  he  engaged  in 
farming.  He  died  there  in  1879,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-four  years.  He  married  Nancy  Critz,  who 
was  born  in  Virginia,  a  daughter  of  Haman  Critz. 
Her  father  commanded  a  company  in  Colonel 
Penn  's  regiment  in  the  Revolutionary  war  and  for 
services  in  that  war  he  received  a  grant  of  land 
in  Patrick  County.  Virginia.  Mrs.  Nancy  (Critz) 
Dalton,  died  in  1879,  at  the  age  of  seventy -nine. 
She  reared  a  family  of  eleven  children. 

The  father  of  Robert  Prentiss  Dalton  was 
Nicholas,  second  son  of  James  Hunter  Dalton.  He 
enlisted  in  1862  in  Company  H  of  the  Forty-second 
Regiment,  Virginia  Troops,  and  saw  active  service 
under  Stonewall  Jackson.  He  was  wounded  at  the 
battle  of  Cedar  Run.  At  Spottsylvania  Courthouse 
he  was  captured  and  was  held  a  prisoner  of  war 
at  Elmira,  New  York,  where  he  died.  His  death 
occurred  in  1865.  He  married  Miss  Thomas,  who 
died  in  ISS."),  having  reared  two  children,  Robert 
Prentiss  and  Thomas  W. 

Robert  Prentiss  Dalton  was  born  on  a  planta- 
tion at  the  foot  of  "No  Business  Mountain"  in 
Patrick  County,  Virginia,  April  1.3,  18.51.  He 
grew  up"  and  received  his  education  in  Patrick 
County  and  was  only  fourteen  years  of  age  when 
his  father  died.  He  made  the  best  of  his  advan- 
tages in  school  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  began 
teaching.  His  first  term  was  at  ' '  No  Business 
Mountain."  Later  he  taught  at  Patrick  Court 
House,  and  continued  that  line  of  work  for  seven 
or  eight  years. 

On  coming  to  Winston  Mr.  Dalton  was  for 
about  twenty-five  years  identified  with  tobacco 
manufacture,  and  then  entered  the  mercantile 
business  for  six  years.  Since  then  he  has  been 
occupied   as   a    building   contractor,   and   has  suc- 


cessfully   carried    out   many   of    the    building   con- 
tracts in  this  section  of  the  state. 

In  1875  Mr.  Dalton  married  Mary  E.  Wood. 
She  was  born  in  Patrick  County,  Virginia,  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Martha  (Davenport)  Wood. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dalton  have  reared  five  children: 
Robert  Lee,  J.  Walter,  Mary  Ethel,  Ralph  Thomas 
and  Nicholas  Hunter.  Robert  Lee  is  now  purchas- 
ing agent  for  the  city  of  San  Antonio,  Texas,  and 
by  his  marriage  to  Lelia  Chalk  has  a  daughter 
named  Mary  Chalk.  J.  Walter,  the  second  son,  was 
for  seventeen  years  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina 
National  Guard,  rising  from  a  private  in  the  For- 
syth Riflemen  through  the  different  grades  to  in- 
spector general  with  the  rank  of  major.  In  1916 
he  was  made  lieutenant  colonel.  When  the  United 
States  entered  the  World  War  he  offered  his  serv- 
ices and  is  now  in  France  serving  as  major  on  Gen- 
eral Hoffman  "s  staff.  He  was  married  in  1905  to 
Miss  Annie  Lichenthaler  and  they  have  three  chil- 
dren: Annie  Louise,  Laurence  and  Virginia  Lee. 
Ralph  T.  was  married  in  September,  1917,  to 
Thelma  Hopkins  of  Port  Norfolk,  Virginia.  Mary 
Ethel  is  a  teacher  in  the  city  schools.  Nicholas 
Hunter  holds  a  position  in  the  cigarette  factory 
of  the  R.  J.  Reynolds  Tobacco  Company. 

Judge  William  B.  Councill.  Throughout  the 
counties  of  Centra!  and  Western  North  Carolina 
Judge  Councill  long  ago  thoroughly  established 
liis  prestige  as  an  able  and  learned  member  of  the 
liar.  His  services  have  not  been  within  the  strict 
limits  of  his  profession,  however,  again  and  again 
he  has  been  called  upon  to  act  in  positions  of  trust 
and  responsibility  involving  large  and  important 
issues.  For  a  number  of  years  he  served  with 
dignity  and  efliciency  as  a  judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  North  Carolina.  He  has  been  in  the 
Legislature  both  as  representative  and  as  senator, 
and  in  all  his  record  there  has  been  nothing  to  de- 
tract justly  from  his  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  an 
upright  gentleman  and  a   forward-looking  citizen. 

Though  Judge  Councill  was  born  at  Sumter, 
South  Carolina,  in  1858,  his  own  life  has  been 
largely  spent  in  North  Carolina  and  his  family  was 
principally  identified  with  the  state  from  the  early 
days.  He  is  a  son  of  Dr.  William  B.  and  Alice 
(Bostwick)  Councill.  His  widowed  mother,  who  is 
still  living  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  is  of  English 
ancestry.  In  the  paternal  line  Judge  Councill 's 
great-grandfather  came  from  his  native  England 
and  made  settlement  in  Western  North  Carolina 
in  what  is  now  Watauga  County.  Dr.  William  B. 
Councill  was  born  at  the  old  Councill  homestead 
in  Watauga  County,  but  for  several  years  in  the 
'50s  lived  in  Sumter  County,  South  Carolina.  He 
returned  to  Watauga  County  just  before  the  war 
and  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  called  him  from 
his  private  practice  into  the  service  of  the  South. 
He  became  a  member  of  Hampton 's  Legion  in 
South  Carolina,  and  was  in  Lee 's  army  of  Northern 
Virgina.  During  the  second  year  of  his  enlist- 
ment he  was  transferred  to  the  regiment  of  North 
Carolina  troops  commanded  by  Col.  George  M.  Folk. 
He  became  captain  of  a  company  under  Colonel 
Folk.  The  war  over  he  returned  to  his  people 
at  Boone  in  Watauga  County,  and  spent  the  rest 
of  his  life  serving  them  in  the  capacity  of  a 
physician.  His  life  as  a  physician  was  one  to 
which  the  people  of  later  generations  may  well 
pay  their  highest  tribute  of  honor  and  admiration. 
It  required  physical  endurance  and  courage  and 
patience    to    practice    medicine    under    conditions 


178 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


with  which  Doctor  Councill  had  to  contend  for 
many  _vears.  With  these  physical  characteristics 
he  united  liiudliness  of  manner,  a  depth  of  liuman 
sympatliy,  and  a  skill  and  ability  which  made  him 
widely  known  and  as  widely  loved  and  honored. 
He  rode  for  miles  over  the  wide  expanse  of  moun- 
tainous country  in  Western  North  Carolina,  with 
his  saddle  bags  filled  with  medicines  and  he  was 
his  ow'n  apothecary  as  well  as  physician.  There 
were  few  drug  stores  in  that  time,  and  almost 
invariably  the  physician  had  to  compound  his  owu 
medicines  and  carr}'  them  with  him  instead  of 
writing  prescriptions.  He  practically  wore  him- 
self out  in  this  life  of  service  and  died  at  the  age 
of  seventy-two. 

Judge  Councill  was  greatly  indebted  for  his  early 
training  and  the  influences  which  surrounded  him 
to  his  noble  parents  and  the  atmosphere  of  the 
home.  He  also  had  liberal  educational  oppor- 
tunities. He  attended  the  Finley  High  Academy 
at  Lenoir,  North  Carolina,  when  that  school  was 
under  the  direction  of  the  famous  educators,  Fos- 
sett  and  Dixon,  who  were  noted  for  the  thorough- 
ness with  which  they  equipped  their  boys  for  col- 
lege and  for  the  serious  pursuits  of  life.  Having 
completed  his  work  there.  Judge  Councill  began 
the  study  of  law  at  Boone.  He  was  licensed  to 
])ractiee  in  1881  and  his  professional  career  cov- 
ers a  period  of  over  thirty-five  years.  He  began 
practice  at  Boone,  the  county  seat  of  Watauga 
County,  and  that  was  his  home  for  about  eighteen 
years.  For  a  number  of  years  he  had  no  ambition 
beyond  a  skillful  and  efficient  service  to  his  private 
clientage,  and  took  only  such  interest  in  politics 
as  he  thought  he  owed  as  a  good  citizen.  In  1896 
lie  was  elected  representative  from  his  county  to 
the  Legislature,  and  served  through  the  session  of 
1897.  In  1898  he  was  called  to  higher  honor  in 
election  to  the  office  of  judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  North  Carolina.  He  took  to  that  office 
long  and  thorough  experience  as  a  lawyer,  a  knowl- 
edge of  men,  and  an  integrity  of  character  which 
made  his  ten  years  of  service  on  the  bench  a  period 
of  honor  and  distinction  both  to  himself  and  to 
the  court.  In  1899,  about  a  year  after  his  elec- 
tion to  the  bench,  he  removed  from  Boone  to 
Hickory,  Catawba  County,  where  he  has  since  re- 
sided. While  he  felt  a  high  degree  of  .satisfaction 
in  being  able  to  serve  the  people  on  the  bench,  the 
service  naturally  involved  much  sacrifice  on  his 
part,  and  after  his  term  was  over  he  gladly  re- 
sumed private  practice.  The  next  call  upon  him 
to  public  office  came  in  1912  when  he  was  elected 
on  the  democratic  ticket  as  state  senator  to  rep- 
resent the  senatorial  district  comprising  Catawba 
and  Lincoln  counties.  He  was  one  of  the  ablest 
and  most  influential  members  of  the  Senate  in 
the  session  of  1913. 

As  a  lawyer  Judge  Councill  has  appeared  both 
in  the  state  and  federal  courts  as  attorney  for 
important  interests  and  in  later  years  his  aetive 
presence  in  a  case  is  recognized  as  significant 
testimony  as  to  its  importance.  His  practice  is 
not  limited  to  his  home  county  and  in  fact  much 
of  his  time  is  spent  away  from  his  home  in  look- 
ing after  the  various  large  and  important  inter- 
ests entrusted  to  his  professional  management. 

Judge  Councill  has  been  happily  married  for 
many  years  and  has  a  wife  and  six  children.  The 
Councill  name  has  always  been  noted  for  its  pa- 
triotism, and  Judge  Councill  takes  proper  pride 
in  the  fact  that  at  least  three  of  his  young  sons 
have  given  some  of  their  youth  to  the  service  of 
their    country.      His    oldest    child,    Howard    Folk 


Councill,  graduated  from  the  United  States  Naval 
.\cadeniy  at  Annapolis  in  the  class  of  1917.  Gor- 
don S.  and  William  T.  Councill,  the  next  older 
sons,  are  both  members  of  the  National  Guard 
and  saw  active  service  on  the  Mexican  border 
with  the  North  Carolina  troops  in  1916-17.  The 
three  younger  children  are:  Stednian  C,  Allen  B. 
and  Elizabeth  Councill.  Mrs.  Councill,  the  mother 
of  these  children,  was  formerly  Miss  Elizabeth 
Coffey  of  Boone,  North  Carolina.  She  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  Capt.  Thomas  J.  Coffey,  of  Watauga 
County.  Captain  Coffey  was  a  captain  in  the 
Confederate  army  in  the  war  between  the  North 
and  South  and  a  member  of  a  family  which  has 
resided  in  Wilkes,  Caldwell  and  Watauga  counties 
since  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
After  the  war  Captain  Coffey  engaged  in  business 
in  Watauga  County,  being  then  a  young  man.  He 
was  a  man  of  splendid  business  capacity  and  he 
accumulated  a  very  considerable  fortune.  He  was 
a  highly  respected  and  influential  citizen,  and  a 
leader  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  progress 
and  development  of  Watauga  County  and  his  sec- 
tion of  the  state. 

Ernest  Linwood  Sawyer.  The  professional  men 
of  Elizabeth  City  compare  most  favorably  with 
those  in  other  communities  in  the  state,  and  in  the 
law  there  have  been  brilliant  examples  of  un- 
usual early  talent  leading  to  rapid  advancement. 
In  this  connection  mention  may  be  made  of 
Hon.  Ernest  Linwood  Sawyer,  who  after  a  general 
jiractice  of  but  three  years  was  called  to  the 
criminal  bench  and  has  served  in  the  judicial 
office  continuously  for  the  last  nine  years.  While 
all  lawyers,  perhaps,  aim  to  finally  wear  the  judi- 
cial ermine,  there  are  distinctive  qualities  that 
appear  in  the  understanding,  interpretation  and 
a]i]plication  of  the  law  that  prove  the  judicial 
mind   and   bring   early   judicial   honors. 

Ernest  Linwood  Sawyer  is  a  native  of  Eliza- 
lieth  City,  North  Carolina,  and  was  born  February 
16,  188.3.  His  parents  were  Jeremiah  and  Mary 
Elizabeth  (Cartwright)  Sawyer,  old  names  known 
and  honored  in  Eastern  North  Carolina  for  gener- 
ations. The  father  of  Judge  Sawyer  has  been 
a  merchant  in  Elizabeth  City  for  many  years  and 
is    one    of    the    towni 's   most    respected    residents. 

In  the  public  schools  and  Elizabeth  City  Aca- 
demy Judge  Sawyer  secured  early  educational  ad- 
vantages and  then  entered  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  in  1900,  and  was  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  Ph.  B.  in  1904.  He  spent  the  ensuing 
year  in  law  study  and  in  August,  190.5,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar.  He  immediately  engaged  in 
the  general  practice  of  law  and  very  soon  at- 
tracted attention  because  of  his  thorough  legal 
knowledge  and  its  apt  application  in  many  im- 
portant cases  of  litigation.  In  1908  he  was  elected 
trial  judge  of  the  Criminal  Court  of  Pasquotank 
County.  He  served  two  terms,  ending  in  1912,  and 
then  served  two  years  as  substitute  judge.  In 
1914  he  was  again  elected  and  has  continued 
on  the  bench  ever  since,  making  a  fine  record. 
His  decisions,  tempered  as  they  have  been  with 
mercy,  have  been  found  sound  and  entirely  re- 
moved from  any  social  or  political  bias.  His 
relations  with  both  bench  and  bar  are  most  cor- 
dial and  he  is  a  valued  member  of  the  North 
Carolina   Bar   Association. 

Judge  Sawyer  was  married  February  I.'?,  1907, 
to  Miss  Emma  Ward  Rodgers,  of  Martin  County, 
North  Carolina,  and  they  have  three  children,  one 
"daughter  and  two  sons:   Margaret  Elizabeth,  .lohn 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


179 


Ernest  and  Heywootl  Royall.  The  family  home 
is  in  Elizabeth  City  and  Judge  Sawyer  maintains 
pleasant  offices  on  Main  Street.  He  is  too  busy 
a  man  to  devote  much  time  to  recreation  but  high- 
ly values  his  membership  in  the  order  of  Odd 
Eellows  and  with  the  Elks. 

/ 

Samuel  Howard  Reams,  of  Durham,  has  had  a 
long  and  active  career  in  railroad  circles,  and  has 
become  prominently  known  in  several  of  the  At- 
lantic seaboard  states.  He  is  now  vice  president 
and  general  manager  of  the  Durham  &  Southern 
Railway. 

He  was  born  in  Granville  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, November  25,  1868,  a  son  of  Isaiah  M.  and 
Lucinda  A.  (Howard)  Reams.  His  father  was  a 
tobacco  merchant.  Samuel  H.  Reams  was  edu- 
cated in  Durham,  took  a  business  college  course, 
and  one  of  his  first  positions  was  as  assistant 
postmaster  of  Durham.  He  remained  in  the  post- 
office  four  and  a  half  years,  and  then  entered  the 
operating  department  of  the  Richmond  &  DanvOle 
Railroad.  For  five  years  he  was  in  the  agency 
department  of  that  road,  and  in  1895  transferred 
his  services  to  the  Seaboard  Air  Line.  He  was 
chief  clerk  to  the  railway  agent  from  1895  to 
1900,  was  railway  agent  until  1907,  and  from  1907 
to  1909  was  general  freight  and  passenger  agent 
for  the  Durham  &  Southern  Railway.  In  August, 
1909,  he  took  the  agency  of  the  Seaboard  Air  Line 
at  Savannah,  Georgia,  but  in  October,  1915,  re- 
turned to  Durham  and  has  since  been  vice  president 
and  general  manager  of  the  Durham  &  Southern. 

Mr.  Reams  is  prominent  in  local  affairs,  is  a  di- 
rector of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.,  is  a  trustee  of  Watts  Hospital  at  Durham, 
and  an  active  member  of  the  First  Baptist  Church. 

September  18,  1894,  he  married  Sudie  Hunter 
of  Kinston,  North  Carolina.  Her  father  W.  W.  N. 
Hunter  was  long  prominent  in  politics  in  his 
section  of  the  state  and  filled  a  number  of  offices 
including  sheriff,  clerk  of  court  and  postmaster. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reams  have  three  childreh:  Marion 
L.,   Samuel  H.  Jr.,  and  Henrietta  Norwood. 

John  Graham  Young  of  Winston-Salem  has 
had  the  achievements  and  experience  of  a  very 
active  career  beginning  when  as  a  boy  he  took 
his  place  in  the  Confederate  army  and  endured 
his  baptism  of  fire  at  Chancellorsville.  For  many 
years  he  has  been  a  factor  in  the  business  and  civic 
life   of  Winston-Salem. 

A  native  of  North  Carolina  he  was  born  at 
Statesvillc  in  Iredell  County.  His  ancestry  is  a 
noteworthy  one.  The  family  record  begins  with 
Francis  Young,  who  was  born  in  England  in  1650. 
He  married  Mary  or  Martha  Legros,  and  they 
reared  fourteen  sons.  Twelve  of  these  sons  were 
participants  in  the  domestic  and  foreign  wars  in 
which  England  was  engaged  during  the  reign  of 
Queen  Anne.  Francis,  the  father  of  the  sons,  was 
in  the  army  commanded  by  Marlborough  and  was 
killed  in  the  great  battle  of  Blenheim,  Germany, 
on  August  lo,  1704.  The  only  two  sons  to  survive 
the  wars  of  that  period  were  William  and  Michael 
Cadet. 

Michael  Cadet  Young  was  the  founder  of  the 
family  in  America.  He  was  sent  to  Virginia  by 
the  land  proprietors  early  in  the  eighteentli  cen- 
tury. He  located  in  Brunswick  County,  and  mar- 
ried Martha  Sadler  of  Virginia.  They  reared  seven 
children.  Many  of  their  descendants  became  noted. 
One  of  the  descendants  of  Michael  Cadet  Young 
was  Hon.   John  Young  Mason,  once  chief  justice 


of  the  State  of  Virginia  and  also  United  States 
Minister  to  France.  Another  descendant  was 
Tapley  W.  Young,  who  once  served  as  consul  to 
the  City  of  Stuttgart. 

The  oldest  son  of  Michael  C.  Young  was  Francis, 
who  located  in  Isle  of  Wight  County,  Virginia. 
He  filled  the  position  of  clerk  of  courts  there  from 
1767  to  1782.  That  local  office  was  continually 
held  by  a  member  of  the  family  in  successive  gen- 
erations until  1914,  a  period  of  147  years.  This 
record  is  perhaps  unsurpassed  in  the  annals  of  any 
family  or  i7i  connection  with  any  public  office  in 
America.  The  last  incumbent  of  the  position  was 
Thomas  Young  who  died  while  in  office  in  1914. 
Thomas  Young,  fourth  son  of  Michael  C.  and 
Martha  (Sadler)  Young,  was  born  in  Brunswick 
Coimty,  Virginia,  February  22,  1732.  In  1778, 
accompanied  by  his  wife  and  four  children,  he 
removed  to  Iredell  County,  North  Carolina.  He 
first  married  Judith  Johnson.  They  reared  four 
sons  and  four  daughters.  She  died  March  17,  1774. 
His  second  wife,  with  whom  he  came  to  North 
Carolina,  was  Lucy  Ragsdale  of  Virginia.  She 
died  Mai-ch  7,  1807,  while  Thomas  Young  died  in 
1829,  when  in  his  ninety-eighth  year.  There  were 
five  children  of  his  second  marriage. 

The  oldest  son  of  this  North  Carolina  pioneer 
was  John  M.  Y'oung,  grandfather  of  John  Graham 
Young.  John  M.  Young  took  a  prominent  part 
in  public  affairs  in  North  Carolina,  served  as  a 
member  of  various  state  conventions  in  both  North 
and  South  Carolina  and  assisted  in  framing  the 
state  constitution.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
senate  in  both  states.  He  married  Jennie  Nisbet. 
Their  son,  John  Augustus  Young,  father  of  John 
G.,  was  born  on  Hunting  Creek,  Iredell  County. 
When  quite  young  he  removed  to  Statesville,  and 
when  in  his  twenty-first  year  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Legislature.  In  1840  he  organized  the 
Iredell  Blues  and  was  captain  of  this  militia  com- 
pany. John  G.  Young  now  has  the  sword  with 
which  Captain  Young  was  presented,  and  this 
sword  was  carried  in  the  Civil  war  by  Ma.p  Egbert 
Ross  at  the  time  that  gallant  officer  was  killed. 
Captain  Young  removed  to  Charlotte  about  1847, 
and  for  many  years  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile 
business.  In  1852  he  organized  and  became  presi- 
dent of  the  company  that  built  the  Rock  Island 
Mills,  located  about  eleven  miles  from  Charlotte. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  was  commissioned 
lieutenant  colonel  of  the  Fourth  Regiment  North 
Carolina  Troops.  He  gave  to  every  memlier  of  this 
regiment,  1,100  men  in  all,  a  suit  of  clothes  and  a 
gray  cap  to  match  the  suit.  He  went  into  field 
duty  and  was  one  of  the  commanders  of  the  regi- 
ment for  twenty  months.  He  resigned  in  order 
to  give  a  more  important  service  to  the  Confed- 
erate government,  and  returning  home  took  charge 
of  the  mills  and  directed  their  operation  for  the 
majiufaeture  of  clothing  for  the  North  Carolina 
troops.  For  this  service  he  was  paid  in  Confed- 
erate scrip,  bonds  and  state  money.  During  the 
war  he  buried  over  a  million  dollars  worth  of  paper 
money  and  securities  in  glass  jars  underneath  a 
rail  fence.  After  the  war  this  treasure  was  ex- 
humed, but  it  was  then  worthless.  Soon  after 
the  war  Colonel  Young  removed  the  mills  to  Char- 
lotte and  continued  to  operate  them  until  they 
were  burned.  He  was  a  prominent  citizen  of  Cliar- 
lotte  and  died  there  when  in  his  eightieth  year. 

John  Augustus  Young  married  Malvina  Graham. 
She  was  born  in  Lincoln  County,  North  Carolina. 
Her  father  .John  D.  Graham  was  one  of  the  early 
captains  of  industry  in  the  state.     He  operated  an 


180 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


iron  foundry  aud  was  also  an  extensive  farmer  ami 
planter,  employing  a  number  of  slaves  iu  his 
varied  business  enterprises.  Mrs.  John  A.  Young 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven.  She  reared  a 
family    of    three    sons    and    three    daughters. 

Joliu  G.  Young  was  still  in  his  teens  when  the 
war  broke  out.  At  that  time  he  was  a  cadet  in  the 
North  Carolina  Military  Institute.  He  continued 
his  studies  there  with  growing  patriotic  fervor 
until  March,  1863.  At  that  time  General  Byron 
Grimes  made  a  visit  to  the  Y^oung  home,  and  when 
the  general  returned  to  the  front  he  was  accom- 
panied by  Cadet  Young,  who  went  as  a  guest  of 
tlie  general.  He  slept  in  the  general's  tent  and 
rode  with  him  when  marching.  That  experience 
gave  him  a  touch  of  warfare,  but  he  was  not  con- 
tent to  remain  a  bystander  when  great  deeds  were 
lieing  done.  The  chance  he  craved  was  soon  given 
liim  to  become  a  soldier  in  earnest.  When  the  ser- 
geant major  of  the  Fourth  Regiment  was  disabled 
for  life,  Colonel  James  Wood  of  Rowan  told  the 
boy  that  if  he  would  enlist  he  should  be  made 
sergeant  major  of  the  Fourth  Regiment.  This 
regiment  was  the  command  which  Mr.  Young's 
father  had  had  in  the  early  months  of  the  war. 
The  boy  enlisted  in  Company  C  at  Statesville,  the 
company  which  his  father  had  organized  as  a  part 
of  the  "state  militia  in  1840.  With  the  Fourth 
Regiment  of  North  Carolina  Troojis  he  went  into 
action  iu  the  great  battle  of  Chancellorsville.  Mr. 
Young  writes  a  very  interesting  account  of  his 
exjierienees  as  a  soldier  and  does  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  he  was  scared.  However,  he  stood  his  ground, 
and  in  time  was  able  to  take  the  danger  and  ex- 
citement of  the  battlefield  with  the  coolness  of  a 
veteran.  After  that  he  fought  in  all  the  battles 
in  which  his  regiment  was  engaged.  He  was  with 
General  Early's  command  when  it  invaded  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  and  slept  during  one  night  within 
eight  miles  of  the  Capitol  at  Washington.  He 
was  also  in  the  glorious  advance  un  the  Shenandoali 
Valley,  and  was  in  hot  pursuit  of  the  fleeing 
t'nion  troops  when  General  Sheridan  made  his 
famous  ride  and  came  up  with  reenforcements  that 
compelled  the  Confederates  to  retire.  Mr.  Young 
was  with  his  regiment  at  Appomattox  on  April  9, 
186.5.  After  being  paroled,  he  started  to  walk 
home.  He  covered  most  of  the  distance  on  foot 
to  Charlotte,  though  stopping  two  days  in  Salem 
and  two  days  in  Salisbury. 

His  first  aim  after  the  war  was  to  secure  a  better 
equipment  for  the  serious  duties  of  life,  and  after 
a  preparatory  course  he  entered  the  University  of 
Nortli  Carolina,  where  he  was  graduated.  After 
leaving  university  Mr.  Young  took  up  civil  engi- 
neering as  a  profession.  He  spent  four  years  in 
Texas  and  was  employed  on  surveys  for  several 
different  railways.  Subsequently  for  a  number  of 
years  he  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Southern  Rail- 
way Company  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  as 
commercial  agent,  freight  department.  Mr.  Young 
has  been  a  resident  of  Winston-Salem  since  1884. 
For  a  number  flf  years  he  was  in  the  commission 
business  and  even  yet  is  not  ready  to  be  considered 
on  the  retired  list.  Since  1914  he  has  held  a 
clerical  position  in  the  stamp  department  of  the 
Internal  Revenue  Office. 

Mr.  Young  married  Lucy  Wingfield.  She  was 
born  at  Eatonton  in  Putnam  County,  Georgia, 
daughter  of  Junius  Wingfield.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Y'oung  have  four  children:  Wingfield.  Lelia  M., 
Lucy  T.,  and  John  G.,  Jr.  Mr.  Y'oung  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Norfleet  Camp  of  the  L^nited  Confederate 


\'eterans    and    also    belongs    to    the    Knights    of 
I'ythias. 

Charles  Moses  Hoover.  A  public  spirited, 
influential  citizen  of  Thomasville,  Charles  Moses 
Hoover  has  been  prominent  in  municipal  affairs, 
filling  various  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility, 
and  as  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Hoover 
Cliair  Company  is  officially  connected  with  one  of 
the  leading  industries  of  Davidson  County.  A 
native  of  North  Carolina,  as  was  his  father,  Pleas- 
ant A.  Hoover,  and  his  grandfather,  Hon.  Charles 
Hoover,  he  was  born  on  a  farm  lyin"  six  miles 
nortli  of   Thomasville. 

His  great-grandfather,  George  Hoover,  was  born 
anil  reared  iu  Germany.  Coming  to  this  country 
in  early  manhood,  he  fought  with  the  Colonists 
iu  their  struggle  for  independence,  enlisting  with 
the  Pennsylvania  troops.  Subsequently  coming  to 
North  Carolina,  he  located  in  Salisbury,  Rowan 
County,  where  he  followed  his  trade  of  a  tanner 
for  a  time.  In  1797  he  removed  to  what  is  now 
Thomasville  Township,  Davidson  County,  and 
there  bought  the  estate  afterwards  known  as 
"Glen  Anna,"  which  was  located  IVi  miles  south 
of  Thomasville.  There  his  son-in-law,  David  Mock, 
established  a  school  for  young  women,  calling  it 
Glen  Anna;  the  school  was  later  transferred  to 
Thomasville,  and  called  Thomasville  Female  Col- 
lege. Both  he  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Margaret  Beard,  lived  to  be  nearly  three 
score  and  ten  years  of  age,  and  at  death  were 
buried  in  Fair  Grove  Cemetery.  They  were  the 
parents  of  six  children,  Elizabeth,  Christina, 
George,   Charles,  Felix,  and  Valentine. 

Hon.  Charles  Hoover  was  born  iu  Salisbury, 
North  Carolina,  in  1796.  Well  trained  as  a  boy 
in  agricultural  arts,  he  became  a  tiller  of  the 
soil  from  choice,  and  having  purchased  a  large 
tract  of  land  in  the  northern  part  of  Thomas- 
ville Township  carried  on  general  farming  with 
the  help  of  slaves.  He  owned  many  slaves,  but 
he  never  sold  one,  although  his  grandson,  Charles 
Moses  Hoover,  has  bills  of  sale  for  many  of  the 
negroes  which  he  purchased.  Prominent  and  in- 
fluential in  public  affairs,  he  was  elected  state 
senator  in  1832,  and  in  184.5  represented  his 
county  in  the  State  Legislature.  In  1824  he  wa-s 
made"  justice  of  the  peace,  and  served  in  that 
capacitV  until  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  in 
1865.  His  death  occurred  at  his  farm  home  in 
1880,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-four  years. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Hon.  Charles 
Hoover  was  Sarah  Kennedy.  Her  father  was  an 
extensive  planter,  owning  and  occupying  the 
plantation  now  known  as  the  Kinney  place,  which 
is  located  in  Thomasville  Township,  on  the  old 
stage  road  between  Greensboro  and  Salisbury. 
She  died  about  1840,  leaving  four  children,  Wil- 
liam K.,  Pleasant  A.,  Louise  J.,  and  Flora  S.  Wil- 
liam K.  Hoover,  the  first-born  child,  was  educated 
at  Old  Trinitv  College.  In  1852  he  migrated  to 
Georgia,  and  'a  few  years  later  settled  iu  Texas, 
from  there  going  to  Arkansas.  A  man  of  eminent 
ability  and  strong  personality,  he  became  promi- 
nent in  public  affairs,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  1875,  was  candidate  for  governor  of 
Arkansas.  Louisa  J.  married  H.  W.  Brummell,  of 
Thomasville  Township,  and  Flora  S.  became  the 
wife  of  D.  J.  K.  Pinnix. 

Pleasant  A.  Hoover  was  born  on  a  farm  lying 
three  miles  south   of  Thomasville,  July   18,  1830. 


-6.)*  }fun- 


T 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


181 


He  acquired  a  practical  education  in  the  public 
schools,  and  as  a  young  man  purchased  a  farm 
lying  west  of  ThomasvUle,  and  was  there  engaged 
in  farming,  with  the  help  of  slaves,  prior  to  his 
marriage.  About  a  year  after  his  marriage,  he  re- 
turned to  the  parental  homestead,  to  the  ownership 
of  which  he  succeeded.  On  December  13,  1861,  ho 
was  commissioned  captain  of  the  Hunts  Fork  Com- 
pany, Sixty-sixth  Eegiment,  Sixteenth  Brigade, 
North  Carolina  Militia,  in  which  he  served  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  Resuming  then  his  agricul- 
tural labors,  he  carried  on  general  farming  suc- 
cessfully, and  also  operated  a  grist  mill  and  a  sav? 
mill,  the  mills  being  located  on  Abbotts  Creek. 
Thus  busily  employed,  he  resided  on  his  home 
farm  until  his   death,   November  7,   1907. 

Pleasant  A.  Hoover  married.  May  25,  1853, 
Margaret  J.  Holmes.  She  was  liorn  in  1837,  at 
Healing  Springs  Township,  Davidson  County,  a 
daughter  of  Moses  and  Ann  Holmes.  She  "sur- 
vived her  husband,  and  is  now  a  resident  of 
Thomasville.  Eight  children  were  born  of  their 
union,  namely: — Flora,  Almeda,  Trecia,  Elizabeth, 
David  Early,  Charles  Moses,  Emma  Lee,  and 
George  Marshall.  Flora,  deceased,  was  the  wife 
of  J.  C.  Norwood;  Almeda  married  J.  A.  Green; 
Trecia  is  the  wife  of  P.  A.  Livengood ;  Elizabeth 
married  W.  F.  Guyer;  David  E.  married  Emma 
Grimes;  Emma  Lee,  deceased,  married  Charles  R. 
Kinney;  George  Marshall  married  Shelley  Thomas. 

Taking  advantage  of  every  offered  opportunity 
for  obtaining  an  education,  Charles  Moses  Hoover 
began  his  studies  in  tlie  district  school,  and  later 
attended  the  Bethany  High  School,  and  Professor 
Wright's  school,  located  two  miles  south  of 
Thomasville.  He  remained  on  the  home  farm  until 
early  manhood,  assisting  his  father  both  in  the 
field  and  in  the  mill,  when  but  ten  years  old  run- 
ning the  up-and-down  saw  with  which  the  plant 
was  equipped.  In  1895,  with  his  brother  George, 
lie  bought  a  saw  mill,  and  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  lumber.  In  1897  Mr.  Hoover  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster  at  Thomasville,  and  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  brothers  removed  their  saw  mill 
to.  Thomasville,  and  having  installed  a  planing 
mill  manufactured  dressed  lumber  for  four  years. 
Transforming  their  mill  then  into  a  chair  factory, 
the  two  brothers  incorporated  their  business  under 
the  name  of  the  Queen  Chair  Company.  At  the 
end  of  twelve  years  they  liquidated,  and  the 
Hoover  Cliair  Company  being  then  incorporated 
took  over  the  entire  plant,  and  has  conducted  a 
thriving  business  ever  since,  Mr.  Hoover  being 
secretary   and   treasurer   of   the   concern. 

In  1901  Mr.  Hoover  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Evelyn  Leach.  She  was  born  in  Thomas- 
ville, a  daughter  of  J.  A.  and  Pattie  (Lewis) 
Leach,  and  grand-daughter  of  Eev.  John  W. 
Lewis,  for  many  years  a  circuit  rider  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mrs.  Hoover 's 
father,  Mr.  Leach,  was  an  extensive  landholder, 
owning  both  town  and  farm  property,  and  was 
interested  in  various  mining  projects.  He  was 
liorn  at  Old  Trinity,  Randolph  County.  After 
serving  for  four  years  in  the  Civil  war,  he  settled 
in  Thomasville,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  He  was  active  in  public  affairs,  serving 
as  a  representative  to  the  State  Legislature,  and 
was  actively  identified  with  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoover  have  four  children, 
namely:  Cliarles,  Kenneth,  John  Lewis,  and 
Theresa.  Religiously  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoover  are 
active     members     of     the     Methodist     Episcopal 


Church,  South,  in  which  he  is  serving  as  steward 
and  trustee.  A  stanch  republican  in  politics,  Mr. 
Hoover  served  as  jjostmaster  lor  sixteen  years; 
and  in  addition  to  having  been  a  member  of  the 
Thomasville  Board  of  Aldermen  has  tilled  the 
mayor's  chair  two  terms.  Fraternally  he  is  a 
member  of  Thomasville  Lodge  No.  214,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons;  to  Thomas- 
ville Chapter  No.  62,  Royal  Arch  Masons;  and  i3 
a  uon-aftiliating  member  of  both  tlie  Salisbury 
Chapter,  and  Oasis  Temple. 

CHiiHLES  Wesley  Massey  is  and  has  been  for 
many  years  one  of  the  foremost  figures  in  public 
education  in  North  Carolina.  For  twenty  years 
he  has  been  superintendent  of  public  instruction 
for  Durham  County.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this 
article  to  tell  in  detail  the  work  that  has  been 
done  during  those  twenty  years  in  the  matter  of 
broadening  out,  building  up  and  vitalizing  the 
schools  of  that  county,  making  them  coordinate 
factors  in  the  life  of  the  eonnnunity  instead  of 
merely  supplying  a  few  of  the  fundamentals  of 
literary  knowledge. 

Superintendent  Massey  would  be  the  first  to 
disclaim  full  credit  for  all  that  has  been  achieved. 
He  has  had  tlie  counsel  and  cooperation  of  a  num- 
ber of  public  spiriteil  citizens,  valued  friends  of 
public  education,  and  hard  and  earnest  workers 
in  the  general  program,  and  also  in  the  individual 
schools  and  movements.  But  those  who  are  in  a 
position  to  judge  affirm  that  the  moving  spirit 
in  it  all  has  been  the  quiet,  elfieient,  and  widely 
experienced  educator  who  is  ofiicially  the  head  of 
the  public  schools  of  Durham  county  outside  the 
city  of  Durham.  Of  course,  according  to  an  abso- 
lute standard  of  ideal  perfection,  the  schools  of 
Durham  County  still  leave  much  to  be  desired. 
But  progress  along  many  lines  has  been  significant 
and  is,  a  source  of  encouragement  to  all  who  have 
the  welfare  of  public  schools  at  heart,  whether  in 
Durham  County  or  the  state  at  large.  Tlie  average 
school  term  has  been  greatly  extended  during  the 
last  twent}'  years,  the  number  and  personnel  and 
qualifications  of  the  teaching  staff  have  been  not- 
ably improved,  salaries  of  teachers  have  been  prac- 
tically doubled,  high  school  instruction  is  now 
supplied  to  six  or  seven  hundred  pupils  whereas 
less  than  twenty  years  ago  there  was  not  a  single 
high  school  student  in  the  country  districts  and 
while  the  value  of  the  school  buildings  and  equip- 
ment wheu  Superintendent  Massey  took  ofiiee  was 
not  more  than  five  thousand  dollars,  the  total 
valuation  of  property  today  is  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  Only  two  buildings  in  the  county 
that  were  standing  when  he  took  oifice  arc  used  to- 
day, ail  the  others  having  given  way  to  larger  and 
more  modern  structures.  The  process  of  con- 
solidation of  ruraL  districts  has  been  carried  on 
and  many  new  departments  and  subjects  have  been 
brought  into  the  school  work. 

All  these  various  changes  and  improvements  were 
succinctly  stated  in  a  recent  report  of  tlie  county 
public  schools  under  the  head  of  Ten  Things  Ac- 
complished by  the  Durham  County  Schools.  These 
ten  things  were:  Consolidation  of  districts  and  the 
building  of  better  schoolhouses;  the  installation  of 
new,  up-to-date  patent  desks,  blackboards  and 
other  school  equipment;  a  librarj-  has  been  placed 
in  every  white  school  in  the  county  and  in  twelve 
of  the  colored  schools;  the  organization  of  the 
teachers  of  the  county  for  normal  training  under 
the  direction  of  the  educational  department  of 
Trinity   College;    the   grading   and   standardizing 


182 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


of  tlie  work  iu  all  the  eouuty  schools;  the  placing 
of  high  school  instruction  within  the  reach  of  all 
the  country  boys  and  girls;  special  taxes  have  been 
voted  in  twenty  of  the  thirty  districts  of  the 
county,  raising  over  $20,UUO  additional  school 
funds  annually;  a  betterment  club  of  some  kind 
for  the  improvement  of  the  school  and  the  com- 
munity has  been  organized  iu  nearly  every  school 
iu  the  county;  farm  life  schools  have  been  estab- 
lished; by  working  iu  co-operation  with  the  county 
demonstrator,  the  home  demonstration  agent  and 
the  farm  life  schools,  the  corn  clubs,  pig  clubs, 
poultry  clubs  and  the  canning  clubs  of  the  county 
have  been  organized. 

Charles  AVesley  Massey  is  a  native  of  Durham 
County,  was  born  here  November  24,  1858,  and 
spent  his  early  life  on  a  farm.  His  parents  were 
John  and  Elizabeth  (Pope)  Massey.  As  a  boy 
he  attended  some  of  the  rude  country  schools  of 
his  day,  afterwards  was  a  student  in  Rutherford 
College  and  then  spent  three  years  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina.  His  active  career  has 
been  in  public,  school  work,  and  almost  altogether 
in  Durham  County,  with  only  four  years  outside 
the  county.  It  was  with  his  long  and  thorough 
experience  as  an  individual  teacher  that  he  was 
j)romoted  to  his  present  olKee  of  superintendent  of 
public  instruction.  Mr.  Massey  is  a  former  mem- 
ber of  the  North  Carolina  Teachers '  Assembly  and 
is  widely  known  in  educational  circles.  He  is  a 
director  of  the  Home  Savings  Bank  of  Durham. 

For  a  number  of  years  Mr.  Massey  was  presi- 
dent of  the  East  Central  District  of  County  Su- 
perintendents, and  served  as  a  member  of  suli- 
commission  in  the  selecting  of  text  books  for  the 
schools  through  the  state. 

October  19,  1892,  he  married  Cora  Lee  Friar  of 
Wilson  Couuty,  North  Carolina.  A  large  family 
have  grown  up  under  their  devoted  care  and  in- 
struction, and  they  have  nine  living  children.  One 
son,  Hugh  Liimaeus,  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen. 
The  living  children  are  Cora  Ethel,  Lucile  Lee. 
Ralph  Stevens,  Charles  Knox,  Lilabell,  Norman 
Wesley,  Herbert,  Marion,  Thomas  Woodrow. 

Charles  Edmund  Kramer.  In  carefully  and 
conscientiously  considering  the  lives  and  careers 
of  the  worthy  men  of  Elizabeth  City,  both  past 
and  present,  whose  achievements  and  inllueni'e 
have  been  notable  and  beneficial  attention  cannot 
fail  being  centered  on  the  Kramers,  a  name  well 
and  honorably  known  here  for  the  past  forty- 
seven  years.  The  present  head  of  the  family  is 
Charles  Edmund  Kramer,  president  of  Kramer 
Brothers  &  Company,  which  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant factors  in  the  great  lumber  industry  iu 
Eastern  North  Carolina. 

Charles  Edmund  Kramer  was  born  in  North- 
imiberland  County,  Pennsylvania,  July  5,  1857. 
His  jiarents  were  Daniel  and  Rachel  (Krebs) 
Ki-amer,  who  came  with  their  family  to  North 
Carolina  in  1870,  and  the  father  died  at  Elizabeth 
City   in   1899. 

Daniel  Kramer  was  born  in  Berks  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, June  19,  1834,  and  was  a  son  of  Jona- 
than and  Marie  (Steigerwalt)  Kramer.  He  grew 
up  on  his  father's  farm  and  had  such  school  ad- 
vantages as  his  native  county  afforded  at  that 
time,  meager  as  compared  with  the  present  day 
but  sound  and  practical.  He  was  yet  a  young- 
man  when  he  began  business  in  the  haanlet  of 
Watsontown,  Pennsylvania,  which  at  that  time 
had  a  pojiulation  of  not  more  than  fifty  Individ- 


proving  property  and  continued  to  reside  there 
until  November,  1870.  In  the  meanwhile,  in 
1864,  he  enlisted  for  service  in  the  war  between 
the  states  then  iu  progress,  entering  Company  C, 
Two  Hundred  and  Second  Pennsylvania  Volunteer 
Infantry,  and  served  until  he  was  honorably  dis- 
cliarged  in  August,  1865. 

When  Mr.  Kramer  left  Watsontown  he  had  a 
reputation  as  a  reliable  contractor  and  builder, 
and  when  he  came  to  Elizabeth  City,  North  Caro- 
lina, in  1870,  he  embarked  in  the  same  business 
and  continued  in  that  line  all  his  subsequent  life 
in  connection  with  the  lumber  manufacturing  busi- 
ness. He  was  a  man  of  great  energy  and  of  ex- 
cellent business  judgment  and  gradually  expanded 
his  business  until  he  owned  saw  mills,  planing 
mills  and  lumber  yards.  It  is  conceded  that  his 
practical  and  modern  ideas  did  more  to  inllueuce 
the  style  and  class  of  building  here  than  those 
of  any  other  one  man  during  his  life,  and  many 
of  the  city 's  finest  structures  testify  to  his  taste 
and  skill.  He  founded  the  business  which  is 
now  known  as  Kramer  Brothers  &  Company.  He 
was  interested  as  a  good  citizen  and  couscieucious 
man  in  many  of  the  worthy  enterprises  which 
served  to  build  up  the  city.  All  his  life  he  cher- 
ished a  deep  respect  for  education  and  an  evi- 
dence of  it  was  shown  shortly  after  locating  here. 
At  that  time  Elizabeth  City  was  just  recovering 
from  the  effects  of  the  long  war  and  school 
facilities  were  few  and  inadequate.  This  condi- 
tion aroused  Mr.  Kramer  to  action  and  he  re- 
turned to  Pennsylvania  and  there  engaged  a 
superior  teacher,  who  was  employed  at  his  ex- 
pense at  first  and  later  with  the  assistance  of  two 
other  citizens  and  a  first  class  school  was  started, 
the  same  being  the  nucleus  of  the  Atlantic  Col- 
legiate Institute,  which  was  the  principal  school 
of  this  section  until  the  organization  of  the  graded 
schools.  In  many  other  ways  Mr.  Kj'amer  was 
generous  and  public  spirited.  He  took  no  active 
jiart  in  political  campaigns,  voting  with  the  re- 
publican party  from  principle.  Ho  was  a  member 
of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  in  Pennsylvania  was 
an  elder  in  the  same. 

Daniel  Kramer  was  twic/e  married,  fii-st  in 
Northumberland  County,  Pennsylvania,  October  2, 
1856,  to  Rachel  Krebs;  second,  in  Clarion  County, 
Pennsylvania  in  June,  1884,  to  Eva  Fulmer.  His 
children  all  survive,  as  follows:  Charles  Edmund; 
John  A.,  who  married  Carrie  E.  Kijip;  Alien  K., 
who  married  Margaret  Chrou ;  Ida  L.,  who  married 
Alex  T.  Davis;  Annie  J.,  who  became  the  wife  of 
John  S.  Banks;  Jose^jh  P.,  who  married  Frances 
Welles ;  Ella  K.,  who  is  the  wife  of  Patrick  H. 
Williams ;  and  Eva  Maria,  who  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  W.  Edwards.  Mr.  Kramer  was  a  Master 
Mason. 

Charles  Ednmnd  Kramer,  the  eldest  in  the  above 
family,  was  closely  associated  with  his  father 
and  under  his  directing  supervision  learned  the 
lumber  business.  He  was  a  school  boy  of  thir- 
teen years  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to 
Elizabeth  City  and  this  has  been  his  chosen  home 
ever  since.  He  worked  in  his  father 's  planing 
mill  and  by  the  time  he  was  sixteen  years  old  was 
considered  capable  of  taking  charge  of  the  sash 
and  door  manufacturing  department  as  foreman, 
and  largely  througli  his  energy  and  enterprise  was 
the  business  built  up  to  its  present  enormous  ca- 
pacity. It  is  one  of  the  leading  industries  of  this 
section  and  controls  vast  areas  of  valuable  timber 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


1S3 


here  ami  in  otlier  parts  of  the  state,  and  gives 
employment  to  a  large  forue  of  skilled  work- 
men. 

In  1910  Mr.  Kramer  erected  with  his  brothers 
what  is  known  as  tlie  Kramer  Realty  Company 's 
Building,  one  of  the  finest  structures  in  the  eity, 
125  by  90  feet  in  dimensions,  of  pressed  brick 
and  three  stories  high.  It  is  devoted  to  offices 
and  various  lodges  have  their  halls  here.  Mr. 
Kramer  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Elizabeth 
City  Savings  Bank  &  Trust  Company  and  is  on  its 
directing  board.  Like  his  late  father,  Mr.  Kramer 
has  always  been  a  patron  of  education  and  is  an 
ex-member  of  tlie  board  of  trustees  of  the  Greens- 
boro Female  College. 

Mr.  Kramer  was  married  January  -3,  188.3,  to 
Miss  Sallie  R.  Holmes,  who  was  born  at  Elizabeth 
City  and  is  a  daughter  of  Robert  and  Mary  Holmes. 
The  father  of  Mrs.  Kramer  is  a  merchant  and  the 
family  is  well  known  in  this  section.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kramer  have  two  daughters:  Augusta,  who  is 
the  wife  of  Dr.  Herbert  D.  Walker,  of  Elizabeth 
City;  and  Maud  Holmes,  who  resides  with  her 
parents.  The  family  belongs  to  tlie  Methodist 
Ejiiscopa!  Church,  South,  and  Mr.  Kramer  is  a 
member  of  the  board  of  stewards,  and  for  more 
than  seven  years  served  as  superintendent  of  the 
Sunday  school.  As  the  facts  of  his  life  indi- 
eate,  he  is  a  man  of  unu.sual  business  capacity  and 
of  the  high  personal  character  that  belongs  to 
men  in  whom  their  fellow  citizens  feel  complete 
confidence,  knowing  them  to  be  trustworthy. 

WiLLi.\M  J.  Spaugh  is  one  of  the  oldest  con- 
tractors and  builders  in  point  of  continuous  serv- 
ice in  the  Winston-Salem  district.  He  is  a  native 
of  this  section  of  North  Carolina,  served  during 
the  war  in  the  Confederate  army,  and  has  had  an 
exceedingly  long  and  useful  experience. 

It  is  supposed  with  good  reason  that  all  the 
members  of  the  Spaugh  family  in  this  part  of 
North  Carolina  are  descended  from  Adam  Spach. 
Adam  Spach  was  a  historic  character  in  Western 
North  Carolina.  He  came  here  about  the  middle 
■of  the  eighteenth  century,  acquired  extensive  tracts 
of  land  near  Priedherg,  built  a  rock  house,  which 
is  shown  on  other  pages  and  which  was  as  much 
of  a  fort  as  a  residence,  and  did  much  to  estab- 
lish civilization  and  Christianity  in  this  part  of 
Western   North    Carolina. 

William  J.  Spaugh  was  born  on  a  farm  two 
miles  northeast  of  Friedberg  in  Forsyth  County, 
August  30,  1846.  His  grandfather,  Joseph 
Spaugh,  was  a  planter,  owning  a  place  about  a 
7nile  from  Friedberg,  and  he  and  his  wife  reared 
five  children  named  Harmon,  Jonathan,  Beniamin, 
Nancy  and  Polly.  Benjamin  Spaugh,  father  of 
William  .J.,  was  born  November  1.5,  1817,  his  birth- 
place having  been  about  a  mile  from  Friedberg. 
He  grew  up  on  a  farm  and  started  his  own  career 
as  a  farmer.  He  had  a  place  near  the  old  Spaugh 
farm  and  lived  there  until  about  1858,  when  he 
came  to  Salem.  Here  he  followed  the  business  of 
teaming,  and  remained  a  resident  until  his  death 
on  September  23,  1874.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Julia  Ann  Crouse.  She  was  born  near 
Friediierg  September  18,  1825.  Her  father,  Jacob 
Crouse,  was  a  planter  near  Clemmons  in  Stokes 
County.  Mrs.  Benjamin  Spaugh  died  November 
20,  1904. 

William  J.  Spaugh,  an  only  child  of  his  par- 
ents, had  the  advantages  and"  opportunities  of  a 
country  home  during  his  boyhood,  and  attended 
the  Flatrock  School  near  Friedberg,  and  later  the 


Winston  Academy.  He  was  not  yet  thirteen  years 
of  age  when  the  war  broke  out  but  subsequently, 
in  spite  of  his  youth,  was  draftedfor  service  in 
the  Confederate  army.  He  went  to  Raleigh,  but 
was  soon  discharged  on  account  of  disability.  In 
1865  Mr.  Spaugh  entered  an  apprenticeship  with 
Charles  Hau.ser  to  learn  the  trade  of  brick  mason. 
After  three  years  of  learning  the  trade  he  worked 
as  a  journeyman  two  years  and  then  started  in 
business  for  himself  as  a  contractor  and  builder. 
He  has  followed  that  business  continually  for  lie- 
tween  forty'  and  fifty  years,  has  put  up  hundreds 
of  houses  and  other  structures  over  Forsyth  County, 
and   is   still   handling   contracts   of   that   nature. 

On  Septemlicr  10,  1868,  Mr.  Spaugh  married 
Miss  Felicia  Antoinette  Lineback.  Mrs.  Spaugh 
was  born  near  Bethania  in  Forsyth  County,  No- 
vember 27,  1849.  Her  father,  Timothy  Lineback, 
was  a  potter  by  trade  and  saw  active  service  in 
a  North  Carolina  regiment  during  the  war.  He 
removed  from  near  Bethania  to  a  home  on  Brooks- 
town  Road,  a  mile  and  a  half  west  of  the  court- 
house at  Winston-Salem,  and  remained  a  resident 
there  until  his  death.  Mrs.  Spaugh 's  mother  was 
Eliza  Wall.  She  was  born  near  Bethania,  August 
20,  1827,  and  died  March  9,  1909. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spaugh  have  four  children,  Rosa, 
Robert  C,  Daisy  and  Mabel.  Rosa  is  still  at 
home  with  her  parents.  Robert  C.  married  Bessie 
Winkler  and  their  three  children  are  Gordon,  Car- 
roll and  Hazel.  The  daughter  Daisy  is  the  wife 
of  Thomas  E.  Griffin.  Mabel  married  J.  D.  Barrow. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spaugh  are  members  of  the  Home 
Moravian  Church. 

Chalmers  M.  Van  Poole,  M.  D.  The  continu- 
ous labors,  sacrifices  and  study  of  nearly  forty 
years  have  brought  many  richly  deserved  honors 
to  Dr.  Van  Poole  as  a  physician  and  suregon  in 
his  home  community  of  Salisbury,  and  from  that 
city  his  reputation  has  become  spread  over  the 
state  until  he  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  great 
men  in  the  profession  of  North  Carolina  today. 

He  is  of  Holland  ancestry.  CJrandfather  Van 
Poole,  a  native  of  Holland,  came  to  America 
with  two  of  his  brothers  soon  after  the  close  of 
the  revolution  and  settled  on  land  in  Providence 
Township  of  Rowan  County,  North  Carolina. 
Many  of  the  Van  Pooles  were  very  skillful  me- 
chanics, and  that  trait  is  also  inherited  by  Dr. 
Van  Poole  and  has  not  been  without  value  to  him 
in  his  profession. 

Chalmers  Melancthon  Van  Poole  was  born  near 
Salisbury  in  Rowan  County,  September  2,  1854. 
His  father  Otho  Van  Poole,  born  in  the  same 
locality,  after  reaching  manhood  took  a  tract  of 
new  land  in  Providence  Township  and  cleared 
and  improved  a  good  farm,  and  on  it  lived  a 
laborious  and  fruitful  life.  He  died  at  the  ven- 
erable age  of  fourscore  and  two  years.  During 
the  war  between  the  states  he  was  in  the  Confed- 
erate Cavalry.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Lucretia  Lentz,  lived  to  be  upwards  of  seventy 
years  of  atre.  Both  were  members  of  St.  Mat- 
thew's Lutheran  Church  and  both  lie  buried  in 
its  churchyard. 

Doctor  Van  Poole  began  his  education  in  the 
Craven  public  schools  and  by  teaching  he  paid 
his  way  through  North  Carolina  College,  now 
known  as  Mount  Pleasant  Collegiate  Institute, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  with  the  degree 
A.  M.  After  that  he  taught  school  "uccessfully 
until  1878  and  be^an  the  study  of  medicine  imder 
Dr.    Marcellus    Whitehead    of    Salisbury.      Doctor 


184 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Van  Poole  graduated  from  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons  of  Baltimore  March  18,  1880. 
The  following  May  he  was  licensed  to  pi'actice  but 
desiring  further  preparation  he  returned  to  Bal- 
timore and  was  elected  resident  physician  of  the 
Maternity  Hospital  where  he  taught  as  assistant 
in  olistetrics.  At  the  same  time  he  did  post- 
graduate work  at  the  City  Hospital.  Doctor  Van 
Poole  for  many  years  practiced  medicine  in  his 
native  township,  but  in  1913  removed  to  Salisbury 
where  he  has  since  resided.  He  has  usually  spent 
some  time  every  year  in  a  post-graduate  school 
and  is  a  specialist  in  diseases  of  the  nose  and 
throat   and   stomach. 

An  excellent  review  of  Doctor  Van  Poole 's 
work  and  connections  as  a  jihysieian  appeared  re- 
cently in  the  Charlotte  Medical  Journal  in  an 
article  prepared  by  the  editors  of  that  publieatiou. 
The  following  sentences  axe  taJien  from  this 
article: 

' '  Dr.  Van  Poole  has  always  shown  much  en- 
thusiasm in  the  society  work  of  his  profession 
and  holds  that  every  young  doctor  should  at  once 
connect  himself  with  all  of  the  medical  societies 
he  cnn  attend.  When  licensed  in  1880  to  practice 
medicine  he  immediately  joined  the  State  So- 
ciety and  for  thirty-eight  consecutive  meetings 
did  not  fail  to  be  ju'csent  at  its  annual  gather- 
ings— a  record  unequalled  by  any  otlier  pihysician 
of  the  State.  For  five  years  he  was  treasurer  of 
this  Society  and  has  recently  served  as  its  presi- 
dent. He  is  a  member  of  the  District  and  County 
Societies.  During  President  Taft's  administra- 
tion he  was  apiiointed  first  lieutenant  of  the 
Medical  Iteserve  Corps  of  the  United  States  Army. 
He  has  since  been  jiromoted  to  ca])tain.  His  close 
attention  to  all  of  his  Society  interests  has  been  a 
stepping  stone  to  better  things. 

"During  his  medical  career  Dr.  Van  Poole  has 
contributed  largely  and  helpfully  to  the  medical 
press,  among  other  things  being  articles  on 
Quackery,  Abortion,  Effects  of  Alcohol  on  the 
System,  Atropia  in  Diseases  of  the  Eye.  Some  He- 
marks  as  to  the  Science  of  Medicine  and  the  Com- 
parison of  .\ncient  with  Present  Day  Progress  of 
the  Same,  The  Importance  of  Thorough  Qualittca- 
tion  Alons  the  Lines  of  Literary  and  Genera! 
Scientific  Training  prior  to  Entering  the  Medical 
Profession  and  the  Maintenance  of  Hi^h  Ideals 
after  Becoming  a  Member  of  Same,  Public  Health 
and  Preventive  Medicine.  Tlie  Relation  and  Duty 
of  the  Physician  to  the  Nation  in  War  and 
Peace. 

"Dr.  Van  Poole's  love  and  interest  in  his  work 
prove  that  his  vocation  has  been  well  chosen. 
He  practices  his  profession  from  a  conscientious 
standpoint — always  putting  the  interest  of  his 
patient  and  patron  before  his  own.  The  dangers 
and  hardships  he  has  undergone  in  tlieir  behalf 
have  been  many  and  direful.  In  order  to  reach 
some  of  his  patients  he  has  been  known  to  cross 
streams  so  swollen  as  to  necessitate  his  horses 
to  swim  and  his  buggy  to  float,  thus  risking  liis 
own  life,  and  this  in  itself  is  truly  indicative  nf 
his  deep  love  and  sympathy  for  all  linmanity. 
Every  year  adds  new  work  to  his  already  euormovis 
practice,  but  with  all  he  never  loses  that  genial, 
good  natured  disposition  which  has  always  been 
a  great  factor  in  making  his  life  work  pleasant 
and  easy. ' ' 

Doctor  Van  Poole  is  a  good  business  man  as 
well  as  successful  physician,  and  is  interested  in 
a  number  of  business  affairs  as  well  as  local  real 
estate.   '  He  has  served  as  president  of  the  Eowan 


Mutual  Eire  Insurance  Company  for  many  years. 
Since  youth  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Church,  and  for  upwards  of  forty 
years  has  served  as  elder  or  deacon.  Despite  the 
demands  of  his  profession  he  has  done  much  for 
the  Sunday  .School,  has  many  times  served  as 
president  of  its  township  and  county  conventions, 
and  some  years  ago  was  ]iresident  of  the  North 
Carolina  State  Sunday  School  Association.  Thus 
he  is  a  man  of  lireadth  of  mind  and  interest  and 
piractically  everything  that  concerns  the  better- 
ment of  his  fellow  men  ajjpeals  strongly  to  his 
sup]iort. 

Doctor  Van  Poole  married  Mary  Linn.  She 
was  born  in  Providence  Township,  daughter  of 
Robert  J.  and  Joiey  (Redwine)  Linn,  and  grand- 
daughter on  the  iiaternal  side  of  David  Linn  and 
on  the  maternal  side  of  Pleasant  and  Mary  (Bar- 
ringer)  Redwine.  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Van  Poole 
have  the  following  children:  Robert  L.,  Carl  M., 
Mary  K.,  Elizabeth,  Otho,  Thomas  Bennett,  Ruth, 
Rena  and  Glenn. 

Carl  M.  Van  Poole,  M.  D.,  son  of  Dr.  Chalmers 
M.  Van  Poole,  has  also  gained  a  reputation  as  a 
com]]etent  physician  and  surgeon  but  like  many 
other  young  men  of  his  age  and  abilities  is  now 
serving  his  country. 

He  was  born  and  received  his  primary  education 
at  Craven  in  Rowan  County,  attending  first  the 
rural  schools,  then  Crescent  Academy  and  was  pre- 
pared for  college  at  Mount  Pleasant  Collegiate  In- 
stitute. Prom  there  he  entered  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  studied  two  years,  and  before 
completing  the  course  entered  the  University  of 
Maryland  Medical  School  and  College  of  Phy.sicians 
and  Surgeons  at  Baltimore,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  with  the  degree  M.  D.  in  1916.  Locat- 
ing first  at  Baltimore  one  year  Dr.  Carl  Van 
Poole  gained  practical  knowledge  and  experience 
as  a  general  practitioner.  He  then  removed  to 
Salisbury  and  practiced  with  his  father  for  about 
one  year,  enjoying  a  good  business  and  rapidly 
winning  for  liimself  an  honored  name  in  the  pro- 
fession. In  1912  he  married  Miss  Ella  M.  Ingles 
of  Carroll  County,  Maryland. 

In  the  fall  of  1917  he  was  commissioned  by  the 
president  a  first  lieutenant  of  the  Medical  Officers ' 
Reserve  Corps  in  the  United  States  Army.  In  .Tan- 
nary,  1918,  lie  was  assigned  active  duty  at  the  base 
hospital  at  Camp  .Toseph  E.  Johnston,  .Tacksonville, 
Florida,  and  has  since  been  in  active  service  in  the 
United  States  Army. 

Coi..  George  WASHiNfiTON  Flowers  is  one  of  the 
few  living  men  from  North  Carolina  who  fought 
as  regimental  officers  in  the  great  war  between  the 
states.  He  has  a  long  and  active  career  beginning 
even  before  the  war  as  a  teacher,  merchant  and 
man  of  affairs.  Colonel  Flowers  has  spent  a'uum- 
ber  of  years  of  retired  life  at  Durham,  where  he 
now  resides. 

He  was  born  in  Ale.xander  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, April  2"),  1842,  a  son  of  .lohn  M.  and  Mary 
(Smith)  Flowers.  His  father  was  a  substantial 
planter  of  Alexander  County,  and  Colonel  Flowers 
grew  up  in  the  midst  of  the  old  time  plenty  and 
prosperity  of  the  ante-liellum  period.  He  received 
his  early  education  in  York  Institute,  and  for  three 
years  taught  school  as  an  instructor  of  English. 
He  resigned  his  position  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  and  went  in  the  Confederate  army  as  a  junior 
second  lieutenant  in  Company  G  of  the  Thirty- 
eighth    North    Carolina   Infantry.      He    was    soon 


%^-0-Z>iy^-C^^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


185 


elected  first  lieutenant  and  upon  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  regiment  became  captain,  and  from 
that  steadily  won  promotion  to  tlie  rank  of  major 
and  finally  was  lieutenant  colonel  in  conmianil  of 
the  regiment.  He  was  twice  wounded,  first  at  tlie 
battle  of  Mcchaniesville  in  the  seven  days  fight- 
ing around  Richmond  and  on  May  3,  1864,  fell 
seriously  wounded  at  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness. 
Upon  his  recovery  he  was  given  active  command 
of  the  regiment  in  absence  of  the  colonel.  He 
was  with  Lee 's  shattered  forces  at  the  time  of 
surrender  at  Appomattox. 

The  war  over  Colonel  Flowers  returned  to  liis 
native  state,  and  again  taught  school  for  two 
years.  He  finally  entered  the  meehandise  business, 
and  from  1890  to  1904  conducted  a  large  estab- 
lishment at  York  Institute  and  Taylorsville.  He 
retired  from  business  in  1904  and  has  since  lived 
at  Durham.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
board  of  county  commissioners  for  two  years  and 
later  served  four  years  as  chairman  of  the  board. 
During  that  time  the  handsome  Durham  Courthouse 
was  built  at  a  cost  of  $325,000. 

In  1870  Colonel  Flowers  married  Sallie  J. 
Haynes,  a  native  of  Yadkin  County,  North  Caro- 
lina. Of  their  ten  children  six  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter are  still  living.  The  names  of  these  children 
were:  Professor  Robert  Lee,  a  member  of  the 
faculty  of  Trinity  College;  Charles  E.,  William 
W.,  Arthur  Ellis,  John  M.,  George  Horace,  Bessie, 
Fred,  Claud  M.,  and  Estelle.  Colonel  Flowers  has 
always  been  active  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  is  chairman  of  the  board  of  trustees  of 
the  Memorial  Church  at  Durham  and  has  served 
as  a  steward.  He  is  one  of  the  trustees  of  Trinity 
College. 

Henry  Clark  Bridgebs,  of  Tarboro,  is  one  of 
North  Carolina's  most  notable  men  of  the  pres- 
ent generation.  He  is  well  known  in  the  field  of 
constructive  enterprise  and  especially  in  the  cre- 
ation by  organizing  and  assembling  of  new  op- 
portunities and  resources.  His  associates  and 
admirers  look  upon  him  as  a  man  of  real  finan- 
cial and  business  genius. 

He  was  educated  for  the  law.  His  father,  John 
L.  Bridgers,  is  a  prominent  lawyer  and  man  of 
consideralile  wealth,  so  that  the  son  was  not 
under  the  spur  of  necessity  when  he  started  life. 
He  was  offered  a  position  at  a  salary  in  his  fa- 
ther's law  office  but  lie  chose  to  work  indepeml- 
ently  and  get  something  worth  while  done  in  the 
world  upon  his  own  resources. 

His  achievement  in  building  the  East  Carolina 
Railway  from  Tarboro  to  Hookerton,  a  distance  of 
forty  miles,  is  probably  unique  in  the  annals  of 
railroading.  It  was  built  as  a  commercial  rail- 
road, largely  for  the  purpose  of  developing  and 
affording  facilities  to  tlie  farms  along  the  right 
of  way.  The  first  section  of  the  road  was  built 
for  four  miles  with  wooden  rails.  Later  small 
flat  steel  rails  were  laid.  Mr.  Bridgers  was  his 
own  civil  engineer  and  constructor,  and  while  the 
road  stands  as  a.  substantial  tribute  to  his  engi- 
neering skill,  it  is  even  more  remarkable  for  the 
fact  that  it  was  built  without  the  issue  of  a 
single  bond  and  ha.s  never  once  defaulted  pay- 
ment of  any  kind  to  its  creditors.  Mr.  Bridgers 
is  president  and  owns  a  majority  of  the  stock 
in    this    railroad. 

He  not  only  built  the  railroad  but  was  the  pri- 
mary factor  in  the  development  of  the  five  pros- 
perous towns  built  along  its  line.  These  towns, 
with  their  present  population,  are  Pine  Tops,  600; 


Macclesfield,  400;  Fountains,  450;  Farniville, 
1,500;  Maury,  250;  and  Hookerton,  500.  Mr. 
Bridgers  in  order  to  give  these  villages  proper 
financial  service  organized  and  is  president  of  five 
banks.  These  are  the  Pine  Tops  Banking  Com- 
pany, the  Bank  of  Fountain,  the  Bank  of  Hook- 
erton, the  Bank  of  Conetoe,  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Tarboro  and  the  Pamlico  Savings  aiul 
Trust  Company  of  Tarboro,  of  all  of  which  he  is 
president. 

Mr.  Bridgers  was  born  at  Tarboro,  North  Car- 
olina, January  7,  1876.  He  w'as  educated  in  the 
University  of  the  South  at  Sewanee,  Tennessee, 
class  '95,  and  in  1897  graduated  with  honors 
from  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  He  was 
soon  afterwards  admitted  to  the  bar  and  became 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  John  L.  Bridgers,  Jr., 
the  well  known  legal  firm  which  was  started  in 
1847.  For  twenty  years  he  has  been  attorney 
for  the  Southern  Railway  Company.  Mr.  Bridgers 
owns  5,000  acres  of  land,  much  of  which  has 
been  developed  along  with  his  railroad.  He  is 
also  owner  of  the  Bridgers  Building  at  Tarboro, 
one  of  the  best  in  the  town,  a  concrete  and  steel 
three-story  structure  50  by  50  feet.  He  is  mem- 
ber of  the  Golf  Club  of  Tarboro,  Cape  Fear  Coun- 
try Club  at  Wilmington,  the  Charleston  Coun- 
try Club  in  South  Carolina,  and  the  Country  Clul) 
of   Virginia,   at    Richmond. 

.January  20,  1912,  Mr.  Bridgers  married  Mary 
Meade  Bernard,  daughter  of  Judge  D.  Meade 
Bernard,  of  Virginia.  They  have  one  son,  Henry 
CHark  Bridgers,  Jr.,  born  July  3,   1914. 

Henry  Edw.«lRD  Rufty.  A  live,  wide-awake, 
energetic  business  man  of  Rowan  County,  Henry 
Edward  Rufty  has  developed  and  strengthened  his 
natural  talents,  not  only  through  a  vigorous  use 
of  all  of  his  faculties,  but  through  his  industry, 
enterprise,  and  the  able  management  of  his  affairs, 
and  now  occupies  a  noteworthy  position  among  the 
leading  merchants  of  Salisbury,  where  he  has  a 
large  establishment  completely  stocked  with  a  fine 
line  of  general  merchandise.  A  native  son  of 
Rowan  County,  he  was  born  at  Gold  Hill  in  1877, 
and  there  was  educated. 

His  father.  James  Rufty,  was  born  in  Providence 
Townshi)),  on  the  plantation  of  his  father,  Edward 
Rufty.  Tliere  he  grew  to  manhood  and  gained  an 
excellent  knowledge  of  the  various  branches  of 
agriculture.  Becoming  a  tiller  of  the  soil,  he 
liought  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Gold  Hill,  where 
he  improved  a  farm,  and  later  purchased  a  house 
at  Gold  Hill,  and  there  spent  the  closing  years  of 
his  life,  dying  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his 
age.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife,  who  survived 
him  and  .still  resides  at  Gold  Hill,  was  Frances 
Lentz.  She  was  born  in  Cabarrus  County,  North 
Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Estella  (Crow- 
ell)    Lentz. 

After  leaving  the  public  schools  of  Gold  HiU, 
Henry  Edward  Rufty  attended  Roanoke  College, 
at  Roanoke,  Virginia,  for  a  year  and  made  the 
second  highest  average  in  his  class  of  that  year. 
He  subsequently  kept  books  at  the  Union  Mine 
six  years.  Embarking  then  in  business  on  his  own 
account,  Mr.  Rufty  was  actively  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits  at  Gold  Hill  until  1904.  Desirous 
then  of  broadening  his  field  of  action,  Mr.  Rufty 
spent  a  year  in  Spencer,  and  then  came  to  Salis- 
bury, locating  on  Park  Avenue,  where  he  estab- 
lished a  general  store.  Fortune  smiled  kindly  upon 
his  efforts  and  he  rapidly  built  up  a  profitable 
trade,  his  courteous  attention  to  customers  and  his 


186 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


honest,  upright  dealings  with  all,  winning  him  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of  the  community.  In  1916 
Mr.  Eiifty  erected  his  present  substantial  brick 
building  90  by  34  feet,  and  is  carrying  a  large 
and  variously  assorted  stock  of  general  merchan- 
dise, his  store  containing  almost  everything  de- 
manded by  the  trade,  his  endeavor  being  to  please 
his  numerous  patrons. 

Mr.  Rufty  married,  in  1900,  Helen  A.  Rothrock, 
who  was  born  at  Mt.  Pleasant,  a  daugliter  of  Lewis 
and  Joan  (Hearn)  Rothrock.  In  May,  1861,  her 
father  enlisted  in  Company  G,  Sixth  Regiment. 
North  Carolina  Troops,  and  was  soon  commissioned 
second  lieutenant,  and  the  following  December 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant. 
Professor  Rothrock  was  principal  of  Monta  Amoena 
at  Mt.  Pleasant  and  is  still  teaching  at  the  age 
of  seventy-eight  at  his  home  at  Gold  Hill.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Rufty  have  five  children,  namely:  Henry 
Edward,  Jr.,  Lewis  Rothrock,  Francis  Donald, 
Archibald  Caldwell  and  Joe  Hearn.  Religiously 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rufty  are  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  Actively  identified  with  the  public  affairs 
of  Salisbury,  Mr.  Rufty  is  now  serving  his  third 
term  as  a  member  of  the  local  lioard  of  aldermen. 
Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of  Gordon  Lodge  No. 
168,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows;  of  Salis- 
bury Council  No.  26,  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics;  and  of  Salisbury  Camp  No. 
1454,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 

Frank  S.  Lambeth.  An  eminently  capable,  en- 
terprising, and  patriotic  citizen  of  Thomasville, 
Davidson  County,  Frank  S.  Lambeth  is  directing 
his  efforts  along  those  lines  that  require  sound 
judgment,  keen  discrimination,  and  much  executive 
ability,  as  a  business  man  being  associated  with 
the  Standard  Chair  Company,  and  as  a  loyal,  pub- 
lic-spirited citizen  of  the  United  States,  being 
chairman  of  the  Thomasville  branch  of  the  Na- 
tional Board  for  Fuel  Conservation,  and  also  chair- 
man of  the  Thomasville  Red  Cross.  He  was  born 
near  Thomasville,  North  Carolina,  a  son  of  David 
Thomas  Lambeth.  He  comes  of  pioneer  stock, 
his  paternal  grandfather,  Shadrach  Lambeth,  and 
his  great-grandfather,  Josiah  Lambeth,  having 
been  born  in  Guilford  County,  this  state,  where  his 
great-great-grandfather,  John  Lambeth,  located  in 
pioneer  days. 

.lohn  Lambeth,  a  native  of  England,  immigrated 
to  America  in  colonial  times.  After  living  a  very 
brief  time  in  Maryland,  he  located  at  Newberne, 
North  Carolina,  from  there  going  to  Guilford 
County,  where  he  was  an  early  settler,  and  a 
pioneer  farmer.  He  married  Sarah  Heath,  and 
they  reared  three  sons,  Josiah,  Samuel  and  Moses. 
Josiah  Lambeth,  the  next  in  line  of  descent,  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Loflin,  and  of  their  family  of 
thirteen  children,  four  were  sons,  as  follows: 
Shadrach,  Joseph,  .John  and  Lowick. 

Shadrach  L,Tml>eth  was  born  in  Guilford  County, 
North  Carolina,  on  the  Horse  Shoe  Bend  of  Buf- 
falo Creek,  where  all  of  his  early  years  were  spent. 
Selling  his  jdantation  in  that  locality  in  18.50,  he 
came  to  Davidson  County,  and  having  bought  a 
farm  lying  two  miles  south  of  Thomasville  began 
its  imiirovement  by  building  a  brick  house  which 
is  still  standing.  He  took  a  contract  to  build  a 
mile  of  the  North  Carolina  Railroad,  but  died,  in 
ISS.S,  before  the  completion  of  his  contract.  He 
was  a  physician  of  local  note,  using  the  Thomson- 
ian  system  of  medicine,  doctoring  principally  with 
herbs.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Jennie 
Thomas,  was  a   daughter  of  David  Thomas,   and 


a  sister  of  John  Warrick  Thomas,  the  founder  of 
Thomasville.  She  outlived  her  husband,  dying  at 
the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five  years.  She  was 
the  mother  of  ten  children,  six  daughters  and  four 
sons,  namely:  Amanda,  Betsey,  Mary,  Margaret, 
Fanny,  Alice,  John,  David  Thomas,  Robert,  and 
Joseph  Harrison.  Robert  died  in  early  manhood, 
his  (leath  lieing  caused  by  injuries  received  in  con- 
struction work  on  the  North  Carolina  Railroad. 
Joseph  H.  entered  the  Confederate  army  as  a 
private,  and  by  successive  promotions  became  ma- 
jor. He  was  afterward  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits  in  Thomasville. 

David  Thomas  Lambeth  was  born,  December  19, 
1830,  in  the  "Horse  Shoe"  bend  of  Buffalo  Creek, 
Guilford  County,  and  twenty  years  later  came  with 
the  family  to  Davidson  County.  Prior  to  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  war,  he  was  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, with  slave  help.  During  the  progress  of  the 
war,  he  was  an  officer  in  tlie  Thomasville  Homfl 
Guard,  and  was  detailed  by  the  government  to 
secure  supplies  for  the  army.  In  1872,  when 
Thomasville  was  a  mere  village,  he  embarked  in 
mercantile  pursuits  with  his  brother,  Joseph  Har- 
lison,  and  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Lambeth 
Brothers  continued  his  business  as  a  general  mer- 
chant, and  also  superintended  his  farm,  until  his 
death,  .Tuly  21,  1899. 

Tlie  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  David  Thomas 
Lambeth  was  Caroline  Simmons.  A  daughter  of 
Benjamin  Whitfield  Simmons,  she  was  born,  April 
2,  1838,  on  a  farm  on  the  "Narrows,"  Montgom- 
ery County,  North  Carolina.  Her  grandfather, 
Benjamin  Simmons,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
October  4,  1751.  Soon  after  attaining  his  major- 
ity, he  migrated  to  Montgomery  County,  North 
Carolina,  and  having  jiurchased  a  plantation  in  the 
near  vicinity  of  Troy  was  there  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Benjamin  Sim- 
mons, great-grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  Annie  Alexander.  She  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  .James  Alexander,  who  married  Elizabeth 
Carruthers,  a  Scotch  lassie,  who  belonged  to  the 
Cross  Creek  settlement,  which  then  occupied  the 
jiresent   site   of   Fayetteville,    Cumberland    County. 

Benjamin  Whitfield  Simmons,  Mr.  Lambeth's 
maternal  grandfather,  was  born  in  Montgomery 
County,  this  state,  September  r>,  1806,  his  birth- 
place having  been  near  Troy.  Talented  and  well 
educated,  he  was  prominent  in  the  public  affairs 
of  Montgomery  County,  serving  as  county  surveyor, 
nnd  as  magistrate.  Leaving  his  farm  in  1853,  he 
came  to  Tliomasville  to  live.  He  was  then  suffer- 
;ug  from  injuries  he  had  received  in  a  fall,  and 
never  recovered  his  former  vigor,  his  death  occurr- 
ing three  years  later,  in  18.56.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Eliza  Hussey,  was  born,  October 
21,  1811,  in  that  part  of  Rowan  County  that  is  now 
included  within  the  limits  of  Arcadia  Township, 
Davidson  County,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Sarah 
(Mock)  Hussey.  Mr.  Hussey,  a  Quaker  in  re- 
ligion, and  a  planter  by  occupation,  was  born 
.June  4,  1781,  in  Arcadia  Township,  where  he  was 
a  life-long  resident.  The  wife  of  Benjamin  Whit- 
field Simmons  died  in  Montgomery  County,  Au- 
gust 12,  1847,  and  her  body  was  laid  to  rest  in  the 
family  bury  ground,  on  the  farm,  on  the  side  hill, 
which  is  now  forty  feet  under  water,  it  being  cov- 
ered by  the  lake  at  Baden.  While  the  dam  was 
being  constructed  at  Baden,  her  body  was  taken 
up  and  placed  beside  that  of  her  husband 's  in 
Fairgrove  Cemeterv,  two  miles  south  of  Thomas- 
ville. 


/~^\ 


p.  f^l^ 


<^  t-v 


HISTOKY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


187 


Mr.  nud  Mrs.  David  Thomas  Lambeth  were  the 
parents  of  eleven  children,  namely:  Frank  S., 
Louisa,  Ida,  Brantley  S.,  Lida  L.,  John  W.,  Jennie, 
David  T.,  Alice,  Robert  L.,  and  Simmons.  The 
mother  survived  her  husband  but  a  short  time, 
passing  away  April  27,  1900. 

Completing  the  required  course  of  study  in  the 
Thomasville  High  School,  Frank  S.  Lambeth  en- 
tered old  Trinity  College,  but,  having  decided  upon 
a  business  life  rather  than  a  professional  career, 
he  left  the  institution  before  graduation,  and  for 
fifteen  years  thereafter  was  associated  with  his 
father  in  mercantile  pursuits.  Organizing  the 
Standard  Chair  Company  in  1S98,  Mr.  Lambeth 
was  elected  secretary  and  treasurer.  Subsequently, 
in  company  with  his  brothers,  John  W.  and  Rob- 
ert L.,  he  organized  what  is  now  the  Lambeth  Fur- 
niture Company,  and  the  Thomasville  Furniture 
Company,  both  of  which  were  subsequently  oper- 
ated successfully  by  the  three  brothers  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  Mr.  Lambeth  subsequently  relin- 
quished his  stock  in  both  of  those  organizations, 
and  has  since  been  associated  with  his  sons  in  the 
manufacture  of  chairs  under  the  name  of  the 
Standard  Chair  Company,  of  which  his  son, 
Charles  F.,  is  president;  his  son,  James  E.,  being 
vice  president ;  while  he,  liimself ,  is  secretary  and 
treasurer. 

Mr.  Lambeth  married,  in  1878,  Ella  Arnold,  a 
daughter  of  Penuel  and  Priscilla  (Kearns)  Arnold. 
Four  children  have  blessed  the  marriage  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lanilieth,  namely:  William  Arnold,  Charles 
Franklin,  .Tames  Erwin,  and  Ella  Arnold.  Wil- 
liam Arnold  Lambeth  was  graduated  from  Trinity 
College  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.,  after  which  he 
continued  his  studies  at  Vanderbilt  College  for 
two  years.  He  then  entered  Yale  University, 
where  he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  B.  D., 
and  later  was  graduated  from  Harvard  University 
with  the  degree  of  A.  M.  Having  thus  efficiently 
prepared  himself  for  the  ministry,  he  is  now 
serving  as  pastor  of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  at  Salisbury,  Rowan  County.  He 
married  Evelyn  Walker,  and  they  have  two 
daughters  named  Frances  J.  and  Elizabeth  W. 
Charles  Fi-anklin  Lambeth  was  graduated  from 
Trinity  College  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.,  and  is 
now  president  of  the  Standard  Chair  Company. 
He  married  Mary  Johnson,  and  they  have  two 
daughters,  Catherine  and  Mary  Johnson.  .Tames 
Erwin  Lambeth  was  also  graduated  from  Trinity 
Colles'e  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.,  and  is  now  vice 
president  of  the  Standard  Chair  Company.  He 
married  Helen  M.  Mc.-Vulay,  and  they  have  one 
child,  James  E.  Jr.  Ella  Lambeth  is  a  graduate 
of  Salem  College  and  she  and  her  mother  are 
members  of  the  Alexander  Martin  Chapter  of  the 
Daughters    of   the    American   Revolution. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lambeth  are  lioth  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  which  he  is 
serving  as  chairman  of  its  board  of  stewards, 
having  succeeded  to  the  position  on  the  death  of 
his  father,  who  filled  it  many  years.  His  sons 
and  his  daughter  belong  to  the  same  church,  and 
two  of  the  sons  are  members  of  the  board  of 
stewards,  Charles  F.,  and  James  E.,  who  is 
treasurer  of  the  board,  and  is  also  superintendent 
of  the  Sunday  School. 

Mr.  Lamlieth  is  a  stockholder  in  the  Jewell 
Cotton  Factory,  and  a  director  of  the  Amazon 
Mills.  Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of  ThomasWlle 
Lodge,  No.  214,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order 
of  Masons;  of  Thomasville  Chapter,  No.  62,  Royal 


Arch  Masons;   of  Salisbury  Commandery,  Knights 
Templar;   and  of  Oasis  Temple,  at  Charlotte. 

Rev.  Williaji  Francis  O'Bbien  has  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  one  of  the  most  successful 
constructive  workers  in  the  Catholic  diocese  of 
North  Carolina,  and  for  nearly  twenty  years  has 
been  a  devoted  servant  of  his  church  in  different 
capacities.  Under  his  leadership  a  parish  is  grow- 
ing and  prospering  at  Durham,  where  he  was  the 
first  resident  priest  of   his   denomination. 

Father  O  'Brien  was  born  at  Washington,  D.  C, 
September  18,  1872,  a  son  of  Capt.  William  and 
Mary  (Conway)  O'Brien.  His  father  was  at  one 
time  employed  at  Washington  as  superintendent 
of  the  National  Cemetery.  Father  O  'Brien  at- 
tended parochial  school,  the  St.  Mary's  Industrial 
School  at  Baltimore,  also  public  schools  at-Fayette- 
ville,  Arkansas,  and  began  his  studies  for  the 
priesthood  at  Belmont  Academy.  For  nine  years 
he  was  a  student  of  the  classics  and  theology  at 
the  seminary  near  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  and 
was  ordained  on  June  12,  1898.  His  first  w-ork 
was  as  assistant  priest  of  St.  Paul 's  Church  at 
New  Berne.  Nine  months  later  he  was  sent  to 
Fayetteville  as  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's  Church, 
and  two  years  later  was  assigned  special  work  at 
Nazareth,"  North  Carolina.  In  1907  Father 
O  'Brien  took  the  pastorate  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception Church  at  Durham  as  first  resident  priest. 
Hers  liis  constructive  abilities  have  had  full  play, 
and  he  has  developed  a  parish  of  135  members, 
has  built  a  parochial  school  and  residence  for  the 
Dominican  Sisters,  whom  he  brought  in  to  teach 
in  September,  1909.  Father  O  'Brien  is  a  member 
of  the  Knights  of  Columbus. 

Joseph  Walter  Haynes.  An  accomplished  law- 
yer, citizen  and  business  man,  Joseph  Walter 
Haynes  has  been  active  in  the  practice  of  the 
law  at  Asheville  since  his  admission  to  the  bar 
in  1907. 

Mr.  Haynes  was  born  at  Haywood,  North  Car- 
olina, June  20,  1882,  a  son  of  Washington  and 
Kezia  Hazeltine  (Stradley)  Haynes.  His  father 
was  a  minister  of  the  Baptist  Church,  widely 
and  favorably  known  over  North  Carolina.  The 
son  was  educated  in  the  puldic  schools,  in  Mor- 
ris Hill  College  and  the  University  of  North  Car- 
olina. On  Feliruary  4,  1907,  he  was  licensed  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina  to  practice, 
and  at  once  located  at  Asheville,  where  his  abil- 
ities have  brought  him  a  high  standing  and  a 
gratifying  clientage  in  general  practice.  He  is 
interested  in  farming  and  stock  raising  and  be- 
longs to  numerous  civic  organizations. 

Mr.  Haynes  married  A]a-il  14,  191.5,  Miss  L. 
Rose  Corbett,  of  Columbia,  South  Carolina. 

John  G.  Heilig.  A  conspicuous  figure  in  the 
business  life  of  Rowan  County,  John  G.  Heilig, 
of  Salisbury,  is  officially  and  financially  identified 
with  some  of  its  more  important  manufacturing 
and  industrial  organizations,  either  as  president 
or  as  stockholder.  A  son  of  Paul  Nathaniel  Heilig, 
he  was  born,  July  26,  18.51,  at  Gold  Hill  Town- 
ship, Rowan  County,  coming  on  both  sides  of  the 
house  of  German  ancestry.  His  paternal  grand- 
parents, George  and  Sarah  (Furr)  Heilig,  were 
life-long  residents  of  Gold  Hill  Township,  Rowan 
County,  and  it  was  there  that  his  great-grand- 
father, Michael  Heilig,  who  married  a  Miss  Ury, 
located  on  coming  to  this  country  from  Germany. 


188 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Paul  Nathaniel  Heilig  grew  to  manhood  on  the 
home  farm  in  G-okl  Hill  Township,  and  after  the 
close  of  the  Civil  war,  in  which  he  served  as  a 
colonel  in  the  State  Militia,  and  as  tithing-man 
conscription  officer,  he  moved  to  Salisbury,  wliere 
he  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  as  a  dealer  in 
hardware,  until  his  retirement  from  bnsiness  af- 
fairs. His  death  occurred  several  years  later,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Amelia  Miller,  was  born  in  Cabarrus 
County,  North  Carolina,  which  was  the  birthplace 
of  her  parents,  Daniel  and  Mary  (Sossman)  Miller. 
She  lived  to  the  ripe  old  age  of  four  score  and 
four  years,  and  reared  three  sons,  as  follows:  John 
G. ;  James  D. ;  and  A.  Sidney,  deceased. 

Having  prepared  for  college  at  Mount  Pleasant 
Academy,  John  6.  Heiling  continued  his  studies 
for  2yo  years  at  Roanoke  College,  in  Salem,  Vir- 
ginia. Then,  preferring  a  business  rather  than  a 
professional  career,  he  left  that  institution  to  be- 
come a  clerk  in  the  hardware  establishment  of 
Crawford  &  Heilig,  of  which  his  fatlier  was  the 
junior  member.  Subsequently  he  and  his  brother, 
James  D.  Heilig,  became  associated  with  their 
father  as  memliers  of  the  firm  of  P.  N.  Heilig  & 
Song.  After  tlie  death  of  the  senior  member  of 
the  firm,  the  business  was  closed  out,  and  Mr. 
Heilig  entered  the  employ  of  the  MeCormiek  Har- 
vester Company  as  commercial  salesman,  and  for 
twenty-three  years  was  thus  successfully  employed, 
traveling  througli  parts  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina 
and  South  Carolina.  Since  retiring  from  that  posi- 
tion he  has  continued  his  residence  in  Salisbury, 
where  he  has  extensive  interests,  being  president  of 
the  Heilig-Deas  Shoe  Company,  and  of  the  Taylor 
Mattress  Company.  Mr.  Heilig  is  also  a  stock- 
holder in  different  cotton  mills  and  banks,  among 
tlie  latter  being  the  Salisbury  Bank  and  Trust 
Company. 

Mr.  Heilig  married,  in  1876,  Lilly  Eilers,  a  na- 
tive of  Wihnington,  North  Carolina.  Her  father, 
Herman  B.  Eilers,  emigrated  from  Germany  to  the 
United  States  as  a  young  man,  and  soon  after 
his  arrival  in  New  York  sent  for  his  bride-to-be, 
Mary  Adelaide  Runge,  who  quickly  responded  to 
the  summons,  and  they  were  married  in  New  York 
City.  Coming  soon  after  to  North  Carolina,  they 
spent  tlieir  remaining  days  in  Wilmington.  Mrs. 
Heilig  passed  to  the  higher  life  in  1911,  leaving 
four  children,  namely:  Herman  6.,  a  physician 
in  Salisbury ;  Paul  A. ;  Marion,  wife  of  John  E. 
Deas,  has  two  children,  John  R.  and  Lily  Eilers; 
and  Lily.  Mrs.  Heilig  was  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Clnirch,  and  reared  her  children  in  the 
same  religious  faith.  Mr.  Heilig,  true  to  the  faith 
in  which  he  was  reared,  is  an  active  member  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  and  has  served  as  a  deacon 
in  St.  John 's  Church. 

Joseph  W.  Boyles.  An  active  and  prosperous 
business  man  of  Thomasville,  Joseph  W.  Boyles 
is  contributing  his  full  share  toward  the  advance- 
ment of  the  manufacturing  and  mercantile  affairs 
of  Davidson  County,  being  proprietor  of  a  bot- 
tling plant,  and  an  extensive  dealer  in  ice  and 
coal.  A  son  of  James  Boyles,  he  was  born,  Jan- 
uary 3,  1878,  on  a  farm  in  Upper  Pilot  Township, 
Surry  County,  North  Carolina.  His  grandfather, 
Carey  Boyles,  owned  a  plantation  in  Surry  County, 
and  was  there  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil  until 
his  death. 

.James  Boyles  grew  to  manhood  on  the  parental 
homestead,  and  having  found  farming  not  only 
congenial  to  his  tastes,  but  quite  remunerative,  he 


bouglit  land  in  I'pper  Pilot  Township,  Surry 
County,  and  by  dint  of  industrious  labor  and 
good  management  imjiroved  tlie  valuable  farm 
on  which  he  still  resides.  He  married  Emily  Fulk, 
who  was  born  in  Surry  County,  a  daughter  of 
Jacob  Fulk,  who  managed  his  extensive  planta- 
tion with  slave  lalior.  She  died  in  middle  life, 
at  the  age  of  fifty  years,  leaving  but  one  child, 
Joseph  W.,  with  whom  this  sketch  is  chiefly  con- 
cerned. 

Joseph  W.  Boyles  acquired  a  good  common 
school  education  when  young,  and  on  the  home 
farm  had  a  practical  training  in  the  various 
branches  of  agriculture.  Beginning  the  battle 
of  life  for  himself  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years, 
he  first  operated  a  stationary  engine,  and  later 
learned  the  steam  fitter 's  trade,  which  he  followed 
continuously  until  1906.  In  that  year,  locating  in 
Thomasville,  Mr.  Boyles  established  a  coca  cola 
bottling  plant,  and  in  its  management  has  been 
very  successful,  it  being  now  one  of  the  thriving 
industries  of  the  place.  In  addition  to  sujiervis- 
ing  his  bottling  plant,  he  deals  extensively  in  ice 
and  coal,  having  a  large  patronage  in  both  com- 
modities. 

On  December  25,  1901,  Mr.  Boyles  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Lela  Dennis,  a  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam Cobb  and  Ruth  (Saunders)  Dennis.  Into 
their  pleasant  household  thus  established,  seven 
children  have  made  their  advent,  namely.  Alva, 
Ruth,  Joseph,  Lela  Maude,  Imogene,  Isabelle  and 
George  Edward.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boyles  are  active 
members  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  in 
which  he  is  .serving  as  a  member  of  the  board  of 
trustees.  He  is  also  connected  with  its  Sunday 
School  as  a  teacher  of  the  Bible  class.  Fraternally 
Mr.  Boyles  is  a  member  of  Thomasville  Lodge 
No.  214,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of 
Masons. 

William  Manning  Fallon.  While  liundreds 
and  thousands  of  men  and  women  find  a  place 
in  their  hearts  and  recollections  for  Durham  on 
account  of  its  intimate  associations  with  their  col- 
lege days,  the  city  is  perhaps  best  known  to  the 
world  at  large  as  one  of  the  important  tobacco 
centers  of  the  South.  It  is  with  the  tobacco  busi- 
ness that  William  M.  Fallon  has  been  chiefly 
identified  during  his  residence  here. 

Mr.  Fallon  is  a  native  of  Virginia,  born  at  Rich- 
mond August  2,  1869,  a  son  of  John  and  Mary 
Louise  (Stewart)  Fallon.  His  father  was  for  a 
number  of  years  clerk  of  the  Henrici  County 
court  of  Virginia.  The  son  was  educated  in  both 
private  and  public  schools,  and  as  a  boy  began 
learning  the  tobacco  business  as  clerk.  •  Later  he 
rose  to  the  position  of  manager  of  the  American 
Tobacco  Factory  at  Richmond. 

His  home  has  been  at  Durham  since  1894.  For 
a  time  he  was  employed  as  a  tobacco  buyer  and 
later  engaged  in  the  same  line  of  business  under 
the  name  W.  M.  Fallon  &  Company.  At  the  end 
of  four  years  he  sold  his  interests  to  the  Im- 
perial Tobacco  Company  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  and  then  became  manager  of  this  com- 
pany, the  post  he  has  held  ever  since.  He  is 
prominently  known  in  local  tobacco  circles,  has 
served  seven  consecutive  terms  as  president  of  the 
Tobacco  Board  of  Trade  and  is  well  known  among 
the  men  of  this  industry  throughout  the  states  of 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Fallon  served  as  a  member  of  Governor 
Aycock  's  staff.  He  served  one  term  as  alderman 
of   Durham    and    is    a   member    of   the    Common- 


"^Xa.  <^7.c^^ 


J 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


189 


wealth  Club,  is  a  Eoyal  Arcli  Mason  ami  is  vestry- 
man of  St.  Phillip's  Episcopal  Church. 

November  2,  1894,  the  same  year  he  came  to 
North  Carolina,  Mr.  Fallou  married  Jennie  Clai- 
borne Hines  of  Washington,  D.  C.  Her  father 
was  the  late  Dr.  James  Hines,  who  served  as 
surgeon  with  the  rank  of  major  in  the  United 
States  army.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fallon  have  five  chil- 
dren: May  Louise,  Ruth  Claiborne,  Janie  Gertrude, 
Margaret  Stewart  and  Douglas. 

Of  his  own  immediate  family  there  is  living 
only  one  sister,  Mrs.  L.  P.  Goodson,  nee  Miss 
Annie  Belle  Fallon  of  Caswell  County,  North  Caro- 
lina. 

Mr.  Fallon's  travels  have  been  rather  extensive. 
During  his  numerous  trips  abroad;  he  has  visited 
nearly  all  of  the  foreign  countries,  including  Eng- 
land, Ireland,  Scotland,  Belgium,  France,  Holland, 
Germany,  Switzerland,  Italy,  Africa  and  Spain. 
He  arrived  home  from  his  last  trip  abroad  just 
prior  to  the  outbreak  of  tlie  great  world  war, 
having  spent  four  months  in  Holland,  returning  by 
way  of  Germany. 

Ernest  Wtttenbach  Ewbank.  A  lawyer  by 
profession,  Mr.  Ewbank  has  attained  a  position 
of  success  and  has  establislied  man}'  influential 
connections  at  Hendersonville.  However,  liis  in- 
terests are  not  confined  to  the  law.  He  is  presi- 
dent of  one  of  the  substantial  banks  of  the  city 
and  is  also  one  of  the  partners  in  a  large  insur- 
ance agency. 

Mr.  Ewl>ank  was  born  in  Greenville  County, 
South  Carolina,  August  11,  1875,  but  has  lived 
at  Hendersonville  since  early  childhood.  His  par- 
ents are  Ernest  Lucas  and  Amaelie  Virginia  (Wyt- 
tenbaoli)  Ewbank.  His  mother  was  born  in 
Geneva,  Switzerland.  His  father  was  a  Soutli 
Carolina  planter,  but  on  moving  to  Henderson- 
ville in  1881  took  up  the  ship  timber  business  and 
in  1902  established  the  insurance  agency  of  E.  L. 
Ewbank  &  Son.  That  business  is  now  continued 
under  the  name  of  Ewbank  &  Ewbank,  comprising 
Ernest  W.  and  las  brother  F.  A.  Ewbank. 

Ernest  W.  Ewbank  was  educated  in  Judson 
College  at  Hendersonville,  in  the  Porter  Mili- 
tary Academy  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and 
finished  his  literarj'  training  in  the  University  of 
the  South  at  Sewannee,  Tennessee,  in  1893.  His 
law  studies  were  pursued  under  the  direction 
of  Louis  M.  Bourne  at  Asheville.  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  February,  1897,  but  a 
long  period  of  illness  kept  him  practically  an  in- 
valid for  seven  years  and  prevented  anything  like 
a  regular  devotion  to  his  professional  duties.  Since 
then  he  has  been  in  general  practice  at  Hender- 
sonville and  now  gives  most  of  his  time  to  office 
practice. 

Mr.  Ewbank  organized  the  Clitizens  Bank  of 
Hendersonville,  served  as  its  vice  president  un- 
til 1914  and  since  then  has  been  its  president. 
He  is  also  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Fassi- 
fern  School  for  Girls.  For  three  terms  he  was 
Hendersonville 's  city  attorney  and  lias  always  in- 
terested himself  in  the  important  movements  and 
undertakings  in  conmiunity  life.  He  is  a  for- 
mer   vestryman   of   St.    James    Episcopal    Church. 

September  8,  1909,  he  married  Florence  Schaf- 
fer,  of  Savannah.  Her  father  was  a  Lutheran 
minister.  They  have  three  children,  Ernest  Wyt- 
tenbach,  Jr.,  born  August  17,  1910,  Mary  Ma- 
carie  and  Virginia  Brent. 


Aaron  Y.  Linville,  M.  D.  For  over  a  quarter 
of  a  century  Doctor  Linville  has  looked  after  the 
welfare  of  his  large  medical  practice  at  Waughton, 
in  Forsyth  County.  He  is  one  of  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  medical  fraternity  in  his  section  of  the 
state  and  through  his  profession  has  made  his  life 
one  of  useful  service  to  humanity. 

He  was  born  on  a  plantation  in  Belews  Creek 
Township  of  Forsyth  County,  where  the  family 
have  lived  for  generations.  His  grandfather, 
Elijah  Linville,  was  born  in  the  same  township, 
ancl  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained  was  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Solomon  Linville.  Solomon  Lin- 
ville was  one  of  three  brothers  who  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1699  with  William  Penn  on  his  second  trip. 
The  other  brothers  were  named  William  and  Ben- 
jamin. Descendants  of  William  Linville  moved 
from  eastern  to  western  Pennsylvania,  and  about 
1810  went  into  Ohio  as  pioneers  at  Rushville,  in 
Fairfield  County.  The  descendants  of  Benjamin 
Linville  settled  in  Virginia,  locating  on  the  present 
site  of  Winchester,  and  a  creek  in  that  locality 
still  bears  the  family  name.  Solomon  Linville  for 
part  of  his  life  did  a  considerable  business  in  the 
transportation  of  goods  by  river  and  overland 
routes.  He  operated  rafts  down  the  Susquehanna 
River  and  dealt  much  in  southern  markets.  He 
finally  moved  south,  and  afterwards  kept  up  no 
correspondence  with  his  brothers.  All  the  Linvilles 
not  descended  from  William  and  Benjamin  have 
been  referred  to  as  the  members  of  the  lost  tribe 
of  Solomon.  Solomon  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  ancestor  of  that  branch  of  the  family  of  which 
Doctor  Linville  is  a  member.  In  the  first  United 
States  census  of  1790  the  following  Linvilles  were 
named  as  heads  of  families  in  Stokes  County, 
North  Carolina:  Aaron,  David,  Mary  and  Richard. 

The  great-grandfather  of  Dr.  Linville  was  prob- 
alily  a  native  of  Virginia  and  an  early  settler  of 
Stokes  County.  Grandfather  Elijah  Linville  was 
a  planter  in  Belews  Creek  Township  and  spent  his 
entire  life  there.  He  and  his  wife  had  the  fol- 
lowing children :  Jasper,  Elias  B.,  Mary  A.,  Lusetta, 
Edward  and  Russell  A.  The  son  Jasper  acquired 
a  good  education,  taught  school,  afterwards  en- 
tered the  medical  department  of  the  University 
of  Michigan  at  Ann  Arbor,  where  he  graduated, 
and  then  settled  in  practice  in  Indiana.  Edward 
was  a  farmer  and  shoemaker,  and  before  the  rail- 
road era  was  also  engaged  in  transporting  goods 
between  High  Point  and  Greensboro.  Russell  was 
a  farmer  for  several  years,  afterwards  moved  to 
Waughton,  and  now  for  some  years  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  Nissen  Wagon  Works. 

Elias  Burton  Linville,  father  of  Dr.  Linville, 
was  born  in  Forsyth  County,  July  5,  1839.  As  a 
youth  he  served  an  apprenticeship  at  shoemaking. 
He  did  his  journeyman  work  as  a  shoemaker  long 
before  the  days  of  modern  machinery  and  large 
factories,  and  all  shoes  and  boots  were  made  to 
order.  After  following  his  trade  for  several  years 
he  succeeded  to  the  ownership  of  the  old  home- 
stead, and  remained  a  resident  there  untU  •  his 
death.  He  married  Martha  Caroline  Crews.  She 
.was  born  near  Salem  Chapel,  in  Stokes  County, 
North  Carolina,  daughter  of  John  and  Mrs.  (Fulp) 
Crews.  She  is  still  living  on  the  home  farm  in 
Belews  Creek  Township.  Her  six  children  are : 
Nannie  M.,  wife  of  William  Fulp;  Nora  Prudence, 
wife  of  James  Fulton ;  Gaither,  who  died  in  his 
eighteenth  year:  Curtis  Bragden,  who  lives  on  the 
old  homestead;  Arthelius  J.,  of  Winston-Salem; 
and  Aaron  G. 

Dr.  Linville  grew  up  on  the  home  plantation  in 


190 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Forsyth  County,  was  educated  in  the  rural  schools, 
and  for  a  time  worked  at  the  shoemaker 's  trade 
with  his  father.  Prom  a  trade  he  turned  his  at- 
tention to  a  profession,  and  studied  medicine  in 
New  York  City,  being  graduated  with  his  degree 
from  the  University  of  New  York  in  1889.  Since 
then  he  has  jiracticed  at  Waughton,  and  from  that 
village  has  extended  the  range  of  his  services  over 
a  large  portion  of  Forsyth  County.  Dr.  Linville 
is  a  memljer  of  the  Forsyth  County  Medical  Society, 
the  North  Carolina  State  Medical  Society  and  the 
Southern  Medical  Association. 

On  Decemlier  .'!1,  1801,  he  married  Russie  Sink, 
daughter  of  "William  L.  and  Susan  (Glasscock) 
Sink.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Linville  iiave  four  children: 
William  Stokes,  Nera  M.,  Archie  Y.  and  Burton 
Sink.  The  son  William  S.  married  Essie  Charles. 
Nera  M.  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Mickey.  Mrs.  Lin- 
ville is  a  member  of  an  old  and  well  known  family. 
Her  paternal  grandparents  were  Solomon  and  Lucy 
(Snider)  Sink  and  she  is  a  great-granddaughter  of 
George  ami  Eva  (Long)  Sink.  Her  grandmother, 
Lucy  Snider,  was  the  daughter  of  Martin  and  .Julia 
(Rominger)  Snider.  Doctor  Linville  and  wife  are 
members  of  the  Missionary  Bajitist  Church  at 
Waughtown  and  fraternally  he  is  affiliated  with  the 
Centerville  Council  of  the  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics. 

Francis  H.  Bahnson,  distinguished  not  only 
as  a  native  born  citizen,  but  as  a  prosperous  and 
progressive  agricult\n-ist  of  Davie  County,  Francis 
H.  Bahnson  is  actively  engaged  in  his  favorite 
]iursuit  in  Farmington,  and  is  rendering  material 
assistance  in  maintaining  the  reputation  of  this 
section  of  North  Carolina  as  a  superior  farming 
and  stock-raising  region.  A  son  of  Charles  F. 
Bahnson,  he  was  born  in  Farmington  in  March, 
1873,  and  has  here  spent  the  larger  part  of  his 
life.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Bishop  Bahnson, 
was  for  many  years  bishop  of  the  North  Carolina 
province  for  the  Moravian  Church,  and  very 
active  and  influential  in  that  denomination. 

Born  February  1.5,  1840,  in  Pennsylvania, 
Charles  F.  Bahnson  was  but  nine  years  old  when 
his  parents  settled  in  Salem,  North  Carolina, 
where  he  was  educated,  attending  the  Boys  School. 
June  IS,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  G,  Second 
Battalion,  North  'Carolina  Troops,  and  was  first 
sergeant  until  promoted  .Tune  1,  1863,  to  battalion 
quartermaster.  He  served  with  his  command  until 
paroled,  and  after  the  war  located  in  Farmington, 
Davie  County,  settling  down  to  the  peaceful  and 
jdeasant  ])ursuit  of  farming,  and  was  thus  actively 
engaged  until  his  death  February  16,  1911. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Charles  F. 
Bahnson  was  .Jane  Amanda  Johnson.  She  was 
born  in  Davie  County,  this  state,  near  Farmington, 
a  daughter  of  George  Wesley  Johnson,  whose 
father  was  for  many  years  engaged  in  tilling  the 
soil,  owning  and  occupying  a  farm  in  Forsyth 
County,  near  Clemmonsville.  George  Wesley  John- 
sou  was  born  near  the  present  site  of  Clemmons- 
ville, Forsyth  County,  December  1,  1810.  Although 
reared  to  agricultural  pursuits,  he  did  not  take 
kindly  to  farming,  but  as  a  young  man  embarked 
in  mercantile  pursuits  in  Farmington,  Davie 
County.  When  he  first  started  in  business,  he 
bought  all  of  his  merchandise  in  Wilmington,  this 
state,  and  the  goods  had  to  be  shipjied  up  the 
river  to  Fayctteville,  from  there  being  transported 
with  teams  to  Farmington.  He  traded  largely 
with  the  farmers,  who  exchanged  prod\ice  for 
goods,  and  the  farm  produce  he  sent  to  Fayette- 


ville  with  the  teams  that  on  their  return  trip 
brought  back  his  merchandise.  He  continued  in 
business  there  many  years,  having  a  large  and 
l)rofitable  trade,  and  during  the  time  made  wise 
investments,  liuying  several  large  tracts  of  land. 
He  continued  his  residence  in  Farmington  until 
his  death,  at  the  venerable  age  of  seventy-nine 
years. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  George  Wesley 
.Johnson,  was  Martha  M.  Taylor.  She  was  born 
in  Farmington  in  1816,  a  daughter  of  Spencer 
Taylor,  who  owned  and  occupied  a  plantation 
adjoining  Farmington  until  1840,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Tennessee,  where  he  spent  his  remaining 
days.  Mrs.  George  Wesley  Johnson,  Mr.  Bahn- 
son's  maternal  grandmother,  died -at  the  age  of 
three  score  and  ten  years,  leaving  six  children,  as 
follows:  .John  M.,  Frances  M.,  James  L.,  Jane 
Amanda,    William    G.,   and  Valeria   Martina. 

Of  the  union  of  Charles  F.  and  Jane  Amanda 
(Jolimson)  Bahnson,  three  children  w'cre  born 
and  reared,  namely:  George  W.,  Mattie,  wife  of 
Oliver   L.    Williams;    and   Francis   H. 

Acquiring  his  education  in  the  district  schools, 
Francis  H.  Bahnson  began  when  young  to  perform 
his  share  of  tlie  manual  labor  incidental  to  life 
on  a  well-managed  farm.  Becoming  familiar 
with  both  the  theory  and  practice  of  agriculture, 
he  has  continued  to  follow  this  profitable  branch 
of  industry  to  the  present  time,  being  widely 
known  as  a  prominent  and  successful  farmer  and 
stock-raiser. 

Mr.  Bahnson  married,  June  3,  1896,  Miss  Mattie 
F.  Rich,  who  was  born  in  Farmington,  a  daughter 
of  .S.  C.  and  Bcttie  (McMahan)  Rich.  Four 
cliililren  have  been  born  into  the  household  thus 
established,  namely:  Frances  Helen,  Elizabeth, 
Jane  Amanda,  and  Charles  F.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bahnson  are  valued  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  have  reared  their  children 
in  the  same  religious  faith.  Fraternally  Mr.  Bahn- 
son belongs  to  Farmington  Lodge,  No.  26.5,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons;  and  to 
Farmington  Council,  No.  169,  Junior  Order  of 
United    American    Mechanics. 

Joseph  Hollinsworth,  M.  D.  "None  but  him- 
self can  be  his  parallel."  The  subject  of  this 
sketch,  although  one  of  the  most  eminent  physi- 
cians and  surgeons  of  the  state,  as  well  as  one 
of  her  distinguished  citizens  in  his  generation, 
lives  today,  not  in  the  history  of  scientists,  but 
in  that  volume  that  records  the  life  and  service 
of  the  ' '  old  country  doctor. ' '  Dr.  Joseph  Hollins- 
worth,  acknowledged  by  the  leading  professors 
of  Jefferson  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia  as 
one  of  the  South 's  greatest  physicians  and  sur- 
geons, may,  perha]is,  not  long  be  remembered,  but 
the  memory  of  ' '  Doctor  Joe, ' '  the  big  'bodied, 
master  minded,  humane-hearted,  country  doctor 
will  be  cherished  for  generations  yet  to  come. 

The  great-grandfather  of  Joseph  HoUinsworth 
came  to  America  in  colonial  days  from  Hollywood, 
Cheshire,  England,  settling  in  the  colony  of  Mary- 
land. His  son  Joseph — for  whom  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  named — moved  into  North  Carolina 
and  at  first  settled  in  Du]din  County,  but  later 
came  to  Surry  County  and  liuilt  his  home  on  the 
banks  of  Tom  's  Creek,  twelve  miles  east  of  what 
is  now  the  Town  of  Mount  Airy.  It  was  on  this 
typical  ante-bellum  plantation  that  Joseph  HoUins- 
worth was  born  on  February  27,  1820. 

His  parents,  .James  and  Elizabeth  Golding 
HoUinsworth     owned    a    considerable    amount    of 


^ 


7C^ 


,-c-t->-«o^^^^!r 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


191 


property,  and  easily  could  liaye  afforded  all  of 
their  children  splendid  educational  advantages. 
Yet,  aside  from  a  term  of  three  months  at  an 
old  log  sehoolhouse,  he  yrorked  and  defrayed  every 
expense  incident  to  both  his  literary  and  pro- 
fessional training,  and  in  later  years  ne  provided 
the  money  necessary  for  the  professional  training 
of  two  of  liis  younger  brothers,  William  and  Edwin 
Hollinsworth,  both  of  whom  left  an  honorable 
record  of  usefulness  as  physicians.  He  had  three 
other  brothers,  John,  James  and  Isaac,  and  five 
sisters,   Mary,   Eliza,   Sallie,   Martha  and  Nannie. 

One  of  the  interesting  incidents  in  the  boyhood 
of  Josepli  Hollinsworth  was  related  to  the  writer 
by  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Fulton,  of  Mount  Airy.  An 
uncle,  Keuben  Gelding,  of  Germanton,  then  the 
county  seat  of  Stokes  County,  was  once  on  his  way 
to  visit  .James  Hollinsworth,  Joseph  's  father.  As 
he  rode  along  the  road  leading  to  the  farmhouse 
this  old  planter  and  slave  owner  became  interested 
in  a  scene  nearby.  He  saw  a  husky  young  fellow, 
cradle  in  hand,  setting  the  pace  for  a  gang  of 
negi'oes  in  a  harvest  iield.  "Jim,"  he  said,  upon 
reaching  the  house,  ' '  your  boy  Joe  has  got  the 
stuff  in  him.  Give  him  a  chance;  let  him  go  home 
with  me  where  he  can  go  to  school.  He  can  help 
me  run  my  farm  and  manage  my  niggers  for  his 
hoard. ' '  .Joseph  's  father  reluctantly  consented, 
and  the  following  autumn  he  entered  the  academy 
at  Germantoii  where  he  remained  for  several  years. 

After  iinishing  the  course  of  study  at  the 
academy  he  began  the  study  of  medicine,  spending 
a  year  or  two  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Beverly  Jones 
who  lived  at  Germanton.  While  here  he  acquired 
much  valuable  knowledge  of  books,  but  his  most 
important  acquisition  was  a  sweetheart  who  later 
became  his  wife.  One  day  as  he  and  some  other 
young  men  were  standing  in  front  of  the  little 
office  of  Doctor  .Tones,  a  beautiful  young  woman, 
riding  with  grace  a  spirited  horse,  passed  down 
the  road.  He  inquired  who  she  was,  but  no  one 
seemed  to  know  her.  "I  will  find  out  who  she  is 
and  some  day  I  am  going  to  marry  her,  or  I  will 
never  marry  at  all,"  he  remarked.  He  later 
learned  the  girl  was  Miss  Mary  Letitia  Banner, 
of  Stokes  County,  and  that  she,  in  company  with 
her  father,  was  on  her  way  to  Salem.  When 
they  met,  which  was  some  time  later,  there  was 
found  to  be  no  disposition  to  thwart  the  purpose 
that  had  been  so  bluntly  expressed  on  that  first 
day.  On  August  21,  1847.  shortly  after  his 
araduation  from  Jefferson  Medical  College,  of 
Philadelphia,  they  were  married,  and  moved  to 
Mount  Airy  and   built  their  home. 

The  writer  has  made  many  inquiries  among  the 
older  residents  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining,  if 
possible,  at  what  time  in  his  profe-ssional  career 
Doctor  Hollinsworth 's  reputation  became  so 
securely  established.  But  no  one  seems  to  know  or 
even  to  have  heard  of  a  time  when  he  was  con- 
sidered an  ordinary  physician.  Nor  does  any  one 
recall  the  time  when  his  opinion  was  not  accepted 
as   a  finality. 

Shortly  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war  between 
the  states.  Doctor  Hollinsworth  offered  his  ser- 
vices to  the  Confederacy  and  was  commissioned 
nn  assistant  surfeon  of  the  Eleventh  North  Caro- 
lina Infantry,  then  encamped  at  Manassas.  He 
rode  horseback  from  his  home  to  Manassas  and  at 
once  began  his  duties  among  the  soldiers.  On 
January  11.  1862,  Ex-Officio  Governor  Henry  T. 
Clark  sisned  his  commission  as  sur?eon  of  Seventy- 
third  Eeaiment.  Eighteenth  Brigade,  North  Caro- 
lina Infantry,   and   on   the  following  May  he  was 


commissioned  surgeon  of  Eighteenth  Brigade,  with 
the  rank  of  ma.ior.  This  commission  was  signed 
by  Governor  Z.  B.  Vance. 

In  the  political  campaign  of  1862  the  voters  of 
Surry  County,  with  an  almost  unanimous  vote, 
elected  Doctor  Hollinsworth  to  represent  the 
county  in  the  State  Legislature.  He  accepted  the 
office  and  discharged  with  credit  the  duties  im- 
posed. He  could  never  be  induced  to  again  accept 
political  office,  preferring,  as  he  did,  to  give  his 
undivided  thought  and  efforts  to  the  practice  of 
medicine. 

After  the  war  he  returned  to  his  home  and 
resumed  his  work  which  was  continued  without 
interruption  until  his  death  which  occurred  on 
January  20,  1887.  It  would  seem  that  one  so 
well  equi]>ped  and  so  ambitious  to  excel,  would 
not  have  selected  such  an  isolated  community  as 
Mount  Airy,  yet  it  was  in  the  work  of  the  general 
country  practitioner  that  Doctor  Hollinsworth 
really  found  himself. 

Before  marriage,  Mary  Banner  Hollinsworth 
lived  in  Stokes  County.  She  was  a  granddaughter 
of  Cliarles  Banner,  a  prominent  planter  and  politi- 
cian of  Stokes  County,  one  time  sheriff  and  legis- 
lator of  the  county.  Her  father  was  .John  Bauner. 
She  was  a  woman  of  rare  physical  charm,  and 
noble  character.  Her  life  (which  came  to  a  close 
on  November  19,  1906)  was  a  benediction  to 
the  community. 

Six  children  were  reared  in  the  Hollinsworth 
family.  Virginia  Elizabeth,  the  eldest  daughter, 
was  married  to  .Joseph  Bitting.  Only  last  year 
she  fell  asleep  after  a  long  and  useful  life.  John 
Banner,  .Joseph  Martin  and  Edwin  Moore  Hollins- 
worth, all  chose  the  profession  of  medicine,  and 
all  of  them  located  in  their  native  county.  Dr. 
John  B.  Hollinsworth  is  a  graduate  of  .Jefferson 
Medical  College,  a  man  of  wide  knowledge  and  an 
exceptionally  accurate  diagnostician.  Dr.  Joseph 
M.  Hollinsworth,  after  his  graduation  from  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Baltimore, 
lived  a  few  years  in  New  Mexico,  but  later 
returned  to  Surry  County.  He  enjoyed  a  wide 
practice  and  was  one  of  the  most  beloved  physi- 
cians of  the  county.  His  death  occurred  in  1911. 
Dr.  Edwin  M.  Hollinsworth  is  also  a  graduate  of 
the  Collese  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  He  began 
the  practice  of  medicine  just  a  few  months  before 
his  father's  death  and  to  a  large  extent  succeeded 
him.  For  thirty-two  years  he  has  preserved 
unsullied  the  heritage  left  him  by  his  honored 
father,  and  today  he  is  one  of  the  first  physicians 
of  Surry  County.  He  is  a  member  of  the  local. 
County,  State  and  American  Medical  societies, 
and  is  also  affiliated  with  the  Masonic,  Odd  Fellow, 
Woodmen  and  .Junior  Order  fraternities.  Annie 
Eliza  is  the  wife  of  W.  F.  Carter,  of  Mount  Airy, 
one  of  the  ablest  attorneys  of  the  county. 
Mary  Letitia  was  married  to  Richard  L.  Gwyu. 
Mr.  Gwyn  was  perhaps  the  owner  of  the  most 
valuable  farm  in  the  county,  and  was  one  of  her 
progressive  farmers.     His  death  occurred  in   1914. 

During  the  professional  life  of  Dr.  Joseph 
Hollinsworth  a  number  of  young  men  began  the 
study  of  medicine  in  his  office,  some  of  them,  now 
prominent  physicians,  have  given  to  the  writer 
many  interesting  incidents  concerning  his  life.  It 
is  said  that  his  visits  to  the  county  seats  of  the 
adjoining  counties,  both  in  North  Carolina  and 
Virginia,  were  responsible  for  the  presence  of 
more  people  than  were  the  sessions  of  the  courts. 
An  old  inn  keeper  at  Hillsville,  Virginia  stated  that 
"When    Doctor   Joe   left.    Court   always   broke." 


192 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


One  of  his  daughters  who  often  accompanied  him 
on  these  itineraries,  remarked  that  they  were 
being  continually  interrupted  by  people  who  had 
either  come  themselves  or  had  brought  patients  to 
the  roadside  for  examination  and  treatment.  Only 
recently  one  of  his  former  students  stated  that  he 
had  frequently  seen  more  than  a  score  of  wagons, 
containing  patients  who  had  been  brought  to 
Doctor  HoUinsworth  for  treatment,  standing  in 
front  of  the  office.  It  would  be  difficult  to  define 
the  territory  that  his  practice  com]jrised,  or  to 
overestimate  the  faith  that  his  patients  had  in  him. 
Mrs.  Archibald  Stuart,  mother  of  Gen.  J.  K.  B. 
Stuart,  after  the  family  had  moved  to  Danville, 
Virginia,  from  the  old  Stuart  home  in  Patrick 
County,  sent  for  Doctor  HoUinsworth  to  attend  her 
in  sickness. 

Doctor  HoUinsworth  was  for  many  years  the 
family  physician  of  the  Siamese  Twins  who  lived 
.iust  two  miles  from  Mount  Airy,  and  it  was  under 
his  personal  direction  that  an  autopsy  was  held  in 
Philadelphia,  an  investigation  that  proved  a  dis- 
tinct addition  to  scientific  knowledge.  Several 
times  he  had  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  con- 
necting ligament  could  not  be  severed  without  a 
fatal  result.  The  autopsy  fully  corroborated  his 
opinion.  He  was,  however,  on  his  way  to  the  home 
of  the  Twins  prepared  to  perTorm  this  heroic 
operation  when  word  came  announcing  the  death 
of  Chang  who  survived  his  brother  Eng  about 
an  hour. 

On  one  occasion,  after  a  spirited  quarrel,  Eng 
and  Chang  (Bunker)  came  to  Doctor  HoUins- 
worth 's  office  for  the  purpose  of  being  cut  apart. 
Perhaps  remembering  the  success  achieved  by 
Solomon  in  dealing  with  a  similar  situation,  he 
promptly  acceded  to  their  request  and  began  to 
prepare  for  the  operation,  taking  no  little  pains 
to  display  an  unusually  large  number  of  formid- 
able looking  surgical  instruments,  and  to  comment 
upon  the  gravity  of  the  operation  and  the  strong 
probability  of  its  fatal  outcome.  The  desired 
effect  was  soon  produced,  and  after  a  hurried  con- 
ference they  announced  that  they  had  decided  to 
postpone   the   operation   for   an   indefinite   period. 

As  to  Doctor  HoUinsworth  's  professional  ability, 
the  writer  wishes  to  quote  from  a  statement 
prepared  by  one  of  his  former  students.  Dr.  .1.  M. 
riippin,  of  Mount  Airy,  "As  a  physician  and  sur- 
geon, Dr.  Joseph  HoUinsworth  had  few  equals  in 
this  or  any  other  State.  He  had  rare  skill  as  a 
diagnostician  because  he  had  remarkable  tact  in 
getting  the  absolute  confidence  of  his  patients. 
They  knew  that  a  trust  reposed  in  him  would  never 
be  violated.  He  could  do  with  great  skill  and 
dispatch  a  lithotomy,  as  I  have  seen  him  do,  in  a 
very  few  minutes,  or  the  amputation  of  a  leg  in  a 
time  so  short  that  the  most  skilled  surgeon  in  the 
State  today  would  doubt  my  veracity  should  I  dare 
to  say  the  number  of  minutes.  He  told  me  once 
of  an  amputation  that  he  did  unaided,  gave  his 
own  anaesthetic  and  amputated  the  leg  in  just 
•three  minutes.  *  *  *  And  with  it  all  he  was  the 
most  retiring  man  I  ever  knew  when  it  came  to 
speak  of  his  own  knowledge  or  skill.  He  had  all 
the  attributes  of  a  great  soul,  and  none  of  the 
froth  of  the  pygmy.  It  was  my  privilege  to  be 
his  pupil,  and  forever  his  friend. ' ' 

As  to  the  character  of  this  honored  citizen  the 
writer  in  concluding  this  sketch  wishes  to  quote 
from  a  very  excellent  paper  which  was  prepared 
by  the  late  Judge  .1.  F.  Graves  shortly  after  the 
death  of  Doctor  HoUinsworth.  "His  leading 
characteristics  were  strongly  marked.  His  mind 
was    capacious,    quick    to    apprehend,    broad    and 


strong  in  comprehension,  firm  and  decided  in  con- 
clusions. *  *  *  He  believed  in  doing  good,  there- 
fore he  led  an  upright  life.  Honest  in  all  his 
dealings,  kind  and  considerate,  frank  and  open  in 
his  manner,  bold  in  supporting  the  right  and  in 
denouncing  the  wrong,  faithful  to  his  friends, 
candid  and  outspoken  in  his  dislikes,  detesting 
hypocrisy  and  admiring  sincerity,  unable  to 
assume  or  feign  any  sentiment  which  he  could  not 
feel.  He  was  a  true  man,  honored  and  respected. 
His  works  will  follow  him  and  his  example  will  be 
felt  as  long  as  waves  eddy  down  the  stream  of 
time. ' ' 

JoHX  Franklin  Covvell  is  president  of  the 
Pamlico  Chemical  Company,  manufacturers  and 
distributors  of  fertilizer,  and  one  of  the  largest 
concerns  of  its  kind  in  North  Carolina.  Mr.  Co- 
well  has  been  a  hard  working  business  man  for 
thirty-five  years  and  has  accomjdished  that  de- 
gree of  success  which  makes  him  a  man  of 
prominence  in  his  home  community  and  state. 
The  business  headquarters  of  the  Pamlico  Com- 
pany are  at  Washington,  where  Mr.  Cowell  also 
has  his  home. 

He  was  born  at  Bav'boro  in  Pamlico  County 
February  7,  1862,  a  son  of  Amos  and  Mary 
(Hooker)  Cowell.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  and 
the  son  grew  up  in  a  country  district  and  dur- 
ing a  period  in  North  Carolina  's  history  when  the 
people  and  the  country  were  exceedingly  poor  as 
a  result  of  war  and  schools  and  other  advantages 
were  difficult  to  obtain.  He  attended  the  public 
schools  to  a  limited  degree,  also  a  business  col- 
lege, and  from  the  age  of  fifteen  until  he  was 
twenty-three  worked  as  clerk  in  the  general  store 
of  C.  H.  Fowler  at  Stonewall,  North  Carolina. 
Mr.  Fowler  then  took  him  into  partnership  and 
they  conducted  business  at  Bayboro  from  1885  to 
1900. 

On  leaving  merchandising  Mr.  Cowell  founded 
the  firm  of  Cowell,  Swan  &  McCotter  Company, 
fertilizer  manufacturers  at  Bayboro.  This  busi- 
ness had  a  prosperous  growth  and  in  1908  Mr. 
Cowell  established  the  Pamlico  Chemical  Com- 
pany, manufacturing  fertilizers  with  plant  at 
Washington.  The  Pamlico  Company  absorbed  the 
oilier  firm  of  Cowell,  Swan,  McCotter  &  Company. 
Mr.  Cowell  was  manager  of  the  former  business 
from  the  time  of  its  organization,  and  has  been 
president  of  the  Pamlico  Company  since  it  was 
incorporated.  This  firm  manufactures  high  grade 
fertilizers  and  their  market  is  all  over  the  state. 
Mr.  Cowell  is  also  a  director  of  the  First  National 
Bank  at  Washington.  He  is  a  member  and  stew- 
ard of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Clmrch  and  is  af- 
filiated with  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order 
of   Elks. 

April  2.5,  1888,  he  married  Miss  Sallie  Bax- 
ter of  Currituck  County,  North  Carolina.  They 
have  four  children:  Charles  Fowler,  formerly  sales 
manager  of  the  Pamlico  Chemical  Company  and 
now  second  lieutenant  of  artillery,  Three  Hundred 
and  Seventeenth  Field  Artillery",  Caraj)  Jackson ; 
Mary  Lydia ;  Horace  Baxter,  who  was  in  training 
at  Fort  Oglethorpe,  Georgia,  and  is  now  a  captain 
of  Company  A,  Three  Hundred  and  Twenty-second 
Infantrv,  located  at  Camp  Seville,  South  Carolina; 
and  Sallie  Baxter. 

Smiuel  Labkin  Spaoh  has  an  important  share 
in  the  industrial  life  of  the  Winston-Salem  district. 
A  large  tract  of  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Waugh- 
town  is  now  taken  up  by  the  extensive  factory 
buildings  built  from  time  to  time  by  members  of 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


193 


tlie  Spach  family.  The  enterprise  originated  a 
great  many  years  ago  in  a  small  wagon  shop. 
Other  lines  have  been  added  from  time  to  time, 
and  Samuel  L.  Spach  is  now  proprietor  of  the 
large  flour  mills. 

He  was  born  at  Waughtown,  in  Forsyth  County, 
North  Carolina,  January  15,  1860.  Many  inter- 
esting facts  might  be  related  regarding  Ids  family 
history  in  Western  North  Carolina.  His  lineage 
goes  back  to  Adam  Spach,  who  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers  in  the  ^^cinity  of  Friedberg,  North 
Carolina.  He  located  there  as  early  as  1753.  At 
that  time  this  point  was  even  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  western  frontier.  The  country  was  a  total 
wilderness,  and  the  Indians  resented  every  in- 
trusion upon  tlieir  hunting  ground.  Adam  Spa«h 
in  establishing  a  home  in  this  wilderness  had  to 
prepare  not  only  to  encounter  the  natural  difB- 
eulties  of  making  a  living,  but  also  to  guard 
against  the  dangers  of  hostile  incursions  from 
wild  tribes.  Evidence  of  this  is  found  in  the  sub- 
stantial rock  house  which  he  constructed  and 
which  is  still  standing.  It  is  practically  a  fortress. 
It  was  built  with  a  large  basement,  the  walls  are 
pierced  with  portholes,  and  one  of  the  walls  en- 
closed a  spring  of  water.  Thus  the  house  could 
withstand  practically  any  length  of  siege  by  In- 
dians or  other  enemies.  That  was  not  the  only 
work  accomplished  by  this  pioneer.  He  cut  a 
road  through  the  woods  to  Bethania,  the  nearest 
settlement,  and  invited  the  Moravians  to  visit  him 
and  hold  meetings  in  his  home.  Thus  his  house 
became  one  of  the  central  points  for  the  diffusion 
of  the  Moravian  religion.  Adam  Spach  died 
August  23,  1801.  He  married  Maria  Elizabeth 
Hueter,  who  was  born  in  Pfafenhaffen,  Upper 
Alsace,  in  1720,  and  her  family  came  to  Pennsyl- 
vania about  1748. 

Samuel  L.  Spach  is  a  son  of  William  Elias 
Spach,  a  grandson  of  Christian  Spach,  and  a  great- 
grandson  of  Gottlieb  Spach.  Gottlieb,  according 
to  the  best  infonnation  obtainable,  was  a  son  of 
the  old  pioneer,  Adam  Spach. 

Christian  Spach  acquired  a  farm  a  mUe  south 
of  Waughtown,  occupied  it  a  number  of  years,  and 
on  selling,  bought  a  place  three  miles  south  of 
Winston-Salem.  That  was  his  home  until  his 
death,  and  the  old  farm  is  now  occupied  by  one 
of  his  grandsons.  Christian  Spach  married  Nancy 
Swaim. 

William  Elias  Spach  was  born  in  a  portion  of 
Stokes  County  that  is  now  included  in  Forsyth 
County.  He  "grew  up  on  his  father's  farm,  but 
left  it  to  serve  an  apprenticeship  at  the  wagon 
maker's  trade.  He  first  worked  in  the  shop  of 
John  Vaughters  and  later  with  with  J.  P.  Nissen. 
During  tlic  last  year  of  the  war  he  was  in  the 
Confederate  service.  Returning  home  he  set  up  a 
wagon  making  business  on  his  own  account.  His 
first  shop  was  a  building  16x24  feet.  Wagon  mak- 
ing by  machineiy  had  not  yet  come  into  vogue, 
and  at  first  practically  every  timber  for  a  wagon 
was  fashioned  and  fitted  by  his  own  hands.  Hie 
wagons  were  sold  as  rapidly  as  finished,  and  he 
gradually  built  up  a  force  of  workmen  and  a 
business  organization  which  employs  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  men.  This  business  he  continued  a  long 
period  of  years  and  was  finally  succeeded  by  his 
son,  John  C.  After  retiring  from  the  factory 
he  moved  to  his  farm,  on  which  he  lived  until 
his  death  in  1892.  He  was  twice  married,  and 
his  second  wife  was  Laura  Seich.  She  was  the 
mother  of  Samuel  Larkin  Spach. 

Samuel   L.    Spach   at   the   age   of   eighteen   left 

Vol.  IV— IS 


home,  having  in  the  meantime  acquired  a  substan- 
tial education,  and  went  out  to  California.  He 
made  this  journey  over  the  original  Trans-Conti- 
nental Railway.  He  had  varied  experiences  in  the 
Far  West,  and  for  four  years  was  employed  on 
his  farm  in  the  Sacramento  Valley,  twenty  miles 
west  of  the  City  of  Sacramento.  On  returning  to 
North  Carolina  Mr.  Spach  spent  five  years  operat- 
ing a  sawmill  and  then  engaged  in  the  lumber 
business  at  Winston  and  in  the  wagon  manufac- 
turing business  with  his  brother  at  Waughtown. 
Under  the  management  of  these  brothers  the 
wagon  factory  grew  and  prospered.  They  finally 
bought  five  acres  of  land,  put  up  a  large  two-story 
brick  building,  aaid  equipped  it  with  all  the  mod- 
ern machinery  necessary  for  wagon  making.  Later 
the  brothers  erected  a  flour  mill,  and  equipped  it 
with  the  complete  roller  processes  and  with  mod- 
ern machinery.  From  time  to  time  they  acquired 
additional  land  for  factory  purposes  until  they  had 
eleven  acres.  Their  plant  today  occupies  the 
greater  part  of  this  land.  In  1913  the  business 
interests  were  divided,  and  Mr.  Samuel  L.  Spach 
took  the  roller  mills.  He  has  continued  their 
management  and  has  made  their  output  a  stand- 
ard of  fineness  and  quality. 

In  1887  Mr.  Spach  married  Miss  Parthenia  Mas- 
ten.  She  was  bom  on  a  farm  two  miles  east  of 
Salem,  a  daughter  of  Mathias  and  Kate  Masten. 
Her  father  was  a  farmer  and  at  one  time  served 
as  sheriff  of  Forsyth  County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spach 
have  three  children:  Lillian  Gertrude,  Catherine 
and  Julian  Christian.  Lillian  Gertrude  is  the  wife 
of  Dr.  W.  N.  Dalton  and  has  one  son. 

Mr.  Spach  is  also  interested  in  the  Center  Mer- 
cantile Company  at  Centerville  and  in  the  large 
electric  works  at  Asheville.  In  matters  of  religion 
he  is  a  Primitive  Baptist,  while  Mrs.  Spach  is  a 
member  of  the  Missionary  Baptist  Church. 

Peter  Lee  Feezor,  present  superintendent  of 
schools  of  Davidson  County,  is  a  lawyer  by  pro- 
fession and  left  an  established  legal  practice  to 
enter  upon  the  duties  of  his  present  office. 

Mr.  Feezor  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Cotton 
Grove  Township  of  Davidson  County  September  7, 
1888,  and  represents  the  fourth  successive  genera- 
tion of  the  family  in  that  part  of  the  state.  His 
great-grandfather,  George  Feezor,  was  of  German 
ancestry  and  came  to  North  Carolina  from  Mary- 
land when  a  young  man.  He  established  his 
pioneer  liome  in  wliat  is  now  Silver  Hill  Towriship 
of  Davidson  County.  He  was  a  man  of  business 
judgment  and  ability  and  acquired  large  holdings 
of  land  both  in  that  township  and  in  Cotton  Grove 
Township,  inipro\'ing  a  farm  and  making  it  his 
liome  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Jacob  Feezor,  grandfather  of  Peter  L.,  was 
born  in  Silver  Hill  Township  but  the  scene  of  his 
active  life  as  a  farmer  and  planter  was  Cotton 
Grove  Township.  Before  the  war  he  had  numerous 
slaves  to  operate  his  fields.  He  died  there  when 
about  eighty  years  of  age.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  was  Annie  Hendrix.  They  had  seven 
sons,  named  Otho,  Peter,  George,  Jacob,  William, 
Smith  and  Henry  Preston,  and  their  five  daughters 
were  Amanda,  Mary,  Nancy,  Melinda  and  Susan. 

Henry  Preston  Feezor,  was  born  in  Cotton  Grove 
Township  in  1839.  When  a  youth  he  served  an 
aivprenticeship  at  the  millwright  trade  and  fol- 
lowed it  as  a  means  of  livelihood  for  a  number  of 
years.  In  1874  he  bought  a  mill  on  Abbott's 
Creek  in  Healing  Springs  Township  of  Davidson 
County.     At  the  time  it  was  a  Burr  mill  and  he 


194 


HISTORY  OF  XORTII  CAROLINA 


subsequently  changed  it  and  introduced  a  complete 
modern  roller  system  and  equipment.  He  operated 
is  as  a  custom  and  merchant  mill,  but  in  1908 
sold  out  and  retiied  to  his  farm  in  Cotton  Grove 
Township,  where  he  still  resides.  As  a  young 
man  he  made  a  creditable  record  in  the  Southern 
army.  He  first  enlisted  in  1861  with  the  Twenty- 
first  Kegiment  North  Carolina  Troops,  going  with 
the  command  to  Danville,  Virginia,  and  thence  to 
Richmond,  and  from  there  to  the  battlefield  of 
Manassas.  The  right  wing  of  the  Confederate 
army,  to  which  his  command  was  attached,  had 
no  part  in  that  battle.  The  troops  were  then  re- 
turned to  Richmond,  and  while  on  duty  there  he 
was  stricken  with  rheumatism  and  sent  home.  In 
1864  he  had  recovered  sufficiently  to  allow  him  to 
reenter  the  service  and  this  time  he  was  a  member 
of  Company  A  of  the  Forty-second  Regiment  of 
North  Carolina.  He  joined  the  command  at  Rich- 
mond in  October  and  in  December  was  sent  to 
Wilmington  and  was  on  duty  at  Fort  Anderson 
until  Christmas  Day,  when  he  was  captured.  He 
was  confined  as  a  prisoner  of  war  at  Point  Lookout, 
Maryland,  until  July,  1865,  when  he  received  his 
parole  and  returned  home. 

Henry  Preston  Feezor  married  Sallie  Carrick. 
She  was  born  in  Healing  Springs  Township  of 
Davidson  County,  daughter  of  John  and  Lucy 
(Nooe)  Carrick.  Her  great-grandfather,  John 
Carrick,  came  from  Maryland  and  was  a  pioneer 
settler  in  Healing  Springs  Township,  buying  a 
large  amount  of  land  and  improving  it  with  the 
aid  of  his  slaves.  Her  grandfather  was  a  native 
of  Healing  Springs  Township  and  was  also  a 
farmer  in  that  locality.  Henry  Preston  Feezor 
and  wife  reared  eight  children :  Lucy,  Nannie, 
Euzelia,  Elizabeth,  Peter  Lee,  Essie,  Jane  and 
Florence. 

The  only  son  of  the  family,  Peter  L.  Feezor, 
grew  up  on  his  father  's  farm  and  around  the  mill, 
attended  the  home  district  schools  and  was  also 
a  student  of  the  Churchland  High  School  from 
wliich  he  graduated  in  1907.  Following  that  he 
spent  two  terms  teaching  in  Oak  Grove,  and  in 
1908  entered  Wake  Forest  College  where  he 
graduated  from  the  law  department  with  the 
degree  LL.  B.,  in  1912.  He  was  licensed  to 
practice  in  August  of  the  same  year  and  opened 
his  office  at  Whiteville  in  Columbus  County. 
Mr.  Feezor  left  a  promising  practice  in  1914  and 
returned  to  his  native  county  where  he  was  elected 
county  superintendent  of  schools.  He  has  done 
much  to  improve  and  raise  the  standards  of  the 
local  educational  system  in  Davidson  County  and 
in  order  to  better  prepare  himself  for  his  duties 
and  responsibilities  he  spent  the  summer  of  1917 
in  Columbia  University  in  New  York  City  in 
special  normal  work.  Mr.  Feezor  is  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  Church  and  is  affiliated  with  Lex- 
ington Council  Junior  Order  United  American 
Mechanics. 

NrsoN  L.  Cranforo  is  president  of  the  Journal 
Publishing  Company  of  Winston-Salem.  The 
activities  of  his  mature  career  have  been  divided 
between  teaching,  mercantile  business,  public 
service,  and  his  work  as  a  newspaper  man,  and  in 
the  latter  field  his  success  has  been  conspicuous. 
He  has  made  the  Journal  one  of  the  leading  papers 
of  Western  North  Carolina.  It  is  a  democratic 
daily  paper,  established  in  1897,  and  is  one  of  the 
newspapers  with  real  influence  in  this  section  of 
the  state. 

Mr.  Cranf ord  was  born  on  a  farm  in  New  Hope 


Township  of  Randolph  County,  North  Carolina. 
His  father,  Martin  CYanford,  was  born  in  Ophir 
Township  of  Montgomery  County,  North  Carolina, 
in  1847.  The  grandfather  was  John  Cranford,  a 
native  of  Montgomery  County.  The  first  United 
States  census  of  1790  names  William  Cranford  as 
a  resident  of  Montgomery  County,  and  it  is  sup- 
posed that  William  was  the  grandfather  of  John 
Cranford  and  therefore  the  great-great-grand- 
father of  Nison  L.  Cranford.  John  Cranford  was 
a  farmer  and  spent  practically  all  his  life  in  Mont- 
gomery County,  where  he  died  in  1863.  He 
married  Mary  Hurley,  who  survived  her  husband 
and  passed  away  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
five.  She  reared  five  sons  and  three  daughters, 
named  Joshua,  Ivy,  Milton,  Martin,  Nathan, 
Margaret,  Mary  and  Laura. 

Martin  Cranford  grew  up  on  his  father 's  old 
farm  and  made  farming  his  regular  vocation  in 
life.  He  bought  a  place  in  New  Hope  Township 
of  Randolph  County,  close  to  the  line  between  that 
township  and  Ophir  Township  in  Montgomery 
County,  and  was  successfully  identified  with  his 
work  there  until  his  death  in  1911.  He  married 
Jane  Cranford,  a  daughter  of  Leonard  and  Lucy 
(Newsom)  Cranford.  Mrs.  Martin  Cranford  still 
occupies  .  the  old  farm  in  New  Hope  Township. 
She  was  the  mother  of  nine  children,  named  Nixon, 
Lewis,  John,  Ernest,  Ivy,  Grady,  Martha,  Keturah 
and  Bessie. 

The  early  environment  of  Nixon  L.  Cranford 
was  a  farm.  He  gained  health  and  strength  in 
the  rural  atmosphere,  attended  the  rural  schools 
and  subsequently  took  a  business  course  at  the 
Oak  Ridge  Institute.  After  teaching  school  two 
years  he  removed  to  Winston-Salem  and  found  a 
position  in  the  office  of  the  Taylor  Brothers,  where 
he  spent  five  years.  He  then  entered  the  clothing 
business,  but  finally  sold  his  store  and  entered 
the  United  States  revenue  service  in  1913,  and 
resigned  from  that  service  February  1,  1918,  to 
devote  his  entire  time  to  newspaper  work.  Mr. 
Cranford  became  interested  in  the  Winston-Salem 
Journal  in  1910,  and  subsequently  was  elected 
president  of  the  company  which  publishes  that 
paper. 

He  was  married  in  1908  to  Miss  Jennie  P. 
Clingman,  who  was  born  in  Yadkin  County,  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  J.  J.  and  Cora  (Hackett)  Cling- 
man, of  Huutsville,  Yadkin  County.  Mr.  Cran- 
ford is  past  master  of  Salem  Lodge  No.  289, 
Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  is  also 
affiliated  with  Winston  Lodge  No.  449  of  the 
Benevolent   and  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 

Hallett  Sydney  Ward.  A  Washington  law- 
yer whose  professional  activities  have  brought  the 
substantial  results  of  secure  position  and  influ- 
ence, Hallett  S.  Ward  was  admitted  to  the  North 
Carolina  bar  more  than  twenty  3'ears  ago  and 
has  discharged  the  duties  of  both  his  profession 
and  of  various  public  offices  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  his  name  widely  familiar  throughout  the 
state. 

Mr.  Ward  was  born  in  Gates  County,  North 
Carolina,  August  31,  1870.  He  is  a  son  of  Nathan 
O.  and  Martha  Eliza  (Matthews)  Ward.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  and  he  grew  up  on  a  farm, 
attending  the  public  schools  for  his  first  in- 
struction. He  studied  law  privately  with  Judge 
George  Cowper  and  also  took  a  course  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina.  After  his  admission 
to  the  bar  he  practiced  at  Plymouth  for  ten 
years,   and    then    removed   to   Washington,    where 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


195 


in  19U.J  lie  eutered  a  partuersliip  with  J.  D. 
Grimes  under  the  Mrni  name  of  Ward  &  Grimes. 
Mr.  Ward  was  appointed  solicitor  by  Govei-uor  Ay- 
eock  in  1904  and  was  regularly  elected  to  that 
office  in  1906,  which  he  filled  altogether  for  l\'-> 
years. 

Mr.  Ward  was  a  member  of  the  State  Sen- 
ate of  North  Carolina  from  1899  to  1901.  Dur- 
ing his  term  in  the  Senate  he  was  father  of  the 
"Woodman  Bill,"  also  introduced  the  bill  mak- 
ing provision  for  the  establishment  of  public  school 
libraries,  aifd  was  iufiuential  in  getting  passed 
the  bill  compelling  the  police  to  report  all  gam- 
bling houses  at  regular  intervals. 

Mr.  Ward  is  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina 
Bar  Association,  the  Masonic  Order,  the  Benevo 
lent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks  and  is  a  ves- 
tryman in  St.  Peter 's  Episcopal  Church  at 
Washington.  On  September  23,  1896,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Aileen  Latham,  of  Plymouth,  North 
Carolina,  daughter  of  Capt.  Edgar  R.  and  Lena 
(MacRae)  Latham.  Her  father  was  agent  of  the 
Atlantic  Coast  Line  Railway. 

Charles  Albert  and  Carrie  R.  Jones,  brother 
and  sister,  are  actively  associated  in  a  business 
which  is  vital  to  the  welfare  and  health  of  Win- 
ston-Salem, and  for  years  have  conducted  the  Salem 
Dairy  as  the  model  institution  of  its  kind.  Both 
of  them  have  been  life-long  residents  of  Winston- 
Salem. 

They  are  of  an  old  and  prominent  family  of 
North  Carolina.  Their  grandfather,  Jesse  Spur- 
geon  Jones,  was  born  in  Davidson  County,  North 
Carolina.  His  mother  was  a  Spurgeon  and  of  the 
same  family  as  produced  the  eminent  London 
divine  of  that  name.  Jesse  Spurgeon  Jones  lived 
on  a  plantation  and  was  one  of  the  substantial  and 
highly  respected  farmers  of  Davidson  County.  He 
married  Aletha  Canady,  who  was  a  Virginian  by 
birth.  Both  she  and  her  husband  now  rest  in 
the  Abbott  Creek  graveyard,  three  miles  from 
their  old  home.  They  reared  children  named 
Aquilla  Hambleton,  Albert  S.,  William  O.,  Ben- 
jamin F.,  Joseph  B.,  Preston  C,  Phoebe,  Sarai 
Jane  and  Crissie. 

Aquilla  Hambleton  Jones,  father  of  Charles  A. 
and  Carrie  R.  Jones,  was  boru  on  a  farm  twelve 
miles  south  of  Salem  but  in  Davidson  County, 
November  10,  1823.  When  a  young  man  he  re- 
moved to  Salem  and  became  connected  with  the 
Salem  Academy  in  the  capacity  of  engineer.  Be- 
ing in  that  service,  he  was  exempt  from  military 
duty  during  the  war  between  the  states.  He  con- 
tinued faithfully  to  serve  the  academy  the  rest 
of  his  life.  At  one  time  he  bought  a  farm  in 
Yadkin  County,  though  he  nerer  occupied  it  as 
a  place  of  residence.  Aquilla  H.  Jones  married 
Pamelia  Hall.  She  was  born  July  17,  182.5,  on  a 
plantation  three  miles  from  East  Bend  in  Yadkin 
County.  Her  father,  Thomas  Hall,  was  a  native 
of  North  Carolina,  and  her  grandfather,  also 
Thomas  Hall,  was  born  in  Halifax  County,  Vir- 
ginia, of  English  parents.  Thomas  Hall,  Sr.,  was 
a  son  of  an  English  couple  whose  history  has  a 
decided  touch  of  romance.  The  Halls  were  peor 
pie  of  wealth  and  high  connections  in  England. 
When  the  son  married  he  chose  as  a  partner  for 
life  one  whom  his  parents  considered  beneath  him 
in  station,  and  to  escape  their  displeasure  he 
brought  his  bride  to  America,  and  at  the  same  time 
lost  his  share  in  the  ancestral  estate.  From  Hal- 
ifax County,  Virginia,  Thomas  Hall,  Sr.,  removed 
to  North  Carolina,  locating  first  in  Stokes  County 


and  afterward  moving  to  Randolph  County.  His 
son,  Thomas,  Jr.,  removed  from  Kandolph  to  Yad- 
kin County,  buying  laud  which  he  operated  as  a 
farm  and  plantation  until  his  death.  He  married 
Rebecca  Kerr,  a  native  of  Stokes  County.  Hei* 
mother  was  a  sister  of  Colonel  John  Martin,  a 
figure  and  character  in  the  Revolutionary  war  a<;- 
tivities  of  North  Carolina,  his  name  being  men- 
tioned in  Wheeler  's  history  of  the  state.  Thomas 
and  Rebecca  Hall  are  both  buried  in  the  family 
plot  on  their  plantation. 

Aquilla  H.  Jones  and  wife  reared  five  children: 
Jesse  Sanford,  Charles  Albert,  Caroline  Rebecca, 
Lewis  Preston  and  Mary  Aletha. 

Charles  A.  Jones,  ai'ter  attending  the  pubUo 
schools  of  Salem,  went  to  West  Bend,  in  Y  adkiu 
County,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  and  learned  business 
as  clerk  in  a  general  store.  After  three  years  he 
removed  to  Yadkinville  and  continued  clerking  a 
year.  On  his  return  to  Salem  he  tound  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  up  for  early  deficiencies  in  the 
way  of  education,  attending  the  Boys'  School, 
and  for  one  term  was  under  the  instruction  of 
Albert  B.  Gorrell  at  Winston  and  another  term 
under  Robert  Gray.  Resuming  business,  he  clerked 
a  few  years  for  D.  A.  Spaugh  and  then  set  up 
in  the  mercantile  business  for  himself  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Main  and  Academy  streets  in  Salem.  That 
business  he  continues  to  the  present  time. 

Twenty  years  or  more  ago  Mr.  Jones  saw  an 
opportunity  to  enter  a  paying  business  and  one 
that  would  be  greatly  appreciated  by  the  people 
of  the  community.  He  bought  two  cows  and  sold 
the  milk  to  his  neighbors.  That  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Salem  Dairy,  an  institution  which 
has  grown  by  the  increasing  demand  for  its  prod- 
ucts, and  it  is  now  conducted  on  an  extensive  scale. 
The  dairy  farm  is  located  about  four  miles  from 
Winston-Salem,  in  Broad  Bay  Township,  and  up- 
wards of  a  hundred  head  of  cattle  are  used  for 
dairying   purposes. 

Charles  A.  Jones  and  his  sister  Caroline  both 
occupy  the  old  home  place  on  Marshall  Street  in 
Winston-Salem,  and  the  sister  has  always  been 
associated  with  her  brother  in  his  business  affairs. 
She  was  educated  in  the  Salem  Academy  College 
and  tor  twenty -five  years  was  a  teacher  in  that 
institution.  She  finally  resigned  in  order  to  give 
her  undivided  time  to  the  conduct  of  the  business 
and  the  management  of  her  household  duties. 
Both  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church. 

Edward  L.  Gkeene,  Esq.  Prominent  and  active 
in  the  business  life  of  Davidson  County,  Edward 
L.  Greene,,  Esq.,  of  Yadkin  College,  has  for 
years  been  a  leading  force  in  promoting  the  higher 
interests  of  this  section  of  the  state,  whether  re- 
lating to  its  agricultural,  manufacturing,  or 
financial  prosperity,  his  guiding  spirit  being  in 
evidence  in  many  undertakings  of  value  and  im- 
portance. A  son  of  George  W.  Greene,  he  was 
born,  December  17,  1856,  in  Tyro  Township, 
Davidson  County,  North  Carolina.  He  comes  of 
pure  Scotch  ancestry,  his  great  grandfather,  Wil- 
liam Greene,  a  native  of  Scotland,  having  immi- 
grated to  the  United  States  when  young,  settling 
in  Pennsylvania,  his  first  home  having  been  in  Phil- 
adelphia, while  the  closing  years  of  his  life  were 
spent  in  Reading,  that  state. 

Samuel  Greene,  Mr.  Greene 's  grandfather,  ac- 
quired a  good  education,  and  as  a  young  man  came 
to  North  Carolina,  locating  in  Lexington,  which 
was  then  but  a  hamlet,  and  formed  a  part  of 
Rowan   County.     He  became  very  successful  and 


196 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


popular  as  a  school  teacher,  and  being  a  fiue 
scholar  made  himself  generally  useful,  as  a 
scrivener  writing  many  wills,  and  drawing  up  many 
contracts.  He  died  at  his  home  in  Lexington  in 
•  185.J.  He  married  Mary  Davis,  who  was  born  in 
New  Jersey,  and  died  in  Lexington  sometime  after 
he  did,  at  the  time  of  her  death  having  been  four 
score  and  four  years  of  age.  Her  father,  Isham 
Davis,  was  one  of  the  colonists  that  came  from 
New  Jersey  to  North  Carolina,  and  located  in 
what  was  known  as  the  Jersey  Settlement,  in 
Cotton  Grove  Township.  Purchasing  land,  he 
lived  there  a  number  of  years,  and  then  disposed 
of  his  farm,  and  moved  to  Tyro  Township,  where 
he  spent   his   remaining  days. 

George  W.  Greene  was  born  in  1828,  and  was 
brought  up  in  Lexington,  where,  as  a  young  man, 
he  learned  the  carpenter  's  trade,  whicli  he  followed 
a  few  years.  In  18.59  he  bought  a  tract  of  land 
in  Boone  Township,  and  was  there  a  resident  until 
liis  death  in  1910,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
two  years.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Albertine  Swicewood.  She  was  born  in  1832,  and 
died  in  1906.  Her  father,  Philip  Swicewood,  was 
born  in  Germany,  and  early  in  life  came  to  North 
Carolina,  settling  in  Tyro  Township,  Davidson 
County,  where  his  death  occurred  at  the  good  old 
age  of  eighty-four  years.  He  was  four  times 
married,  the  maiden  name  of  his  second  wife, 
the  maternal  grandmother  of  Mr.  Greene  having 
been  Kline.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  W.  Greene 
reared  seven  children,  as  follows:  Edward  L., 
Thomas  D.,  James  M.,  Catawba,  Flora  Belle,  "Wil- 
liam S.,  and  Maude.  The  father  was  a  Lutheran 
in  religion,  and  the  mother  was  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Having  as  a  youth  acquired  sufficient  education 
to  impart  some  of  his  knowledge  to  others,  Edward 
L.  Greene  earned  enough  money  teaching  in  the 
country  districts  to  take  an  advanced  course  of 
study  at  the  Tyro  Academy,  and  later  at  Yadkin 
College.  Subsequently  becoming  agent  for  a  pub- 
lishing house,  Mr.  Greene  traveled  through  North 
Carolina  and  South  Carolina  selling  books  until 
he  had  accumulated  the  sum  of  $500,  a  small 
amount  that  became  the  nucleus  of  a  successful 
business.  Embarking  in  the  manufacture  of  to- 
bacco, he  was  thus  engaged  in  Yadkin  College  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century,  meeting  with  highly 
satisfactory  results  in  his  venture.  In  the  mean- 
time, Mr.  Greene  had  bought  considerable  land, 
including  among  other  tracts  700  acres  in  Wake 
County,  a  large  farm  that  was  superintended  by  a 
man  in  his  employ.  He  disposed  of  that  estate, 
but  still  has  extensive  holdings  in  Davidson 
County.  He  is  a  director  of  the  Bank  of  Lex- 
ington, and  of  the  Nokomis  Mills,  also  of  Lexing- 
ton, and  at  one  time  was  vice  president  of  the 
Dakota  Cotton  Mill. 

In  1886  Mr.  Greene  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Lucy  L.  Foard.  She  was  born  at  Cleveland,  Rowan 
County,  a  daughter  of  Osborn  and  Bettie  (Alli- 
son) Foard.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greene  have  six 
children,  namely:  Carl  D.,  Garland  V.,  Mary 
Lee,  G.  Homer,  Hobart  L.,  and  Weyolene.  Garland 
v.,  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College,  and  of  the 
Virginia  Medical  College,"  is  now  a  practicing 
physician.  Mary  Lee  has  received  excellent  edu- 
cational advantages,  having  graduated  at  Yadkin 
College,  later  taking  an  advanced  course  at 
Florence  University,  Alabama,  and  subsequently 
being  graduated  from  Salem  College,  North  Caro- 
lina. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greene  are  members  of  the  Metho- 


dist Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  Mr.  Greene  has 
served  as  a  member  of  the  district  boawi  of 
stewards,  and  of  the  circuit  board  of  trustees. 
He  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Grover 
Cleveland  in  1884,  subsequently  voting  the  republi- 
can ticket,  and  has  since  beeu  a  stanch  supporter 
of  the  principles  of  the  republican  party. 
Mr.  Greene  has  ever  evidenced  a  warm  interest 
in  public  affairs,  and  has  served  acceptably  on 
the  local  board  of  education;  as  chairman  of  the 
board  of  county  commissioners;  and  as  mayor  of 
Yadkin  College.  He  has  taken  active  part  in 
politics  and  at  the  present  time  is  member  of  the 
Board  of  Road  Commission  of  Davidson  County. 
He  at  one  time  was  nominated  for  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  later  was  republican  candidate 
for  probate  judge  of  the  county. 

Jesse  Harpee  Ebwin,  a  prominent  cotton  manu- 
facturer at  Durham,  has  since  boyhood  filled  about 
every  position  that  anyone  could  name  in  the 
general  scheme  and  schedule  of  cottfln  mill  opera- 
tion and  management.  He  is  a  practical  man  of 
tlie  industry  and  by  his  individual  exertions  has 
won  success  and  prosperity. 

Mr.  Erwin  was  born  at  Morganton,  Burke 
County,  North  Carolina,  March  3,  1864,  a  son  of 
Col.  J.  and  Elvina  Jane  (Holt)  Erwin.  The 
Erwins  have  long  been  prominent  as  planters,  busi- 
ness men  and  soldiers  in  North  Carolina.  They  are 
of  Scotch-Irish  descent  and  the  first  of  the  name 
to  come  to  America  arrived  about  1740.  On  his 
mother 's  side  Mr.  Erwin  is  descended  from  Dr. 
William  R.  Holt.  Many  of  the  Holt  family  have 
likewise  been  prominent.  Jesse  H.  Erwin  has 
membership  in  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion on  account  of  the  participation  of  some  of  his 
ancestors  in  the  war  for  independence.  His  father 
was  a  well  known  planter  and  farmer  in  Burke 
County.  Colonel  Erwin  was  a  graduate  of  William 
and  Mary  College  of  Virginia,  and  was  an  attorney 
by  profession,  though  he  never  practiced.  For 
thirty  years  he  was  clerk  of  the  County  Courts. 

Jesse  H.  Erwin  attended  public  and  private 
schools,  Catawba  College  at  Newton,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  went  to  work 
with  the  Aurora  Cotton  Mills.  He  did  clerical 
work  in  the  offices,  was  in  the  shipping  depart- 
ment, around  the  mills  in  various  capacities, 
served  as  time  keeper,  and  also  did  work  as  a  sales- 
man. He  finally  achieved  the  position  of  secretary 
and  treasurer  of  the  E.  M.  Holt  Plaid  Mills  at 
Burlington,  North  Carolina,  but  left  there  in  1899 
to  come  to  Durham. 

For  many  years  he  has  been  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Durham  Cotton  Manufacturing 
Company  and  the  Pearl  Cotton  MUls,  is  a  director 
of  the  Erwin  Cotton  Mills  Company,  director  of 
the  Durham  &  Southern  Railway,  and  has  given 
his  energetic  support  and  encouragement  to  many 
local  enterprises  that  have  been  factors  in  the 
growth  and  development  of  the  Durham  Industrial 
district.  Mr.  Erwin  served  as  aide  de  camp  on 
Governor  Aycock's  staff. 

November  7,  1895,  he  married  Lena  Haynes  of 
Americus,  Georgia.  They  have  a  family  of  three 
daughters  and  two  sons,  Mary  Haynes,  a  graduate 
of  Trinity  College;  Eleanor,  attending  Trinity 
College;  Josephine,  attending  St.  Mary's  School; 
Jesse  Harper  Jr.,  who  is  now  in  the  University 
of  North  Carolina;  and  Eugene  at  Durham  High 
School.  Mr.  Erwin  is  a  vestryman  of  St.  Philip's 
Episcopal  Church  of  Durham,  a  member  of  the 
Independent   Order   of   Odd   Fellows,   Knights   of 


M,Aa^ 


-K^  Ltv  "^^lA;? '-A^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


197 


Pythias  aud  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of 
Elks. 


practice  of  law  at  Edenton  for  almost  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  James  Xorlleet  Pruden  has  gained 
honorable  prominence  and  commands  the  respect 
and  enjoys  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his  fel- 
low citizens  in  every  walk  of  life.  It  is  permis- 
sible, perhaps,  to  attribute  something  of  Mr. 
Pruden 's  success  to  inheritance,  for  his  father 
was  eminent  in  the  law,  but  credit  must  largely 
be  accorded  Mr.  Pruden  himself,  for  he  has  al- 
ways been  a  close  student,  a  jiatient  invesiga- 
tor,  and  a  true  friend  as  well  as  able  counselor 
to  those  who  entrust  the  adjustment  of  their 
rights  and  wrongs  to  his  faithful  care. 

James  Nortleet  Pruden  was  born  at  Edenton, 
North  Carolina,  March  19,  1873.  His  parents  were 
William  Dossey  and  Mary  (Norflectj  Pruden, 
jieople  of  old  family  and  influential  connections 
and  for  many  years  the  father  was  prominent  as 
a  lawyer. 

Among  the  many  advantages  that  were  a  part 
of  James  N.  Pruden 's  earlier  years,  those  per- 
taining to  the  acquirement  of  a  liberal  education 
were  included,  and  he  passed  from  the  Edenton 
Academy  to  the  somewhat  famous  Horner 's  Mili- 
tary School  at  Oxford,  North  Carolina,  spent  the 
years  1891  and  189.3  in  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  and  in  1895  was  graduated  from  the  law- 
department  of  that  institution  and  veas  immedi- 
ately admitted  to  the  bar. 

However  quiet,  peaceful  and  law  abiding  a  com- 
munity as  a  whole  and  its  citizens  separately  may 
be,  there  arise  occasions  when  these  normal  con- 
ditions do  not  prevail.  It  is  astonishing  how 
little  the  ordinary  citizen  knows  of  the  gen- 
eral laws  of  the  land  and  how  absolutely  igno- 
rant he  is  of  the  technicalities  by  which  he  should 
govern  his  course  of  action  under  certain  circum- 
stances. Thus  great  business,  big  corporate  in- 
terests and  even  nations  must  be  as  carefully 
protected  by  the  learning  and  ability  of  the  law- 
yer as  the  humblest  and  most  unenlightened  of 
their  people.  Modern  life,  with  its  perplexing 
problems  growing  more  numerous  day  by  day,  is 
very  dependent  on  the  lawyer,  with  his  trained  fac- 
ulties and  thorough  understanding  for  the  justice 
that  democracy  demands  for  all.  Such  a  law- 
yer Mr.  I'ruden  lias  ever  been.  Associated  first 
as  the  junior  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Pruden, 
Vann  &  Pruden,  in  1897  he  became  an  equal 
partner  in  the  firm  of  Pruden  &  Pruden,  one  of 
the  strongest  combinations  in  this  part  of  the 
state. 

Mr.  Pruden  was  married  November  16,  1898,  to 
Miss  Peiisie  McMullan,  who  is  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
John  Henry  and  Lina  McMullan.  They  have 
three  children,  one  daughter  and  two  sous,  namely : 
Lina  Tucker,  James  Norfleet  and  John  (Jack) 
McMullan  Pruden. 

Mr.  Pruden  has  always  been  an  active  citizen, 
ever  ready  to  lend  his  influence  to  assist  in  move- 
ments for  the  general  welfare  and  is  particularly 
interested  in  public  education.  He  is  chairman 
of  the  graded  school  board  of  Edenton  and  has 
been  a  member  of  the  board  since  its  organiza- 
tion in  1903.  He  belongs  to  the  state  bar  asso- 
ciation and  his  old  college  fraternities. 

George  W.  Whitlock.  For  many  years  inti- 
mately associated,  as  a  prominent  shoe  dealer, 
with   the   mercantile  affairs  of  Salisbury,   George 


W.  Whitlock  is  recognized  as  a  man  of  solid 
worth  and  integrity,  aud  has  ever  been  held  in 
high  respect  throughout  the  community  in  which 
he  lives,  and  to  promote  whose  advancement  he 
lias  ever  lent  a  helping  hand.  He  wa^  born  in 
Stanly  County,  July  31,  1852,  on  a  plantation  lo- 
cated on  the  Norwood  Road,  3yo  miles  from 
.Albemarle,  being  a  son  of  Rev.  Alexander  Lawson 
Whitlock. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  James  Wliitlock,  a 
native  of  South  Carolina,  came  to  North  Carolina 
as  a  young  man,  settling  in  Montgomery  County. 
There'  were  no  railroads  in  the  state,  and  though 
he  was  a  mechanic  he  did  not  seek  employment, 
but  embarked  in  business  on  his  own  account,  be- 
coming a  contractor,  and  built  up  a  large  business 
in  the  building  of  flat  boats  to  be  operated  on 
the  Pedee  River.  He  married  a  widow,  a  Mrs. 
Atkins,  who,  as  far  as  known,  was  a  life-long 
resident  of  Montgomery  County.  She  had  one 
son  by  her  first  marriage,  Arthur  Atkins,  who  be- 
came a  preacher  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  and  held  local  positions  in  different  places, 
his  last  years  having  been  spent  in  Stanly  County. 
By  her  marriage  with  James  Whitlock  she  had 
two  sons,  Alexander  L.  and  Davidson.  Davidson 
Whitlock  obtained  a  practical  knowledge  of  agri- 
culture when  young  as  overseer  of  a  plantation, 
and  later  bought  a  plantation,  which  he  operated 
with  slave  labor. 

Attending  the  rural  schools  in  his  youth,  Alex- 
ander Lawson  Whitlock  obtained  a  common  educa- 
tion and  while  yet  in  his  teens  united  with  tlie 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South  and  later 
joined  the  Missionary  Baptist  Church.  Subse- 
quently becoming  a  preacher  in  the  Methodist 
Church  and  subsequently  becoming  a  pastor  in 
the  Missionary  Baptist  Church,  leaving  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  and  joining  the  Baptist 
Chureli.  He  filled  the  pulpits  at  Roplin's  Grove, 
Kendall,  Silver  Springs  and  other  places,  and  was 
widely  known  as  an  earnest  and  fervent  worker  in 
religious  circles.  He  bought  a  farm  located  3^A 
miles  from  Albemarle  and  occupied  it  for  many 
years,  although  he  spent  his  last  days  in  Stanly 
County,  near  Porter,  dying  there  in  1905. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Rev.  Alexander 
L.  Whitlock  was  Sarah  Ivey.  She  was  born  at 
the  Benjamin  Ivey  homestead,  in  Stanly  County, 
in  1831,  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Ivey,  Jr.,  and 
granddaughter  of  Benjamin  Ivey,  Sr.,  who  lived 
and  died  in  the  vicinity  of  Ashboro,  Randolph 
County,  this  state.  Benjamin  Ivey,  Jr.,  was  born 
near  Ashboro,  and  early  in  life  bought  land  about 
six  miles  from  Albemarle,  and  operated  his  plan- 
tation with  slave  help  until  his  death,  in  1858. 
He  married  Mary  Shankle,  whose  father,  George 
Shankle,  the  great-grandfather  on  the  maternal 
side  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in 
Germany,  and  as  a  young  man  came  to  North 
Carolina,  locating  in  Stanly  County,  then  Mont- 
gom.ery  County,  where  he  was  enrolled  as  a  minute 
man  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  for  his 
services  in  that  capacity  received  a  pension  in  his 
last  days.  Mrs.  Mary  (Shankle)  Ivey  survived 
her  husband,  passing  away  in  1874.  She  reared 
nine  children.  One  of  her  sons,  George  W.  Ivey, 
who  was  active  in  the  ministry  for  fifty  years, 
belonged  to  the  South  Carolina  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Conference,  which  then  embraced  a  part  of 
North  Carolina.  Another  son,  Tyson,  lost  his  life 
in  the  Confederate  service.  John  R.,  another  son, 
was  successfully  engaged  in  farming  near  New 
London.     Mrs.  Alexander  Whitlock  died  in  1884,  a 


198 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


score  or  more  of  years  before  her  liusband's  death. 
She  reared  eight  children,  as  follows:  George  W., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  William  E.;  Laura  E. 
married  D.  Maim ;  Mary  F.  became  the  wife  of 
Rufus  Hartley;  Ann  Eliza  married  Marshall  Sides; 
John  Ivey;   Isaac  Tyson;  and  Martin  Alexander. 

As  a  boy  and  yoimi  George  W.  Whitlock  at- 
tended the  rural  schools,  and  on  the  home  farm 
obtained  a  practical  knowledge  of  agriculture. 
Leaving  home  on  attaining  his  majority,  he  took 
the  contract  to  carry  the  mail  from  Salisbury  to 
Albemarle,  and  was  thus  busily  engaged  for  six 
years.  Then,  in  1880,  Mr.  Whitlock  accepted  a 
position  as  clerk  in  the  shoe  store  of  Overman  & 
Co.,  of  Salisbury,  and  in  the  six  years  that  he 
was  thus  employed  gained  an  insight  into  the 
details  of  the  business.  Thus  prepared  for  a  busi- 
ness career,  Mr.  Whitlock,  in  1886,  formed  a 
partnership  with  W.  C.  Wright,  now  of  Winston- 
Salem,  and  embarked  in  the  shoe  business.  In 
1897  Mr.  Wright  sold  his  interest  in  the  firm  to 
W.  T.  Rainey,  and  the  firm  name  became  Whit- 
lock &  Rainey,  continuing  thus  until  191.5,  when 
the  junior  member  of  the  company  sold  to  Mr. 
Bvrd,  and  the  name  of  the  firm  was  changed  to 
W'hitlock  &  Byrd.  In  1917  Mr.  Whitlock  dis- 
posed of  his  interest  in  the  firm  to  Mr.  Byrd,  wlio 
is  now  the  sole  proprietor  of  the  establishment, 
and  all  of  the  large  trade  and  Mr.  Whitlock  still 
has  a  position  with  Mr.  Byrd. 

Mr.  Whitlock  married,  in  1882,  Annie  Smith. 
She  was  born  in  Salisbury,  a  daughter  of  Alex- 
ander and  Adelaide  (Cauble)  Smith.  Four  chil- 
dren have  been  born  of  the  union  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Whitlock,  namely :  Joseph  Wheeler,  manager 
of  a  big  store  now  in  Charlotte,  North  Carolina, 
married  Sadie  Williamson  and  has  one  child,  Jo- 
seph Wheeler,  Jr.;  Henry  Earl  W.,  of  Statesville, 
North  Carolina;  Alma,  who  married  Fred  Ander- 
son, and  has  two  children,  Fred  J.  and  William 
George;  Paul  Wilson,  who  is  now  in  the  service  of 
his  country.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whitlock  are  members 
of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  which 
he  is  a  steward. 

Ch.irles  A.  Htint,  Jr.  Prominently  identified 
with  one  of  the  more  important  industries  of 
Davidson  County,  Charles  A.  Hunt,  Jr.,  of  Lex- 
ington, president  of  the  Dacotah  Mills  Company, 
is  a  man  of  unquestioned  executive  and  financial 
ability,  and  a  conspicuous  factor  in  the  business 
affairs  of  the  city  in  which  he  lives.  He  was  born 
in  Lexington,  Davidson  County,  which  was  also 
the  birthplace  of  his  father,  Charles  A.  Hunt, 
Sr.,  who  was  born  October  20,  1843. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  Andrew  Hunt,  a 
native  of  Stokes  County,  moved  from  there  to 
Mocksville,  and  a  short  time  later  came  to  David- 
son County,  locating  in  Lexington,  which  was  then 
in  its  infancy.  He  embarked  in  mercantile  pur- 
suits, and  there  having  been  no  railroads  in  this 
part  of  the  country  at  that  time,  he  had  all  of  his 
goods  brought  liy  water  from  the  northern  markets 
to  Fayetteville,  and  from  there  to  Lexington  by 
teams.  For  the  greater  part  of  the  way  between 
the  two  places,  there  was  a  plank  road,  and  one 
or  more  stations  where  toll  was  collected.  He 
carried  on  a  good  business  for  several  years,  re- 
siding in  Lexington  until  his  death.  He  married 
Mary  Henley,  who  was  born  in  Stokes  County,  as 
was  her  father,  .John  Henley,  a  well-to-do 
merchant,  who  spent  his  last  years  as  a  business 
ina_n  in  Kerncrsville.  Forsythe  County.  Six 
children    were    born    of   their   union,    as    follows: 


Virginia;  John  died  in  early  manhood;  Sa^ah; 
Mary;  William,  who  died  at  the  age  of  forty -five 
years,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Confederate  army;  and 
Charles  A. 

Leaving  school  in  May,  1861,  Charles  A.  Hunt, 
Sr.,  enlisted  in  Company  I,  Fourteenth  Regiment, 
North  Carolina  Volunteers,  and  took  an  active  part 
in  various  engagements.  On  September  19,  1864, 
he  was  wounded,  and  being  captured,  was  confined 
as  a  prisoner  of  war  until  March,  1865,  when  he 
was  paroled,  and  went  home.  Going  a  short  time 
latei-  'to  Arkansas,  he  was  engaged  in  mercantile 
business  at  Desha  and  Pine  Bluff  for  three  years. 
Returning  then  to  North  Carolina,  he  was  similarly 
employed  at  Union  until  1875,  when  he  opened  a 
general  store  at  Lexington,  where  he  continued 
as  a  merchant  for  eleven  years.  In  1886  he  be- 
came associated  with  William  E.  Holt  in  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  goods.  In  1900  the 
Nokomis  Cotton  Mills  Company  was  organized, 
and  he  was  made  its  president,  a  responsible  po- 
sition, which  he  has  since  held,  and  at  the  same 
time   he  is   financially   interested   in   other  mills. 

On  December  2.3,  1869,  Charles  A.  Hunt,  Sr., 
married  Frances  Amelia  Holt,  who  was  born  in 
Lexington,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
William  R.  and  Louisa  (Hogan)  Holt.  Four 
children  have  been  born  of  their  union,  namely: 
Louisa,  wife  of  George  W.  Montcastle;  Charles  A., 
Jr.;    Camille;    and  Lloyd  R. 

Charles  A.  Hunt,  Jr.,  was  educated  in  Lexington 
and  at  the  Davis  Military  Institute,  La  Grange, 
North  Carolina.  In  leaving  school,  he  entered 
the  Wennonah  Mill,  where,  by  persevering  in- 
dustry, close  application  to  his  duties,  and  practical 
experience  in  all  of  its  departments,  he  mastered 
every  detail  of  the  business.  At  the  organization 
of  tiie  Dacotah  Mills  Company,  in  1909,  Mr.  Hunt 
was  elected  president,  a  position  for  which  he  is 
eminently  qualified,  and  has  since  devoted  his 
time  and  energies  to  the  affaris  of  the  corporation. 

Mr.  Hunt  married  Margaret  Leonard,  a  native 
of  Lexington,  being  a  daughter  of  William 
Leonard,  a  merchant,  who  was  retired  from  active 
pursuits  during  the  latter  part  of  his  long  life 
of  four  score  years.  The  immigrant  ancestor  of 
the  Leonard  family  of  North  Carolina  was  Valen- 
tine Leonhardt,  who  came  to  America  in  colonial 
times,  and  fought  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
war.  The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  William 
Leonard  was  Mary  Roberts.  She  was  a  daughter 
of  Colonel  Burrell  and  Susan  (Hargrave)  Roberts, 
and  a  granddaughter  of  .Tesse  and  Elizabeth  (Lind- 
say) Hargrave.  Susan  Hargrave  was  three  times 
married,  her  first  husband  having  been  a  Mr. 
Hilliard :  her  second  a  Mr.  Humphrey ;  while 
Colonel  Roberts  was  her  third.  The  mother  of 
Mrs.  Hunt,  Mrs.  Mary  (Roberts)  Leonard,  died 
at  the  age  of  fifty-eight  years,  leaving  seven 
children,  Ella  R.,  Lena,  Margaret,  May,  Lilla, 
Nona,  and  Roberts. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunt  hnve  two  children,  namely: 
Margaret,  wife  of  E.  I.  Bugg,  of  Davidson  County, 
who  has  two  children,  E.  G.,  Jr.,  and  Margaret 
Frances;  and  Robert  H..  a  student  at  the  Sewanee 
Military  Institute,  in  Tennessee.  Mr.  Hunt  is 
one  of  the  directorate  of  the  Bank  of  Lexington. 

Richard  H.\rvey  Wright  of  Durham,  capitalist, 
street  railway  owner  and  long  identified  with 
public  utility  corporations,  also  has  a  special  dis- 
tinction which  comparatively  few  people  now  asso- 
ciate with  his  name.  Many  years  ago,  as  represen- 
tative   of   the    great    tobacco    house   of   Duke,    in 


:K-^^ 


[ffyr^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


199 


which  he  was  a  partner,  Mr.  Wright  tra\"elled 
around  the  world  promoting  and  exploiting  the 
merits  of  American  made  tobacco.  It  was  largely 
through  his  influence  that  permanent  connections 
were  established  in  many  European  countries  and 
elsewhere,  for  the  output  of  the  great  tobacco 
centers  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas. 

Mr.  Wright  is  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  born 
in  Franklin  County  June  13,  1851,  a  son  of 
Thomas  Davenport  and  Elizabeth  Glover  (Harris) 
Wright,  his  father  a  farmer.  He  was  educated  in 
private  schools,  in  the  Horner  School,  and  in 
early  life  engaged  in  general  merchandising,  first 
at  Tally-Ho  and  later  at  Durham.  He  was  in 
this  line  of  business  from  1871  until  January, 
1879.  He  then  established  a  factory  for  the  manu- 
facture of  smoking  tobacco  under  the  name  R.  H. 
Wright  &  Company.  In  January,  1880,  he  sold 
a  four-fifths  interest  in  this  plant  to  W.  Duke, 
Sons  &  Company,  and  thereby  acquired  a  fiftli 
interest  in  the  latter  organization.  From  1880 
until  June,  1882,  he  made  Chicago  his  head- 
quarters, looking  after  the  western  interest  of  his 
company's  business.  In  June,  1882,  he  set  out  on 
his  trip  around  the  world  for  his  company,  travel- 
ing all  through  European  countries  and  introduc- 
ing the  Duke  smoking  tobaccos  and  cigarettes. 
After  canvassing  Europe  he  carried  his  business 
tour  through  South  Africa,  India,  Ceylon,  Java, 
Penang,  Singapiore,  all  over  Australia,  Tasmania, 
New  Zealand,  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  wound 
up  this  circle  of  the  Globe  at  San  Francisco.  In 
February,  1884,  he  went  to  New  York  City  to 
exploit  his  company's  business,  which  grew  to  such 
proportions  as  to  make  it  necessary  to  establish 
a  branch  factory  in  New  York  for  manufacturing 
cigarettes,  having  charge  of  this  until  the  summer 
of  188.5,  when  he  sold  his  interest  and  moved  to 
Lynchburg,  where  he  bought  an  interest  in  the 
' '  Lone  Jack ' '  Cigarette  Company.  He  was  man- 
aging director  here  until  November,  1888,  when  he 
sold  his  interests  there  and  from  that  point 
engaged  in  the  automatic  tobacco  machinery  busi- 
ness which  he  has  continued  more  or  less  actively 
ever  since.  In  1888  he  .secured  foreign  territory 
for  exploiting  and  introducing  the  Bonsack, 
Cigarette  Making  Machine  and  spent  several  years 
travelling  in  India,  Africa,  China,  Japan  and 
the  Philippine  Islands,  returning  to  New  York 
where  he  made  his  home  for  some  time.  In  the 
course  of  his  foreign  travels  he  made  eight  trips 
around  the  world,  fourteen  trips  across  the  Pacific 
and  eighty-six  across  the  Atlantic. 

Mr.  Wright  has  spent  much  of  his  time  in 
Durham  since  1901,  and  has  done  much  for  the 
upb'uilding  of  this  progressive  city.  To  his  credit 
belongs  the  establishment  and  building  of  the 
most  important  public  utilities  in  and  around  the 
city.  He  constructed  the  electric  street  railway, 
built  an  ice  and  light  plant,  and  has  since  been 
president  of  the  Durham  Traction  Company  and 
various  other  interests.  These  public  utOities 
have  had  much  to  do  with  the  building  up  and 
prosperity  of  East  Durham  and  West  Durham,  and 
he  was  responsible  for  giving  the  city  a  park  and 
playgrounds.  He  constructed  the  entire  system 
of  electric  street  railways,  carried  the  company 
through  its  early  vieissitrudes  without  resort  to  a 
receivership,  and  finally  when  the  business  was 
on  a  profitable  footing  he  sold  out  to  a  New  York 
corporation.  Mr.  Wright  is  president  of  the 
Wrights  Automatic  Tobacco  Packing  Machine 
Company,  is  president  of  the  Public  Hardware 
Company  of  Durham,  is  president  and   owner  of 


tlie  Interstate  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Company, 
is  a  director  of  the  Tomliuson  Chair  Company  at 
Higli  Point,  North  Carolina,  is  director  in  several 
cotton  mills  and  has  many  financial  interests  in 
other  cotton  mills  as  well  as  hosiery  and  knitting 
mills  and  other  corporations.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
extensive  real  estate  owners  in  this  section  of  North 
Carolina.  Mr.  Wright  has  recently  buUt  a  country 
home  near  Durham,  but  keeps  an  office  in  the  city 
of  Durham,  from  which  he  conducts  his  business 
looking  after  his  large  real  estate  and  other 
interests. 

In  June,  1884,  he  married  Mamie  Exum  of 
Fremont,  North  Carolina.  She  died  in  June,  1885, 
and  their  only  daughter  Mamie  Exura  Wright  diecl 
at  the  age  of  four  years. 

Walter  Herman  Clark.  While  the  exigencies 
of  the  World  war  have  called  forth  unusual  effort 
in  the  line  of  chemical  research,  and  manufactur- 
ing thereby  has  been  greatly  stimulated.  East- 
ern North  Carolina  for  a  number  of  years  has 
had  on  the  market  valuable  products  of  her  mills 
that  need  no  further  chemical  improvement.  Many 
years  ago  American  scientists  began  to  experi- 
ment with  a  prolific  product  of  the  warm,  sandy 
soil  along  the  eastern  shore  of  North  Carolina, 
meeting  with  results  that  justify  the  assertion 
that  the  once  "lowly  peanut"  has  become  one  of 
the  most  dependable  and  profitable  crops  of  this 
section.  At  tlie  present  time  the  demand  for  these 
little  oblong  nuts  in  their  original  state  is  stu- 
pendous, for  scientists  have  still  further  discov- 
ered their  Phemical  value  as  a  food,  while  their 
agreeable  taste  when  properly  roasted  makes  them 
satisfying  to  an  epicure.  Far  beyond  this,  how- 
ever, is  the  commercial  value  of  this  pod  of  the 
Araehis  hypogaea,  of  peculiar  habit  and  abundant 
yield.  Its  manufacture  into  food  delicacies  is 
going  on,  but  mainly  its  manufacture  into  a 
superior  oil  has  made  its  value  of  so  great  im- 
portance. It  is  one  of  the  increasingly  impor- 
tant industries  of  this  section,  one  in  which  large 
capital  is  invested  and  which  engages  the  ener- 
gies of  many  men  of  keen  business  foresight.  One 
of  tliese,  who  is  a  leading  factor  in  the  business 
in  Cliowan  and  adjacent  counties,  is  Walter 
Herman  Clark,  who  is  a  prominent  citizen  of 
Edenton. 

Walter  Herman  Clark  is  a  native  of  North  Car- 
olina, born  at  Pantego  in  Beaufort  Count}',  De- 
cember 20,  1874.  His  parents  were  Walter  and 
Augusta  E.  (Simmons)  Clark,  well  known  jieople 
in  that  part  of  the  state.  His  father  engaged  in 
merchandising  and  also  in  lumber  manufacturing. 

In  private  schools  and  the  Pantego  Academy 
Mr.  Clark  secured  his  education.  Of  a  practical 
turn  of  mind,  he  gave  his  father  assistance  until 
ready  to  embark  in  business  for  himself,  and 
quickly  recognizing  the  certain  rewards  await- 
ing in  certain  manufacturing  lines,  turned  his 
entire  attention  to  this  activity  and  has  since  been 
engaged  in  the  peanut  manufacturing  business  ex- 
clusively. He  is  the  capable  and  energetic  manager 
of  tlie  Edenton  Peanut  Company,  a  widely  known 
concern. 

Mr.  Clark  was  married  December  28,  1905,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Lee  Rhodes,  a  member  of  a  well 
known  family  of  Elizabeth  City,  Pasquotank 
County,  North  Carolina.  They  have  two  sons, 
Walter  Rliodes  and  Lawrence  Bonner.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Clark  are  active  members  of  tlie  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  at  Edenton  and  Mr.  Clark  is  a 
member  of  its  board  of  stewards. 


200 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


In  politics  Mr.  Clark  is  i<leutified  with  the  dem- 
ocratic party  and,  elected  ou  that  ticket,  he  has 
served  the  City  of  Kdentoa  faithfully  and  con- 
scientiously as  councilman,  his  civic  duties  con- 
tinuing as  chairman  of  the  important  commit- 
tee on  street  improvements,  which  work  is  well 
under  way.  His  public  spirit  has  been  evidenced 
in  many  directions,  officially  and  otherwise,  his 
acknowledged  business  judgment  making  his  sug- 
gestions worth  while. 

John  D.  Norwood.  Always  ready  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  every  offered  opportunity  for  advancing 
his  own  interests  and  those  of  his  home  city,  John 
D.  Norwood 's  grand  success  in  life  is  not  the 
result  of  heredity,  environment,  or  chance,  but  is 
the  logical  consequences  of  his  own  untiring  in- 
dustry, keen  foresight,  and  sound  business  judg- 
ment, which  have  placed  him  among  the  leading 
citizens  of  Salisbury.  He  was  born  in  Winston, 
North  Carolina,  in  1876,  a  son  of  George  Wash- 
ington Norwood  and  grandson  of  Nathaniel  Nor- 
wood, who  was  born  in  Williamsburg,  this  state, 
where  his  father,  John  Norwood,  was  'a  pioneer 
settler. 

Born  in  Williamsburg,  in  that  part  of  Gran- 
ville County  that  is  now  included  in  Vance  County, 
George  Washington  Norwood  was  there  brought 
up  and  educated.  Subsequently  removing  to  Per- 
son County,  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
tobacco.  During  the  Civil  war  he  was  detailed 
to  care  for  dependent  families  of  Confederate  sol- 
diers and  to  secure  supplies  for  the  Confederate 
Army.  After  the  war  he  removed  fo  Winston, 
which  was  a  small  place,  important  only  as  being 
the  county  seat  of  Forsyth  County.  Resuming 
his  former  occupation,  he  was  there  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  tobacco  until  his  death,  in 
1879.  He  married  Bettie  Lawson,  who  was  born 
in  Halifax  County,  Virginia,  in  1841.  Her  father, 
David  Lawson,  born  in  Virginia  in  1803,  removed 
to  North  Carolina,  and  having  purchased  a  large 
plantation  in  Person  County  managed  it  with 
slave  help,  having  upwards  of  200  slaves.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Jane  Bailey,  was 
born  in  1819.  Mrs.  Bettie  (Lawson)  Norwood  is 
now  a  resident  of  Salisbury,  making  her  home  with 
her  only  child,  John  D.  Norwood. 

An  ambitious  student  as  a  boy  and  youth,  John 
D.  Norwood  attended  Randolph  and  Macon  College 
at  Bedford  City,  Virginia,  his  mother  having 
moved  to  Halifax  County,  that  state,  after  the 
death  of  her  husband,  and  later  completing  his 
studies  at  Trinity  College,  North  Carolina.  Soon 
after  leaving  that  institution,  Mr.  Norwood  em- 
barked in  the  wholesale  grocery  trade  at  South 
Boston,  Halifax  County,  Virginia,  continuing  there 
until  1905.  Coming  then  to  Salisbury,  North 
Carolina,  he  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Peo- 
ples National  Bank,  with  which  he  has  since  been 
officially  and  prominently  connected,  having 
served  as  its  cashier  until  1917,  when  he  was  elected 
to  his  present  position  as  vice  president.  Wide- 
awake, enterprising  and  far-seeing,  Mr.  Norwood 
has  other  interests  aside  from  the  bank,  and  in 
addition  to  ably  and  satisfactorily  performing  aU 
of  the  duties  devolving  upon  him  as  cashier  and 
as  vice  president,  is  actively  identified  with  various 
substantial  enterprises. 

Mr.  Norwood  married,  in  1902,  Mary  McCanless. 
She  was  born  at  Gold  Hill,  Rowan  County,  a 
daughter  of  Napoleon  B.  and  Georgia  (Mauney) 
McCanless.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Norwood  have  two  chil- 
dren, Katie  and  John  D.,  Jr.    Fraternally  Mr.  Nor- 


wood is  a  member  of  Andrew  Jackson  Lodge, 
Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons;  of 
Salisbury  Chapter,  No.  20,  Royal  Arch  Masons;  of 
Salisbury  Commandery  No.  13,  Knights  Templar; 
of  Acea  Temple,  at  Richmond,  Virginia;  of  Salis- 
bury Lodge  No.  24,  Knights  of  Pythias;  and  of 
Sali.sbury  Lodge  No.  699,  Benevolent  and  Pro- 
tective Order  of  Elks.  Active  and  influential  in 
the  management  of  municipal  affaii's,  Mr.  Norwood 
is  a  member  of  the  Salisbury  Board  of  Aldermen; 
a  member  of  its  finance  committee,  of  which  he 
has  been  chairman  the  past  six  years,  and  is  now 
serving  as  mayor,  pro  tem.  Mr.  Norwood  is  prom- 
inent in  both  business,  financial  and  political 
circles,  and  his  beautiful  home  is  the  center  of 
social  activities,  he  and  his  accomplished  wife  re- 
ceiving and  entertaining  their  many  friends  therein 
with  a  sincere  and  generous  hospitality. 

Jesse  Fr.\xklin  Hargkave.  Distinguished  not 
only  for  the  honored  ancestry  from  which  he  traces 
his  descent,  but  for  the  active  and  prominent  part 
he  has  taken  in  advancing  the  mercantile  and 
agricultural  interests  of  Davidson  County,  Jesse 
v.  Hargrave,  of  Lexington,  holds  a  noteworthy 
position  among  the  respected  and  valued  citizens 
of  his  community.  A  lineal  descendant  of  one  of 
the  founders  of  Lexington,  both  he  and  his  father, 
Jesse  Hamilton  Hargrave,  were  born  and  bred  in 
Lexington,  the  birth  of  the  latter  having  occurred 
November  17,  1816.  His  grandfather,  Jesse  Har- 
grave, was  born  in  Guilford  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, in  early  pioneer  days. 

Mr.  Hargrave 's  great-grandfather  on  the 
paternal  side  came  from  England  to  America,  ac- 
companied  by  a  brother,  and  both  located  first  in 
Virginia,  on  "the  .James  River,  not  far  from  Rich- 
mond. The  brother  subsequently  moved  to  Pitt- 
sylvania County,  Virginia,  where  numerous  of  his 
descendants  are  still  living.  The  great-grandfather 
made  his  way  to  Guilford  County,  North  Carolina, 
and  having  purchased  land  in  the  locality  known 
as  Deep  River,  cleared  and  improved  a  homestead. 
For  awhile  he  kept  slaves,  but  after  joining  the 
Friends  Church  he  liberated  aU  of  them. 

Brought  up  and  educated  in  Guilford  County, 
.Jesse  Hargrave  came  from  there  to  Rowan  County, 
and  settled  on  what  is  now  the  present  site  of 
Lexington,  Davidson  County.  With  the  limited 
capital,  it  is  said,  of  $100,  he  purchased  a  tract 
of  land  now  included  within  the  city  limits,  and 
embarked  in  mercantile  pursuits,  being  one  of  the 
first  merchants  of  the  county,  his  store  having  been 
located  at  the  corner  of  South  Main  Street  and 
Sixth  Avenue.  Upon  the  organization  of  Davidson 
County,  he  was  elected  as  its  first  representative 
in  the  State  Legislature.  The  issue  in  the  cam- 
paign was  the  permanent  location  of  the  county 
seat,  and  through  his  persistent  and  efficient  efforts 
in  the  Legislature  Lexington  defeated  her  rival 
for  the  honor,  and  was  made  capital  of  the  new 
county. 

At  that  time  there  were  no  railways  in  the 
country,  and  Mr.  Hargrave  (.Jesse)  used  to  go  on 
horseback  to  Philadelphia  to  buy  goods,  and  they 
were  shipped  by  water  to  FayetteviUe,  and  from 
there  were  transported  with  teams  to  Lexington. 
He  was  a  very  successful  business  man,  and  became 
one  of  the  most  extensive  real  estate  holders  in 
the  county,  his  farm  lands  extending  from  the 
city  limits  south  to  the  river.  The  maiden  name 
of  his  wife  was  Elizabeth  Jane  Lindsay.  She  was 
born  in  Guilford  Countv.  a  daughter  of  Robert 
Lindsay,  who  married  a  Miss  De  A'ane,  and  grand- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


201 


daughter  of  John  Lindsay,  who  settled  iu  Guil- 
ford County  in  1725.  Both  lie  and  his  wife  are 
buried  in  the  Jersey  Baptist  Churchyard.  They 
were  the  parents  of  seven  children,  as  follows: 
Robert  L.,  Samuel,  Alfred,  John,  Franklin,  Jesse 
Hamilton,  and  Susan.  The  daughter  was  twice 
married,  marrying  first  a  Mr.  Hilliard,  then  a 
Mr.  Humphreys.  Both  Samuel  and  Alfred  became 
prominent  in  public  affairs  and  both  served  in  the 
State  Legislature.  Alfred  was  also  a  county  com- 
missiouer,  and  was  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

Jes.se  Hamilton  Hargrave  was  educated  at 
Chapel  Hill,  but  instead  of  adopting  a  profession 
he  was  for  a  number  of  years  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits.  He  acquired  considerable  landed 
property,  becoming  owner  of  a  well-tilled  and  well- 
equipped  farm,  lying  three  miles  south  of  Lexing- 
ton, and  had  slaves  until  they  were  freed.  For 
many  years  his  home  was  located  on  the  present 
site  of  the  postoffioe  Imilding.  Disposing  of  that 
property  after  the  war,  he  spent  a  year  on  the 
farm,  and  then  returned  to  Lexington,  where  he 
remained  a  resident  until  his  death,  October  20, 
1879.  During  the  progress  of  the  war,  he  served 
as  tithe  collector. 

Jesse  Hamilton  Hargrave  was  twice  married. 
He  married  first  Ebza  Overman,  aunt  of  Senator 
Overman.  She  died  in  earlv  life,  leaving  three 
children,  Tnllia,  .Tohn  and  Ida.  He  married  for 
his  second  wife  Martha  Clement.  She  was  born 
in  Mocksville,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  .Te.sse 
and  Malinda  (Nail)  Clement.  Six  children  were 
born  of  their  union,  namelv:  Sallie,  Minnie.  Jesse 
Franklin,  Mary  Lee,  Charles  Clement,  and  Robert 
Samuel.  Sallie,  widow  of  the  late  Rev.  William  C. 
Norman,  resides  in  Lexington,  as  do  her  sisters, 
Minnie  and  Mary  Lee.  Cliarles  C,  also  of  Lex- 
ington, was  for  many  years  a  traveling  salesman 
for  the  MeCormick  Harvester  Company,  and  is 
now  similarly  employed  by  H.  H.  Babcock. 

Jesse  Franklin  Hargrave  was  prepared  for  col- 
lege under  the  tutelage  of  Prof.  Mathew  Davis,  and 
afterwards  attended  Old  Trinity  for  a  year.  Re- 
turning to  Lexington,  he  opened  a  hardware  store, 
and  at  the  same  time  was  local  agent  for  the 
MeCormick  Harvester  Company.  At  the  end  of 
two  years,  Mr.  Hargrave  entered  the  employ  of 
the  Harvester  Company,  and  traveled  throughout 
Virginia,  and  North  and  South  Carolina,  introduc- 
ing and  sellinsr  MeCormick  machinery  to  the  farm- 
ers of  his  territory.  Resigning  the  position  at  the 
end  of  sixteen  vears.  Mr.  Hargrave  was  for  twelve 
years  connected  with  H.  H.  Babcock  &  Company 
as  agent.  Tn  the  meantime,  he  became  interested 
in  mercantile  business  with  his  brother,  Cliarles 
C.  Hargrave.  Mr.  Hargrave  owns  a  portion  of 
the  ancestral  farm  lands,  and  also  owns  one-half 
interest  in  the  Governor  Halt  farm  at  Linwood, 
North  Carolina.  To  the  management  of  these  he 
devotes  a  large  part  of  his  time,  residing,  how- 
ever, with  his  sisters,  in  Lexington. 

Joseph  T.  Fot.  Some  of  the  best  riches  and 
values  of  life  come  to  those  who  have  their  asso- 
ciations and  memories  concentrated  in  one  locality 
from  earliest  childhood  recollections.  That  was  the 
experience  of  the  late  Mr.  Joseph  T.  Foy  of  Scott's 
Hill  in  Pender  County.  But  he  was  liot  for  that 
reason  an  obscure  citizen,  since  his  life  between 
birth  and  death  had  counted  largely  in  the  for- 
tunes of  the  community,  and  his  name  was  an 
honored  one  in  many  parts  of  Eastern  North 
Carolina.     The  City  of  Wilmington  regarded  him 


as  one  of  the  important  sources  of  business  wel- 
fare of  that  community.  From  the  many  tributes 
spoken  and  written  concerning  Mr.  Foy  it  is  evi- 
denced that  his  place  of  esteem  was  worthily  earned 
and  justified. 

He  was  born  November  16,  1846,  and  died  after 
a  very  brief  illness  on  April  26,  1918,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-two.  The  plantation  where  he  was  born 
was  also  the  home  where  he  died,  and  like  his 
ancestors  he  had  always  been  a  planter  and 
farmer.  His  abilities  went  out  to  touch  many  of 
the  varied  business  and  public  interests  of  his 
county  and  state,  and  he  was  honored  with  nearly 
every  office  in  the  gift  of  his  fellow  citizens.  But 
'all  the  time  his  heart  was  at  his  home,  which  is  a 
place  singularly  dignified  among  the  fine  country 
estates  of  North  Carolina. 

The  Foy  home  was  formerly  in  New  Hanover 
County,  but  since  1875  has  been  in  Pender  County. 
The  lands  of  the  plantation  and  estate  embrace 
S^r>  acres  and  extend  from  the  main  street  of  the 
Village  of  Scott's  Hill  to  salt  water.  The  east 
bounciary  of  the  plantation  is  Lower  Topsail 
Sound.  It  is  a  beautiful  and  healthful  location, 
affording  every  charm  and  comfort  of  a  country 
home  and  the  salubrious  climate  assured  by  the 
salt  air  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Its  situation  gives 
it  a  splendid  climate  both  summer  and  winter. 

The  old  homestead  was  erected  in  1850  by  the 
father  of  the  late  proprietor.  Its  perfect  state 
of  preservation  attests  the  perfect  quality  of  tim- 
ber put  into  it  and  the  soundness  of  all  materials. 
Mr.  Foy  's  father  personally  selected  the  trees  from 
which  the  timber  and  lumber  were  made  and  su- 
perintended every  detail  of  the  ''onstruetion.  It  is 
a  large  and  beautiful  mansion  of  the  old  type, 
built  in  generous  proportions,  and  its  setting  amidst 
a  beautiful  grove  of  surrounding  trees  is  remark- 
ably impressive. 

Joseph  T.  Foy 's  father  was  Joseph  Mumford 
Foy  and  his  mother  Mary  A.  (Simmons)  Foy.  The 
Foys  are  of  French  origin,  but  have  been  in  this 
part  of  North  Carolina  since  the  time  of  the  Revo- 
lution. It  was  nearly  200  years  ago  that  the 
family  settled  in  Jones  and  Onslow  counties. 
One  of  Mr.  Foy's  paternal  ancestors,  a  great- 
grandfather, was  Col.  Henry  Rhodes,  who  was  one 
of  the  patriots  that  marked  the  way  for  separation 
of  the  colonies  of  America  from  the  mother  coun- 
try in  the  early  days  of  the  Revolution.  The 
following  is  a  summary  of  Colonel  Rhodes'  public 
service.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  general  meet- 
ing of  the  deputies  held  at  New  Bern,  North 
Carolina,  on  the  3d  of  April,  1775,  representing 
Onslow  County;  also  was  sent  to  Hillsboro  on  the 
same  mission  August  21,  1776,  and  was  a  delegate 
to  the  congress  at  Halifax  to  form  a  constitution 
for  North  Carolina,  this  convention  assembling  on 
the  12th  day  of  November,  177.6.  He  was  a  lieu- 
tenant colonel  in  the  Revolutionary  forces  from 
Onslow  County  in  1776.  During  the  years  1777, 
1778,  1779,  1780.  1781  and  1782  Colonel  Rhodes 
was  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  of  North 
Carolina.,  serving  those  periods  in  the  Senate. 

Joseph  M.  Foy,  father  of  the  late  .loseph  T. 
Foy,  was  born  at  the  old  home  at  Scott 's  Hill 
May  25,  1817.  This  was  the  home  of  his  father 
.Tames  Foy.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  plantations  of 
continuous  residence  of  one  family  in  this  part  of 
the  state.  Joseph  M.  Foy  died  April  1,  1861.  He 
and  his  wife  were  the  parents  of  several  chil- 
dren, three  sons  surviving:  H.  S.  Foy  of  Winston- 
Salem  :  J.  W.  Foy  of  Scott 's  Hill ;  aiid  F.  M.  Fov 
of  Scott's  Hill. 


202 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Josepli  T.  Foy  was  not  yet  fifteen  years  old 
when  the  war  liroke  out  between  the  states.  Not- 
withstanding his  youth  he  served  in  a  civil  position 
with  the  Confederate  Government  during  the  last 
year  or  so  of  tlie  war.  His  experience  in  business 
affairs  and  liis  success  in  life  have  led  to  his  beiufi; 
chosen  by  the  peoijle  of  his  county  to  fill  important 
public  positions.  For  twelve  years  he  was  ch.air- 
man  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Pender 
County.  In  1900  he  was  elected  state  senator, 
serving  in  the  session  of  1901.  In  1902  he  was 
chosen  representative  and  was  in  the  session  of 
1903  in  the  Lower  House,  and  by  election  in  1908 
was  again  in  the  General  Assembly  in  1909.  In 
1912  he  was  again  elected  to  the  House  and  helped 
perfect  the  legislative  program  of  1913.  During 
his  term  as  county  commissioner  both  the  court- 
house and  jail  were  built.  The  citizens  of  Pender 
were  glad  to  entrust  Mr.  Foy  with  any  public 
position  he  would  accept,  knowing  that  he  dis- 
charged all  public  responsibilities  with  fidelity  to 
his  trust  and  to  the  be.st  interests  of  the  people  as 
a  whole.  His  part  was  always  that  of  a  leader  in 
progressive  movements  and  improvements.  He 
may  be  credited  with  an  important  share  of  the 
movement  which  brought  about  the  construction 
of  what  was  formerly  known  as  the  Wilmington, 
Onslow  &  Kast  Carolina  Railroad,  now  a  part  of 
the  Atlantic  Coast  Line.  This  was  built  through 
Pender  County  from  Wilmington  to  New  Bern 
and  was  completed  in  1890. 

He  became  well  and  favorably  known  to  the  City 
of  Wilmington,  where  he  had  numerous  business 
interests,  being  a  large  ovrner  of  real  estate  and  a 
director  of  the  People 's  Savings  Bank.  Mr.  Foy 
was  a  stanch  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South,  holding  his  membership  at  Scott's 
Hill,  and  was  always  ready  with  counsel  and  money 
to  contribute  to  any  aid  that  his  church  required. 
His  was  the  type  of  all  round  good  citizenship 
such  as  no  community  can  afford  to  lose,  and 
whose  position  it  is  difficult  to  fill. 

Mr.  Foy  married  Miss  Nora  Dozicr  November 
8,  1871.  She  was  born  in  Marion  County,  South 
Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  T.  J.  and  SaUie 
(Gause)  Dozier,  both  natives  of  Marion  County. 
Dr.  T.  J.  Dozier  was  born  in  1828  and  was  a 
large  land  owner  and  prominent  physician.  He 
was  twice  married,  l>oth  times  to  ladies  of  the  same 
name  and  first  cousins.  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Foy 
passed  away  during  the  daughter's  infancy.  The 
children  of  the  second  marriage  are:  Mrs.  Jacob 
Harrell,  Mrs.  F.  M.  Foy,  both  residents  of  Scott's 
Hill;  J.  L.  Dozier  of  Conway,  South  Carolina; 
Charles  E.  Dozier  of  Marion,  South  Carolina. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  T.  Foy  four  children 
were  born,  all  passing  away  in  infancy.  In  1895 
they  adopted  Eobert  Lee  Foy,  a  nephew,  whom 
they  gave  a  college  education  and  who  now  has 
entire  charge  of  Mr.  Foy 's  plantation. 

Robert  Lee  Foy  married  Elizabeth  Dozier  Abbey, 
a  niece  of  Mrs.  Foy,  and  has  two  children,  Eliza- 
beth Alibey  Foy  and  Theresa  Gertrude  Foy,  aged 
four  and  two  years  respectively.  Mr.  Robert  Lee 
Foy  and  family  reside  in  the  p.alatial  home  of  the 
Foys  at  Scott's  Hill. 

P.\GE  Keen  Gr.welt.  Men  of  education,  of 
financial  staldlity  and  of  social  standing  are  rep- 
resented in  the  membership  of  the  bar  of  Rocky 
Mount.  The  American  Bar  Association  adopted 
a  statement  that  a  lawyer  finds  his  highest  honor 
in  a  deserved  reputation  for  fidelity  to  private- 
trust  and  to  public  duty,  as  an  honest  man  and  a 


patriotic  and  loyal  citizen,  and  as  an  able  mem- 
ber of  this  body  attention  may  be  called  to  Page 
Keen  Gravely,  who  is  the  jiresent  city  solicitor. 

Page  Keen  Gravely  is  a  Virginian,  born  in 
Franklin  County  June  20,  1888.  His  parents  are 
John  Oglesliy  Winston  Gravely  and  his  wife,  Lula 
(Keen)  Gravely,  natives  of  Henry  County.  His 
father  is  in  the  leaf  tobacco  business. 

Page  K.  Gravely  was  educated  in  a  private 
school,  at  Randolph-Macon  Academy  and  Ran- 
dolph-Macon College,  Ashland,  Virginia,  and  spent 
three  years  as  a  student  in  the  law  department  of 
the  University  of  Virginia  and  also  studied  law  in 
the  University  of  North  Carolina.  He  was  li- 
censed to  practice  in  Virginia  in  1911  and  in 
North  Carolina  in  1912.  Locating  for  practice 
at  Rocky  Mount,  this  young  lawyer  soon  showed 
the  possession  of  a  keen  mind,  vigorous  and  alert. 
He  had  been  called  a  close  and  sound  student  and 
when  he  went  into  j  ractice  it  was  found  that  his 
gras]i  of  every  ])rinciple  was  broad  and  seoure. 
He  was  elected  city  solicitor  in  1912  and  served 
two  years  and  then  resigned  in  order  to  give 
more  attention  to  his  growing  private  practice, 
but  he  was  re-elected  and  is  serving  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  having  been  continuously  in  the  office 
since  1912,  with  the  exception  of  eighteen  months. 

Mr.  Gravely  was  married  December  16,  ]91ti,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Haynes,  who  was  born  in  Frank- 
lin County,  Virginia,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam Daniel  and  Fannie  (James)  Haynes.  The 
father  of   Mrs.   Gravely   is   a  planter   in   Virginia. 

Mr.  Gravely  is  a  member  of  the  North  Car- 
olina Bar  Association.  He  is  identified  with  the 
leading  fraternities,  is  a  Knight  of  Pythias, 
Odd  Fellow  and  Elk,  and  is  far  advanced  in  Ma- 
sonry and  lielongs  to  the  Mystic  Shrine.  He  is 
president  of  the  Rocky  Mount  "Shrine"  Club,  and 
has  membership  also  in  various  social,  political, 
recreation  and   benevolent   organizations. 

WiLLi.iiit  Henry  Fetter,  a  native  of  old  Salem 
and  of  one  of  the  families  long  resident  in  that 
vicinity,  is  now  a  successful  building  contractor 
at  Winston-Salem.  Though  he  learned  his  trade  at 
Salem,  he  followed  the  process  of  the  real  old- 
time  .ionrneyman  and  as  a  worker  at  his  trade  has 
seen  much  of  the  United  States  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  and  has  lived  in  some  of  the  largest  cities 
of  the  country. 

He  was  born  at  Salem  June  10,  1883.  In  the 
paternal  line  the  record  of  the  family  begins  with 
his  great-grandfather,  Jacob  Fetter,  who  was  a 
carpenter  and  lived  at  Oldtown,  in  what  was  then 
Stokes  County.  He  developed  unusual  proficiency 
in  the  making  of  window  frames.  These  frames 
he  would  put  on  a  wheelbarrow  as  they  were  made 
and  roll  them  into  Salem  village,  where  they  found 
ready  sale.  He  lived  to  be  a  very  old  man.  He 
reared  three  sons,  Thomas,  Peter  and  William,  and 
three  daughters,  Belinda,  Henrietta  and  Rebecca. 

William  Fetter,  the  grandfather,  was  born  at 
Oldtown,  in  what  was  then  Stokes  but  is  now  For- 
syth County,  North  Carolina,  and  for  a  vocation 
learned  carriage  making.  He  worked  at  his  trade 
in  the  locality  then  known  as  Liberty,  but  now 
North  Winston.  He  finally  went  west  and  spent 
his  last  years  there.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Paulina  Shore.  She  was  born  at  Oldtown, 
North  Carolina,  May  4,  1833,  and  is  still  living  at 
Winston-Salem.  After  the  death  of  her  first  hus- 
band she  married  James  Reid.  By  her  first  mar- 
riage she  had  two  children,  Charles  and  Elizabeth, 
and  by  her  second  union  reared  one  daughter,  Ella. 


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HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


203 


Paulina  Shore  was  a  daughter  of  Jacob  Shore, 
wlio  was  also  born  near  Oldtown,  a  son  of  Peter 
Shore,  a  native  of  Germany.  Peter  Shore  was  an 
early  settler  in  what  is  now  Forsyth  County  and 
owned  and  operated  a  plantation  near  Oldtown, 
where  he  died.  .Taeob  Shore  was  a  farmer,  and 
met  with  an  accidental  death,  having  been  thrown 
from  a  horse  and  killed  when  in  the  prime  of  his 
years.  Jacob  Shore  married  Betty  Hauser,  who 
was  born  near  Oldtown,  a  daughter  of  Lawrence 
Hauser,  a  native  of  the  same  locality  and  a  planter 
whose  large  farm  was  near  Oldtown.  Lawrence 
Hauser  married  Patsy  Clayton.  Lawrence  Hauser 
had  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Eevolutionary  war. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  lived  to  a  good  old  age. 
Jacob  Shores '  wife  survived  him  several  years, 
and  they  reared  three  children:  Paulina,  Henry  L. 
and  Sanford.  Sanford  Shore  was  a  Confederate 
soldier  and  died  while  in  the  army. 

Charles  Thomas  Fetter,  who  was  born  at  Salem, 
in  Forsyth  County,  and  died  in  April,  1917,  learned 
the  trade  of  bricklayer  and  followed  that  trade 
for  many  years.  He  married  Elizabeth  Harmon, 
a  daughter  of  Madison  and  Phebe  (Weaver)  Har- 
mon. Her  paternal  grandparents  were  Felty  and 
Betty  (Charles)  Harmon,  and  on  the  maternal  side 
her  grandparents  were  John  and  Kate  Weaver. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Fetter  had  three  children, 
William  H.,  Charles  and  Elizabeth. 

William  H.  Fetter  was  educated  in  the  Boys' 
School  at  Salem,  where  he  graduated  with  the  class 
of  1899.  He  learned  bricklaying  under  his  father, 
and  in  order  to  supplement  his  school  advantages 
and  vocational  training  he  spent  part  of  the  year 
190.3  in  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College 
at  Raleigh.  Returning  to  the  old  home  he  worked 
with  his  father  until  February,  1905. 

On  leaving  North  Carolina  his  first  destination 
was  Washington,  D.  C,  where  he  witnessed  the 
inauguration  of  President  Roosevelt  in  March, 
1905.  He  worked  at  his  trade  in  Baltimore  until 
July  of  that  year,  and  then  put  in  a  year  in  New 
York  City.  Going  west,  he  stopped  and  worked 
for  brief  intervals  in  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City, 
and  in  August,  1906,  went  to  San  Francisco.  The 
great  San  Francisco  earthquake  and  fire  occurred 
in  the  spring  of  1906,  and  when  Mr.  Fetter  arrived 
the  city  was  still  desolate  and  in  ruins.  There 
was  an  extraordinary  demand  for  workers  at  his 
trade,  and  he  remained  there  three  and  a  half  years. 
While  working  on  the  Emporium  Building  he  fell 
from  a  scaffold  and  was  severely  injured.  He 
received  another  injury,  but  this  time  financially, 
when  he  lost  a  thousand  dollars  of  his  savings  in 
the  failure  of  a  bank. 

In  the  spring  of  1910  Mr.  Fetter  returned  east, 
again  worked  at  his  trade  in  New  York  City,  but 
in  the  spring  of  1911  returned  to  Winston-Salem 
and  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  business  of 
building  contractor.  He  has  a  reputation  as  a  re- 
liable business  man,  maintains  an  expert  staff  of 
workmen,  and  has  all  the  facilities  for  first-class 
work. 

In  1910  he  married  Annie  Merle  Groff.  She 
was  born  at  Marietta,  Lancaster  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, daughter  of  Sylvanus  and  Emma  Virginia 
GrofP,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Lancaster 
County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fetter  have  four  children: 
William  Henry,  Jr.,  Edner  Merle,  David  and  Vera. 

Mrs.  Fetter  was  reared  as  a  Methodist  while 
Mr.  Fetter  grew  up  as  a  Moravian,  and  is  an 
active  member  of  the  Calvary  Moravian  Church  at 
Winston-Salem.  Fraternally  his  affiliations  are 
with    Salem   Lodge   No.    289,    Ancient    Free    and 


Accepted  Masons;  Winston  Chapter  No.  2-1,  Royal 
Arch  Masons;  Piedmont  Commandery  No.  6, 
Knights  Templar,  and  also  with  the  Benevolent  and 
Protective  Order  of  Elks. 

William  Gaston  Penry  was  one  of  the  men 
who  supplied  much  of  the  energy  and  enterprise 
to  the  business  affairs  of  Lexington  for  many 
years.  He  was  born  at  Lexington  in  July,  185a, 
a  son  of  Eli  and  Catherine  (Headen)  Penry.  He 
was  a  grandson  of  James  and  Hannah  (Boone) 
I'enry.  His  grandmother,  Hannah  Boone,  was  a 
granddaughter  of  Squire  Boone  and  a  granduiece 
of  Daniel  Boone. 

William  G.  Penry  was  reared  and  educated  at 
Lexington  and  began  his  active  career  as  clerk 
in  a  mercantile  establishment.  He  displayed  those 
qualities  and  habits  which  inevitably  have  their 
compensation  in  promotion  and  progress,  and  in 
the  course  of  time  invested  his  modest  capital  in 
a  business  of  his  own  and  so  carefully  looked  after 
his  affairs  that  the  closing  years  of  his  life  found 
him  more  than  moderately  prosperous  and  the 
owner  of  a  large  estate.  He  was  active  in  busi- 
ness life  until  his  death  on  January  1,  191.3. 

Mr.  Penry  married  Mrs.  Sallie  Lee  (Nooe) 
Hege,  daughter  of  Bennett  and  Mary  A.  (Watson) 
Nooe.  She  was  the  widow  of  William  E.  Hege 
mentioned  on  other  pages  of  this  work.  Mrs. 
Penry  and  her  daughter,  Elizabeth,  still  occupy 
the  fine  old  home  at  Lexington. 

William  E.  Hege  during  his  active  career  was 
a  prominent  business  man  at  Lexington,  where  his 
widow  and  only  daughter  still  reside.  Through  his 
name  it  is  possible  to  trace  the  connections  of  some 
of  the  most  prominent  families  in  Western  North 
Carolina. 

He  was  born  at  Lexington,  a  son  of  Alexander 
Chri'stian  and  Tryphena  Theresa  (King)  Hege. 
His  paternal  grandparents  were  Christian  and 
Maria  (Vogler)  Hege,  while  his  great-grandpar- 
ents were  John  Lazarus  and  Eva  (Fischer)  Hege. 
The  Heges,  the  Fischers  and  the  Voglers  were  all 
of  German  ancestry  and  were  among  the  pioneers 
of  North  Carolina.  The  Hege  family  settled  near 
Friedburg,  the  Fischers  in  or  near  Bethania  in 
what  is  now  Forsyth  County,  while  the  Voglers 
founded  their  homes  at  Old  Salem. 

Alexander  Christian  Hege,  father  of  William  E. 
Hege,  removed  to  Lexington,  North  Carolina,  and 
engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  for  many  years 
and  lived  there  until  his  death.  He  was  reared 
in  the  Moravian  Church.  On  account  of  his  mar- 
riage to  a  Presbyterian  he  was  excommunicated, 
and  then  became  active  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  served  as  an  elder. 

He  and  his  wife  were  married  in  April,  1849. 
His  wife,  Tryphena  Theresa  King,  was  born  at 
Sharon.  Connecticut,  in  February,  1827.  Her  fa- 
ther, Roswell  Allen  King,  was  a  notable  figure  in 
North  Carolina.  A  native  of  Sharon,  Connecticut, 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  went  to  London,  England, 
and  eventually  became  connected  with  the  commis- 
sion business  in  that  city.  While  there  he  met 
and  married  Theresa  Tennant.  Thev  were  married 
April  7,  1824.  In  January,  1827,  they  returned  to 
America,  locating  at  Connecticut,  and  in  1830  came 
to  North  Carolina,  locating  in  what  is  now  Em- 
mons Township  of  Davidson  County.  Here  Ros- 
well A.  King  engaged  in  mining  and  invested  a 
large  amount  of  money  in  developing  mines  which 
were  never  profitable.  His  great-granddaughter, 
Elizabeth   Hege,   now  has   and    cherishes   a    solid 


204 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


silver  mug  which  was  made  from  ore  taken  from 
the  li-ing  mines  iu  1S38.  It  is  said  that  the  first 
siher  mined  in  the  United  States  was  taken  ±rom 
the  same  source.  IJoswell  A.  King  was  a  practiced 
metallurgist  and  in  the  course  of  his  operations  col- 
lected a  large  quantity  of  rare  geological  siseci- 
meus.  This  geological  collection  is  now  owned 
by  Ills  great-granddaughter,  Elizabeth  Hege.  In 
lSoS»  ilr.  King  went  North,  but  iu  time  was  drawn 
back  to  North  Carolina  and  located  at  Lexington 
where  lie  bought  property  and  lived  until  his 
death  on  August  .8,  1875,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six. 
His  wife,  Theresa  Tennant,  was  born  in  Belfast, 
Ireland.  Her  father,  William  Tennant,  was  a 
wealtliy  resident  of  that  city.  He  provided  liber- 
ally for  the  training  of  his  children,  and  his 
daugliter,  Theresa,  was  sent  to  a  finishing  school 
iu  London.  While  iu  school  there  she  attended  a 
party  one  of  the  guests  of  which  was  the  young 
and  talented  princess  who  afterwards  became 
Queen  Victoria.  William  Tennaut  made  it  a  stipu- 
lation that  any  man  who  married  one  of  his 
daugliters  should  take  the  name  Tennant  and  for 
that  reason  iu  matters  of  business  Roswell  A. 
King  was  known  as  Roswell  King  Tennant.  Mrs. 
Theresa  King  died  March  28,  1883,  and  both  she 
and  lier  husband  were  laid  to  rest  in  the  Fair 
Grove  Churchyard  near  Thomasville.  Their  daugh- 
ter, Trypheua  Theresa  (King)  Hege,  survived  her 
husband  a  few  years.  She  was  a  very  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  Church  all  her  life. 

William  E.  Hege  lived  a  career  in  keeping  with 
the  traditions  and  standards  of  his  notable  an- 
cestry. He  was  reared  and  educated  in  Lexington 
and  in  young  manhood  engaged  iu  the  mercantile 
business,  which  he  continued  until  his  death  when 
iu  the  prime  of  life. 

He  married  Sallie  Lee  Nooe.  She  was  born  at 
Lexington.  Her  father  Bennett  Nooe  was  born  in 
the  locality  known  as  Nooe  Hill  in  Davidson 
County  February  2.5,  1832,  a  son  of  Thomas  and 
Mrs.  "(Davis)  Nooe.  Bennett  Nooe  when  a  young 
man  left  the  home  farm  and  became  clerk  in  a 
store  at  Lexington.  His  ability  and  industry  en- 
abled him  to  establish  a  business  of  his  own  and 
he  continued  it  until  his  death  in  1S91.  Bennett 
Nooe  married  Mary  Ann  Watson,  who  was  born 
at  Lexington  February  9,  1838.  Her  father, 
Alauson  Lee  Watson,  was  born  in  Virginia.  His 
father,  John  Henry  Watson,  was  born  in  Scotland, 
and  according  to  the  best  information  obtainable 
was  brought  to  America  when  only  three  years 
of  age.  Alanson  L.  Watson  spent  his  last  years 
at  Lexington.  He  married  Elizabeth  Yarborough, 
who  was  born  May  5,  1809,  in  Davidson  County, 
daugliter  of  Thomas  Yarborough  and  .Jemima 
(Merrill)  Yarborough.  Jemima  Merrill  was  a 
daughter  of  Capt.  Benjamin  Merrill,  a  noted 
pioneer  of  North  Carolina,  prominent  at  the  time 
of  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  He  commanded 
a  band  of  regulators,  and  was  captured  by  the 
novernmcut  authorities  and  executed  in  1771.  His 
name  is  mentioned  in  Wheeler's  "History  of 
North  Carolina,"  and  there  is  a  lengthy  article 
about  him  in  a  history  of  the  ' '  Liberty  Baptist 
Association ' '  by  Elder  Henry  Sheets.  His  old 
home  was  about  four  miles  south  of  Lexington. 

Mrs.  W.  E.  Hege  was  one  of  seven  children 
named:  John,  Bennett,  Elizabeth,  Albert,  Sallie 
Lee,  Frank  and  Mary.  After  the  death  of  Mr. 
Hege,  Mrs.  Hege  married  William  Gaston  Penry, 
who  is  also  deceased.  By  her  first  marriage  she 
has  a  daughter,  Elizabeth.  Both  are  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 


C-iPT.  JosEPHUs  F.  Bu.ssELLS  is  president  of  the 
Neptune  Fisheries  Company  of  Wrhnington,  and 
a  widely  known  authority  on  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  fish  industry.  Captain  Bussells  is  a 
most  interesting  personality,  a  man  of  wide  prom- 
inence in  Wilmington,  has  had  a  life  of  experience 
and  venture  both  on  sea  and  land,  and  his  name 
more  than  that  of  any  other  individual  might  be 
used  to  introduce  some  of  the  interesting  features 
of  North  Carolina's  fishing  industry. 

Captain  Bussells  first  established  a  fishery  plant 
in  the  Wilmington  district  on  the  Cape  Fear  River 
about  eight  miles  above  the  mouth  of  that  stream 
and  on  the  Brunswick  County  side  in  1900.  That 
was  the  first  plant  of  the  kind  established  on  the 
river.  After  four  years  of  operation  Captain  Bus- 
sells  returned  to  Virginia  but  in  1908  came  back 
to  the  Cape  Fear.  He  found  that  in  the  mean- 
time his  old  plant  and  one  or  two  others  that 
had  started  up  had  been  abandoned  and  disman- 
tled. He  went  to  work  to  reestablish  the  industry 
and  organized  what  has  since  become  known  as  the 
Neptune  Fisheries  Company,  of  which  he  is  pres- 
ident and  general  manager. 

Prom  this  new  beginning  and  in  less  than  ten 
years  has  grown  the  present  great  fish  products 
manufacturing  industry  of  the  Cape  Fear  River. 
There  are  now  one  or  two  other  corporations  sim- 
iliarly  engaged.  At  present  the  capital  invested 
on  the  Cape  Fear  in  the  menhaden  business  rep- 
resents a  million  and  a  lialf  of  dollars.  For  the 
benefit  of  those  not  familiar  with  menhaden  it 
may  be  stated  that  this  is  a  sea  fish,  unfit  for 
human  food,  and  found  in  enormous  quantities 
along  the  Atlantic  Coast.  The  fish  has  various 
other  names  among  local  fisherman.  It  is  used 
primarily  for  the  manufacture  of  fish  oil  and 
guano.  No  other  industry  turns  so  much  money 
into  local  business  channels  at  Wilmington  as 
does  this  one.  In  1917  there  was  manufactured 
on  the  Cape  Fear  18,000  tons  of  fertilizer  from 
menhaden  fish  and  about  30,000  barrels  of  fish  oil. 

This  production  has  been  greatly  stimulated 
by  war  conditions.  About  11  per  cent  of  the 
glycerine  used  in  explosives  come  from  this  fish 
oil.  After  the  glycerine  is  extracted  the  residue 
is  turned  into  paint  oils,  greases  of  different 
kinds,  ingredients  for  soap,  etc.  The  uses  to  which 
tliis  oil  is  put  are  most  varied  and  important.  One 
of  the  important  ones  is  for  curing  leather,  for 
which  purpose  it  is  the  finest  oil  known.  The 
fish  ' '  scrap "  as  it  is  technically  known  produces 
the  best  ammonia  and  of  a  quality  that  is  highly 
sought  by  farmers  and  planters  and  affords  this 
element  in  its  most  perfect  form.  As  is  well 
known,  ammonia  is  one  of  the  most  indispensable 
elements  of  farm  fertilizers.  Although  this  scrap 
is  now  extensively  manufactured  at  the  Neptune 
Fisheries  Company's  works  and  similar  plants 
the  demand  is  75  per  cent  greater  than  the  out- 
put. 

The  fishing  steamers  of  the  Neptune  Fisheries 
Company  go  out  to  sea  and  bring  in  from  25 
to  200  tons  cargo  of  menhaden.  At  the  plant  these 
steamers  can  be  discharged  of  their  cargo  at  the 
rate  of  twenty-five  tons  per  hour.  At  the  Nep- 
tune plant  the  fish  are  cooked,  pressed  and  stored 
by  a  continuous  process  and  by  machinery  that 
was  devised  and  patented  by  Captain  Bussells. 
The  commercial  products  of  the  factory  are  fish 
guano  and  the  fish  oils. 

Ten  years  ago,  before  the  value  of  fish  scrap 
and  fish  oil  was  appreciated  as  it  is  today,  fish 
scrap  sold  for  about  fifteen  dollars  a  ton.     Today 


1.  X.   lUSSKLLS 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


205 


it  is  worth  fifty  dollars  a  ton.  Some  years  ago  fish 
oil  sold  for  eighteen  cents  a  gallon  while  the  pres- 
ent ijriee  with  a  highly  upward  tendency,  is  nine- 
ty-five cents  a  gallon.  In  November,  1917,  in  the 
fishing  district  ot  the  Cape  Fear  there  was  the 
biggest  catch  ever  known  on  the  Atlantic  Coast 
in  one  month,  through  all  the  history  of  the  in- 
dustry. Spurred  on  by  the  greatly  increased  world 
demand  for  tood  and  for  fertilizer  (which  is  the 
maker  of  foodj  the  industry  is  constantly  grow- 
ing. The  fishing  season  begins  the  first  of  April 
and  e.\tends  through  to  Christmas. 

lu  former  times  all  fishing  was  done  in  sail- 
ing vessels.  Fast  steamers  of  modern  construction 
and  equipment  are  now  Used.  The  modern  develop- 
ment was  further  marked  by  the  adoption  of  the 
purse  seine  and  the  adoption  of  hydraulic  presses. 

The  taxes  that  this  industry  pays  to  the  state 
amounts  to  more  in  proportion  than  any  industry 
of  equal  physical  valuation. '  First,  there  is  a 
tax  paid  on  each  purse  seine,  then  there  is  a  tax 
of  two  dollars  per  ton  for  each  of  the  vessels 
used  in  the  business,  also  the  manufacturer  's  tax, 
besides  a  tax  on  all  products  shipped,  and  last, 
the  income  tax. 

At  the  Neptune  Fisheries  Company's  plant 
about  250  men  are  employed.  Altogether  between 
1,200  and  1,500  persons  are  engaged  in  the  in- 
dustry on  the  Cape  Fear  River  and  the  jiay  roll 
amounts  to  over  $50,000  dollars  a  month. 

Captain  Bussells,  whose  name  is  pr'ominently  re- 
lated to  the  modern  industrial  affairs  of  North 
Carolina,  was  born  at  Salisbury,  Maryland,  in 
1861,  son  of  Isaac  N.  and  Mary  Adeline  (Wallace) 
Bussells.  He  is  of  French  ancestry  in  the  pater- 
nal line  and  Scotch  in  the  maternal.  His  father, 
Isaac  N.  Bussells,  had  a  remarkable  career.  He 
fought  all  through  the  war  in  the  Confederate  serv- 
ice as  a  member  of  Col.  John  N.  Moseby  's  Guerril- 
las. He  was  a  participant  in  many  of  those  haz- 
ardous sports  and  daring  adventures  so  vividly 
described  in  Colonel  Moseby 's  Memoirs,  recently 
published.  During  the  war  Isaac  Bussells  led  a 
life  that  was  filled  with  danger  and  he  had  the  per- 
fect physical  and  mental  equipment  that  rendered 
him  a  peculiarly  valuable  and  dependable  man  for 
this  kind  of  service.  He  was  a  powerful  specimen 
physically,  six  feet  four  inches  high,  weighing 
between  245  and  250  pounds,  and  with  a  fifty-six 
inch  chest  measurement.  He  retained  these  splen- 
did proportions  and  upright  bearing  and  youthful 
appearance  (not  a  gray  hair  in  his  head)  till  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five,  in  1913.  From  his  portrait  taken  in 
his  last  years  he  would  easily  be  assumed  to  be  a 
man  thirty-five  or  forty  years  old. 

His  occupation  during  most  of  his  life,  beginning 
before  he  was  twenty-one,  was  as  fisherman  and 
manufacturer  of  fish  products.  Directly  after  the 
war  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Irvington, 
Lancaster  County,  '\^rginia,  where  he  continued  in 
the  fish  business  for  a  long  number  of  years.  Ir- 
vington is  on  the  Rapjiahannock  in  the  northern 
part  of  Virginia.  It  was  there  that  Capt.  Josephus 
F.  Bussells  grew  up  and  was  trained  to  all  the  arts 
and  practices  of  the  fishing  industry  under  the  eye 
of  his  father.  He  began  it  as  a  boy,  and  in  the 
■  last  forty  years  has  fished  off  the  coast  of  every 
state  along  the  Atlantic  from  Maine  to  Florida. 
He  is,  of  course,  a  thoroughly  experienced  seaman 
and  skipper  and  holds  an  unlimited  master 's  li- 
cense on  the  coast  and  tributaries. 

Captain  Bussells  is  a  very  public  spirited  busi- 
Jiess  man  in  his  home  city  of  Wilmington.     A  year 


or  so  ago  probably  every  community  in  the  United 
States  read  and  commented  upon  the  novel  propo- 
sition that  shark's  meat  was  a  wholesome  human 
food.  Captain  Bussells  was  the  originator  of  that 
idea.  It  was  at  his  plant  that  the  Government 
carried  on  its  extensive  experiments  in  curing  and 
smoking  shark  meat  and  exploiting  its  use  as  a 
food  for  human  beings.  It  is  Captain  Bussells ' 
belief,  from  the  success  of  these  experiments 
at  his  plant  in  making  the  meat  palatable  and  a 
really  splendid  food,  and  also  because  of  its  un- 
limited supply  in  the  ocean,  that  even  if  the  world 
comes  to  a  supreme  test  as  to  food  scarcity,  tho 
peoi)le  need  never  starve  when  shark  are  as  abun- 
dant in  the  ocean  as  at  present. 

Captain  Bussells  married  at  Irvington,  Virginia, 
Miss  Zippora  Hooper  Irving,  member  of  an  old 
family  of  that  place  in  whose  honor  the  town  was 
named.  Mrs.  Bussells  was  educated  in  Murfrees- 
boro  College.  They  have  five  children;  Mrs. 
Addie  Louise  Jones,  Laura  Hooper,  Mary  Vir- 
ginia, Irving  Bonner  and  Franklin  Page. 

Jame.s  Walter  Keel.  When  great  corpora- 
tions with  their  practically  unlimited  financial  re- 
sources and  manifold  interests  choose  men  to 
guard  their  transactions  and  guide  them  within 
the  limits  of  the  law,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  care,  circumspection  and  wise  deliberation 
are  used  in  the  selection.  Thus,  when  James 
Walter  Keel,  of  the  Rocky  Mount  Bar,  was  in- 
vited by  the  great  Atlantic  Coast  Line  Railway 
Com|)any  to  become  its  special  attorney,  it  meant 
mucli  more  than  that  he  had  been  found  a  ca- 
llable lawyer — it  meant  that  he  was  the  most  able, 
diligent,  painstaking  and  trustworthy  that  the 
professional  field  offered.  The  corporation  made 
no  mistake  and  Mr.  Keel  served  acceptably  in 
this  responsible  and  honorable  office  until  191.3. 
He  is  considered  a  man  of  fine  endowments  and 
masterful  learning  in  the  law. 

James  Walter  Keel  was  born  in  Pitt  County, 
North  Carolina,  November  1,  1875,  and  is  a  son 
of  Theopholis  and  Artemisia  (Page)  Keel.  His 
fatlicr  on<;e  owned  large  plantations  and  later 
became  a  merchant.  Both  the  Keels  and  the 
Pages  are  well  known  families  in  Eastern  North 
Carolina.  During  the  war  between  the  states 
Theopholis  Keel  served  in  the  Confederate  Army 
from  1861  to  1865  and  was  auditing  sergeant  of 
Companj'  G,  Eighth  North  Carolina  Infantry. 
Subsequently  he  became  an  important  facfor  in 
Pitt  County  politics  and  served  on  the  board  of 
county  commissioners. 

James  Walter  Keel  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm.  He  had  excellent  educational  advantages, 
attending  MeWhorter  's  Academy  at  Bethel,  North 
Carolina,  and  Wilkinson 's  Male  Academy  at  Tar- 
lioro,  which  was  conducted  by  P.  S.  Wilkinson, 
who  at  that  time  was  considered  one  of  the 
leading  educators  of  Eastern  North  Carolina. 
After  he  left  school  he  engaged  with  his  brother 
for  two  years  in  a  mercantile  business  at  Mount 
Olive,  North  Carolina,  all  the  while  quietly 
studying  his  law  books  in  the  hope  that  conditions 
would  so  adjust  themselves  that  he  might  gratify 
his  ambition  and  become  a  lawyer. 

In  1901,  through  a  competitive  examination,  he 
secured  a  position  in  the  United  States  mail 
service,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  in  the  office  of 
the  general  superintendent  of  the  service  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  For  eight  years  Mr.  Keel  remained 
in  the  Government  service  and  in  the  meanwhile 
continued    his    law    studies    under    private    tutors. 


206 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


He  completed  his  law  preparation  with  Col.  A.  C. 
Davis  at  Goldsboro,  North  Carolina,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  August,  1908.  lie  located  for 
practice  at  Eoeky  Mount  and  as  above  indi- 
cated, in  1910  became  special  attorney  for  the 
Atlantic  Coast  Line  and  then  resumed  private 
practice  in  1913  and  has  made  an  enviable  name 
for  himself. 

Mi-.  Keel  was  married  July  24,  1913,  to  Miss 
Prances  Clark,  of  Spartansburg,  South  Carolina. 
She  is  a  member  of  one  of  the  old  families  there, 
her  parents  being  Martin  and  Lethea  Clark.  The 
father  of  Mrs.  Keel  is  a  farmer  and  a  manufac- 
turer. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keel  have  two  children: 
James  Walter  and  Page  Clark.  They  are  mem- 
bers of  tlie  Presbyterian  Church  and  botli  in  that 
connection  and  in  the  pleasant  social  life  of  the 
city  they  are  valued  and  esteemed.  Mr.  Keel  is 
a  member  of  the  Sagamore  Club  and  tor  many 
years  has  been  identified  with  the  Odd  Fellows  and 
the  Knights  of  Pythias. 

James  M.  McCorkle.  A  man  of  marked  abil- 
ity and  business  sagacity,  possessing  sterling 
attributes  of  character,  James  M.  McCorkle  is 
numbered  among  the  more  active  and  valued  cit- 
izens of  Salisbury,  where,  as  cashier  of  the  Davis 
&  Wiley  Bank,  he  is  prominently  identified  with 
the  financial  affairs  of  the  city.  His  father,  Major 
James  Marshall  McCorkle,  was  a  sou  of  William 
B.  McCorkle,  grandson  of  Capt.  Francis  McCorkle, 
and  great-grandson  of  the  immigrant  ancestor, 
Mathew   McCorkle. 

Born  in  Ireland  of  Scotch  parents,  Mathew  Mc- 
Corkle was  there  reared  and  educated.  Soon  after 
his  marriage  with  a  Miss  Givens,  he  came  with 
his  wife  to  America,  and  after  living  for  a  time 
in  Pennsylvania  migrated  to  North  Carolina,  enter- 
ing land  in  that  part  of  Eowan  County  now  in- 
cluded in  Iredell  County.  The  following  account 
is  taken  from  Kumple  's  History  of  Rowan  County : 
' '  Mathew  McCorkle  had  two  sons,  Thomas  and 
Francis.  Francis  married  Sarah  Work,  by  whom 
he  had  five  sons.  As  his  family  increased  he  en- 
tered more  land,  the  second  entry  having  been  on 
the  west  side  of  Catawba  River,  on  one  of  the 
tributaries  of  Mountain  Creek,  in  what  is  now 
Catawba  County.  Here  he  started  a  farm  and 
planted  an  orchard,  and  by  industry  and  skill  be- 
gan rapidly  to  accumulate  property.  He  was  said 
to  have  been  a  man  of  amiable  disposition,  and  of 
fine  personal  appearance,  of  florid  comjilexion,  au- 
burn hair,  and  about  six  feet  in  height.  When  the 
Revolutionary  war  began,  Francis  McCorkle 
promptlj*  took  his  place  on  the  side  of  the  patriots. 
In  1774  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee of  safety  of  Rowan  County,  along  with 
John  Brevard,  Matthew  Locke,  and  others. 
Though  fully  thirty  miles  from  home,  he  is  re- 
corded as  present  in  Salisbury  at  the  regular  meet- 
ings, and  is  named  in  the  records  as  captain  of  a 
company.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Kings  Moun- 
tain, Ramsom's  Mill,  Cowpens  and  Torrenee 
Tavern. 

His  patriotic  course  excited  the  animosity  of  the 
tories,  and  he  was  in  consequence  frequently  com- 
pelled to  keep  away  from  home  to  escape  their 
vengeance.  A  morning  or  two  after  the  battle  at 
Eamsom  's  Mill,  Francis  McCorkle  and  a  man 
named  Smith  rode  out  before  day  to  learn  the 
whereabouts  of  the  tories,  knowing  that  thej; 
were  in  the  neighborhood.  Arriving  at  a  neigh- 
bor 's  house,  near  the  head  of  the  creek,  about 
daylight,  they  inquired   of  the  lady  of  the  house 


where  the  tories  were.  She  replied  that  she  was 
expecting  them  every  moment.  Upon  this  the 
party  wheeled  and  rode  home  in  a  hurry  to  arrange 
matters.  After  brief  preparations  they  left  home 
and  were  scarcely  out  of  sight  before  the  tories 
arrived  and  searched  the  house  from  garret  to  cel- 
lar in  their  efforts  to  find  Mr.  McCorkle.  They 
found  some  salt,  which  they  appeared  to  want, 
and  left  word  that  if  Mr.  McCorkle  would  bring 
them  some  salt  all  would  be  well,  but  if  not  that 
they  would  come  and  destroy  everything  in  his 
house.  Instead  of  joining  them,  Messrs.  Mc- 
Corkle and  Smith  hastened  to  the  patriotic  sol- 
diers that  were  centering  at  Ranisom  's  Mill  and 
were  in  battle  there.  Mr.  McCorkle  was  reported 
killed  in  that  engagement,  but  to  the  great  joy  of 
his  famil}-  he  arrived  home  unharmed. 

After  the  British  crossed  the  Catawba  River  at 
Cowan 's  Ford,  Francis  McCorkle.  had  a  narrow  es- 
cape. He  was  in  the  affair  at  Torrenee  Tavern 
with  his  friend  Smith,  either  acting  as  rear  guard, 
or  having  been  sent  back  to  reconnoiter.  They 
were  discovered  by  the  British,  and,  wheeling,  at- 
tempted to  rejoin  their  comrades.  Smith's  horse 
bolted  through  the  woods,  and  he  was  killed.  The 
enemy  pursued  Mr.  McCorkle  till  he  came  up  to  the 
little  band  of  whigs  who  had  gathered  in  Tor- 
renee Lane.  The  little  party  fought  the  British 
troops  under  General  Tarleton  until  the  smoke  be- 
came so  dense  that  they  could  not  tell  whether  they 
were  among  friends  or  enemies.  As  the  smoke 
cleared,  Mr.  McCorkle  found  that  he  was  among 
the  Red  Coats,  and  putting  his  hands  on  a  stake 
and  rider  fence  leaped  through  just  as  three  or  four 
sabers  struck  the  raU  above  him.  They  all  re- 
treated and  made  good  their  escape. 

Francis  McCorkle  was  a  native  of  Iredell  County, 
where  he  spent  his  life.  He  was  twice  married. 
His  first  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Sarah 
Work,  as  mentioned  above,  died  soon  after  the 
close  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  He  married  sec- 
ond, about  1794,  Elizabeth  Brandon,  a  daughter  of 
Richard  and  Mary  (Locke)  Brandon,  and  grand- 
daughter of  John  and  Elizabeth  Brandon.  It  was 
Elizabeth  Brandon  that,  in  1791,  furnished  the 
breakfast  for  General  Washington  as  he  passed 
through  Rowan  County.  By  his  first  marriage, 
Francis  McCorkle  had  two  sons,  Mathew  and  Alex- 
ander, neither  of  whom  married.  Of  his  second 
union  there  were  six  children:  William  B.,  Francis, 
Thomas,  John  H.,  Elizabeth  and  Agnes. 

William  B.  McCorkle  was  born  in  Iredell 
County,  North  Carolina,  and  for  many  years  was 
engaged  in  mercantile  business  at  Wadesboro, 
Anson  County.  He  married  Mary  Marshall,  a 
daughter  of  Hon.  WUliam  Marshall,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Hon.  James  Marshall,  of  Anson 
County.  Seven  children  were  born  of  their  union, 
as  follows:  James  Marshall,  father  of  the  subject 
of  tKis  sketch;  Dr.  John  R.,  ^jho  settled  in  Moores- 
ville;  William  A.,  who  located  in  Jefferson  Coimty, 
Tennessee;  Sara;  Mary;  Cornelia;  and  Caroline. 

James  Marshall  McCorkle  was  born,  February 
21,  1827,  in  Wadesboro,  North  Carolina,  where 
he  acquired  his  elementary  education.  There  were 
at  that  time  no  railroads  in  the  state,  and  as  he 
was  desirous  of  continuing  his  studies  at  some 
higher  institution  of  learning,  and  with  that  pur- 
pose in  view  journeyed  with  a  horse  and  sulky  to 
New  Haven,  Connecticut,  where  he  entered  Yale 
College,  from  which  he  was  graduated  four  years 
later.  Taking  up  the  study  of  law,  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  of  North  Carolina,  and  for  sixteen  years 
was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  in 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


207 


Albemarle.  Eenioviug  to  Salisbury,  he  soou  ac- 
quired a  place  ot  prominence  among  the  leadiug 
attorneys  of  Bowan  County.  During  the  progress 
ot  the  Civil  war,  he  entered  the  Confederate  serv- 
ice, and  being  appointed  to  the  quartermaster 's 
department,  with  the  rank  of  major,  continued 
in  that  position  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Major 
McCorkle  was  actively  eugaged  in  his  protes- 
sional  labors  until  his  death,  in  March,  1885,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-eight  years.  He  was  a  man  of 
brilliant  intellect,  and  practiced  in  all  the  state 
and  federal  courts,  and  was  counsel  for  Governor 
Holden  in  his  impeachment  trial. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Major  Mc- 
Corkle was  Rosa  Buchanan.  She  was  a  daughter 
of  May  and  Mary  Eliza  (Atkinson)  Buchanan,  of 
Anson  County.  Her  father.  May  Buchanan,  re- 
ceived the  name  of  May  from  his  mother,  who 
before  her  marriage  was  Mary  May.  He  was  a 
native  of  South  Carolina,  and  from  there  came 
to  Anson  County,  North  Carolina,  where  he 
bought  large  tracts  of  land,  and  was  extensively 
engaged  in  cotton  raising,  with  slave  labor,  until 
his  death,  in  1847.  His  wife  survived  him  many 
years,  dying  iu  1886.  The  union  of  Major  and 
Kosa  (Buchanan)  McCorkle  was  blessed  by  the 
birth  of  eight  children,  as  follows:  William  A.; 
Charles;  Clement  M.;  May  E.,  wife  of  Orrin  D. 
Davis;  Sarah;  Lizzie,  wife  of  Bichard  Eames; 
Rosa  B.,  wife  of  M.  H.  Caldwell;  and  James  M. 

Having  completed  the  course  of  study  in  the 
public  schools  of  Salisbury,  James  M.  McCorkle  en- 
tered Davidson  College,  where  he  was  for  two 
years  a  student.  Accepting  a  position  then  as 
bookkeeper  in  the  Davis  &  Wiley  Bank,  he  proved 
himself  capable  and  trustworthy.  After  a  short 
time,  he  was  promoted  to  the  position  of  teller, 
and  in  1912  was  made  cashier  of  the  bank,  a  re- 
sponsible position  that  he  is  filling  with  character- 
istic ability  and  fidelity.  He  is  one  of  the  oldest 
ofiicers,  in  point  of  service,  in  the  institution,  hav- 
ing been  connected  with  it  for  thirty  consecutive 
years. 

Mr.  McCorkle  married,  in  1907,  Elizabeth 
Crump.  She  was  born  at  South  River,  Rowan 
County,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  W.  L.  and  Janet  (Tur- 
rentine)  Crump.  Three  children  have  been  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McCorkle,  namely,  Elizabeth  B.; 
William  Crump;  and  James,  who  died  in  infancy. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  McCorkle  are  members  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  in  which  he  has  served  as  deacon, 
being  now  an  elder.  Always  specially  interested 
in  educational  matters,  Mr.  McCorkle  is  now  chair- 
man of  the  County  Board  of  Education. 

Edmuxd  Bukke  Haywood.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  eminent  names  in  the  annals  of  North  Caro- 
lina medicine  and  public  affairs.  The  achievement 
and  service  of  Dr.  Edmund  Burke  Haywood  have 
been  a  measure  of  attainment  and  a  source  of 
inspiration  to  his  various  descendants  who  have 
likewise  chosen  medicine  as  a  profession. 

He  was  born  in  the  City  of  Raleigh.  The  Hay- 
wood family  have  been  identified  with  Raleigh 
since  its  establishment  as  the  capital  of  the  state. 
In  1792  the  commission  was  appointed  to  lay  out 
the  Town  of  Raleigh  for  the  state  capital,  and  a 
law  being  shortly  afterwards  passed  that  all  state 
ofiicials  should  live  in  the  capital,  John  Haywood, 
father  of  Doctor  Haywood,  being  an  official  of  the 
state,  purchased  a  block  of  land  on  New  Berne 
Avenue  and  that  homestead  has  since  remained  one 
of  the  important  and  interesting  landmarks  of  the 
city. 


Edmund  Burke  Haywood  was  educated  in  Raleigh 
Academy  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  entered  the 
University  of  North  Carolina.  He  also  studied 
in  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of 
I'ennsylvania  where  he  was  graduated  in  1849. 
He  soon  afterwards  began  active  practice  at 
Raleigh.  Early  in  the  troubles  leading  up  to  the 
Civil  war  he  enlisted  in  the  Raleigh  Light  Artillery 
as  a  private,  and  was  made  surgeon.  Governor 
Ellis  appointed  him  to  inspect  all  the  military  hos- 
pitals and  then  establish  the  first  hospital  iu  North 
Carolina  at  Morris  Island.  In  May,  1861,  he  was 
appointed  surgeon  of  the  North  Carolina  State 
troops,  and  given  charge  of  the  hospital  at  Raleigh. 
Two  months  later  he  was  made  president  of  the 
examining  lioard  for  surgeons  for  North  Carolina 
troops.  During  the  battles  around  Richmond  he 
attended  the  wounded  at  Seabrook  Hospital.  In 
1862  came  appointment  as  surgeon  for  the  Con- 
federate States  Government  and  president  of  the 
board  for  granting  paroles  and  discharges.  The 
close  of  the  war  found  him  in  charge  of  Pettigrew 
Hospital  in  Raleigh. 

In  1866  Doctor  Haywood  was  vice  president  of 
the  North  Carolina  Medical  Society  and  chairman 
of  the  board  of  medical  examiners  of  the  state, 
and  in  1868  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Med- 
ical Society.  The  University  of  North  Carolina 
conferred  upon  him  the  degree  Master  of  Arts, 
though  he  had  never  graduated  on  account  of  the 
imminence  of  the  war.  In  1S66  the  important  task 
devolved  upon  him  of  reorganizing  the  various  state 
charitable  institutions,  and  he  was  appoiirted  to 
membership  on  the  board  of  the  asylum  for  tlie 
insane  and  was  president  of  that  board  from  1875 
until  1889,  when  he  resigned.  In  1890  he  was 
the  leading  spirit  in  establishing  the  Raleigh  Acad- 
emy of  Medicine,  and  served  as  secretary  and 
president. 

In  1850  Doctor  Haywood  married  Lucy  A.  Wil- 
liams. They  were  the  parents  of  one  daughter 
and  six  sons.  The  daugliter  is  Elizabeth  Eagles, 
now  Mrs.  P.  L.  Bridges.  The  six  sons,  all  of  whom 
attained  worthy  places  in  life,  were:  Edmund  B., 
Jr.;  Alfred  William;  Dr.  Herbert;  Ernest,  an  at- 
torney; Edgar  and  John  D. 

Heebert  Banbury  Haywood,  Jr.,  M.  D.,  rep- 
resents the  third  successive  generation  of  a  fam- 
ily whose  name  has  been  distinctively  identified 
with  the  profession  of  medicine  and  surgery  at 
Raleigh  for  the  past  sixty-five  years.  He  is  a 
grandson  of  the  eminent  Dr.  Edmund  Burke  Hay- 
wood and  a  son  of  Dr.  Herbert  B.  Haywood.  His 
mother  was  Emily  Banbury. 

Doctor  Haywood  was  born  at  Raleigh  December 
.30,  1884,  and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
and  the  Raleigh  Male  Academy,  and  was  graduated 
in  the  literary  department  of  tlie  University  of 
North  Carolina  in  1905.  In  1909  just  sixty  years 
after  his  grandfather  took  his  degrees  from  that 
institution,  he  finished  his  course  in  the  medical 
department  of  the  Universitj'  of  Pennsylvania.  Be- 
fore taking  up  active  practice  he  spent  some 
time  at  Mercy  Hospital  at  Pittsburg  and  in  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Hospital  at  Philadeli>hia. 

Doctor  Haywood  began  his  practice  at  Raleigh 
in  1910,  and  has  given  his  time  and  skill  to  gen- 
eral practice.  He  has  since  taken  post-graduate 
courses  in  the  Royal  Infirmary  at  Edinburgh,  Scot- 
land. Doctor  Haywood  is  physician  for  the  Agri- 
cultural and  Mechanical  College  of  North  Caro- 
lina, for  the  Rex  and  St.  Agnes  Hospitals,  and 
for  some  years  has  been  acting  physician  of  the 


208 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


North  Carolina  State  School  for  the  Bliud.  On 
January  1,  1916,  he  resigned  *his  commission  as 
captain  of  the  Medical  Corps  of  the  North  Carolina 
National  Guard.  WhUe  in  the  militia  he  had 
charge  of  the  ambulance  corps. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Wake  County  Medical 
Society  and  the  Tri-State  Medical  Association,  the 
Ealeigh  Academy  of  Medicine  and  the  American 
Medical  Association.  Fraternally  he  is  a  member 
of  the  Masonic  Order  and  the  Zeta  Phi,  belongs 
to  the  Country  Club  and  to  the  Rotary  Club. 
On  October  li),  1915,  he  married  Miss  Marguerite 
Manor  of  Harrisonburg,  Vii'ginia. 

James  Isaac  Metts,  a  gallant  soldier,  a  patri- 
otic citizen  and  a  successful  business  man  of  Wil- 
mington, was  born  at  Kingston  on  the  16th  day 
of  March,  184'J.  His  father  was  James  Engram 
Metts,  and  his  mother 's  maiden  name  was  Mary 
Ann  TuU.  Miss  TuU  was  a  daughter  of  Isaac 
Tull  and  Eliza  Graham,  who  was  born  at  Murtrees- 
boro,  in  1794,  being  the  daughter  of  Br.  Cliauncey 
Graham,  who  came  from  Durham,  Connecticut,  and 
settled  at  Murlreesboro.  Doctor  Graham  was  a 
surgeon  during  the  Kevolutiouary  war  with  tlie 
New  York  Troops,  Hospital  Department.  He  was 
a  son  of  Rev.  Dr.  Chauucey  Graham  of  Stillwater, 
Connecticut,  whose  father  was  Dr.  John  Graham, 
D.  D.,  the  second  sou  of  one  of  the  marquises  of 
Montrose.  Dr.  John  Graham  was  a  graduate  of 
the  University  of  Glasgow  and  received  his  orders 
at  Edinburgh.  In  1718  he  emigrated  to  Boston 
and  married  Abigail,  daughter  of  tiie  celebrated 
Doctor  Chauncey.  He  was  minister  at  Exeter, 
New  Hamijshire,  and  at  Stafford,  Connecticut,  and 
the  first  minister  in  Southbury  society,  Woodbury, 
Connecticut.  A  branch  of  this  same  family  of 
Grahams,  descended  from  tlie  illustrious  house  of 
Montrose,  also  settled  in  Duplin  County  and  a 
branch  in  Lenoir  Countj',  Nortli  Carolina. 

Mr.  James  E.  Metts  was  a  son  of  Frederick 
Metts,  Jr.,  whose  father  Frederick  Metts  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war  and  fought  under 
General  Marion,  and  of  Polly  Engram.  He  was 
a  farmer  and  merchant  at  Kinston  until  his  re- 
moval to  Wilmington  in  1848.  He  was  industrious 
and  a  man  of  firm  convictions,  insistent  on  fully 
performing  all  his  duties  in  life;  unassuming,  he 
was  noted  for  his  courteous  bearing  and  for  his 
sympathetic  disposition,  and  in  particular  was  he 
generous  and  liberal  towards  those  wlio  were  in 
need.  His  inclinations  ever  led  him  to  be  help- 
ful to  the  poor  and  to  be  useful  to  those  in 
distress.  His  son,  James,  of  this  sketch  was  six 
year  of  age  on  the  removal  to  Wibnington.  His 
health  in  childhood  was  good  and  he  was  fond 
of  outdoor  games  and  developed  into  a  strong 
boy,  particularly  skUled  in  athletic  exercises.  His 
health  giving  way  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years 
he  was  taken  from  school  for  two  years,  being  then 
prepared  for  college.  He  was  taught  by  tliat 
eminent  instructor,  Mr.  George  W.  Jewett,  and 
being  prepared  for  college,  entered  the  university 
in  the  fall  of  1860. 

Of  young  Metts  as  a  schoolmate,  one  of  his 
friends  writes  as  follows:  He  was  a  general 
favorite  because  of  his  unselfishness,  his  modesty 
and  his  manliness.  He  was  quiet  and  dignified  on 
becoming  occasions,  but  in  all  the  healthful  manly 
sports  of  the  day  he  was  our  joyous  leader.  He 
scorned  that  which  was  low  and  mean  and  he 
was  clean  and  honest  and  fair  in  his  speech  and 
behavior.  He  led  the  school  as  an  athlete  and 
he  performed  such  feats  as  jumping  into  the  air 


and  turning  somersaults  on  level  ground;  walking 
a  block  on  his  hands  with  heels  aloft  and  other 
amazing  things  with  the  agility  ot  a  Japanese 
wrestler,  and  when  he  threw  a  clam  shell  over  the 
tower  of  St.  James'  Church,  we  thought  he  had 
reached  the  acme  of  undying  fame. 

I  think  he  was  one  of  Mr.  Jewett 's  models  as  a 
scholar.  I  know  that  he  stood  well  in  his  classes 
and  that  he  applied  himself  diligently  to  his 
studies.  He  has  the  same  characteristics  now  that 
he  had  then  and  he  bears  a  record  of  which  any 
hero  might  be  proud. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  however,  on 
April  15,  1861,  he  joined  as  a  private  the  Wil- 
mington Rifle  Guards  of  which  Oliver  P.  Meares 
was  the  captain,  and  under  the  orders  of  Governor 
Ellis,  that  company  took  possession,  along  with  the 
Wibnington  Light  Infantry,  of  Fort  Caswell, 
where  it  remained  until  some  months  later  the 
Eighteenth  Regiment  was  formed  under  the  com- 
mand of  Colonel  Radcliffe,  the  company  becoming 
Company  I  of  that  regiment,  and  Captain  Meares 
being  elected  lieutenant  colonel.  Then  for  some 
months  Company  I  was  stationed  at  Port  Fisher 
and  was  among  those  that  laid  the  first  founda- 
tions of  that  famous  fortification.  When  the  state 
organized  her  ten  regiments  of  state  troops,  the 
Eighth  Volunteers  became  known  as  the  Eighteenth 
North  Carolina  Troops.  In  the  meantime  private 
Metts  had  become  corporal  and  one  of  the  color 
guards  of  the  regiment  and  served  as  such  with  it 
at  Camp  Wyatt  near  Fort  Fisher  and  at  Coosa- 
whatchie  in  South  Carolina.  On  the  expiration 
of  the  twelve  months  for  which  the  first  volun- 
teers had  enlisted,  he  was  then  color  bearer  of 
the  Eighteenth  Regiment  and  was  discharged  with 
others.  He  re-enlisted  and  became  fifth  sergeant 
of  Company  G,  Third  Regiment,  of  which  the 
intrepid  Gaston  Meares  was  colonel,  and  the  be- 
loved and  efficient  Robert  H.  Cowan  was  lieu- 
tenant colonel  (who  was  subsequently  commissioned 
brigadier  general,  but  on  account  of  ill  health  re- 
signed), and  William  L.  De  Rossett,  afterwards 
.so  distinguished  as  a  military  man,  the  major. 
Their  first  baptism  of  blood  was  in  the  campaign 
before  Richmond;  and  Sergeant  Metts  bore  him- 
self with  conspicuous  courage,  and  his  coolness  was 
especially  manifested  in  re-forming  a  part  of  the 
regiment  at  the  Battle  of  Harbor,  and  his  gal- 
lantry was  displayed  when  commanding  a  detail, 
guarding  a  causeway  in  the  Chickahominy  Swamp. 
At  the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill,  he  was  among  those 
who  received  the  last  order  of  the  lamented  Colonel 
Meares  who  fell  on  that  field.  During  those  battles 
he  became  orderly  sergeant,  and  on  returning  to 
camp  lie  was  assigned  to  the  duty  of  drilling  the 
recruits  received  by  his  company,  and  was  com- 
plimented by  some  ofllcers  of  the  regiment  as  being 
the  best  drilled  man  they  ever  saw. 

Although  he  had  escaped  the  deadly  peril  of 
those  bloody  battles,  he  however  contracted  disease 
in  the  peninsular  swamps  and  for  a  time  was 
separated  from  his  company.  In  the  promotions 
which  followed  the  loss  of  officers  at  Sharpsburg, 
Sergeant  Metts  became  the  senior  second  lieutenant 
of  his  company,  and  at  Winchester  he  was  de- 
tailed as  commissary  of  his  regiment,  and  after 
the  Battle  of  Front  Royal,  he  discharged  the 
duties  of  Adjutant.  Cool,  brave  and  determined 
his  admirable  conduct  on  every  field  attracted  the 
attention  of  his  superiors,  while  at  Fredericksburg 
he  won  encomiums  by  his  gallantry.  Again  how- 
ever he  was  a  victim  of  pneumonia,  but  he  was 
able  to   join  his   regiment  in   time  to  participate 


HI8T0RY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


209 


ill  the  fighting  arounil  Winchester,  where  his 
hrigade  under  Stewart  did  iiua-h  towards  winning 
the  victory  over  Milroy.  At  Jordan  's  Sja-ings  his 
coolness  under  fire  esjiecially  attracted  the  atten- 
tion and  admiration  of  the  privates  and  was  much 
discussed  by  them  after  the  battle.  His  efficiency 
gained  for  him  the  confidence  of  his  superiors  and 
he  was  selected  to  command  the  rear  guard  of 
the  brigade  as  they  were  about  to  cross  the 
Potomac.  On  the  18th  of  June,  1863,  the  regi 
ment  encamped  near  the  Dunkard  Church  in  the 
woods  on  the  battlefield  of  Sharpsburg,  where  the 
regiment  had  lost  so  heavily.  A  detail  of  men 
from  the  First  and  Third  regiments  with  arms 
reversed  and  to  the  roll  of  the  muffled  drum, 
marched  to  the  jdace  of  interment,  and  Eev.  George 
Patterson,  the  beloved  chaplain  of  the  Third,  read 
the  impressive  burial  services.  Upon  this  solemn 
occasion,  says  the  historian,  "many  tears  stole 
down  the  bronzed  cheeks  of  the  old  veterans  and 
all  heads  were  bowed  in  grief. ' ' 

Lieutenant  Metts  accompanied  his  regiment  to 
the  vicinity  of  Carlyle  and  then  by  a  forced 
march  reached  Gettysburg  on  the  evening  of  the 
first,  but  the  brigade  was  not  seriously  engaged 
until  the  next  evening.  Then  being  on  the  left 
of  line  at  Gulp  's  Hill,  they  drove  the  enemy  from 
tlieir  first  defenses  and  Lieutenant  Metts  leading 
his  men  forward  was  soon  hotly  engaged  within 
seventy-five  yards  of  their  second  line  of  breast- 
works. There  he  fell,  pierced  by  a  rifle  ball  that 
penetrated  his  right  breast  and  passed  through 
the  lung,  inflicting  a  terrible  and  most  dangerous 
wound,  from  which  none  thought  he  would  re- 
cover and  from  which  at  times  he  still  suffers. 
An  eye  witness  stated,  that  when  Lieutenant  Metts 
was  shot  he  was  gallantly  cheering  his  men,  his 
hat  in  one  hand  and  his  sword  in  the  other, 
both  aloft. 

In  that  battle  the  Third  Regiment,  which  en- 
tered with  .'iiOO  guns,  lost  223  men,  but  none  were 
taken  prisoners.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Parsley, 
Capt.  E.  H.  Armstrong  and  Lieutenant  Lyon  were 
the  only  officers  who  passed  through  the  terrible 
ordeal  unliurt.  Adjutant  James  helped  his  fallen 
friend  to  the  ambulance  corps,  and  for  two  miles 
Lieutenant  Metts  was  hauled  over  the  rough  roads 
suffering  the  most  excruciating  agony  and  weak- 
ened by  the  loss  of  blood.  On  the  withdrawal  of 
the  Confederate  forces,  he  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy,  but  was  cared  for  by  kind  ladies  from 
Baltimore,  where  he  was  the  recipient  of  great 
kindnesses  from  the  women  of  that  city ;  later 
he  was  transferred  to  Johnson 's  Island,  Lake 
Erie,  where  his  kinsman,  Col.  Thomas  S.  Kenan, 
was  his  bunk  mate  for  thirteen  months.  Their 
sufferings  during  the  winter  were  terrible;  in- 
sufficient food,  scant  clothing,  houses  neither 
ceiled  nor  plastered,  the  mercury  at  times  20 
degrees  below  zero,  and  with  but  one  stove  for 
sixty  prisoners.  In  August,  1864,  the  Federal 
authorities  had  ceased  exchanging  prisoners,  but 
in  spite  of  that  some  of  the  Confederates  were 
selected  and  sent  South  in  exchange,  Lieutenant 
Metts  being  chosen  as  one  of  the  most  enfeebled 
and  delicate  of  the  prisoners  for  this  exchange. 
He  had  been  told  by  some  of  the  doctors  that  he 
could  not  stand  another  winter  there  and  often 
he  would  look  over  the  fence  at  the  graves  of 
liis  poor  comrades  and  feel  that  in  a  short  while 
the  boys  would  place  him  among  those.  Not  long 
afterwards  he  found  himself  once  more  upon  the 
streets  of  Richmond.  Burine  his  captivity  he  had 
been  promoted  to  cajitain  of  his  company,  which 
he  .ioined  at  Staunton  in  December.     He  took  com- 

Vnl.  IV— 14 


mand  of  his  company  and  also  of  Company  E  and 
served  in  Cox's  Brigade  of  Grimes'  Division,  until 
detailed  as  special  inspector  of  the  division  on  the 
staff  of  Major-General  Grimes,  and  shared  in  all 
the  hardships  and  memorable  experiences  of  those 
fateful  days.  When  Lee  surrendered  and  the  night 
before  arms  were  to  be  stacked  at  Appomatox  by 
the  remnant  of  the  heroic  army  of  Northern  Vir- 
ginia, Captain  Metts  accompanied  a  band  from 
division  headquarters  to  serenade  their  beloved 
leader,  General  Lee.  The  general  was  so  much 
affected  that  he  could  say  but  a  few  words,  but 
he  gave  to  each  of  the  bi-ave  veterans  who  had 
thus  souglit  to  manifest  their  love  and  sympathy 
a  warm  pressure  of  his  liand  and  an  affectionate 
good-bye. 

On  his  return  home  from  Appomatox,  Captain 
Metts,  pressed  by  the  necessity,  at  once  addressed 
himself  to  the  duty  of  supporting  his  mother's 
family.  He  soon  obtained  employment  as  a 
clerk  with  two  Federal  sutlers,  but  later  obtained 
more  remunerative  employment;  and  his  merits, 
his  strict  attention  to  business,  his  accuracy  and 
good  habits  commended  him  to  the  business  men 
of  Wilmington  and  eventually  after  long  and 
severe  struggles  he  was  able  to  enter  the  field  for 
himself  as  a  merchant  and  broker.  Here  he  has 
met  with  gratifying  success  and  commands  the 
esteem  and  respect  of  the  business  men  of  his 
community. 

On  the  11th  of  November,  1869,  Captain  Metts 
was  happily  married  to  Miss  Cornelia  F.  Cowan, 
a  daughter  of  Col.  Robert  H.  Cowan,  his  old 
commander,  and  their  married  life  has  been 
blessed  with  six  children,  three  of  whom  are  de- 
ceased. The  children  are:  James  Isaac,  Robert 
Cowan  and  Thomas  Walker,  who  passed  away  in 
infancy ;  John  Van  Bokkelen,  named  in  honor  of 
his  boyhood  friend 's  memory,  is  now  colonel  of 
the  One  Hundred  Nineteenth  Infantry,  Sixtieth 
Brigade,  Thirtieth  Division;  Edwin  Anderson, 
president  of  the  Gorth  Co.,  is  captain  of  the  Ninth 
Company  state  troops  at  Wilmington,  but  expects 
to  go  to  France  soon  as  captain  in  the  army;  and 
Eliza  Dickinson. 

Captain  Metts  is  an  earnest,  sincere  man  with 
the  highest  principles  and  most  correct  sentiments. 
His  course  in  life  has  been  consistent  with  that 
devotion  to  duty  which  he  displayed  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Confederate  army.  He  was  baptized  by 
Rev.  George  Patterson  in  the  Potomac  River  in 
1863  while  en  route  to  Pennsylvania  and  has  been 
an  humble  Christian  ever  faithful  to  his  profes- 
sion and  for  many  years  a  communicant  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  and  for  many  years  he  has 
been  a  vestryman  of  St.  James'  Church  at  Wil- 
mington. He  is  a  member  of  St.  John 's  Lodge. 
Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  also  an 
active  member  of  the  Seaman's  Friend  Society, 
of  which  he  has  been  the  president.  He  has  ever 
been  laborious  in  his  work  and  diligent  in  busi- 
ness, and  from  his  own  experience  he  suggests  that 
young  men  «an  attain  true  success  in  life  if  they 
will  follow  "honesty,  sobriety,  faithfulness  to 
one 's   self,  perseverance  and  trust  in   God. 

Cajitain  Metts  has  always  remembered  the  years 
of  his  life  when  he  followed  the  Confederate  flag, 
and  he  has  taken  great  interest  in  whatever  af- 
fects the  welfare  of  the  old  Confederate  veterans 
or  the  honor  and  fame  of  North  Carolina  and 
North  Carolina  troops.  On  several  occasions  he 
has  prepared  interesting  articles  concerning  the 
sallant  action  of  his  North  Carolina  associates  on 
the  field  of  battle.  Particularly  he  has  written  a 
notable  paper  descriptive  of  the  charge  of  Gettys- 


210 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


burg,  and  also  an  equally  interesting  one  relative 
to  tUe  important  action  of  the  oUth  North  Caro- 
lina Kegiment  at  Chaucellorsville  when  it  turned 
the  tlauk  of  Sigel's  Division.  In  it  he  corrects 
some  errors  into  which  General  Rhodes  had  acci- 
dentally fallen.  He  has  also  written  an  article 
showing  that  the  last  shot  at  Appomatox  was 
lired  by  North  Carolinians,  and  in  conjunction 
with  Captain  Cowan  he  prepared  the  History  of 
the  Third  Regiment  for  the  Regimental  Histories 
of  the  State. 

When  at  Johnson  's  Island  some  of  his  comrades 
formed  a  theatrical  troop  under  the  name  of  the 
• '  Rebellonians, ' '  and  Captain  Metts  was  one  of 
the  a«tors.  The  delicacy  of  his  frame  led  to  his 
being  assigned  a  lady 's  part.  In  the  original 
melodrama,  ' '  The  Battle  of  Gettysburg, ' '  in  five 
acts,  ending  in  act  fifth  with  "Home  Again," 
he  played  the  part  of  Mrs.  Louisa  White.  The 
concluding  farce  was  ' '  Box  and  Cox. ' '  On  an- 
other occasion,  of  which  the  program  has  likewise 
been  preserved,  he  sang  ' '  Bonnie  Jean, ' '  and 
the  third  part  of  that  program  was  an  original 
farce  for  the  times  written  expressly  for  the 
RebeUonians,  entitled  "The  Intelligent  Contra- 
band." He  occasionally  receives  letters  from  some 
old  prison  mate,  who  remembers  the  sweet  songs 
Captain  Metts  and  Lieutenant  Mayer  sang  accom- 
panied by  Col.  Thos.  S.  Kenan  with  his  violin 
or  guitar.  Turning  from  those  episodes  of  prison 
life,  on  July  19,  1897,  a  stranger  entered  Cap- 
tain Metts '  ofl&ce  and  observing  the  name  on  the 
sign,  asked  if  he  was  any  relation  to  Lieutenant 
Metts  who  was  killed  at  "Gettysburg.  Giving  his 
name  as  Rev.  E.  C.  Morton  and  stating  that  he 
was  the  chaplain  of  the  Twenty-third  Virginia  Regi- 
ment, George  H.  Stuart 's  Brigade,  he  said  that  he 
knew  Lieutenant  Metts,  who  was  killed  at  Gettys- 
burg, and  recalled  his  thin,  emaciated,  sun-burnt 
face  as  he  lay  on  the  cot.  He  went  on  to  say  how 
much  he  was  imjiressed  with  his  noble  character, 
and  how  he  had  offered  up  prayer  for  his  recovery, 
though  feeling  at  the  time  that  his  case  was  hope- 
less,, and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Morton  added  that  he  had 
caused  to  be  published  an  account  of  the  death  of 
Lieutenant  Metts  at  the  time.  Extending  his  hand, 
coming  from  behind  his  desk.  Captain  Metts  quietly 
said,  ' '  I  am  the  man. ' '  Mr.  Morton  at  once  rose 
from  his  chair  and  with  his  eyes  streaming  with 
tears  and  with  a  fervent  ' '  God  bless  you, ' '  he 
embraced  him.  There  these  two  old  comrades  stood 
and  their  emotion  found  expression  in  tears  of  joy. 
He  could  not  realize  it  was  the  lieutenant  he  sup- 
posed dead. 

In  the  hospital  at  Gettysburg,  Captain  Metts 
thinking  he  was  about  to  die  gave  his  sword  with 
a  spot  of  his  blood  on  the  hilt  to  Dr.  Reeves  of 
Marylraid  to  keep  the  Yankees  from  getting  it; 
in  1S82  Dr.  Reeves,  not  supposing  that  Captain 
Metts  had  survived,  made  inquiries  with  the  view 
of  returning  it  to  someone  of  his  relatives,  and 
was  astonished  to  learn  that  Captain  Metts  had 
not  died.  Dr.  Reeves  had  the  hapless  of  re- 
turning the  sword  to  him  after  he  had  kept  it 
sacredly  for  its  brave  owner,  who  now  treasures 
it  as  an  honorable  memento  of  the  dreadful 
struggle. 

Captain  Metts'  interest  in  the  old  Confederates 
has  been  appreciated  by  his  surviving  associates 
and  in  April,  1899,  he  was  elected  first  vice  com- 
mander of  the  Cape  Fear  Camp,  254,  TJ.  C.  V., 
and  the  next  year  he  was  chosen  commander  of 
the  camp.  In  1902  he  was  appointed  brigadier- 
general  of  the  Third  Brigade,  V.  C.  V.,  North 
Carolina    Division,    which    honorable    position    he 


held,  much  to  the  gratification  of  all  who  know 
him  and  who  admire  in  lihn  those  sterling  qual- 
ities of  manhood  wliich  distinguished  him  as  a 
soldier  and  which  form  the  basis  of  his  fine  char- 
acter. In  April,  1905,  he  was  again  electe<l 
commander  of  Cape  Fear  Camp  No.  254.  In  1915 
he  was  elected  major-general  commanding  North 
Carolina  Division,  U.  C.  V.,  which  office  he  now 
holds. 

Edward  E.  Brown.  The  artistic  temperament, 
shown  in  love  of  pictures  and  flowers,  is  an  envi- 
able one,  and  those  who  have  it  not  lose  much 
of  life 's  beauty  and  cheer.  This  temperament 
undoubtedly  opens  up  to  its  possessors  a  wealth  of 
beauty  and  enjoyment,  and  when  it  is  fortunately 
linked  with  practical  ideas  and  sound  judgment, 
the  world  may  be  made  better  and  happier  by  its 
exercise,  and  fortune  as  well  as  fame  may  at- 
tend the  artist.  No  resident  of  Asheville  nor  tem- 
porary sojourner  would  hesitate  to  name,  among 
this  exceptionally  beautiful  city's  most  attrac- 
tive spots  "  Brownhurst,  where  flowers  grow." 
This  great  garden  is  the  property  of  Edward 
E.  Brown,  and  here  is  illustrated  what  wonders 
can  be  accomplished  in  floriculture  when  directed 
by  the  loving  care  of  a  true  artist. 

Edward  E.  Brown  is  a  native  of  Ohio  and  was 
born  October  2,  1858,  near  Washington  Court 
House  in  Fayette  County.  He  belongs  to  an  old 
agricultural  family  of  that  section  and  his  par- 
ents were  Isaiah  and  Belina  (Parrett)  Brown. 
His  education  was  secured  in  the  country  schools 
near  his  father 's  farm  and  in  Shenandoah  Sem- 
inary, and  he  grew  to  manhood  on  the  home 
place,  from  boyhood  taking  a  deepj  interest  in  the 
development  of  leaf  and  flower  which  lightened  for 
him  the  actual  labor  of  cultivating  the  soil.  Near 
his  home  nature  was  lavish  in  floral  beauty  and 
the  time  came  when  Mr.  Brown  sought  to  per- 
petuate it  and  that  led  to  his  learning  photography 
and  finally  to  his  embarking  in  the  business. 
While  development  in  this  art  has  been  notable 
within  the  past  few  years,  much  progress  had 
already  been  made  when  Mr.  Brown  came  to  Ashe- 
ville and  opened  his  studio  in  1887.  He  con- 
tinued in  the  business  for  some  years,  his  natural 
spirit  of  enterprise  leading  him  to  work  and  ex- 
perimentation all  over  the  photographic  field. 
Many  years  will  pass,  even  burdened  as  they  are 
with  strife  and  suffering,  before  the  fragrant 
memory  of  beauty  and  artistry  that  encom- 
passed the  great  Columbian  Expositoin  of  Chi- 
cago in  1893  will  have  faded  away.  Among  the 
greatly  admired  pictures  that  pleased  and  grati- 
fied North  Carolina  visitors  was  the  exhibit  of 
photographs  of  the  memorable  places  in  the 
Old  North  State,  and  all  of  these  were  the  work 
and  arrangement  of  Mr.  Brown,  and  at  the  time, 
were  the   finest   products   of   photographic   art. 

In  1893  Mr.  Brown  saw  the  fruition  of  what 
had  been  his  hope  for  many  years,  in  the  com- 
pletion of  his  magnificent  estate  and  the  erec- 
tion of  his  greenhouses.  Here  he  has  35,000  feet 
of  glass  and  his  floral  productions  cover  every 
exquisite  bloom  of  native  growth  and  rare  flowers 
of  other  lands.  The  place  is  aptly  named  as 
' '  where  flowers  grow. ' '  Mr.  Brown  has  some 
additional  interests  in  this  and  other  states,  and 
is  on  the  directing  board  of  the  company  own- 
ing "Orchards,"  a  tract  of  seventy-five  acres 
devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  figs  that  is  situated 
near  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 

Mr.  Brown  wa,s  maried  October  16,  1892,  to  Miss 
Mittie  Clem,  who  belongs  to   a   fine  old  Virginia 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


211 


family,  in  wliiih  state  she  was  boru,  and  they  have 
two  cliildren,  a  daugliter  and  sou.  The  former, 
Geuevieye,  is  the  wife  of  Sherman  J.  Bagg,  wlio  is 
a  prominent  meroliant  at  Newark  Ohio.  The  lat- 
ter, Elmo  Leland,  is  associated  with  his  father 
in  business  at  Asheville.  He  married  a  young 
lady   of   Newark,   Oliio,   Miss   Mary    Morath. 

Edward  E.  Brown  has  never  found  the  politi- 
cal field  especially  attractive  but,  nevertheless,  is 
a  careful,  alert  citizen  and  demands  a  protective 
and  etReient  administration  in  civic  matters.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Asheville  Board  of  Trade 
and  is  serving  on  several  committees.  He  is  one 
of  the  interested  members  of  the  Rotary  Club 
and  fraternally  is  ideutitied  with  the  Knights  of 
Pythias  and  the  Masons,  having  taken  the  Scot- 
tish Bite  in  the  latter.  With  his  family  he  be- 
longs to  the  Central  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  Asheville.  Mr.  Brown  is  known  widely  and  is 
held  in  the  highest  esteem  both  personally  and  be- 
cause of  his  artistic,  achievements,  although  he  is 
very  modest  in  mentioning  these,  preferring  to  re- 
gard them  commercially  rather  than  artistically 
if  his  many  friends  would  permit. 

James  Pinkney  Linville.  The  records  of  the 
Linville  family  are  traced  through  four  or  five 
consecutive  generations  in  Western  North  Caro- 
lina. The  family  not  ouly  deserves  distinction 
associated  with  long  residence,  but  also  with  those 
activities  and  civic  character  which  are  so  im- 
portant in  the  upbuilding  of  any  community. 

The  lineage  of  James  Pinkney  Linville,  a  well 
known  merchant  of  Kernersville  in  Forsyth  County, 
goes  back  to  one  of  three  brothers  who  emigrated 
from  England  and  came  to  America  with  the  colony 
of  William  Penn.  Their  descendants  are  now  scat- 
tered over  all  the  states.  This  branch  of  the 
family  comes  down  through  Aaron  Linville,  who 
was  born  in  Forsyth  County,  North  Carolina.  He 
spent  his  life  in  that  county  and  was  buried  on  the 
farm  where  he  lived,  located  on  the  road  between 
KernersviUe  and  Belews  Creek.  This  home  was 
seven  miles  from  Kernersville.  The  next  genera- 
tion is  represented  by  William  Linville,  a  native 
of  Belews  Creek  Township.  He  married  Elizabeth 
Cook,  who  was  born  in  Guilford  County,  North 
Carolina,  where  her  ancestors  were  pioneers.  Wil- 
liam Lin-sille  acquired  large  tracts  of  land,  and 
was  able  to  give  each  of  his  sons  a  farm.  He 
died  when  about  seventy  years  of  age,  and  his 
burial  place  was  on  his  farm  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mOe  distant  from  his  father's  grave.  His 
wife  also  died  when  about  seventy  years  of  age. 

Smith  Linville,  grandfather  of  James  P.,  was 
born  in  Belews  Creek  Township  of  Forsyth  County 
December  2.5,  1806.  He  grew  up  on  a  farm,  and 
at  the  time  of  his  marriage  located  on  land  given 
him  by  his  father.  This  place  was  about  nine 
miles  northeast  of  Kernersville  and  in  Belews 
Creek  Township;  His  first  home  there  was  a  log 
house,  and  in  it  all  his  children  were  born.  He 
operated  his  farm  with  the  aid  of  slave  labor,  and 
lived  there  a  quiet  and  prosperous  career  until 
his  death  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Louisa  King.  She  was  born 
in  Guilford  County,  North  Carolina,  in  1808,  her 
father,  Nathan  King,  having  been  a  large  planter 
and  slave  owner  in  that  section,  though  he  was  also 
a  blacksmith  by  trade.  Nathan  King  died  when 
about  seventy  years  of  age.  He  married  Aley  Lee, 
of  Virginia,  who  was  kin  to  the  famous  Light  Horse 
Harry  Lee.     She  lived  to  be  nearly  ninety  years  of 


age.  Grandmother  Smith  Linville  died  at  the  age 
of  eighty-four,  having  reared  ten  children,  named 
Mary,  William  F.,  J*n  M.,  Romulus  S.,  Aley, 
Jeanette  J.,  Elizabeth,  Pinkney  Smith,  Eliza  and 
Julius. 

Romulus  S.  Linville,  father  of  James  P.,  was 
born  on  a  farm  in  Belews  Creek  Township  of 
Forsyth  County  February  4,  18.37.  During  his  boy- 
hood he  first  attended  a  subscription  school  taught 
by  his  father.  Later  he  was  a  student  in  the  free 
school  held  in  the  neighborhood,  and  finally  at- 
tended Oak  Ridge  Institute.  He  was  a  teacher  for 
one  term  at  Mount  Tabor,  and  going  to  Indiana 
he  taught  three  years  in  Putnam  County  of  that 
state.  On  returning  to  North  Carolina  he  taught 
two  more  winter  terms,  and  in  1863  enlisted  in 
the  Junior  State  Reserves.  He  was  in  the  service 
of  the  Confederate  Government  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  After  the  war  he  engaged  in  tobacco 
dealing,  and  continued  that  business  for  twenty- 
five  years.  In  the  meantime  he  had  bought  a  farm 
located  on  the  Kernersville  and  Belews  Creek  road, 
built  a  home  there  in  1873,  and  that  is  still  his 
place  of  residence.  He  has  been  a  thrifty  and  suc- 
cessful business  man,  and  has  added  to  his  hold- 
ings until  they  now  represent  500  acres,  devoted 
to  general  farming. 

On  December  20,  1866,  Romulus  S.  Linville 
married  Caroline  Calhoun.  She  was  born  in  Guil- 
ford County,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of  Alfred 
and  Jemima  (Linville)  Calhoun,  her  father  a 
native  of  Guilford  County  and  her  mother  of 
Forsyth  County.  Her  mother  was  a  daughter  of 
George  Linville.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  R.  S.  Linville 
are  one  of  the  oldest  couples  in  Forsyth  County, 
and  they  celebrated  their  Golden  Wedding  anni- 
versary in  the  presence  of  children,  grandchildren 
and  friends  in  December,  1916.  They  have  reared 
seven  children :  James  P.,  Eugene  S.,  Cyrus  L., 
Julius  Franklin,  John  S.,  El.iatha  N.  and  William 
V.  The  mother  of  these  children  is  a  member 
of  the  Missionary  Baptist  Church. 

James  Pinkney  Linville  was  born  five  miles  from 
Kernersville  on  August  3,  1868.  He  first  attended 
the  rural  schools,  and  afterward  was  a  student 
in  Oak  Ridge  Institute,  where  he  graduated  in 
both  the  literary  and  commercial  departments. 
His  first  business  experience  was  as  a  clerk  in  a 
general  store  for  Beard  &  Roberts  at  Kernersville. 
In  1893  Mr.  Linville  was  appointed  by  President 
Cleveland  to  a  position  in  the  Indian  service  and 
spent  two  years  on  a  reservation  in  Nevada.  On 
returning  east  he  worked  for  N.  H.  Medeares  in 
the  latter 's  store  for  two  years.  In  1902  Mr. 
Linville  set  up  in  the  mercantile  business  at  Ker- 
nersville aiul  has  conducted  a  prosperous  estab- 
lishment there  ever  since. 

His  father,  R.  S.  Linville,  served  forty  years  as 
magistrate  of  Belews  Creek  Township  and  for 
eight  years  was  county  commissioner.  During  his 
otficial  service  he  married  475  couples.  For  twenty 
years  he  has  been  an  agent  for  the  Farmers 
Mutual  Insurance  Company.  Fraternally  Mr.  Lin- 
ville is  a  member  of  Union  Lodge,  Ancient  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons. 

In  1903  James  P.  Linville  married  Ida  Dvpigins. 
She  was  born  at  Kernersville,  daughter  of  Robert 
and  Miranda  (Nelson)  Dwigins.  Her  father  was 
born  in  Forsyth  County  and  her  mother  in  Guil- 
ford County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Linville  have  two 
daughters  and  one  sou,  Idell,  Pauline  and  Roger. 
Mrs.  Linville  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church. 


212 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLL\A 


George  L.  Hackney  is  a.  successful  liusiness 
man  of  Lexington,  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
Lexington  Chair  Company,  and  his  business  there 
and  various  influential  '  connections  elsewhere 
make  him  one  of  the  well  known  citizens  of  North 
Carolina. 

Mr  Hackney  was  born  at  Thorjie  in  Yorkshire, 
England.  He  comes  of  an  old  agricultural  Eng- 
lish family.  His  great-grandparents  were  Joseph 
and  Ann  Hackney.  The  latter  was  a  farmer  and 
so  far  as  known  spent  his  entire  life  in  Lincoln- 
shire. One  of  his  sons  named  Benjamin  had  four 
•sons,  George,  Joseph,  Benjamin  and  William,  who 
all  came  to  America  about  1840,  settling  in 
Canada,  where  their  father  joined  them  in  1858. 
Benjamin  died  in  1867,  and  after  that  the  sons 
scattered,  two  of  them  supposedly  coming  south, 
one  going  west  and  the  other  remaining  in 
Canada. 

George  Hackney,  grandfather  of  George  L.,  was 
one  of  the  nine  children  of  Joseph  Hackney  and 
was  born  in  Lincolnshire,  England,  in  1797.  He 
also  followed  farming  in  Lincolnshire,  where  he 
died  in  1834.  He  married  Susanna  Newborn,  who 
was  born  at  Epworth,  England,  in  1794  and  lived 
to  a  good  old  age,  dying  in  1876.  She  was  the 
mother  of  three  children  named  Charlotte,  Wil- 
liam  Newborn  and  George. 

William  Newborn  Hackney,  father  of  the  Lex- 
ington manufacturer,  was  born  at  Blyton  in  Lin- 
colnshire, England,  October  6,  1832.  He  was 
only  two  years  old  when  his  father  died.  One  of 
his  older  sisters  had  married  William  Newborn,  a 
brother  of  Susanna  Newborn.  This  William  New- 
born owned  and  lived  on  a  farm  at  Trumfleet, 
England.  He  and  his  wife  were  childless  and  they 
took  into  their  home  William  Newborn  Hackney 
after  the  death  of  the  latter 's  father  and  reared 
and  educated  him.  At  their  death  he  succeeded 
to  the  ownership  of  their  farm  and  he  continued 
to  live  there  until  1889,  when  with  his  wife  and 
nine  children  he  came  to  America,  settling  at  Ashe- 
ville.  North  Carolina,  in  which  city  he  spent  the 
rest  of  his  days.  He  died  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
three.  The  maideil  name  of  his  wife  was  Theresa 
Buttrick.  She  was  born  at  Epworth,  England, 
daughter  of  William  and  Sarah  (Eastaugh) 
Buttrick.  William  Buttrick,  a  son  of  Belton  and 
Mary  (Read)  Buttrick  and  a  grandson  of  John 
Buttrick,  was  born  January  10,  1796,  and  combined 
farming  with  the  manufacture  of  brick  at  Epworth, 
where  he  spent  his  life.  There  were  eleven  chil- 
dren in  the  Buttrick  family,  named  William,  Bel- 
ton,  Mary  Ann,  Thomas  B.,  Sophia,  Sarah  Ann, 
James,  John,  Elijah  and  Elisha,  twins,  and  Theresa. 
Theresa  Hackney  is  still  living  at  Asheville,  North 
Carolina.  Of  her  children  she  reared  nine,  named 
William  N.,  George  L.,  Fred  R.,  Theresa,  Kate, 
Nell,  Minnie,  Perry  and  Amy. 

George  L.  Hackney  spent  his  early  life  in  Eng- 
land, attending  school  steadily  while  a  boy  and  in 
1889  left  Askern  College  to  join  his  parents  in 
their  emigration  to  the  United  States.  At  Ashe- 
ville, North  Carolina,  he  became  a  bookkeeper, 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  his  business  career. 
Four  years  later  he  bought  a  job  printing  office, 
which  he  managed  successfully  four  years,  and 
then  sold  part  of  it  to  Dr.  P.  R.  Moale.  They 
then  incorporated  as  the  Hackney  &  Moale  Com- 
pany, with  Mr.  Hackney  as  president  of  the 
company. 

,  In  1911  Mr.  Hackney  left  Asheville  and  removed 
to  Lexington  where  he  organized  the  Lexington 
Chair  Company.     This  company  succeeded  to  the 


ownership  of  the  plant  and  the  good  will  of  the 
old  Oneida  Chair  Company.  As  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  this  companj-  Mr.  Hackney  has  directed 
his  affairs  with  notable  success  and  the  business 
is  now  one  of  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  North 
Carolina.  The  plant  has  a  complete  equipment 
of  modern  machinery  and  the  annual  output  of 
200,000  chairs  is  sold  over  many  states  of  the 
Union.  Mr.  Hackney  still  retains  an  interest  and 
is  a  director  in  the  Hacknej'  &  Moale  Company. 

In  189.5  he  married  Miss  May  Nichols.  She  was 
born  at  Asheville,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of 
Charles  A.  and  Elizabeth  (Reagan)  Nichols  and 
a  granddaughter  of  Dr.  James  A.  and  Mrs. 
( Weaver)  Reagan.  The  five  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hackney  are  named  Carolyn,  Charles,  Lois, 
James  and  Theresa.  The  parents  and  four  of  the 
children  are  active  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  South,  at  Lexington.  Mr. 
Hackney  is  a  member  of  the  board  of  stewards 
and  has  served  several  times  as  a  delegate  to 
annual  conferences  of  the  church  and  also  as  a 
lay  delegate  to  the  General  Conference.  He  has 
bestowed  much  of  his  means  and  time  upon  vari- 
ous benevolent  institutions.  He  is  chairman  of 
the  board  of  ti-ustees  of  the  Pythian  Orphanage  at 
Clayton,  North  Carolina,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
board  of  tru.stees  of  the  Children  's  Home  at  Win- 
ston-Salem. In  the  Knights  of  Pythias  his  local 
membership  is  with  Lexington  Lodge  No.  71  and 
he  is  a  Past  Grand  Chancellor  of  the  State.  He 
is  also  affiliated  with  Lexington  Lodge  No.  473 " 
Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  Lexington 
Chapter  No.  35  Royal  Arch  Masons,  Cyrene  Com- 
mandery  No.  5  Knight  Templars  of  Asheville, 
and  Oasis  Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine  at  Char- 
lotte. 

George  Wa.shixoton  Huggins.  The  death  of 
George  Washington  Huggins  on  .June  12,  1916, 
removed  one  of  Wilmington 's  oldest  and  most  hon- 
ored merchants  and  citizens.  A  few  years  after 
the  war,  in  which  he  had  served  in  the  Con- 
federate army  as  an  officer,  he  established  a  jew- 
elry business  at  105  Market  Street,  and  that  loca- 
tion knew  him  as  a  factor  in  the  commercial  life 
of  the  city  almost  continuously  until  his  death. 
In  fact  he  attended  to  his  business  affairs  up 
to  within  a  few  weeks  of  the  end. 

He  was  born  in  Onslow  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, in  1840,  a  sou  of  Luke  B.  Huggins,  a  native 
of  the  same  county.  He  spent  part  of  his  child- 
hood at  Newbern,  but  in  early  boyhood  removed  to 
Wilmington,  where  he  had  his  home  for  more 
than  half  a   centurj-. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  enlisted  as  a 
private  in  the  Wilmington  Rifle  Guard.  In  1861 
he  was  promoted  to  first  corporal  in  his  company, 
and  in  April,  1862.  to  junior  second  lieutenant. 
The  Wilmington  Rifle  Guards  subsequently  became 
Company  I  of  the  18th  North  Carolina  Regiment. 
He  served  with  distinction  in  the  army  of  North- 
ern Virginia,  and  was  present  at  the  battles  of 
Hanover  Court  House  and  Mechanics%-ille,  Cold 
Harbor,  and  Malvern  Hill.  At  the  close  of  the 
seven  days '  fighting  before  Richmond,  he  was 
wounded  in  the  foot  at  Harrison 's  Landing,  and- 
on  account  of  that  wound  was  disabled  for  serv- 
ice until  .July,  1863.  Soon  after  rejoining  his  reg- 
iment in  Virginia  he  was  detailed  for  duty  in  the 
quartermaster's  department  at  Wilmington.  When 
that  city  was  evacuated  he  went  to  Johnston 's 
army  and  remained  until  the  surrender,  when  he 
was  paroled.     For  a  great  many  years  -Mr.  Hug- 


/CC^£/C-Tyt^ 


&mfc^ 


o?%6 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


213 


gius  was  an  honored  nienibei-  and  comrade  in 
(Jape  i''eyr  Camp  No.  :i54,  United  Confederate 
Veterans,  and  tne  surviving  members  oli  that 
camp  were  present  at  his  funeral. 

Even  before  the  war  Mr.  Huggins  had  had 
some  experience  in  the  jewelry  trade  and  in  IBtiit 
he  founded  the  store  on  MarKet  Street  which  for 
upwards  ot  half  a  century  has  continued  to  serve 
the  must  exacting  demands  of  the  trade  in  this 
particular  line.  He  was  an  able  and  successful 
merchant,  and  also  possessed  many  admirable 
traits  of  character  that  endeared  him  to  his 
large  circle  of  friends.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  and  was  always  ready 
to  give  his  time  and  energies  to  philanthropic  and 
civic  affairs. 

The  old  family  home  for  many  years  was  at 
412  Market  Street,  where  Mr.,  Huggins  died. 
October  23,  1866,  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Allen, 
daughter  of  W.  H.  Allen  of  Wilmington.  Mrs. 
Huggins  and  two  sons,  Henry  Allen  and  Ucorge 
Allen  Huggins  survive  him. 

George  Allen  Huggins,  the  older  sou  of  the 
late  George  W.  Huggins,  and  his  wife  Elizabeth 
(Allen)  Huggins,  received  a  thorough  training  in 
business  in  his  lather's  jewelry  establishment  in 
Wilmington,  but  for  a  number  of  years  has  been 
most  widely  known  as  a  successful  farmer  and 
planter.     His  home  is  in  Scott 's  Hill. 

He  was  born  June  17,  1867,  and  was  reared  in 
Wilmington,  attending  the  Cape  Fear  Academy 
and  the  Kings  Mountain  High  School.  At  the 
age  of  fifteen  he  began  working  in  his  father 's 
jewelry  store,  and  is  still  connected  with  that  busi- 
ness, being  vice  president  of  the  firm  which  is  in- 
corporated under  the  name  G.  W.  Huggins.  How- 
ever, his  principal  interests  are  his  splendid  estate 
of  thirty-five  hundred  acres  at  Scott 's  Hill,  where 
he  is  very  successfully  raising  general  crops,  espe- 
cially peanuts,  and  is  a  large  stock  farmer.  He 
IS  a  member   of  the   Farmers  Educational  Union. 

Mr.  Huggins  was  married  November  29,  1899, 
to  Miss  Eva  Pierce  of  Scott's  Hill.  She  died 
December  13,  1906,  leaving  two  sons:  George 
Allen,  Jr.,  and  William  Henry,  both  of  whom  are 
now  in  school. 

H.  Allen  Huggins  in  1902  became  actively  as- 
sociated with  his  father,  the  l!ite  George  W.  Hug- 
giniH,  in  the  management  of  the  jewelry  business 
established  liy  tlie  elder  Huggins  on  Market  Street 
in  Wilmington  nearly  half  a  century  ago,  and 
since  the  death  of  his  father,  which  occurred  in 
June,  1916,  the  business  has  been  incorporated 
under  the  name  George  W.  Huggins,  Incorporated, 
with  H.  Allen  Huggins  its  secretary,  treasui-er 
and  general  manager. 

H.  Allen  Huggins  was  born  at  Wilmington 
August  12,  1879,  son  of  George  W.  and  Elizabeth 
(Allen)  Huggins.  He  received  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  Cape  Fear  Academy  and  in  1900  grad- 
uated from  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege at  Raleigh.  He  received  a  technical  train- 
ing and  for  two  years  after  his  graduation  was 
employed  as  a  chemist  in  Caraleigh  Phosphate 
Works.  He  then  returned  to  take  up  his  per- 
manent business  career  in  his  father 's  store,  and 
had  assumed  the  heavy  responsibilities  of  its  man- 
agement several  years  before  his  father 's  death. 
Mr.  Huggins  is  a  Thirty-second  degree  Scottish 
Rite  Mason,  and  is  past  ,  master  of  St.  John 's 
Lodge  No.  1,   Ancient  Free  &  Accepted   Masons. 


He  and  his  family  are  active  in  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church. 

On  April  19,  1905,  he  married  Miss  Lena  Ever- 
ett of  Wibniugton.  They  have  one  son,  Allen 
Everett  Huggins,  born  April  21,  1906. 

Charles  Reuben  Moore,  of  Asheville,  has  a 
specialty  as  a  promoter  and  developer  of  laud, 
especially  city  and  suburban  subdivisions  and  al- 
lotments. He  has  done  this  work  all  over  the 
United  States,  and  few  men  have  been  as  success- 
ful and  have  accomplished  more  that  is  perma- 
nent or  of  more  la.sting  benefit  to  the  communities 
concerned. 

Mr.  Moore  is  a  native  of  Georgia,  born  at  Weston 
in  Webster  County,  November  I!,  1867,  son  of 
Dr.  Charles  R.  and  Amelia  (Sharpe)  Moore.  He 
was  educated  in  the  grammar  and  high  schools 
at  Dawson  Business  College,  and  for  ten  years 
was  in  the  clothing  business  in  the  City  of  Ma- 
-con.  In  1907  he  removed  to  Asheville,  Nortli 
Carolina,  and  established  the  Southern  Laud  Auc- 
tion Company,  of  which  he  is  sole  proprietor.  This 
company  under  his  auspices  has  laid  out  and  de- 
veloiied  many  subdivisions  and  has  not  only  put 
them  on  the  market  but  advanced  tliem  to  that 
•legree  of  success  where  they  represent  real  home 
liuilders  and  are  an  integral  part  of  the  com- 
munity. This  firm  was  responsible  for  more  than 
fifty  homes  built  at  Weaverville,  a  suburb  of  Ashe- 
ville. Mr.  Moore  has  also  developed  Lake  Juanita,, 
where  he  has  his  own  home  and  a  tract  of  fifty- 
seven  acres.  Mr.  Moore  is  a  former  mayor  of 
Weaverville  and  wliile  in  that  otfice  he  was  in- 
strumental in  establishing  a  system  of  water- 
works in  the  village.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Knights  of  Pytliias  and  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America,  and  also  the  Benevolent  and  Protective 
Order  of   Elks. 

Mr.  Moore  married  Mrs.  Louise  Finney,  of 
Macon,  Georgia.  Mr.  Moore  has  one  son  by  his 
first    marriage,    Maury    Rouse. 

Jo.seph  G.  Chambers  has  been  identified  witli 
the  commercial  life  of  Old  Salem  and  Winston- 
Salem  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century.  A  number 
of  years  ago  he  established  himself  as  a  general 
raercliant,  and  his  business  has  gone  forward 
prospering  and  developing  under  his  management, 
and  he  has  long  enjoyed  a  position  due  to  his 
success  as  a  business  man  and  to  his  thoroughly 
public  siiirited  attitude  toward  the  community. 

Mr.  Chambers  is  a  native  of  North  Carolina 
and  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Iredell  County,  May 
10,  1860.  His  grandfather,  Henry  Chambers,  was 
a  native  of  Rowan  County  and  was  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  one  of  three  brothers  who  came  to 
America  in  colonial  times  and  settled  on  the 
present  site  of  Salisbury  and  founded  that  old  city 
of  North  Carolina.  The  descendants  are  numerous 
and  many  of  them  are  found  in  various  states. 
The  family  as  a  whole  lias  contributed  worthy 
men  and  women  to  various  walks  and  professions 
and  industries.  Grandfather  Henry  Chambers  lo- 
cated four  miles  east  of  Statesville,  where  he 
owned  and  occupied  a  fine  farm  and  lived  on  it 
until  his  death  in  1867.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  was  Jane  Cowan.  She  died  a  few  years 
before  her  husband.  Her  father  William  Cowan 
was  a  resident  of  Rowan  County.  Henry  Chambers 
and  wife  reared  eight  children :  William  Steele, 
Arthur  Curtis,  Joseph,  Robert  Cowan,  Elizabeth 
Melissa,  Ruth  Asenath,  .Tames  Ebenezer  and  Jane 


Hi 


HISTOEY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Adaline.  Tliree  of  these  childreu  were  dwarfs, 
Arthur  C,  Ebenezer  aud  Melissa.  Arthur  C.  was 
thirty -seven  inches  tali,  wliUe  Ebeuezer  was  four 
feet  in  height.  Melissa  weighed  twenty-four 
pounds  at  the  age  of  twelve  when  she  died. 

Robert  Cowan  Chambers,  father  of  the  Winstou- 
Salem  merchant,  was  born  on  a  farm  four  miles 
east  of  Statesville  August  12,  1821.  He  grew  up 
on  the  farm  and  made  farming  his  regular  occupa- 
tion. Before  the  war  he  employed  his  own  slaves 
in  the  fields.  He  became  a  soldier  aud  for  three 
years  wore  the  gray  uniform  aud  gave  a  good 
account  of  himself  in  many  a  battle.  After  the 
war  he  took  up  the  threads  of  lite  as  a  farmer 
aud  coutiuued  so  until  his  death  on  December  29, 
IHTS.  The  maiden  name  of  his  first  wife  was 
.Jemima  Kilpatrick.  At  her  death  she  left  live 
childreu  named  "William  A.,  Henry  B.,  Jennie, 
Carrie  and  Mary.  Mr.  Joseph  C.  Chambers  is  the 
son  of  his  father's  second  marriage  to  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Caroline  (Hicks;  Kilpatrick,  widow  of  his 
brother-in-law  Asa  Kilpatrick.  Joseph  C.  Cham- 
bers has  one  sister,  Elleu  L.  The  mutlier  was  born 
in  the  north  part  of  IredeU  County,  daughter  of 
Elijah  aud  Mrs.  (Johnson)  Hicks,  her  father 
having  owned  and  occupied  a  farm  on  the  South 
Yadkm  River  in  Iredell  County.  Mr.  Chambers' 
mother,  who  died  July  15,  1»»6,  had  reared  two 
children  by  her  first  marriage,  William  and  Eliza- 
beth. 

Joseph  C.  Chambers  had  to  face  the  serious 
responsibilities  of  life  at  an  early  age.  He  grew 
up  on  a  farm  and  all  his  schooling  came  trom  the 
free  schools  of  his  neighborhood.  He  was  thirteen 
years  old  when  his  father  died  and  thereafter  the 
care  aud  working  ot  the  home  farm  devolved  upon 
his  youthful  shoulders.  He  proved  equal  to  the 
task  and  remained  at  home  as  a  farmer  until  1889. 

In  that  year  he  removed  to  Salem  and  began  his 
business  career  as  a  clerk.  He  applied  himself 
with  diligence  to  his  work  and  rapidly  mastered 
tlie  details  of  merchandising.  In  1900  he  capital- 
ized this  experience  in  a  business  of  his  own  and 
opened  a  general  stock  of  merchandise  at  Salem. 
That  business  has  grown  into  his  present  large 
store  in  the  twin  cities. 

Mr.  Chambers  first  married  in  1879  Miss  Clemen- 
tine Shoemaker.  She  was  bom  in  Iredell  County, 
daughter  of  John  P.  and  Rosa  (Padget)  ShCe- 
maker.  They  were  married  for  less  than  ten  years 
when  Mrs.  Chambers  died  April  9,  1887.  She  was 
the  mother  of  four  children:  Cora,  Charles,  Mamie 
and  Lillie.  The  daughter  Mamie  died  at  the  age 
of  seventeen.  Charles  by  his  marriage  to  Rose 
Hardester  has  four  children  named  Ralph,  Irene, 
Clement  and  Walter.  Lillian  is  the  wife  of  Eugene 
Blankenship  and  her  three  children  are:  Kolunie, 
HoUis  and  Tarnis. 

On  Christmas  Day,  December  25,  1887,  Mr. 
Chambers  married  for  his  present  wife  Rebecca 
Caroline  Tucker.  She  was  born  in  IredeU  County, 
daughter  of  Roby  Tucker,  who  was  born  in  the 
same  county  in  May,  1808,  a  son  of  a  farmer,  and 
so  far  as  known  a  lifelong  resident  of  IredeU 
County.  Mrs.  Chambers'  father  succeeded  to  the 
ownership  of  the  old  homestead  and  lived  there 
until  1870,  when  he  sold  aud  bought  an  adjacent 
farm  on  which  he  continued  to  prosper  until  his 
death  in  1886.  The  maiden  name  of  Mrs.  Cham- 
bers' mother  was  Rachel  Mason.  She  was  a  native 
of  Iredell  County,  daughter  of  John  Mason,  a 
well-to-do  farmer  of  that  section.  Mrs.  Chambers' 
mother  died  in  January,  1914,  having  reared  nine 
children   wliose   names   were  John.   Rufus,   Isabel, 


Alfred,  Charles,  Rebecca,  Emma,  Lizzie  and  Aliee. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chambers  have  two  sons,  William 
and  OrviUe.  WiUiam  married  Mattie  Farris  and 
has  two  children,  William  aud  Herbert.  OrviUe 
married  Elsie  Morris,  aud  their  two  children  are 
MUdred  L.  and  OrviUe  M. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chambers  are  two  of  the  most 
loyal  members  and  consistent  workers  in  the  Salem 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South.  He  has  served 
as  class  leader,  steward  and  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees.  EraternaUy  he  is  afBilated  with  Salem 
CouncU  No.  14  Junior  Order  of  United  American 
Mechanics. 

W.  Lee  Harbin.  The  business  community  of 
Lexington  has  known  and  appreciated  the  services 
of  W.  Lee  Harbin  as  a  contractor  aud  builder  for 
over  thirty  years.  Mr.  Harbin's  work  as  a  con- 
tractor has  not  been  confined  to  this  one  locality 
but  has  extended  over  several  states,  and  a  long 
list  might  be  prejjared  of  many  important  public 
aud  private  structures  erected  under  his  super- 
intendence and  with  his  staff  of  exjjert  worknieu 
wliich  lie  has  trained  and  disciplined  to  every 
branch   of   the   building   industry. 

Mr.  Harl)iu  was  born  on  a  farm  at  Boston 
Bridge  three  mUes  from  StatesviUe  in  Iredell 
County,  North  Carolina.  His  father  James  F. 
Harbin  was  a  native  of  the  same  county  and  was 
reared  and  educated  there.  When  a  youth  he 
learned  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  that  was  his 
vocation  altogether  for  a  number  of  years,  but 
later  he  bought  a  farm  at  Boston  Bridge  and 
combined  its  superintendence  with  work  at  his 
trade.  Late  in  life  he  moved  to  StatesviUe,  where 
he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-four.  He  was  tliree 
times  married.  The  name  of  his  third  wife  was 
Clara  Tucker  of  Iredell  County.  She  was  left  an 
orphan  at  an  early  age  and  was  reared  b}'  rela- 
tives in  Georgia,  but  after  reaching  womanhood 
returned  to  Iredell  Count}-.  Her  death  occurred 
at   the   age   of   fifty-six. 

W.  Lee  Harbin  is  the  only  child  of  his  mother. 
He  had  four  half  brothers  named  Jonah,  Albert, 
Walter  and  John,  Jonah  having  lost  his  life  whUe 
serving  with  the  Confederate  Army  in  the  battle 
of  Seven  Pines.  There  was  also  a  half  sister, 
Mrs.   Laura    Shuford. 

W.  Lee  Harbin  attended  the  public  schools  at 
Statesville  and  when  only  a  boy  began  working 
with  his  father  at  the  carpenter  trade.  He 
acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  all  the  tools 
and  methods  of  carpentry  and  joinery,  and  did 
journeyman  work  at  StatesviUe  until  1881,  when 
he  removed  to  Lexington  and  here  for  four  years 
was  a  journeyman  carpenter.  In  1885  he  took  his 
first  contract  for  building  and  his  success  was 
almost  immediate.  He  developed  a  large  business, 
liandling  contracts  in  North  and  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  and  has  a  large  amount  of  money 
invested  in  capital  and  facilities  for  performing 
every  class  of  contract  in  building  and  in  every 
class  of  material. 

In  1882  Mr.  Harbin  married  Lula  Pickett. 
She  was  born  in  Lexington,  daughter  of  D.  W.  and 
Sarah  Pickett.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harbin  are  active 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He 
is  afiUiated  with  Lexington  Lodge  No.  473  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  Charlotte  Commandery 
of  the  Kiiigiits  Templar,  and  Oasis  Temple  of  the 
Mystic  Shrine  at  Charlotte. 

William  Feanklin  Carter.  One  of  the  more 
talented  and  prominent  attorneys  of  the  state,  and 


7T  7^  {o  cc^  (^^|^^^r 


' -M 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


215 


oue  of  the  most  valued  aud  honored  citizens  of 
Mount  Airy,  William  Franklin  Carter  is  widely 
recognized  as  a  man  of  broad  mental  attainments 
and  superior  legal  knowledge  and  ability.  Through 
his  professional  labor  and  skill  he  has  won  a  well 
merited  reputation  as  a  successful  lawyer,  and  as 
a  man  of  integrity  and  honor.  The  posthumous 
son  of  William  F.  Carter,  he  was  born  on  a  farm 
situated  in  Kockiugham  County,  near  Wentworth. 

Archibald  Carter,  Mr.  Carter 's  grandfather,  an 
extensive  planter  and  slaveholder,  owned  and  oc- 
cupied a  plantation  in  the  vicinity  of  Mocksville, 
Davie  County,  and  there  spent  the  larger  part  of 
his  life.  He  was  influential  in  public  matters,  for 
a  number  of  years  serving  as  clerk  of  the  Mocks- 
ville courts.  He  married  Lietitia  Wilson,  aud  they 
reared  a  family  consisting  of  four  sous  aud  three 
daughters,  as  toUows:  Vvilliam  i'.,  father  of  Mr. 
Carter;  Jesse;  Cornelius;  Kobert;  Elizabeth,  who 
became  the  wife  of  P.  H.  JJaltou;  Ann,  who  mar- 
ried William  Brown;  and  Letitia,  who  married 
Oliver  Spencer. 

Born  in  Mocksville,  Davie  County,  William  F. 
Carter  was  given  liberal  educational  advantages, 
and  after  his  graduation  from  the  literary  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  decided 
to  enter  the  legal  profession,  for  which  he  was 
eminently  qualified.  Admitted  to  the  bar,  he  was 
lor  a  time  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law.  He 
subsequently  located  on  land  in  Kockingham 
County,  and  with  the  assistance  of  slaves  there 
operated  a  plantation  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred at  the  early  age  of  twenty-eight  years. 

The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Cora  Isora 
Galloway.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Robert  and 
Susan  (Carter)  Galloway,  and  a  niece  of  liawley 
Galloway.  Four  childi'en  were  born  of  their  union, 
namely :  Letitia,  wife  of  J  udge  William  N.  Me- 
bane;  Mary  Susan,  unmarried;  Galloway;  aud 
William  Franklin,  whose  birth  occurred  three 
months  after  the  death  of  his  father.  The  mother 
of  these  children  married  for  her  second  husband 
Jesse  Carter,  brother  of  her  first  husband,  and  to 
them  four  children  were  born,  as  follows:  Jesse, 
Cecil,  Cora,  and  Archibald. 

At  his  own  home,  under  the  instruction  of  a  gov- 
erness, William  Franklin  Carter  laid  a  substantial 
foundation  for  his  future  education,  and  at  the 
age  of  eleven  years  entered  the  Wentworth  Acad- 
emy. He  subsequently  attended  the  high  school 
at  Lenoir  for  a  year,  afterwards  continuing  his 
studies  at  home  under  private  tutorship.  Thus, 
well  prepared,  he  entered  Davidson  College,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  with  the  class  of  1876, 
in  the  month  of  June.  Mr.  Carter  then  accepted 
a  position  as  principal  of  the  Male  Academy  at 
Wentworth,  Rockingliam  County,  where  he  taught 
for  a  year,  at  the  end  of  that  time  refusing  a 
re-election. 

Coming  then  to  Mount  Airy,  Mr.  Carter  entered 
the  office  of  Judge  Jesse  Franklin  Graves,  and 
while  there  studying  law  tutored  the  judges'  chiJ- 
dreu.  In  January,  1879,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  being  granted  his  license  to  practice  by  the 
Supreme  Court.  With  very  limited  means,  his  sole 
capital  being  a  good  education,  good  health,  and 
a  few  law  books,  Mr.  Carter  then  opened  an  office 
in  Mount  Airy.  His  keen  perceptive  faculties, 
combined  with  rare  legal  ability  and  skill,  soon 
won  him  prestige  in  his  chosen  profession,  and 
gained  for  him  a  large  and  lucrative  practice 
throughout  this  section  of  North  Carolina.  An 
up-to-date  student,  thoroughly  versed  in  legal  lore, 
he  loses  no  opportunity  to  advance  his  knowledge, 


and  now  possesses  one  of  the  most  complete  pri- 
vately owned  law  libraries  in  the  state. 

Mr.  Carter  is  also  a  man  of  excellent  business 
judgment,  and  sagacity,  and  is  associated  with 
various  business  organizations,  being  president  of 
the  Surry  County  Loan  and  Trust  Company;  a 
director  in  the  North  Carolina  Granite  Company; 
and  a  stockholder  in  various  industrial  concerns. 

On  December  o,  1884,  Mr.  Carter  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Annie  HoUiugsworth,  who  was 
born  in  Mount  Airy,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Mary  L.  (Banner)  Hollingsworth.  Into  the  house- 
hold thus  established  eight  children  have  been  born 
and  reared,  namely:  Joseph  Hollingsworth,  Cora 
Carter,  William  Franklin,  Jr.,  John  Ldwiii,  Robert 
Cecil,  Walter  Wilson,  William  Hollingsworth,  and 
Archibald  Banner.  Joseph  H.,  now  serving  as 
postmaster  at  Mount  Airy,  married  Elizabeth 
Bright,  aud  they  have  oue  child,  Annie  Jeannette 
Carter.  Cora  is  the  wife  of  John  H.  McSween,  of 
Timmonsville,  South  Carolina.  William  Franklin, 
Jr.,  married  Carrie  Young,  of  Greensboro. 

Religiously  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carter  aud  all  of  their 
children  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
in  which  Mr.  Carter  has  served  as  an  elder  for 
thirty-two  years,  while  for  tlurty-tive  years  he  has 
been  superintendent  of  its  Sunday  school.  Politi- 
cally Mr.  Carter  cast  his  first  presidential  vote,  in 
1880,  for  Gen.  W.  S.  Hancock,  and  since  that  time 
has  served  as  a  delegate  to  every  democratic  state 
convention,  and  to  many  of  the  district  conven- 
tions of  that  party.  For  four  years  Mr.  Carter 
served  his  home  city  as  mayor;  for  six  years  was 
city  attorney,  aud  for  a  period  of  ten  years  was 
chairman  of  the  Mount  Airy  Board  of  Education. 
As  a  public  official  Mr.  Carter  rendered  most  ac- 
ceptable service,  administering  the  affairs  of  his 
office  in  an  efficient  manner,  and  at  all  times  being 
a  loyal  and  liberal  supporter  of  all  movements 
tending  toward  the  betterment  of  city  and  county. 

Jesse  Mack  Rhodes  through  an  active  career 
of  nearly  twenty  years  has  worked  his  way  to  a 
substantial  position  among  the  business  men  and 
financiers  of  Henderson  County  aud  has  added 
something  definite  to  the  prosperity  of  the  com- 
munity. The  keynote  of  his  success  has  been 
the  constant  endeavor  to  make  the  most  of  such 
opportunities    as    presented    themselves. 

Mr.  Rhodes  was  born  in  Henderson  County, 
North  Carolina,  May  22,  1881,  a  son  of  Jesse 
Sherrill  and  Frances  A.  (Morris)  Rhodes.  His 
father  was  long  a  prominent  citizen  of  Henderson 
County,  was  a  farmer  and  raiser  of  fine  stock, 
and  for  a  total  of  eighteen  years  was  in  the 
service  of  the  county  in  the  offices  of  sheriff, 
treasurer  aud  also  as  representative  to  the  Legis- 
lature. 

J.  Mack  Rhodes  acquired  his  education  in  the 
public  schools,  in  Judson  College  and  finished  at 
the  Oak  Ridge  Institute  in  1899.  He  opened  his 
career  in  business  as  bookkeeper  for  a  wholesale 
grocery  establishment,  for  one  year  was  deputy 
clerk  of  courts  at  Spartansburg,  South  Carolina, 
and  from  1901  to  1903  was  a  general  merchant  on 
his  own  account  in  Henderson  County.  Since 
then  he  has  been  a  banker,  beginning  as  book- 
keeper with  the  Bank  of  Hendersonville.  lu  190.5 
he  was  promoted  to  cashier,  and  has  aided  in 
several  consolidations  of  banking  establishments, 
including  the  Commercial  Bank  and  the  Bank  of 
Hendersonville,  the  First  National  Bank  and  the 
Wauteska  Trust  &  Banking  Company,  and  is  now 
cashier   of   the   First   Bank  &  Trust  Company   of 


216 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Heiulersonville.  He  is  also  vice  president  of  tlie 
Heiuk'rsonville  Wholesale  Grocery  Company,  and 
he  organized  and  was  formerly  president  of  the 
Rhodes  Automobile  Company. 

Mr.  Ehodes  served  as  city  treasurer  and  alder- 
man of  Hendersonville.  In  the  line  of  patriotism 
he  did  duty  as  a  member  of  the  local  exemption 
board.  He  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  Order 
and  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and 
is  a  steward  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
May  22,  1900,  Mr.  Rhodes  married  Ora  Kuight, 
of  Guilford  County.  She  was  educated,  like  her 
husband,  in  the  Oak  Ridge  Institute.  They  have 
three  sons,  Jesse  Allen,  William  Gaither  and 
Cecil  Mack. 

Isaac  Harbison  McKaughan.  At  the  age  of 
eighty  years,  still  hale  and  vigorous,  Isaac  Harrison 
McKaughan  lives  retired  in  the  Village  of  Kerners- 
viUe  in  Forsyth  County.  He  grew  up  and  had  his 
first  business  experiences  before  the  war.  During 
the  war  he  sen'ed  faithfully  and  loyally  as  a  Con- 
federate soldier,  and  after  the  final  surrender  he 
returned  home  and  took  up  again  the  threads  of 
civO  existence.  Mr.  McKaughan  was  a  very  pros- 
perous farmer  for  many  years,  and  still  owns  a 
very  large  and  handsome  estate. 

He  was  born  in  Guilford  County,  North  Carolina, 
August  26,  1837.  His  grandfather,  McKaughan, 
of  Scotch  ancestry,  reared  his  family  in  Guilford 
County.  In  the  early  years  of  the  last  century  he 
determined  to  seek  a  home  in  the  new  country  then 
opening  to  American  settlers  in  that  part  of  the 
Dominion  of  Mexico  known  as  Texas.  It  was  such 
an  adventure  as  many  pioneers  were  willing  to  en- 
gage in  at  the  risk  of  considerable  personal  danger. 
His  son  Archibald  received  from  him  a  letter  writ- 
ten at  Natchitoches,  Louisiana,  and  the  border  of 
Texas,  and  soon  afterward  there  came  a  notice 
to  the  effect  that  Hugh  McKaughan  was  dead. 
Hugh  married  Phebe  Pope,  who  survived  her  hus- 
band many  years  and  died  at  the  home  of  her  son 
Forester  in  Guilford  County.  Her  six  children 
were  named  George,  Archibald,  William,  Forester, 
Jesse  and  Jane. 

Archibald  McKaughan,  father  of  Isaac  H.,  was 
born  in  Guilford  County,  North  Carolina,  Decem- 
ber 15,  1808.  He  grew  up  in  country  surroundings 
and  lived  in  Guilford  County  until  1839,  when  he 
removed  to  Stokes  County,  settling  near  Friedland, 
now  in  Forsyth  County.  Here  he  became  a  general 
farmer  and  he  remained  in  that  locality  an  honored 
and  useful  citizen  until  his  death  in  1879.  He 
married  Mary  Welch.  She  was  born  in  Guilford 
County,  February  3,  1810.  Her  father,  Isaac 
Welch,  was  a  native  of  the  same  county  and  her 
grandfather,  William  Welch,  was  a  farmer  who 
spent  his  last  years  in  Guilford  County,  where  he 
died  about  1841.  Isaac  Welch  was  also  a  farmer 
and  spent  all  his  days  in  Guilford  County.  The 
Welch  settlement  is  about  three  or  four  miles  from 
High  Point.  Isaac  Welch  married  Martha  Paine, 
who  was  probably  a  life  long  resident  of  Guilford 
County.  Mrs.  Archibald  McKaughan  died  January 
26,  1877.  Her  six  children  were  William,  Isaac  H., 
Richard,  Charlotte,  Phoebe  Jane  and  John.  The 
sons  William,  Isaac  and  Richard  were  all  Con- 
federate soldiers. 

Isaac  Harrison  McKaughan  grew  up  in  Stokes 
County  on  his  father's  farm.  When  nineteen 
years  of  age  he  started  for  South  Carolina  for  the 
purpose  of  selling  tobacco.  He  hired  a  team  from 
his  uncle  and  bought  a  stock  of  tobacco  from  N.  D. 
Sullivan.    As  a  tobacco  peddler  he  did  considerable 


business  and  was  in  South  Carolina  until  1862.  In 
the  spring  of  that  year  he  enrolled  in  the  demons 
Company  and  was  attached  to  the  Seventh  Con- 
federate Regiment  under  Colonel  Clayburn.  He 
was  subsequently  transferred  to  the  Sixteenth 
North  Carolina  Battalion.  His  service  took  him  all 
over  the  great  battlefields  of  Virginia,  and  while 
constantly  on  duty  and  ever  ready  for  the  hazards 
and  fortunes  of  a  soldier 's  life  he  suffered  neithe.' 
sickness  or  wounds  or  capture  and  was  with  his 
command  until  the  surrender  at  Appomattox.  He 
and  sixteen  of  his  comrades  were  able  to  retain 
their  horses,  and  they  rode  home  and  were  paroled 
at  Greensboro. 

Bravely  facing  the  conditions  of  life  in  a  de- 
vastated country,  he  at  once  rented  a  tract  of  land 
in  Abbotts  Creek  Township  and  spent  the  spring 
and  summer  farming,  while  the  rest  of  the  year  he 
was  again  a  tobacco  salesman  m  South  Carolina. 
In  1869  Mr.  McKaughan  bought  a  tract  of  land 
in  Abbotts  Creek  Township  and  was  steadily  en- 
gaged in  farming  there  until  1876.  In  that  year 
he  sold  his  farm  and  removed  to  Kernersville. 
His  first  purchase  of  land  there  was  fifty  acres 
close  to  the  town,  and  in  1884  he  bought  a  lot  in 
the  village  and  erected  a  commodious  brick  house, 
where  he  has  since  lived.  Much  of  Mr.  McKaug- 
han's  prosperity  in  business  was  acquired  as  a 
tobacco  dealer,  and  for  upwards  of  forty  years  he 
made  his  annual  trips  to  South  Carolina.  He 
continued  to  invest  in  land  until  he  had  upwards  of 
350  acres,  and  has  a  financial  independence  that 
enables  him  to  live  well  and  talte  life  leisurely. 

Mr.  McKaughan  was  married  in  1864  to  Esther 
Robertson.  She  was  born  five  miles  south  of 
Kernersville  October  6,  1839,  daughter  of  William 
Haley  and  Mahala  Robertson.  They  were  happily 
married  for  thirty-four  years  until  the  death  of 
Mrs.  McKaughan  on  May  20,  1898.  In  1899  Mr. 
McKaughan  married  Mary  Newton  Pegram,  a  na- 
tive of  Guilford  County  and  a  daughter  of  John  F. 
and  Nancy  (Jones)  Pegram.  Mr.  McKaughan  is 
an  active  member  of  the  Kornersville  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  both  his  wives  have 
also  been  members  of  that  society.  He  is  affiliated 
with  Norfleet  Camp  of  the  United  Confederate 
Veterans. 

By  his  first  marriage  he  has  six  children, 
Miranda,  Mary,  David,  Cornelius  M.,  Arminius 
Harrison  and  Charles  R.  Miranda  is  the  wife  of 
Robert  E.  Steele  of  Greensboro.  Mary  married 
Charles  Hester,  and  their  son  Homer  is  a  dentist. 
David  married  Minnie  Hooker,  their  seven  children 
being  Bessie,  Roy,  Hooker,  Gates,  Olivia,  David 
and  Esther.  Cornelius  by  his  marriage  to  Leota 
Reed  has  a  son  Robert  Steele.  Arminius  married 
Hettie  Gentry,  and  they  have  seven  children,  Elah, 
Duke,  Robert,  Ralph,  Darnold,  John  and  Phyllis. 
Cliarles  married  Nona  Brown,  and  their  three  "eliil- 
dren  are  William,  Charles  and  Mary. 

William  Fraxklin  Sparger  has  given  the 
years  of  his  active  life  chiefly  to  the  Dixie  Manu- 
facturing Company  of  Lexington  of  which  he 
is  secretary  and  treasurer.  This  is  one  of  the 
large  furniture  manufacturing  houses  that  give 
character  to  the  industry  of  Davidson  County. 

Mr.  Sparger  was  born  at  Mount  Airy  in  Surry 
County,  North  Carolina,  January  4,  1882.  He  is 
of  German  ancestry  in  the  paternal  line,  and  the 
first  of  the  family  in  America  spelled  the  name 
Wolfenbarger.  Surry  County  has  been  the  home 
of  the  faniUy  for  many  generations.  The  great- 
grandfather was  a  farmer  and  spent  his  life  there. 


-/2;^^^^^^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


217 


The  grandfather  William  Sparger  was  born  in 
the  vicinity  of  Mount  Airy,  and  acquired  much 
land,  which  he  used  as  a  plantation  and  spent 
his  life  in  Surry  County.  He  and  his  wife  reared 
four  sous,  Joseph  B.,  William,  James  A.  and  Allen 
L.,  and  two  daughters  Mary  and  Joyce.  Mary 
married  J.  Granville  King,  and  Joyce  became  the 
wife  of  W.   D.   Wall. 

Allen  L.  Sparger,  father  of  William  F.,  was  born 
on  a  farm  east  of  and  near  Mount  Airy,  and  grew 
up  in  a  country  environment  and  made  the  best 
possible  use  of  his  educational  opportunities.  On 
attaining  his  majority  he  left  the  farm  and  went 
to  Mount  Airy,  of  which  town  he  has  ever  since 
been  a  resident  and  his  chief  business  activities 
have  centered  there.  He  has  been  a  merchant  and 
for  several  terms  served  as  postmaster.  He  mar- 
ried Martha  Griffith.  She  was  born  on  the  farm 
a  mile  east  of  Mount  Airy,  daughter  of  Benjamin 
and  Rebecca  (Dix)  Griffith.  Benjamin  Griffith 
had  a  farm  adjoining  Mount  Airy  on  the  east. 
Mrs.  Allen  Sparger  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-four 
and  her  husband  afterwards  married  Nora  Clark. 

William  Franklin  Sparger,  the  only  child  of  his 
mother,  was  reared  and  educated  in  Mount  Airy, 
graduating  from  the  high  school  and  later  taking 
a  business  course  at  Oak  Ridge.  With  this  prepara- 
tion for  a  business  career  he  came  to  Lexington 
and  was  made  bookkeeper  for  the  Dixie  Furniture 
Company.  He  has  been  connected  with  that  in- 
dustry ever  since  with  the  exception  of  four 
years  while  he  was  with  the  Peacock  Coach  Com- 
pany. Mr.  Sparger  was  elected  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Dixie  Manufacturing  Company 
in   January,    1916. 

In  l.Qll  he  married  Miss  Edna  Yarbrough.  She 
was  born  in  Randolph  County,  North  Carolina, 
daughter  of  William  B.  and  Martha  (Arnold) 
Yarbrough.  They  have  two  children,  Margaret 
and  Allen.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sparger  are  active 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Fraternally  he  is  affiliated  with  Lexington  Lodge 
No.  473  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  Lex- 
ington Council  No.  21  Junior  Order  United  Ameri- 
can Mechanics,  and  Lexington  Lodge  No.  12.5.5 
Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 

A.  TiLDEN  McKeithan.  The  present  clerk  of 
the  Superior  Court  of  Brunswick  County,  A.  Til- 
den  McKeithan,  has,  since  his  election  to  the  posi- 
tion in  December,  1914,  shown  himself  an  efficient, 
conscientious  and  energetic  official,  worthy  of  the 
confidence  placed  in  him  by  the  people  who  elected 
him  to  rejiresent  them  in  his  office.  Prior  to  his 
election,  Mr.  Tildcn  had  a  somewhat  varied  career, 
including  experiences  in  school  teaching  and  mer- 
chandising, which  no  doubt  has  assisted  him  in  the 
discharge  of  his  official  duties. 

A.  Tilden  McKeithan  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
Brunswick  County,  North  Carolina,  October  20, 
1876,  and  has  resided  here  all  his  life.  His  fam- 
ily is  well  known  in  Southea.stern  North  Carolina, 
and  his  parents  are  Kilby  and  Margaret  (Moore) 
McKeithan,  farming  people  of  this  region  and 
good,  dependable  citizens.  The  public  schools  fur- 
nished him  with  his  early  education,  but  this  was 
subsequently  supplemented  by  attendance  at  Sa- 
lemsburg  Academy,  Sampson  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  his  schooling  was  completed  at  Bladen- 
boro  Academy,  Bladen  County,  North  Carolina. 
Thus  equipped,  he  secured  his  teacher's  certificate 
and  in  1900  began  his  career  as  an  educator,  which 
extended  over  a  jjeriod  of  seven  years,  during  which 


time  he  furnished  numerous  schools  in  various  sec- 
teacher,  he  felt  that  better  opportunities  were 
awaiting  him  in  mercantile  affairs,  and  in  1907 
returned  to  Brunswick  County  and  opened  a  gen- 
eral store  at  Supply,  a  thriving  little  community 
of  several  hundred  inhabitants.  There  Mr.  Mc- 
Keithan built  up  a  modest  business,  which  had 
grown  to  respectable  proportions  when,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1914,  he  was  elected  clerk  of  the  Superior 
Court  and  gave  up  his  business  to  give  all  his 
attention  to  his  official  duties.  Mr.  McKeithan  is 
an  energetic  worker,  accurate  and  careful,  and 
conscientious  in  all  that  he  does.  He  has  proven 
an  admirable  clerk  of  the  court  and  has  given  to 
his  duties  the  same  close  attention  that  character- 
ized his  private  actions  in  his  business  enterprises. 
He  has  long  been  an  active  factor  in  republican 
politics  in  the  county  and  stands  high  in  the  coun- 
cils of  his  party  here.  Fraternally,  he  belongs  to 
the  Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics. 

Mr.  McKeithan  was  married  June  26,  1912,  to 
Miss  Lizzie  D.  Piggott,  of  Supply,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  to  this  union  there  have  been  born  two 
children:  Male  Belle  and  A.  Tilden,  Jr.  Mr. 
McKeithan  is  a  member  of  the  Southport  Baptist 
Church. 

J.  Steven  Brottn,  M.  D.  As  a  criterion  of 
professional  ability  and  assured  success,  Doctor 
Brown,  of  Hendersouville,  moves  easily  on  a 
plane  of  fellowship  with  the  leading  physicians 
of  North  Carolina.  He  has  done  much  to  justify 
his  own  worthy  ambitions  to  be  a  source  of  use- 
fulness to  humanity,  and  has  in  many  ways 
justified    his    choice    of    this    noble    calling. 

Doctor  Brown  was  born  at  Mount  UUa,  North 
Carolina,  November  14,  1866,  a  son  of  G.  Henry 
and  Mattie  A.  (Lowrance)  Brown.  His  father 
was  a  farmer  and  early  in  the  war  enlisted  in 
the  Confederate  Army  and  was  in  the  ranks 
through  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  where  he  suf- 
fered a  severe  wound  in  the  head  which  tempo- 
rarily disqualified  him  for  active  duty.  Doctor 
Brown  grew  up  in  a  country  community  and  from 
an  early  age  learned  to  work  and  earn  the  ob- 
ject of  his  aspirations.  He  was  educated  in  pub- 
lic schools,  in  a  high  school,  and  in  1889  finished 
the  course  of  Davidson  College.  For  a  year  he 
was  a  teacher,  and  then  entered  Northwestern 
University  Medical  School  at  Chicago,  where  he 
w-as  graduated  M.  D.  in  189o.  Since  then  for 
a  period  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  has  been 
diligently  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine, 
three  years  at  Mount  Ulla,  his  native  community, 
ten  years  at  Salisbury,  and  since  1906  at  Heu- 
dersonville.  While  a  general  practitioner  he  is 
in  high  favor  as  an  obstetrician.  Doctor  Brown 
served  as  county  physician  both  while  at  Salis- 
bury and  Hendersonville.  He  has  done  his  pa- 
triotic duty  as  medical  examiner  for  the  exemp- 
tion board  in  his  district.  Doctor  Brown  is  a 
member  of  the  Henderson  and  Polk  Counties, 
the  North  Carolina  State  and  Tri-State  Medical 
societies  and  the  American  Medical  Association. 
Fraternally  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic 
Order,  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Woodmen  of  the  World, 
Junior  Order  of  Ignited  American  Mechanics,  is 
an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  is  active 
in  the  Hendersonville  Board  of  Trade.  As  an 
avocation  and  means  of  diversion  from  the  ardu- 
ous responsibilities  of  practice  Doctor  Brown 
uses   all  the   time  he  has   available   to   the   super- 


218 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


vision  of  his  fine  orchard  of  5,000  apple  trees. 
This  is  one  of  the  largest  orchards  in  Western 
North  Carolina. 

September  30,  1896,  he  married  Matfie  Phleger 
of  Floyd,  Virginia.  Mrs.  Brown  is  a  highly 
educated  woman,  prominent  socially,  is  president 
of  the  local  chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the 
Confederacy,  is  secretary  of  the  chapter  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  and  a 
member  of  the  Hendersonville  Woman 's  Club. 
They  have  five  children:  James  Steven,  Jr.,  a 
student  in  Davidson  College;  Mary  Phleger,  Ben- 
jamin George,  Mattie  Pauline,  and  John  Low- 
ranee. 

Joseph  Henry  Robertson.  A  rising  young 
business  man  of  Salisbury,  Joseph  Henry  Robert- 
son, manager  of  the  North  Carolina  Public  Service 
Company's  plant  in  this  city,  holds  a  position  of 
importance  and  responsibility,  and  in  the  perform- 
ance of  the  duties  devolving  upon  him  has  in- 
variably displayed  excellent  executive  ability  and 
good  judgment.  A  son  of  John  C.  Robertson,  Jr., 
he  was  born,  July  19,  1889,  in  Burlington,  Ala- 
mance County,  North  Carolina.  His  grandfather, 
John  C.  Robertson,  Sr.,  a  native  of  Scotland,  was 
the  only  member  of  his  family  to  immigrate  to 
America.  Coming  to  North  Carolina,  he  spent  his 
last  years  in  Burlington,  dying  at  a  good  old  age. 

Born  and  bred  in  North  Carolina,  John  C. 
Robertson,  Jr.,  learned  the  trade  of  a  boiler  maker, 
and  after  serving  an  apprenticeship  was  employed 
in  the  Burlington  Shops,  in  Burlington,  where  he 
continued  a  resident  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-eight  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Mary  E.  Cobb,  was  a  life-long  resident  of 
North  Carolina.  Of  her  children,  three  sons  are 
now  living,  John  A.,  James  W.,  and  Joseph  Henry. 

Completing  the  course  of  study  in  the  graded 
schools  of  Burlington,  Josei^h  Henry  Robertson 
was  subsequently  graduated  from  the  Burlington 
High  School.  Going  then  to  Raleigh,  he  entered 
the  Agi-icultural  and  Mechanical  College,  from 
which  he  received  the  degre  of  A.  B.  at  his  gradua- 
tion with  the  class  of  1909.  Mr.  Robertson  has 
since  that  time  been  continuously  in  the  employ  of 
the  North  Carolina  Public  Service  Company,  and 
in  whatever  position  he  has  been  placed  has 
proved  himself  eminently  capable  and  trustworthy. 
In  1912  he  was  transferred  to  Salisbury,  and  on 
January  23,  1917,  was  appointed  manager  of  the 
company  's  pdant  in  this  city.  The  position  is  one 
of  much  importance,  the  plant  of  which  Mr. 
Robertson  is  the  manager  operating  the  Salisbury 
Electric  Railroad,  and  the  Salisbury  Electric  Light 
and  Power  Plant. 

Mr.  Robertson  married,  in  1917,  Mary  Ramsay, 
a  native  of  Salisbury.  Religiously  Mr.  Robertson 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
while  Mrs.  Robertson  worships  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  with  which  she  united  when  young.  Fra- 
ternally Mr.  Robertson  is  a  member  of  Salisbury 
Lodge  No.  699,  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order 
of  Elks,  of  which  he  is  now  Exalted  Ruler. 

David  Simeon  Siceloff.  a  memlier  of  the  pres- 
ent board  of  county  commissioners  of  Davidson 
County  and  an  active  business  man  of  Lexington, 
is  member  of  a  family  that  came  into  Davidson 
County  in  pioneer  days  and  has  been  successively 
identified  with  the  county  chiefly  in  the  sphere  of 
agriculture  for  nearly  a  century. 

The  founder  of  the  family  in  America  was  his 
great-great-grandfather,  a  native  of  Germany,  who 


came  to  this  country  in  colonial  tunes  and  settled 
in  Pennsylvania.  His  son,  Erhardt  Siceloff,  with 
brothers  and  sisters  and  their  respective  families, 
set  out  from  Pennsylvania  to  find  new  homes  in 
Western  North  Carolina.  They  made  this  eventful 
journey  with  wagons  and  teams,  and  while  en  route 
were  attacked  by  hostile  Indians,  several  of  the 
party  being  killed.  The  survivors  came  on  and 
settled  in  what  is  now  Midway  Township  of  David- 
son County,  where  their  descendants  are  still  found 
in  considerable  numbers.  Erhardt  Siceloff  married 
Elizabeth  Clinard. 

One  of  their  children  was  Alexander  Siceloff, 
grandfather  of  David  S.  He  was  born  in  Midway 
Township,  and  became  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
citizens  of  that  locality.  As  a  planter  he  operated 
his  land  with  the  aid  of  slaves  and  his  prosperity 
was  sufticient  to  enable  him  to  give  each  of  his 
sons  a  farm  and  also  assist  each  of  his  daughters 
to  a  home  of  their  own.  He  married  Eliza  Weir, 
a  lifelong  resident  of  Midway  Township.  Their 
four  sons  were  named  John  C,  Joseph,  David  L., 
and  Edward  Leroy.  Their  five  daughters  were: 
Adeline,  who  married  DeWitt  Harris;  Elizabeth, 
who  became  the  wife  of  Samuel  Eller;  Frances, 
who  married  Andrew  Beckerdite;  Augusta,  who 
married  George  Hauser;  and  Antoinette,  the  wife 
of  John  C.  Thomas. 

David  Lumsdcn  Siceloff,  father  of  David  S., 
was  born  in  Midway  Township  of  Davidson  County 
and  sjient  his  early  life  on  a  farm.  From  the 
(juiet  routine  and  vocation  of  the  agriculturist  he 
was  calle^l  to  duty  for  his  country  at  the  time  of 
the  war  between  the  states.  He  enlisted  in  the 
Forty-second  Regiment  of  North  Carolina  troops, 
and  being  a  good  musician  was  assigned  to  the 
regimental  band.  He  went  with  his  regiment 
through  every  battle,  campaign  and  march  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  The  war  over  he  located 
on  land  given  him  by  his  father,  and  later  bought 
a  saw  and  grist  mill  on  Brushy  Fork  Creek.  He 
operated  this  as  a  custom  mill,  and  was  highly 
successful  both  in  his  milling  enterprise  and  his 
farming.  He  bought  additional  land,  and  kept  up 
the  operation  of  his  mills  and  the  supervision  of 
his  lauded  estate  until  his  death  when  in  the  prime 
of  years  at  the  age  of  forty-six.  He  married 
Martha  Caroline  Pledger.  She  was  born  near 
Lewisville  in  Forsyth  County,  North  Carolina.  Her 
father,  James  Pledger,  a  native  of  Robeson  County, 
North  Carolina,  went  to  what  is  now  Forsyth 
County  and  was  a  well-to-do  resident  near  Lewis- 
ville. His  wife,  Mary  Stipe,  died  in  middle  life, 
while  he  attained  old  age.  Mrs.  David  L.  Siceloff 
is  still  living  and  owns  the  old  homestead  in  Mid- 
way Township,  though  her  home  is  at  Lexington 
with  her  son,  David  S.  She  reared'  five  children : 
Mary  Lela,  wife  of  J.  M.  Nifong;  Ella  Elizabeth, 
who  married  A.  T.  Delap;  James  A.;  Carrie  P., 
who  became  the  wife  of  P.  J.  Leonard;  and  David 
Simeon,  the  youngest  of  the  family. 

Mr.  Siceloff  while  a  boy  was  given  the  advan- 
tages of  the  local  district  schools,  but  at  the  age  of 
twelve,  when  his  father  died,  he  gave  up  his  books 
and  was  diligently  working  on  the  farm  and  in 
the  mill  until  the  age  of  twenty.  He  then  spent 
a  year  in  Yadkin  College  and  subsequently  com- 
pleted the  literary  and  business  courses  in  the  Oak 
Ridge  Institute.  He  left  school  to  seek  a  position 
as  a  stenographer  in  1904.  There  was  no  opening 
available,  and  he  took  what  he  could  get.  For 
about  thirty  days  he  clerked  in  a  general  store  at 
Spencer,  and  on  coming  to  Lexington  held  another 
minor  position  for  about  two  weeks  until  he  was 


.^U^t4k^^^4j 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


219 


made  bookkeeper  and  stenographer  iu  the  oflices 
of  the  Eureka  Trouser  Company.  He  had  many 
other  duties  beside  the  stenographic  work  and 
bookkeeping  in  connection  with  that  company,  and 
was  with  it  until  it  failed  in  business.  Having 
acquired  a  considerable  knowledge  of  its  details, 
he  then  bought  the  equipment,  borrowing  the 
money  for  the  pui-pose,  and  with  that  as  a  nucleus 
has  gradually  developed  a  very  successful  and 
growing  concern,  the  production  now  being  500 
per  cent  more  tliau  when  he  took  the  business  over. 
He  paid  off  all  the  old  indebtedness  on  the  plant 
and  is  operating  a  high  class  business. 

In  190-i  Mr.  Siceloff  married  Miss  Georgia  Ma- 
lena  Lindsay.  She  was  born  in  Midway  Township 
of  Davidson  County,  daughter  of  James  H.  and 
Alnieda  (Tise)  Lindsay.  The  four  children  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Siceloff  are  named  James  Lumsden,  Le- 
land  Pledger,  David  S.,  Jr.,  and  Everett  Alexander. 

From  about  the  time  of  his  majority  Mr.  Siceloff 
has  taken  an  active  interest  in  politics  and  public 
affairs.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  town  board 
of  Lexington  and  in  1912  was  elected  one  of  the 
county  commissioners  of  Davidson  County  and  by 
re-election  has  been  retained  in  these  duties  to  the 
present  time.  He  and  liis  wife  are  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  for 
several  years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  board 
of  stewards,  and  at  the  beginning  of  this  confer- 
ence year  was  elected  chairman  of  this  board.  He 
has  served  as  secretary  and  treasurer  of  his  church 
and  also  as  temporary  superintendent  and  assistant 
superintendent  of  its  Sunday  school.  Mr.  Siceloff 
is  affiliated  with  Lexington  Lodge  No.  71,  of  the 
Knights  of  Pythias,  and  Lexington  Council  of  the 
Junior  Order  United  American  Mechanics. 

Robert  William  Davis.  It  is  scarcely  possible, 
iu  these  modern  days,  for  a  man  to  be  successful 
iu  the  domain  of  the  law  without  also  being  a 
man  of  broad  learning  and  of  solid  acquirements. 
Often  the  youth  w!io  feels  the  inspiration  that  ulti- 
mately leads  him  into  the  legal  profession,  finds 
difficulty  in  making  progress  because  of  lack  of 
encouragement,  opportunity  or  capital,  and  when 
these  drawbacks  are  overcome,  through  personal 
effort,  battles  have  been  won  that  make  firm  the 
foundations  of  character.  Among  the  men  now 
prominent  in  the  legal  fraternity  in  Southeastern 
North  Carolina,  one  who  has  fought  his  own  way 
to  the  forefront  is  Robert  William  Davis,  of  South- 
port,  junior  member  of  the  firm  of  Cranmer  & 
Davis.  Wlien  lie  entered  upon  his  career  his  only 
possessions  consisted  of  ambition,  determination 
aad  an  inherent  predilection  for  the  profession 
■which  he  has  made  his  life  work.  Out  of  these 
he  has  evolved  a  fine  and  worth-while  success. 

Mr.  Davis  has  been  a  lifelong  resident  of  South- 
port,  Brunswick  County.  Here  he  was  born  July 
18,  1874,  being  a  son  of  John  Dun  and  Anna 
Eliza  (Sellers)  Davis.  His  father,  a  seafaring 
man,  spent  his  entire  active  life  on  the  waters  of 
the  Atlantic  and  was  a  man  of  modest  means,  who 
furnislied  his  family  with  a  comfortable  home  and 
gave  his  children  ordinary  educational  advantages. 
Robert  W.  Davis  attended  the  public  schools  of 
Southport  until  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  and 
at  that  time  displayed  his  industry  by  accepting 
a  position  as  clerk  in  a  store  at  Southport.  He 
was  not  satisfied,  however,  with  his  meager  educa- 
tion, and  after  he  had  completed  his  clerical  tasks 
each  day,  would  attend  the  classes  of  a  night 
school,  where  was  bred  the  ambition  to  enter  the 
law.     Thus   he   passed  his  youth   in   dividing  his 


time  between  working  industriously  and  studying 
faithfully.  In  1S95  he  was  made  postmaster  at 
Soutliport,  which  added  to  his  income  and  gave 
him  more  time  to  study,  and  tliis  position  he  re- 
tained until  loin,  giving  the  people  of  his  city 
excellent  mail  service.  In  the  meantime,  iu  Febru- 
ary, 1901,  he  had  passed  the  examination  and 
been  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  at  once  entered 
upon  the  practice  of  his  calling.  He  formed  a 
partnership  with  another  Southport  attorney,  Mr. 
Cranmer,  and  they  have  since  continued  as  Cran- 
mer &  Davis,  this  being  known  as  one  of  the  strong 
legal  combinations  of  Brunswick  County,  of  whicn 
Southport  is  the  county  seat.  Mr.  Davis  is  a 
member  of  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association 
and  the  American  Bar  Association.  He  is  a  re- 
publican in  his  political  views,  and,  having  always 
taken  an  interest  in  civic  and  public  atlairs,  is 
one  of  the  leaders  of  his  jiarty  in  his  locality,  lii 
1915  he  was  the  republican  candidate  for  Congress 
and  made  a  good  run,  carrying  two  counties,  but 
the  normal  democratic  majority  was  too  much  for 
him  to  overcome.  In  his  profession,  Mr.  Davis  is 
a  man  of  whom  it  may  be  said  that  he  has  chosen 
well.  He  possesses  the  abilities  necessary  for  suc- 
cess in  the  law,  and  his  thorough  knowledge 
thereof,  as  evidenced  in  a  number  of  important 
cases,  has  made  him  a  most  formidable  and 
greatly-feared  opponent.  Fraternally,  Mr.  Davis 
is  affiliated  with  the  Masons,  the  Junior  Order 
United  American  Mechanics  and  the  Woodmen  of 
the  World,  in  all  of  which  ho  has  numerous  friends. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  board  of  stewards  of  Trin- 
ity Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Southport. 

Mr.  Davis  married  Miss  Annie  Ray  Mayer,  who 
was  born  in  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Cliarlie  and  Kate  Mayer.  At  her  death 
Mrs.  Annie  Davis  left  two  children :  Katherine 
and  Elizabeth.  Mr.  Davis  was  then  married  to 
Miss  Minnie  Alice  Blackwell.  and  they  have  two 
children :  Minnie  Ray  and  ' '  Bobbie ' '  Blackwell. 
Mrs.  Davis  is  a  native  of  Towns^Ue,  Vance  County, 
and  a  daughter  of  J.  P.,  Jr.,  and  Sallie  C 
(Wortham)  Blackwell,  the  father  born  iu  Vance 
County,  and  the  mother  in  Warren  County. 

Charles  Edward  Waddell  of  Asheville  has 
been  among  the  first  both  in  time  and  achieve- 
ment among  the  hydro-electric  engineers  of 
North  Carolina.  His  services  in  that  field  have 
made  him  widely  known  all  over  the  South.  His 
record  as  an  engineer  adds  no  unimportant  chap- 
tor  to  the  history  of  a  family  long  prominent  in 
North  Carolina,  the  most  conspicuous  early  mem- 
ber of  which  was  Col.  Hugh  Waddell,  whose  serv- 
ices as  a  colonial  soldier  are  told  briefly  on  other 
pages. 

Charles  Edward  Waddell  was  born'  at  Hillsboro, 
North  Carolina,  May  1,  1877,  son  of  Francis 
Nash  and  Anne  Ivy  (Miller)  Waddell.  His  mother 
was  a  daughter  of  Thomas  C.  Miller  of  Wil- 
mington. Francis  Nash  Waddell  as  a  captain 
in  the  Confederate  army  was  an  active  partici- 
]iant  with  the  land  battery  in  the  battle  between 
the  Merrimac  and  the  Monitor.  James  Iredell 
Waddell,  a  brother  of  Francis  Nash,  was  com- 
mander of  the  famous  Confederate  cruiser  "Shen- 
andoah. ' ' 

Mr.  Waddell  graduated  from  Bingham  Mili- 
tary School  in  1894,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  and 
forthwith  entered  the  service  of  the  General  Elec- 
tric Company  and  secured  his  technical  education 
in  the  shops  of  that  institution.  Thus  for  over 
twenty  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  electrical  en- 


220 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


giiieeriiig.  During  1895-96  he  was  an  assistant 
engineer  in  the  electrical  system  of  Bangor, 
Maine,  but  since  that  date  his  headquarters  and 
most  of  his  work  have  been  in  his  native  state. 
In  1897  he  served  as  electrician  of  the  Asheville 
Street  Railway  system,  and  he  built  and  oper- 
ated the  Asheville  &  Biltmore  Street  Railway 
line. 

In  1901  he  entered  the  services  of  the  late 
George  W.  Vanderbilt  to  supervise  the  engiueer- 
ing  work  in  the  construction  of  ' '  Biltmore. ' '  He 
remained  for  eight  years  one  of  the  officers  of 
the  estate,  but  retired  in  1909  and  has  since  had 
his  offices   in   Asheville  as  a   consulting  engiueer. 

Mr.  Waddell  designed  and  built  most  of  the 
engineering  works  at  Biltmore,  and  he  regards 
as  one  of  the  most  notable  of  his  performances 
the  electric  heating  plant  at  Biltmore  House.  At 
the  time  of  his  construction  this  heating  plant 
was  regarded  as  daringly  original  and  was  eas- 
ily the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  world. 

Mr.  Waddell  designed  and  built  the  North  L'ar- 
olina  Electrical  Power  Company 's  system,  this 
being  one  of  the  pioneer  hydroelectric  systems 
of  the  South,  embracing  transmission  lines  to  cities 
and  towns  of  Western  North  Carolina,  together 
with  hydraulic  plants  on  various  streams.  Aside 
from  this  he  has  been  intimately  associated  with 
all  of  the  larger  power  systems  of  the  South, 
and  has  built  a  number  of  steam  and  hydraulic 
jilants  along  the  eastern  seaboard.  Besides  his 
active  services  as  designer  and  constructor  of 
such  plants,  Mr.  Waddell  is  a  widely  sought  tech- 
nical adviser  to  financial  interests  in  financing 
public   utility    properties    throughout    the    country. 

Mr.  Waddell  is  a  member  of  various  technical 
societies,  including  the  American  Society  of  Civil 
Engineers,  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical 
Engineers  and  is  a  fellow  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute of  Electric  Engineers.  For  many  years  he 
was  an  active  worker  in  the  American  Institute, 
contributing  technical  papers  to  its  transactions, 
serving  on  committees,  and  it  was  nnh'  through 
impaired  health  that  he  relinquished  these  activi- 
ties in  191.3.  His  last  service  to  the  society  was 
as  rejiresentative  of  the  society 's  president  from 
the  Southern  States  at  the  Panama  Convention  of 
1912. 

Mr.  Waddell  has  served  as  a  member  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  Clarence  Barker  Me- 
morial Hospital  at  Biltimore.  He  is  member  and 
past  president  of  the  Pen  and  Plate  Club  of 
Asheville,  and  is  member,  and  from  1906  to  1912 
was,  a  vestryman  of  All  Souls  Episcojial  Church 
at  Biltmore. 

At  Louisville,  Kentucky,  April  19,  1904,  Mr. 
Waddell  married  Eleanor  Shejiard  Belknap,  daugli- 
ter  of  M.  S.  Belknap  and  Mary  Dumcsnil  Bel- 
knap. Her  father  was  a  jirominent  civil  engineer, 
a  graduate  of  the  Ecole  des  Fonts  and  Chauses 
of  Paris.  For  years  he  was  engaged  in  rail- 
road building  throughout  the  South  and  in  Ohl 
Mexico.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Waddell  have  two  chil- 
dren, Eleanor  Belknap  Waddell,  born  in  190.5,  and 
Charles  E.  Waddell,  Jr.,  born  in  1908. 

William  Thomas  Eainet.  A  prominent  figure 
in  the  business  life  of  Rowan  County,  William 
Thomas  Rainey,  of  Salisbury,  cashier  of  the  Morris 
Plan  Bank,  has  been  actively  associated  with  va- 
rious enterprises,  and  in  whatever  capacity  he  has 
served  has  invariably  won  the  respect,  confidence 
and  good  will  of  the  people  with  whom  he  has 
come  in  contact.    A  son  of  William  Rainey,  he  was 


born  in  1858,  in  the  city  where  he  now  lives,  and 
which  he  has  always  claimed  as  home. 

Born  and  reared  in  Rowan  County,  William 
Rainey  served  an  apprenticeship  at  the  cabinet 
maker 's  trade  when  young,  and  followed  it  suc- 
cessfully several  years.  On  August  27,  1861,  re- 
linquishing his  trade,  he  enlisted  in  Companj-  K, 
Seventh  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops,  with 
which  he  remained  until  1862,  when  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Fourth  Regiment,  North  Carolina 
Troops.  A  brave  and  gallant  soldier,  he  continued 
in  service  until  he  was  killed  in  battle  near  Win- 
chester, Virginia,  while  yet  in  manhood 's  prime. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Louisa  Coughen- 
hour.  She  was  born  on  a  farm  lying  three  and  one- 
half  miles  from  Salisbury,  being  a  daughter  of 
Capt.  Jack  Coughenhour,  a  life-long  planter  of 
Rowan  County,  who  married  a  Miss  Smithdeal. 
Mrs.  Rainey  was  left  a  widow  in  early  life,  with 
two  small  children,  William  T.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch ;  and  Fannie  Louisa,  who  married  G.  T. 
Mowery. 

Leaving  school  while  yet  a  lad  in  his  teens,  Wil- 
liam T.  Rainey  entered  the  employ  of  J.  Allen 
Brown,  then  a  dealer  in  forage,  lime  and  cement, 
and  later  was  for  seventeen  years  clerk  in  a  grocery 
store.  Mr.  Rainey  was  then  appointed  assistant 
postmaster  by  Col.  A.  H.  Boyden,  and  after  serving 
in  that  capacity  for  four  years  was  for  eight 
years  transfer  clerk  for  the  Southern  Railroad 
Company.  Embarking  then  in  mercantile  pursuits, 
he  was  engaged  in  the  retail  shoe  business  until 
191.5,  being  qtiite  successful  in  the  venture.  In 
May,  1915,  Mr.  Rainey  assisted  in  organizing  the 
Morris  Plan  Bank,  and  having  been  elected  its 
cashier  has  since  devoted  his  time  to  the  affairs  of 
the  institution,  performing  the  duties  devolving 
upon  him  ably  and  efficiently.  This  bank  was  the 
first  established  on  the  Morris  plan  in  North  Caro- 
lina, and  the  twenty-first  one  organized  in  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  Rainey  married,  in  1891,  Miss  Julia  Marvin. 
She  was  born  in  New  York  City,  a  daughter  of 
Joseph  Minor  Marvin,  a  member  of  the  well  known 
Marvin  family  of  whom  an  extended  history  has 
been  published.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rainey  have  two 
children,  namely:  William  T.,  Jr.,  and  Louise. 
Mr.  Rainey  was  reared  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
faith,  but  is  now  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  to  which  Mrs.  Rainey  also  belongs.  Prom- 
inent in  public  affairs,  he  has  served  eight  years 
as  city  treasurer,  and  is  now  city  clerk.  Frater- 
nally Mr.  Rainey  is  a  member  of  Salisbury  Lodge 
No.  24,  Knights  of  Pythias. 

Samuel  Winbourne  Finch,  present  postmaster 
of  Lexington,  and  for  fully  thirty  years  has  been 
actively  associated  with  that  city  in  business  and 
civic  affairs. 

His  birth  occurred  on  a  plantation  in  Conrad 
Hill  Township  of  Davidson  County.  For  four  or 
five  generations  the  Finch  family  have  lived  in 
North  Carolina  and  have  borne  their  share  of  all 
responsibilities  connected  with  the  industrial  and 
civic  progress  of  the  state.  His  first  American 
ancestor  was  John  Hester  Finch,  a  native  of  Eng- 
land, who  came  to  America  in  colonial  times,  living 
for  a  while  in  Virginia  and  from  there  removing 
to  Person  County,  North  Carolina.  He  was  one 
of  the  pioneers  in  that  region  and  spent  the  rest 
of  his  days  there.  His  two  sons  were  named  Pettis 
and  Richard.  Pettis  removed  to  Randolph  County, 
North  Carolina,  and  some  of  his  descendants  are 
still  found  at  Thomasville. 


X^IT-^X— 


/^/Lfl^-^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


221 


Rifliard  Finch  was  born  at  Cliiitou  in  Person 
County,  North  Carolina,  and  located  permanently 
in  Conrad  Hill  Township  of  Davidson  County, 
where  he  bouglit  land  and  gave  the  best  years  of 
his  life  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  married  a 
member  of  the  Winbourne  family,  whose  name  is 
carried  by  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

John  H.  Finch,  grandfather  of  Samuel  W.  Finch, 
and  a  son  of  Richard  Finch,  was  born  in  Davidson 
County,  grew  up  on  a  farm,  and  made  jilanting 
and  agricultural  operations  his  chief  pursuit.  A 
successful  man  in  a  business  way  he  acquired  a 
large  amount  of  land  and  operated  it  with  the 
aid  of  his  numerous  slaves.  His  death  occurred 
at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Martha  P.  Harris,  a  woman  of  consid- 
erable intelligence,  lived  to  be  ninety-one.  There 
were  three  sons  in  their  family :  Samuel  J.,  John 
Wesley  and  Frank  H.,  and  one  daughter,  Martha 
P.,  who  married  A.  H.  Kearns,  aud  is  now  a  resi- 
dent of  Randolph  County. 

Frank  H.  Finch,  father  of  Samuel  W.,  was  born 
in  Conrad  Hill  Township  of  Davidson  (bounty,  ac- 
quired a  substantial  education  in  the  common 
schools  and  was  busily  engaged  in  farming  when 
the  war  broke  out  between  the  states.  He  entered 
the  Confederate  army  as  a  private,  and  proved  a 
gallant  and  faithful  soldier  until  the  end.  At 
the  close  of  the  war  he  resumed  farming  at  the 
old  homestead,  but  in  1885  removed  to  Missouri, 
buying  a  ranch  in  Dent  County,  where  he  became 
extensively  engaged  in  raising  horses,  mules  and 
cattle.  He  is  still  a  man  of  affairs  in  that  state 
and  is  head  of  a  banking  enterprise  of  importance. 
He  married  Susan  A.  Goss,  who  was  born  in 
Davidson  County,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Susan 
(Hedric.k)  Goss.  Her  death  occurred  in  IQlo.  She 
reared  seven  sons:  Edward  Franklin,  Samuel  W., 
John  Hester,  Giles  G.,  Joseph  C,  David  and  Oscar, 
and  two  daughters,  Camille,  who  married  John 
Barnitz;  and  Bessie,  who  became  the  wife  of 
William  Cannon.  Both  parents  were  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  ■ 
The  father  was  for  a  number  of  years  prominently 
known  in  political  circles  and  held  places  of  trust. 

Samuel  Winbourne  Finch  as  a  boy  had  his  fa- 
ther's plantation  as  his  environment.  The  educa- 
tion begun  in  rural  schools  was  completed  under 
the  late  Baxton  Craven  in  Old  Trinity  College 
from  which  he  is  a  graduate  in  the  class  of  188;!. 
In  addition  to  other  honors  while  in  college,  he 
was  the  winner  of  the  Wiley  Gray  medal,  an  honor 
much  coveted.  The  next  four  years  he  spent  teach- 
ing in  Parmington,  Davie  County,  and  from  there 
removed  to  Lexington  and  witli  this  comnumity 
has  been  prominently  identified  both  as  a  business 
man  and  citizen  ever  since.  For  a  time  -he  was 
a  merchant,  later  engaged  in  the  grain  business, 
and  for  a  number  of  years  conducted  a  real  estate 
and  insurance  business. 

As  a  democrat  Mr.  Finch  is  one  of  the  prominent 
leaders  of  his  party  in  this  section  of  the  state. 
He  took  an  interest  in  politics  and  public  affairs 
as  a  young  man.  He  has  served  on  the  congres- 
sional district  and  judicial  district  state  executive 
committees  and  for  sixteen  years  was  chairman  of 
the  county  executive  committee.  For  two  years  he 
gave  a  splendid  administration  to  the  municipal 
affairs  of  Lexington  as  mayor  and  for  several 
years  was  member  of  the  board  of  education  and 
for  six  years  occupied  the  office  of  registrar  of 
deeds  of  Davidson  County.  Mr.  Finch  was  ap- 
]iointed  postmaster  of  Lexington  by  President  Wil- 
son in  1&15.     He  and  his  wife  are' members  of  the 


Methodist  Episcoijal  Church,  South,  and  the  Bap- 
tist Church.  He  married  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
eight  Miss  Lily  Eleanor  Springs.  She  was  born 
in  Davie  County,  daughter  of  A.  Alexander 
Springs,  a  native  of  Mecklenburg  County. 

George  W.  Trask.  There  is  one  not  overly 
large  truck  farm  near  Wilmington  from  which, 
on  authority  of  the  editor  of  the  Truck  Growers 
Journal  of  Wilmington,  produce  to  the  value  of 
many  thousand  dollars  was  sold  in  the  season  of 
1917.  The  owner  and  manager  of  this  farm  is 
George  W.  Trask  left  home  aud  with  practically 
the  most  successful  men  in  his  line  of  business  in 
the  state  and  who  has  even  more  extensive  inter- 
ests in  another  county. 

It  is  necessary  to  go  back  only  about  fifteen 
years  to  find  Mr.  Trask  at  the  beginning  of  his 
upward  climb  to  success.  And  this  period  prac- 
tically represents  his  mature  lifetime.  He  was 
born  ill  New  Hanover  County  on  Masonboro  Sound 
November  23,  1876.  His  father  is  D.  W.  Trask,  a 
farmer  who  still  lives  in  this  section  of  the  county. 
D.  W.  Trask  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  first 
to  plant  lettuce  in  the  Wilmington  vicinity  as  a 
commercial  proposition,  and  was  the  pioneer  of 
an  industry  that  has  since  assumed  large  propor- 
tions and  has  brought  a  great  deal  of  wealth  to 
the  region.  When  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age 
George  W.  Trask,  who  is  without  question  one  of 
no  capital  except  a  sound  mind  and  sound  body  he 
undertook  the  rather  discouraging  task  of  clear- 
ing up  a  small  farm  near  Winter  Park,  south  of 
Wilmington  on  the  suburban  railway.  He  cleared 
up  ten  or  fifteen  acres,  and  started  in  a  small  way 
as  a  truck  grower. 

His  uncle,  Mr.  C.  H.  Heide,  who  now  lives  on 
a  farm  in  Buncombe  County  near  Ashe^nlle,  at 
that  time  had  a  place  on  the  Castle  Hayne  Road 
three  miles  north  of  Wilmington.  He  was  plan 
ning  to  sell  in  order  that  he  might  move  to  the 
mountainous  section  of  Western  North  Carolina. 
While  there  was  no  lack  of  opportunities  to  sell, 
he  felt  enough  interest  in  the  farm  to  cause  him 
to  exercise  some  selection  in  the  purchaser,  desir- 
ing that  it  should  be  left  in  good  hands  and  that 
its  development  should  be  continued  on  the  same 
high  plane  as  it  had  been  begun.  Mr.  Heide  had 
been  attracted  by  cne  inaustnous  application  and 
ambition  of  his  nephew,  and  one  day  asked  the 
latter  why  he  did  not  buy  the  Heide  place.  At 
that  time  Mr.  Trask  was  practically  without  funds, 
but  was  so  greatly  impressed  with  the  possibilities 
of  his  uncle 's  farm  that  he  determined  to  assume 
the  big  burden  and  responsibility  of  purchase.  A 
few  days  later  he  secured  his  father 's  signature  to 
his  note  for  a  thousand  dollars  and  that  was  the 
first  payment  by  which  he  acquired  the  Heide 
place  of  sixty  acres.  Mr.  Heide  was  an  experi- 
enced truck  farmer  and  gave  the  young  man  every 
encouragement  and  assistance  in  getting  well 
started.  In  fact  Mr.  Trask  pays  his  uncle  a  trib- 
ute of  gratitude  and  says  he  owes  him  his  start 
ill  life  and  inucli  of  his  present  success. 

It  was  in  1902  that  Mr.  Trask  bought  and  took 
control  of  the  Heide  farm  north  of  Wilmington. 
Since  then  he  has  made  additional  purchases  and 
now  has  about  eighty-five  acres.  His  farm  is  three 
miles  north  of  Wilmington,  and  lies  between  the 
Castle  Hayne  Road  and  the  main  line  of  the  Atlan- 
tic Coast  Line  Railway.  It  is  one  big  truck  gar- 
den and  operated  with  an  etficiency  which  well 
justifies  the  profits  and  the  results  above  indicated. 

However,  during  the  last  fifteen  years  Mr.  Trask 


909 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


has  acquired  and  now  owns  and  operates  a  still 
larger  farm,  comprising  200  acres  near  Beaufort  in 
Beaufort  County,  South  Carolina,  one  of  the  rich- 
est trucking  districts  in  the  United  States.  Many 
men  in  that  locality  have  grown  wealthy  in  truck 
farming.  On  his  Beaufort  farm  Mr.  Trask  uses 
ten  teams  as  horse  power,  and  is  an  extensive  pro- 
ducer and  shipper  of  lettuce,  potatoes,  cabbage, 
beans  and  on  a  smaller  scale  of  other  trucking 
crops.  He  also  raises  his  own  meat,  and  all  the 
corn,  hay  and  other  feed  stuffs  for  his  farm 
animals. 

Because  of  this  record  here  briefly  stated,  and 
his  high  character  and  strict  principles  of  honor 
Mr.  Trask  has  won  the  unqualified  esteem  and  con- 
fidence of  the  business  men,  bankers  and  all  with 
whom  he  transacts  his  business  affairs.  He  enjoys 
the  highest  commercial  standing,  solid  resources 
and  unimpeachable  credit,  and  all  with  whom  he 
comes  in  contact  or  with  whom  he  has  dealings 
know  that  both  his  word  and  his  bond  are  equally 
good.  Unto  as  great  a  degree  as  can  be  claimed 
for  any  man  Mr.  Trask  has  made  all  that  he  is 
and  has,  earning  it  by  hard  work,  intelligent,  just 
dealings,  and  a  gift  of  foresight. 

It  is  perhaps  a  matter  of  common  knowledge 
that  truck  farmers  everywhere  are  exceedingly 
busy  men  and  Mr.  Tra.sk  is  no  exception  to  this 
rule.  Therefore  only  recently,  in  1918,  has  he 
ever  allowed  his  name  to  be  associated  as  a  can- 
didate for  public  oflBce.  At  that  time  he  entered 
the  race  for  the  democratic  nomination  for  county 
commissioner,  with  five  other  aspirants  in  the  field. 
The  primaries  were  held  March  19th.  It  was  a 
matter  of  surprise  to  Mr.  Trask  and  to  his  friends 
that,  considering  the  opposition,  he  was  nominated 
by  nearly  .500  votes  over  the  next  nearest  competi- 
tor and  received  practically  a  third  of  all  the  votes 
cast.  As  the  nomination  is  practically  equivalent 
to  election,  it  means  that  Mr.  Trask 's  responsibili- 
ties will  be  increased  in  the  coming  years  by  a 
public  office,  which  has  much  to  do  with  the  wel- 
fare of  New  Hanover  County  and  the  spirit  and 
efficiency  that  have  characterized  the  management 
of  his  private  affairs  will  doubtless  appear  in  his 
efforts  toward  the  betterment  of  county  roads  and 
all  otlier  matters  that  will  come  under  his  official 
supervision. 

Mr.  Tra.sk  married  Miss  Emma  Borneman  of 
Wilmington.  Their  familv  of  six  children  are 
Neill  W.,  C.  Heide,  Madeline,  George  W.,  Jr.,  John 
Morris,  and  Raiford  Graham. 

RicH.VRD  Gold  All.sbrook  has  been  in  prac- 
tice as  a  lawyer  at  Tarboro  for  the  past  seven- 
teen years,  has  been  called  upon  to  render  many 
services  to  the  public  both  in  his  professional 
capacities  and  as  a  citizen,  and  is  now  solicitor 
of   the   Second   Judicial   District. 

Mr.  Allsbrook  was  born  near  Scotland  Neck 
in  Halifax  Countv,  North  Carolina,  December 
13,  1874.  son  of  Benjamin  Ira  and  Temperance 
Delia  (House)  Allsbrook.  His  father  was  a 
farmer  and  for  some  years  served  as  sheriff  of 
Halifax  County. 

Richard  G.  Allsbrook  was  educated  in  private 
schools,  in  the  Vine  Hill  Male  Academy  at  Scot- 
land Neck,  and  in  1896  graduated  from  the  reg- 
ular course  of  the  Universitv  of  North  Carolina, 
and  in  1899  received  his  law  dearree.  He  lo- 
cated at  Tarboro  in  January,  1900.  For  six 
years  Mr.  Allsbrook  was  chairman  of  the  board 
of    education,    served    as    inavor    of    Tarboro    one 


year,  and  in  fall  of  1910  was  elected  solicitor  of 
the  Fourth  Judicial  District,  and  in  the  fall  of 
1914  was  elected  as  solicitor  of  tlie  Second  Judi- 
cial District  for  the  term  of  four  years,  in  which 
he   is   still   serving. 

He  is  an  active  Mason,  being  afliliated  with 
Concord  Lodge  No.  52,  Ancient  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Ma.sons,  and  the  Royal  Arch  Chapter  No. 
5.  He  and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Pres- 
hyteriau  Church. 

February  15,  1911,  Mr.  Allsbrook  married  Miss 
Sallie  Robersoii,  of  Edgecombe  County,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Wynn  arid  Penina  H.  Roberson.  Four 
childern  were  born  to  their  union:  Janie  F.,  Sarah 
Roberson,  Delia  House  and  Francis  Howard.  Sa- 
rah Roberson  is  now  deceased. 

Hexry  Hyman  Philips,  son  of  the  late  Hon. 
Frederick  Philips,  a  judge  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Superior  Court,  who  died  January  14,  1905, 
has  been  a  prominent  member  of  the  Tarboro  bar 
for  over  ten  years. 

He  was  horn  at  Tarboro  August  9,  1884,  son 
of  Frederick  and  Martha  (Hyman)  Philips.  He 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Tarboro, 
in.  the  Horner  Military  Academy  graduated 
Bachelor  of  Science  from  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  in  1905  and  LL.  B.  in  1906.  Since  his 
admission  to  the  ))ar  he  has  looked  after  a  grow- 
ing general  practice  at  Tarboro,  though  giving 
much  of  his  time  to  public  affairs. 

For  three  years  he  was  city  attorney,  and  has 
also  served  as  county  solicitor  of  Edgecombe 
County  from  1911  to  date,  and  as  a  county  attor- 
ney from  1914  to  date.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
North  Carolina  Bar  Association  and  of  the  Tar 
Heel  Club.  His  mother  owns  1,500  acres  of 
farming  land,  and  Mr.  PhUips  gives  active  su- 
pervision  to   this   property. 

November  15,  1916,  he  married  Miss  Ethel  Skin- 
ner, daughter  of  Charles  and  Hattie  (Cotton) 
Skinner,  of  Greenville,  North  Carolina.  Her  fa- 
ther was  a  merchant  and  is  now  deceased. 

JtTLius  Alesander  Caldwell,  M.  D.  The  long 
and  varied  professional  experience  of  the  late 
Julius  Alexander  Caldwell,  M.  D.,  of  Salisbury, 
coupled  with  his  keen  observation  and  conception 
of  disease  in  its  many  phases,  and  his  promptness 
in  meeting  and  successfully  conquering  them, 
eminently  entitle  him  to  representation  in  this 
volume.  He  was  born  in  Salisburv,  Februarv  9, 
1833,  a  son  of  Hon.  David  Franklin  Caldwell, 
whose  birth  ocx'urred  in  what  is  now  Iredell  Countv, 
North  Carolina,  in  1793. 

The  doctor's  grandfather,  Andrew  Caldwell,  a 
native  of  Iredell  County,  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  war.  Rumple 's  History  of  Rowan 
County  thus  speaks  of  him :  "In  the  eastern  part 
of  IredeU  County,  then  Rowan  County,  lived  a 
hundred  years  ago,  a  substantial  citizen  named 
Andrew  CaldweD.  He  was  of  that  sturdy  Scotch- 
Irish  stock  that  peopled  so  much  of  this  region  of 
the  country.  He  married  Ruth,  the  daughter  of 
Hon.  William  Sharpe.  He  was  one  of  the  leading 
men  of  his  county,  and  often  represented  his  fellow- 
citizens  in  the  Legislature.  He  had  a  number  of 
children,  among  them  being  three  sons  widely 
known,  viz.:  Hon.  David  F.  Caldwell:  Hon. 
Joseph  P.  Caldwell,  of  Iredell  County;  and  Dr. 
Elam  Caldwell,  of  Lincolnton. ' ' 

Hon.  WiUiam  Sharpe,  the  maternal  great-grand- 
father of  the  doctor,  married  Ruth  Reese.    She  was 


TIO 


Nsj 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


223 


a  daughter  of  David  Ap  Reese,  a  native  of  Wales, 
and  his  wife,  Gladys,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Red- 
wallon.  Prince  of  Powys. 

Hon.  David  F.  Caldwell  was  grmliiated  from  the 
literary  department  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  read  law  with  Hon.  Archibald  Henderson, 
and  being  admitted  to  the  bar  commenced  practice 
in  Statesville,  where,  in  1816,  he  was  elected  to  the 
House  of  Commons.  Later  he  removed  to  Salis- 
bury, and  soon  became  one  of  the  foremost  lawyers 
of  the  place.  In  1829-30  and  31,  he  represented 
Bowan  County  in  the  State  Senate,  in  the  first 
named  year  being  Hhe  presiding  officer.  He  con- 
tinued in  active  practice  in  Salisbury  until  1844, 
when  he  was  appointed  judge  of  the  Superior 
Court.  It  is  said  that  he  presided  with  much 
grace  and  great  dignity,  and  although  somewhat 
stern  was  invariably  just  and  impartial  in  his 
rulings.  Resigning  the  judgeship  in  1858,  he  sub- 
sequently lived  retired  until  his  death,  in  1867. 

Hon.  David  Franklin  Caldwell  married  fir.st 
Fannie  Alexander,  a  daughter  of  William  Lee 
Alexander,  and  on  the  maternal  side  a  grand- 
daughter of  Hon.  Richard  Henderson.  Her  father, 
an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  was  a  lieuten- 
ant in  the  Tenth  Continental  Regiment.  The 
children  of  D.  P.  Caldwell,  all  by  his  first  mar- 
riage, were  William  Lee ;  Archibald  Henderson ; 
Elizabeth  Ruth,  who  married  Col.  Cliarles  Fisher; 
Richard  A.;  Julius  Alexander;  and  Fanny  McCoy, 
who  married  Peter  Hairston. 

As  a  youth  .lulius  Alexander  Caldwell  attended, 
in  Cleveland,  the  school  taught  by  the  man  that 
many  believed  was  Marshal  Ney.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  years  he  was  graduated  from  the  Univers- 
ity of  North  Carolina.  Entering  then  the  medical 
department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  he 
was  there  graduated  with  the  class  of  1859,  receiv- 
ing the  degree  of  M.  D.  Immediately  locating  at 
Lincolnton,  Doctor  Caldwell  practised  medicine 
there  until  the  Civil  war.  He  then  entered  the 
Confederate  service  as  a  surgeon,  and  served  in 
that  capacity  until  stricken  with  a  fever.  When 
he  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  his  serious  ill- 
ness, he  came  to  Salisbury,  and  until  the  close  of 
the  war  was  physician  at  the  soldier 's  prison.  The 
doctor  was  subsequently  actively  engaged  in  gen- 
eral practice  at  Salisbury  until  his  death,  at  the 
good  old  age  of  seventy-six  years. 

Doctor  Caldwell  married,  August  24,  1867, 
Fannie  Miller,  a  native  of  Winchester,  Virginia. 
Her  father,  John  W.  Miller,  was  born  at  Glen 
Hausen,  Germany,  three  leagues  from  Frankfort, 
and  as  a  boy  came  with  his  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
George  Miller,  to  America,  settling  near  Frederick, 
Maryland.  After  his  marriage,  he  lived  several 
years  in  Winchester,  Virginia,  from  there  going 
with  his  family  to  Lake  Providence,  Louisiana, 
where  both  he  and  his  wife  were  soon  stricken  with 
yellow  fever,  and  died.  The  maiden  name  of  the 
wife  of  John  W.  Miller  was  Herriot  Patton.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Roberdeau) 
Patton.  Mary  Roberdeau 's  father,  Gen.  David 
Roberdeau,  was  born  in  St.  Cliristopher,  a,  son  of 
Isaac  Roberdeau,  who  was  born  near  Rochelle, 
France,  and  settled  in  St.  Christopher  before  172.3. 
^In  177.5  David  Roberdeau  was  a  member  of  the 
committee  of  the  Council  of  Safety,  and  later  was 
commissioned  brigadier  general,  but  was  forced  to 
retire  from  the  service  on  account  of  ill  health. 
Realizing  the  financial  needs  of  his  country,  and 
anxious  to  help  all  he  could  he  generously  gave 
$18,000  from  his  own  private  purse.  In  1787  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Con- 


gress that  met  in  Philadelphia,  and  on  September 
17,  1787,  signed  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 

Mrs.  Caldwell  has  one  brother,  Albert  P.  MiUer, 
now  a  merchant  in  Trenton,  Missouri.  Very 
young  when  her  parents  died,  Mrs.  Caldwell  came 
to  North  Carolina  to  live  with  friends,  and  was 
educated  in  Raleigh.  She  and  her  only  daughter, 
Fannie  Caldwell,  now  occupy  the  home  on  East 
Innes  Street.  Mrs.  Caldwell  has  two  sons,  Archi- 
bald H.  and  Julius  Alexander,  Jr.  Archibald  H., 
who  is  in  the  railroad  service  at  Tucson,  Arizona, 
married  Mary,  daughter  of  Doctor  Jones,  of  Ashe- 
vUle,  and  has  two  children,  Archibald  H.,  Jr.,  and 
Isabella.  Julian  A.,  a  graduate  of  the  Medical 
Department  of  John  Hopkins  University,  is  prac- 
tising medicine  at  Montclair,  New  Jersey.  He 
married  Ethel  Millard,  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Nelson 
Millard,  of  Rochester,  New  York,  and  they  have 
three  children,  Julius  A.,  Jr.,  Alice  Boyd,  and 
Robert  Millard. 

Doctor  Caldwell  was  a  member  of  the  Rowan 
County  and  the  North  Carolina  State  Medical 
societies,  and  was  one  of  the  vestrymen  of  the 
Episcopal  Cluireh,  to  which  his  widow  and  daugh- 
ter belong.  Miss  Caldwell  is  a  member  of  the 
Elizabeth  M.  Steele  Cliapter,  Daughters  of  the 
American  Revolution. 

Rev.  Christopher  Dennen  has  been  identified 
with  St.  Thomas  Parish  of  the  Catholic  Church  at 
Wilmington  ever  since  his  ordination  to  the  priest- 
hood a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  His  service  has 
been  distinguished  even  more  by  the  efficiency  of 
his  administration  and  the  zeal  with  which  he 
has  undertaken  the  complex  responsibilities  of  his 
parish  and  carried  it  forward  to  success. 

He  was  born  January  5,  1866,  at  Danville,  Penn- 
sylvania, a  son  of  Sylvester  and  Bridget  Dennen, 
his  parents  natives  of  Ireland  and  his  father  a 
Pemisylvania  farmer.  Father  Dennen  grew  up  on 
a  farm  and  after  determining  upon  a  career  in 
the  church  he  directed  all  his  studies  and  efforts 
towards  a  liberal  education  and  training.  He  was 
graduated  in  May,  1891,  from  St.  Vincent's  Col- 
lege in  Westmoreland  County,  Pennsylvania,  and 
on  June  14,  1891,  was  ordained  to  the  Catholic 
priesthood  at  Belmont,  North  Carolina.  A  few 
days  later,  on  June  27th,  he  was  made  assistant 
priest  of  St.  Thomas  Church  at  Wilmington,  and 
since  1892  has  been  its  rector.  In  December,  1911, 
the  old  parish  church  of  St.  Thomas  was  turned 
over  to  Mother  Drexel  for  the  colored  people  and 
a  new  church,  St.  Maiy's,  was  dedicated.  Father 
Dennen  has  under  his  jurisdiction  fourteen  mis- 
sions connected  with  his  parish.  He  takes  an 
active  part  in  all  the  church  activities,  and  belongs 
to  the  Knights  of  Columbus  and  the  Benevolent 
and  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 

Gaston  E.  Horn.  An  active  and  successful 
representative  of  the  lumber  trade  of  Davie  County, 
Gaston  E.  Horn  occupies  a  prominent  position  in 
the  industrial  life  of  his  community,  being  secre- 
tary, treasurer,  and  general  manager  of  the  Horn 
Land  and  Lumber  Company,  which  is  doing  an 
extensive  business  not  only  in  Davie  County,  but 
in  several  near-by  counties.  Born  on  a  farm  in 
Davie  County,  he  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools,  and  while  young  obtained  a  practical 
knowledge  of  agriculture  in  all  of  its  branches. 

Leaving  the  farm  in  1901,  Mr.  Horn  came  to 
Mocksville,  and  having  organized  the  Mocksville 
Chair  Company  had,  as  its  general  manager,  full 
control  of  its  affairs  for  ten  years.    In  the  mean- 


224 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


time,  in  190S,  Mr.  Horn,  realizing  the  value  of  the 
extensive  forests  standing  ready  to  be  transformed 
into  a  marketable  commodity,  organized  the  Horn 
Laud  and  Lumber  Company,  with  which  he  has 
since  been  officially  identified,  being  the  leading 
spirit  in  its  management.  This  enterprising  com- 
pany has  built  up  a  large  business,  in  its  opera- 
tions having  purchased  timbered  land  in  Davie, 
Yadkin,  Stokes,  Rockingham,  and  Forsyth  counties, 
and,  with  a  portable  saw  mill,  have  converted  the 
giants  of  the  forest,  when  felled,  into  first  class 
lumber,  for  which  now  there  is  greater  demand 
than  ever.  The  company  also  deals  extensively  in 
land,  and  has  platted  additions  to  both  Mocksville 
and  Winston.  Mr.  Horn  and  his  wife,  who  form- 
erly owned  the  land  on  which  the  courthouse  and 
jail  stand,  transferred  it  to  the  county  commis- 
sioners. 

Mr.  Horn  married,  in  1886,  Mary  Jane  Foster, 
who  was  born  in  Davie  County,  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Laura  Foster,  and  granddaughter  on 
the  paternal  side  of  Berry  and  Polly  Foster,  and 
on  the  maternal  side  of  John  and  Jane  Higdon 
Foster.  Seven  children  have  blessed  their  union, 
namely:  Mamie,  Octa,  Everett,  Elsie,  Paiiline, 
Mary,  and  Regina.  Mr.  Horn  is  an  active  member 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  to  which  Mrs.  Horn  also 
belongs.  He  is  a  member  of  the  building  com- 
mittee, and  he  and  his  brother  are  superintend- 
ing the  church  edifice  now  in  process  of  con- 
struction. Fraternally  Mr.  Horn  is  a  member  of 
Mocksville  Lodge  No.  226,  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics. 

Lloyd  Williams  Moore.  After  many  years  of 
active  service  in  a  railroad  office,  Lloyd  Williams 
Moore  resigned  to  devote  his  time  and  energies 
to  the  real  estate  and  life  insurance  business,  and 
in  1910  established  the  L.  W.  Moore  Real  Estate 
and  Life  Insurance  Agency.  His  success  in  this 
field  has  been  distinctive,  and  he  is  one  of  the 
leading  business  men  and  citizens  of  Wilming- 
ton. 

Mr.  Moore  is  district  agent  for  the  Equitable 
Life  Assurance  Association,  is  secretary  and  treas- 
urer of  the  Carolina  Building  and  Loan  Associa- 
tion and  is  director  of  the  Home  Savings  Bank. 
He   handles   a  general  real   estate   business. 

He  was  born  in  Wayne  County,  North  Carolina, 
February  2.5,  1877,  a  son  of  William  Rufus  and 
Mary  A.  (Hollowell)  Moore.  His  early  life  was 
spent  on  a  farm,  ilis  education  came  from  the 
public  schools  of  Goldsboro  and  Guilford  College. 
He  left  school  in  1898  to  enter  the  general  of- 
fices of  the  Atlantic  Coastline  Railway  Company, 
where  he  remained  continuously  from  December, 
1898,  until  January  1,  1910.  'aU  that  time  he 
was  located  at  Wilmington,  and  for  the  last  nine 
years  was  clerk  of  the  traffic  department. 

His  has  also  been  a  creditable  record  as  a  pub- 
lie  spirited  citizen.  In  January,  1916,  on  aecount 
of  the  urgent  requirements  of  his  private  affairs, 
Mr.  Moore  resigned  after  four  years  of  service 
as  county  commissioner  of  New  Hanover  County. 
He  was  formerly  a  director  of  the  Wilmington 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  ajid  is  now 
a  director  of  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital.  He  is 
chairman  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Wilmington,  and  is  superin- 
tendent of  the  Delgado  Mission  of  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church.  Fraternally  he  is  a  Mason  and  Odd 
Fellow,  and  now  chairman  of  the  Independent  Or- 
der   of    Odd    Fellows    building   committee. 

February    8,    1899,    he    married    Miss    Georgia 


Keaton,  of  Goldsboro,  North  Carolina.  Their 
two  children  are  Ruth  Lucile  and  Lloyd  Williams, 
Jr. 

Hon.  Richard  Gwyn  Franklin.  An  excellent 
representative  of  the  native-born  citizens  of  Elkin, 
Surry  County,  where  his  birth  occurred  on  March 
2.5,  1848,  Hon.  Richard  Gwyn  Franklin  comes  of 
Revolutionary  stock,  and  of  Virginian  ancestry, 
being  a  descendant  in  the  fifth  generation  from 
Lawrence  Franklin,  the  line  being  continued 
through  Bernard,  Meshack.  Columbus  Bernard,  and 
Richard  Gwyn.  Lawrence  Franklin  married  Mary 
Paine,  and  both  were  life-long  residents  of  the 
Old  Dominion. 

Bernard  Franklin  was  born,  in  1731,  in  Albe- 
marle County,  Virginia,  and  there  grew  to  man- 
hood. When  quite  young  he  there  married  Mary 
Cleveland,  a  sister  of  Col.  Benjamin  Cleveland,  an 
officer  in  the  Revolutionary  army.  About  1776  his 
son  Jesse  became  prominent  in  public  affairs,  serv- 
ing not  only  as  governor  of  Virginia,  but  as 
United  States  senator.  This  son  subsequently 
came  to  North  Carolina  to  visit  the  family  of  his 
uncle,  Colonel  Cleveland,  and  was  so  impressed 
with  the  resources  of  this  section  of  the  country 
that  he  selected  for  his  father  a  location  in  Surry 
County,  on  the  Fish  River.  Soon  after  the  return 
home  of  his  son,  Bernard  Franklin  came  with  his 
family  to  Surry  County,  settling  on  the  banks  of 
Fish  River,  and  there  resided  until  his  death. 
Many  of  his  descendants  are  living  in  that  vicinity 
at  the  present  time,  but  very  few  of  them  bear 
the  name  of  Franklin. 

Meshack  Franklin  was  born  in  Albemarle  County, 
Virginia,  May  26,  1773,  and  was  but  a  boy  when 
he  came  with  the  family  to  Surry  County.  Choos- 
ing for  his  life  work  the  free  and  independent  occu- 
pation of  a  farmer,  he  inherited  a  part  of  the 
parental  homestead,  and  continued  in  agricultural 
pursuits  during  the  remainder  of  his  days.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mildred  Edwards. 

Columbus  B.  Franklin  was  born  on  the  home 
farm,  in  Surry  County,  in  1806,  and  there  grew 
to  manhood,  receiving  as  a  boy  and  youth  ex- 
cellent educational  advantages  for  his  time.  When 
ready  to  begin  life  for  himself,  he  bought  a  tract 
of  land,  a  part  of  which  is  now  included  within 
the  limits  of  Elkin.  Subsequently,  in  partnership 
with  Richard  Gwyn,  Sr.,  and  his  sons,  James 
George  Gwyn  and  Richard  Gwyn,  Jr.,  he  improved 
the  water  power,  and  erected  "the  first  cotton  mill 
established  in  Elkin.  A  few  years  later  he  mi- 
grated to  Mississippi,  and  purchased  land  in  Mar- 
shall County,  that  state,  and  just  across  the  line 
in  Fayette  County,  Tennessee.  Making  his  home 
in  the  latter  place,  he  remained  there  until  his 
death,  in  1866.  He  married  Amelia  Gwyn,  who 
was  born  in  Jonesville,  Yadkin  County,  North 
Carolina,  being  descended  from  a  family  of  prom- 
inence. 
^  The  Gwyn  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  the 
United  States,  the  immigrant  ancestor,  a  Scotch- 
man by  birth,  having  come  to  America,  it  is  said, 
in  1610,  locating  in  Virginia,  In  1611,  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  he  started  on  an  exploring  expedi- 
tion along  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  Sud- 
denly before  his  gaze  appeared  a  beautiful"  female, 
who  plunged  into  the  water  from  a  near-by  island, 
and  started  to  swim  ashore,  but  the  distance  was 
too  great  for  her,  and  she  became  exhausted. 
Rescuing  her  from  her  fate,  he  asked  her  name, 
and  why  she  was  there.  She  replied  that  her 
name  was  Pocahontas,  and  that  she  had  come  there 
to    worship   the   spirit    of   her   fathers.      She    then 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


225 


said  ' '  You  have  saved  my  life,  and  in  the  name  of 
my  father,  king  of  this  country,  I  make  this  island 
yours. ' '  The  island  contained  about  2,000  acres  of 
fertile  land,  and  for  many  years  was  known  as 
Gwyus  Island,  James  G\vyn,  great-grandfather  ofl 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  came  from  Virginia  to 
North  Carolina,  locating  near  Eonda,  in  pioneer 
days.  He  bought  land,  and  with  the  assistance 
of  slaves  improved  a  plantation.  He  married 
Martha,  daughter  of  Thomas  Lenoir,  a  soldier  in 
the  Revolutionary  army.  Their  son,  Richard 
Gwyn,  settled  on  the  south  side  of  the  Yadkin 
River,  buying  a  tract  of  land  that  included  the 
present  site  of  Jonesville.  After  living  there 
for  a  time,  he  bought  on  the  north  side  of  that 
river  a  tract  of  land  that  included  the  greater  part 
of  what  is  now  Elkin,  and  there  he  and  his  wife, 
whose  maiden  najne  was  Elizabeth  Hunt,  spent  the 
remainder  of  their  years. 

Of  the  union  of  Columbus  B.  and  Amelia 
(Gwyn)  Franklin,  eight  children  were  born,  as 
follows:  James  Gwyn,  Meshack,  Elizabeth,  Rich- 
ard Gwyn,  Sallie  Frances,  Mildred,  Gideon  E., 
and  Columbus  Bernard,  Jr.  James  and  Meshack 
both  served  in  the  Confederate  Army  during  the 
Civil  war,  and  Meshack  was  several  times 
wounded.  Tlie  father  was  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity,  and  a  colonel  in  the  State  Militia. 
The  mother  died  in  1858. 

Richard  Gwyn  Franklin  was  graduated  from 
Trinity  College,  and  subsequently  served  most 
acceptably  and  efficiently  as  president  of  the 
Jonesville  College.  Preferring,  however,  a  more 
active  life,  he  adopted  the  profession  of  a  civil 
engineer,  and  in  that  capacity  did  much  railroad 
surveying.  He  also  traveled  extensively  in  differ- 
ent states,  surveying  land  for  the  Government. 
When  ready  to  settle  pennaneutly,  Mr.  Franklin 
bought  the  Gwyn  homestead  property  in  Elkin, 
where  he  has  since  resided,  an  honored  and 
esteemed  citizen. 

Mr.  Franklin  married,  September  7,  1882,  Mis3 
Annie  V.  Harris,  who  was  born  in  Wilkes  County, 
a  daughter  of  F.  A.  and  Sallie  (Moore)  Harris. 
Six  children  have  brightened  their  union,  namely: 
Jesse,  Bernard,  Annie,  Sarah  Elizabeth,  Mary,  and 
Richard  Gwyn,  Jr.  Mr.  Franklin  and  his  family 
are  all  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Mr.  Franklin  has  'ever  taken  an  in- 
telligent and  active  interest  in  public  affairs,  and 
represented  his  county  in  the  State  Senate  in  188.5. 

Enos  Elijah  Hunt,  Esq.  For  nearly  forty 
years  a  resident  of  Mocksville,  Davie  County, 
Enos  Elijah  Hunt,  Esq.,  now  serving  as  postmas- 
ter, has  contributed  his  full  share  toward  advanc- 
ing the  city 's  material  interests,  and  his  honor- 
able record  as  a  public  official  has  won  him  a  posi- 
tion of  prominence  and  influence  in  the  municipal- 
ity. A  son  of  Daniel  Hunt,  he  was  born,  in  1852, 
on  a  farm  located  three  miles  west  of  Lexington, 
Davidson  County;  North  Carolina. 

Elijah  Hunt,  Mr.  Hunt's  grandfather,  was  long 
a  resident  of  Davidson  County,  where  he  and 
two  of  his  lirothers  owned  adjoining  farms.  He 
married  a  Miss  Smith,  and  they  reared  a  family 
of  five  children,  the  names  of  their  three  sons 
having   been    William,   John,   and    Daniel. 

Daniel  Hunt  was  born,  in  1815,  on  a  farm  lying 
six  miles  south  of  Lexington,  Davidson  County, 
and  there  grew  to  manhood.  He  acquired  a  good 
knowledge  of  general  farming  when  young,  and 
also  served  an  apprenticeship  at  the  shoemaker's 
trade,  learning  the  work  at  a  time  when  nearly 
VoL  rv— 15 


all  shoes  were  made  to  order,  and  by  hand.  Locat- 
ing on  land  about  tliree  miles  west  of  Lexington, 
here,  in  addition  to  farming,  he  was  kept  busy 
at  his  trade  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil 
war,  not  so  very  long  before  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1863. 

Daniel  Hunt  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Lanning,  was 
born  about  three  miles  west  of  Lexington,  North 
Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Enos  and  Elizabeth 
(Smith)  Lanning.  She  died  in  1857,  leaving  four 
children,  David,  Sarah  Elizabeth,  Enos  Elijah, 
and  Mary  Matilda.  By  his  marriage  with  Sophro- 
nia  Leonard,  his  second  wife,  three  children  were 
born,  John  C,  William  B.,  and  Susan  C. 

A  lad  of  eleven  years  when  his  father  died, 
Enos  Elijah  Hunt  was  bound  out  to  a  neighbor- 
ing farmer,  and  worked  for  his  board  and  clothes 
until  attaining  his  majority.  Then,  leaving  the 
home  in  which  he  had  lived  and  labored,  he  obtained 
a  position  as  clerk  in  a  general  store  in  Lexing- 
ton, remaining  there  in  that  capacity  until  obtain- 
ing a  practical  knowledge  of  the  business.  Locat- 
ing in  Mocksville  in  1879,  Mr.  Hunt  embarked  in 
the  furniture  and  undertaking  business,  which  he 
carried  on  most  successfully  until  1913,  when  he 
was  appointed  postmaster  at  Mocksville.  Kind, 
courteous  and  obliging,  Mr.  Hunt  rendered  such 
excellent  service  in  that  capacity  that,  in  1917, 
he  was  reappointed  to  the  same  position  by 
President  Wilson.  Genuinely  interested  in  munici- 
pal affairs,  Mr.  Hunt  has  served  wisely  and  well 
in  various  public  offices,  having  been  a  member 
of  the  Mocksville  Board  of  Aldermen;  for  three 
years  having  served  as  mayor  of  the  city;  and  for 
ten  years  as  justice  of  the  peace. 

Mr.  Hunt  married,  in  1879,  Alice  F.  Rose,  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary  E.  Rose,  of  Mocks- 
ville. Eight  children  have  blessed  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunt,  namely:  Oscar  M.;  Ernest 
E.;  Ida  G.;  Mary  E.;  Cicero  H.,  who  is  now  in 
the  United  States  Military  service,  being  stationed 
at  Camp  Jackson;  Kopelia  T.;  Alberretta  M.;  and 
Julia  A.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunt  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

CoL.  Robert  Stripe,  a  retired  British  army  offi- 
cer, is  one  of  the  interesting  and  prominent  resi- 
dents of  Southport,  Brunswick  County.  He  is"  a 
man  whose  military  and  business  connections,  his 
wide  experience  as  a  man  of  the  world,  give  him 
special  dignity  and  honor  among  North  Carolinians 
and  he  himself  deems  it  to  be  a  great  privilege  to 
be  a  citizen  of  the  state. 

Colonel  Stride  was  born  at  Brighton  in  Sussex, 
England,  in  1852,  son  of  Robert  and  Mary  Anne 
(Ridley)  Stride.  The  Strides  and  Ridleys  have 
been  in  Sussex  for  generations.  Through  his 
mother  Colonel  Stride  is  of  kinship  with  Sir 
Mathew  Ridley.  He  himself  at  one  time  was  in 
the  line  of  succession  for  the  title  of  Viscount 
Ridley. 

His  early  education  was  acquired  in  a  prepara- 
tory school  .at  Brigliton  and  under  private  tutors 
at  Clieltenham  he  prepared  for  entrance  to  Eton 
with  a  view  to  finishing  his  education  at  Oxford 
University.  Frail  health  prevented  his  carrying 
out  his  ambition  for  a  student  career,  and  he  then 
made  choice  of  the  outdoor  life  of  the  army.  In 
the  meantime  under  private  instructors  he  received 
special  training  in  foreign  languages,  in  Switzer- 
land. He  then  entered  the  famous  artillery  school 
at  Woolwich,  made  satisfactory  progress,  and  was 
given   a  commission  as   lieutenant  of  artillery  in 


226 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


the  Biitisli  armj'.  lucidentally  it  should  be  noted 
that  two  of  his  schoolmates  at  Woolwich  were 
Prince  Louis  Napoleon  and  the  Duke  of  Couuaught, 
the  duke  iu  later  years  beiug  Governor  General 
of  Canada.  Colonel  Stride  was  attached  to  the 
Tliird  Boyal  Artillery,  and  was  with  that  regiment 
while  iu  the  army.  For  merit  he  was  advanced 
to  the  rank  of  captain,  and  at  the  close  of  his 
service  upon  his  retirement  with  the  highest  hon- 
ors he  received  tlie  rank  of  colonel.  For  several 
years  he  was  stationed  at  London  and  other  cities 
of  England  in  charge  of  recruiting  and  instruction 
of  volunteer  artillery. 

Colonel  Stride  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1888,  locating  at  Springfield,  Massachusetts.  For 
several  years  he  was  more  or  less  actively  con- 
nected with  the  brokerage  business,  handling 
stocks,  bonds,  mining  interests.  In  1913,  seeking 
a  home  in  a  more  congenial  climate,  he  came  to 
Southport,  North  Carolina,  and  there  is  no  resident 
of  that  locality  more  enthusiastic  in  its  praises 
and  better  satisfied  to  make  it  a  permanent  home 
than  Colonel  Stride.  His  choice  of  this  location 
is  the  more  significant  when  it  is  recalled  that 
Colonel  Stride  has  been  a  world  wide  traveler,  and 
has  intimate  knowledge  of  ueai'ly  all  the  countries 
of  the  Globe.  It  is  his  opinion  that  this  beautiful 
and  quaint  little  city  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cape 
jFear  Eiver  has  a  climate  that  for  all  the  year 
around  is  immatched. 

Colonel  Stride  has  been  interested  in  other  pos- 
sibilities of  Southport  aside  from  its  advantages 
as  a  place  of  residence.  He  has  looked  ahead  and 
endeavored  to  promote  the  future  growth  of  the 
town.  Southport  possesses  a  broad  and  deep  har- 
bor, one  of  the  best  in  its  possibilities  along  the 
Atlantic  Coast,  and  has  unequaled  facilities  for  the 
location  of  government  enterprises  such  as  coaling 
stations,  ship  yards,  etc.  Furtliermore  Southport 
is  a  sportsman 's  paradise,  for  both  hunting  and 
sea  fishing.  These  advantages  Colonel  Stride,  as 
a  typical  English  sportsman,  naturally  appreci- 
ates, and  lias  found  Southport  a  place  that  fulfills 
all  his  desires. 

Every  year  many  hundreds  of  transient  visitors 
seek  Southport  for  reasons  similar  to  those  that 
have  caused  Colonel  Stride  to-make  it  his  perma- 
nent home.  Tlie  latter  was  therefore  impressed 
with  the  need  of  a  modern  tourist  hotel,  and  re- 
cently he  promoted  the  organization  of  the  Claren- 
don Hotel  Company,  whicli  was  organized  early 
in  1918  and  at  the  present  writing  is  seeking  the 
required  financial  cooperation  for  the  construction 
of  a  modern  hotel  adequate  for  all  the  purposes 
of  a  high  class  family  and  transient  hostelry. 

Colonel  Stride 's  first  wife  died  in  England. 
After  coming  to  this  country  he  married  Helen  L. 
(Johnson)  Dinsmor.  She  is  the  widow  of  Sam 
Dinsmor,  Jr.,  whose  father,  Governor  Sam  Dins- 
mor, was  for  twelve  years  governor  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  a  man  of  great  power  and  influence  in 
that  state.  Mrs.  Stride 's  father,  George  Johnson, 
was  prominent  as  a  shoe  manufacturer  at  Brad- 
ford. One  of  her  brothers  is  Dr.  Frederick  John- 
sou  of  Boston,  a  man  of  genuine  distinction  in  his 
profession.  One  of  her  sisters  married  Dr.  George 
Bridgman,  who  for  a  number  of  years  was  prom- 
inent in  American  diplomatic  circles,  representing 
his  country  as  minister  to  Peru,  and  afterwards 
holding  similar  high  positions  in  Jamaica  and 
Italy. 

Cheslet  CiLHouN  Bell,\my.  To  properly  in- 
terpret the  law  in  all  its  complexities  and  uner- 


ringly apply  its  lu'ovisions  to  establisli  human 
rights  and  defeat  injustice,  demands  such  a  com- 
jirehensive  knowledge  of  not  only  books  but  of 
life  itself  that  lie  who  readies  a  high  plane 
in  this  profession  must  command  more  than  nega- 
tive consideration  iu  the  minds  of  his  fellow  men. 
It  is  told  in  both  history  and  romance  that  a  kind 
of  law  is  respected  even  among  the  savage  tribes, 
but  when  it  is  explained  it  resolves  itself  into 
the  old  axiom  that  ' '  might  makes  right, ' '  and  in 
these  modern,  civilized  times  it  becomes  the  task 
of  the  exponent  of  the  law  to  overcome  this  only 
too  prevalent  idea.  Hence,  on  a  solid  educational 
foundation  must  be  build  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  what  law  means  to  the  present  day  man  and 
how  it  can  be  applied  to  circumvent  evil,  protect 
the  helpless  and  bring  happiness  and  safety  to 
the  deserving.  Among  the  younger  members  of 
the  North  Carolina  bar,  one  who  has  had  a  thor- 
ough and  comijrehensive  training,  and  who  has 
always  adhered  strictly  to  the  highest  ethics  of 
his  calling  is  Chesley  Calhoun  Bellamy,  who  is 
now  the  possessor  of  a  large  and  representative 
practice  at  Wilmington. 

Mr.  Bellamy  was  born  at  Wilmington,  Septem- 
ber i,  1887,  and  is  a  son  of  Marsden  and  Har- 
riet H.  (HarlleeJ  Bellamy,  his  father  being  one 
of  the  well  known  attorneys  practicing  at  the 
North  Carolina  bar.  After  securing  his  prelim- 
inary training  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
city  Mr.  Bellamy  was  sent  to  Horner's  Military 
School  at  Oxford,  North  Carolina,  where  he  pur- 
sued a  full  course,  and  next  entered  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina,  where  his  education  was 
continued,  and  from  which  institution  he  was 
graduated  with  the  class  of  1909  and  the  degree 
of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  He  then  entered  upon  his 
legal  studies  in  the  law  department  of  the  same 
institution,  and  was  graduated  with  his  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Laws  in  1911.  Returning  at  once 
to  Wilmington,  he  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his 
calling,  and  not  long  thereafter  was  appointed 
assistant  city  attorney,  a  position  which  he  still 
retains.  His  practice  has  been  general  iu  its 
character,  Mr.  Bellamy  being  equally  at  home  in 
all  branches  of  the  vocation,  and  each  year  it 
has  assumed  larger  and  more  important  propor- 
tions. He  belongs  to  the  various  organizations 
of  the  profession  and  has  a  high  standing  among 
his  fellow-jiractitioners,  who  recognize  in  him  a 
courteous  and  dignified  opponent  who  observes 
the  highest  principles  of  his  calling.  His  fra- 
ternal connections  include  membership  in  the 
Ancient  Free  and  Accejjted  Masons  and  in  the 
Improved  Order  of  Red  Men. 

On  August  12,  1912,  Mr.  Bellamy  was  married 
to  Miss  Caroline  Mallett,  of  Etowah,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  they  have  two  children :  Carolina  and 
Robert    Harllee. 

Richard  Jackson  Lewellyn.  One  of  the  most 
enterprising  and  successfid  of  the  citizens  of 
Elkin,  Surry  County,  Richard  Jackson  Lewellyn 
occupies  a  place  of  prominence  in  business  circles, 
and  ha,s  served  most  efficiently  and  satisfactorily 
iu  various  public  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility. 
A  native  of  Surry  County,  he  was  born  on  a  farm, 
near  Laurel  Bluff  Mills,  April  4,  1865,  a  son  of 
Rev.  James  H.  Lewellyn,  and  grandson  of  Thomas 
Lewellyn,  Jr.,  an  early  settler  of  Rockingham 
County,  North  Carolina.  His  great-grandfather, 
Thomas  Lewellyn,  Sr.,  emigrated  from  Wales  to 
America  iu  colonial  days,  and  after  serving  bravely 
as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war  located  in 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


227 


Virginia,  and  there  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
life. 

Thomas  Lewellyn,  Jr.,  was  born  and  bred  in 
Virginia.  In  early  manhood  he  came  to  North 
Carolina,  and  having  found  a  favorable  location 
in  Rockingham  County  bought  a  tract  of  land  that 
was  in  its  primitive  wildness,  and  with  the  help 
of  slaves  improved  a  plantation.  He  married  Eliz- 
abeth Power,  who  was  born  in  Eoekingham 
County,  near  Madison,  of  substantial  Welsh  an- 
cestry. She  survived  him,  dying  on  the  home 
farm  at  an  advanced  age. 

.Tames  H.  Lewellyn  was  born  October  10,  1830, 
in  Rockingliani  County,  and  was  there  brought  up, 
acquiring  his  early  education  in  the  district 
schools.  Manifesting  religious  tendencies  as  a 
boy,  he  joined  the  Baptist  Church  when  quite 
young,  and  when  but  eighteen  years  old  began 
preaching.  Earnest  in  his  work,  and  sincerely 
devout  in  his  convictions,  he  was  ordained  a  min- 
ister at  Mayo,  Bockingham  County,  and  held 
pastorates  at  different  places  in  Virginia  and 
Nortli  Carolina.  Few  ministers  of  his  day  were 
more  busy  than  he,  the  records  showing  that  he 
married  2,600  couples;  baptized  neai'ly  5,000 
people;  and  officiated  at  a  very  large  number  of 
funerals,  notable  among  them  having  been  the 
funeral  of  the  Siamese  twins.  Retiring  from 
active  work,  he  spent  his  last  years  on  his  farm, 
on  the  Fish  River,  4%  miles  northwest  of  Dobson, 
dying  in   1902. 

Rev.  James  H.  Lewellyn  married  Sarah  Eliza- 
beth Pratt.  She  was  born  in  1826,  in  Rocking- 
ham County,  on  a  farm  located  on  the  Mayo  River, 
near  the  Virginia  line,  being  a  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Jemima  (Thomas)  Pratt.  She  died  in 
1896,  leaving  eight  children,  as  follows:  Mary 
Jane,  James  Robert,  Thomas  Wilson,  Mart)ia 
Susan,  Jemima  D.,  Catherine  Elizabeth,  Richard 
Jackson,  and  Franklin  T. 

After  his  graduation  from  the  Booneville  Acad- 
emy, in  1883,  Richajd  J.  Lewellyn  was  made 
deputy  register  of  deeds  at  Wentworth.  Accept- 
ing then  a  position  with  W.  R.  Doss,  a  manu- 
facturer and  merchant,  he  had  charge  of  liis 
factory  and  store  at  Copelaaid,  Surry  County,  for 
ten  years.  Being  then  appointed  United  States 
commissioner,  Mr.  Lewellyn  was  located  at  Dobson 
for  four  years,  and  was  afterwards  for  six  years 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  chairs  and  insulator 
pins  in  Elkin.  Embarking  then  in  the  insurance 
business,  he  carried  it  on  successfully  until  1913, 
when  he  was  appointed  postmaster  at  Elkin,  as- 
suming the  position  in  the  month  of  June.  Re- 
signing from  that  office  at  the  end  of  three  years, 
Mr.  Lewellyn  resumed  the  insurance  business,  with 
which  he  has  since  been  actively  identified. 

Mr.  Lewellyn  has  been  twice  married.  He 
married  first,  in  1887,  Ma.huldah  M.  Doss,  who 
was  born  in  Surry  County,  a  daugliter  of  Jefferson 
Doss.  She  passed  to  the  higher  life  April  1.5, 
1890,  leaving  one  child,  Metta.  Mr.  Lewellyn 
married  second  time,  February  1,  1903,  Mary  J. 
Folger,  daughter  of  R.  S.  and  Juliet  Folger.  "She 
died  in  January,  1910,  leaving  three  children, 
Romulus  H.,  Irene,  and  James  Henry. 

Religiously  Mr.  Lewellyn  is  an  active  member 
of  the  Baptist  Cluirch,  to  which  both  of  his  wives 
also  belonged,  and  has  served  as  Sunday  school 
superintendent  at  Dobson  and  at  Elkin.  Politically 
he  has  been  actively  identified  with  the  demo- 
cratic party  since  casting  his  first  presidential 
vote  in  favor  of  Grover  Cleveland.  He  has  served 
as  mayor  of  both  Dobson  and  Elkin,  and  has  been 


justice  of  jieace  continuously  siuce  attaining  his 
majority.  Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of  Elkin 
Lodge,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Ma- 
sons, of  Elkin  Council  No.  96,  Junior  Order  of 
United  American  Mechanics,  and  also  of  Knights 
of  Pythias. 

John  S.\.muel,  Daniel.  As  a  tried  and  trusted 
public  official,  John  Samuel  Daniel,  of  MocksviUe, 
register  of  deeds  for  Davie  County,  has  proved' 
himself  eminently  fitted  for  the  position  he  is  so 
ably  filling,  and  well  worthy  of  the  respect  and 
confidence  so  generously  accorded  him  by  his  fel- 
low-citizens. A  native  of  Davie  County,  he  was 
l)orn  on  a  farm  in  Jerusalem  Township,  a  son  of 
Toliver  Chesteen  Daniel,  whose  birth  occurred,  in 
1850,   in   the   .same   neighborhood. 

Wilson  C.  Daniel,  his  grandfather,  who  was  of 
A'irginia  ancestry,  was  engaged  during  his  active 
life  in  agricultural  pursuits,  his  jilantation  hav- 
ing been  located  in  Jerusalem  Township,  not  fai- 
from  Liberty  Church.  He  reared  three  sons,  Co- 
lumbus Bryant,  Toliver  Chesteen,  and  Goshen 
Parkei-,  and  they  inherited  the  parental  home- 
stead. 

Assuming  jiossessiou  of  tlie  land  that  had  come 
to  him  by  inheritance,  Toliver  Chesteen  Daniel 
carried  on  general  farming  until  his  death,  in 
1917.  He  married  Alice  Sutton,  who  was  born 
iu  Yadkin  County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  Sutton,  and  she  still  resides  on  the  home 
farm.  Six  children  were  born  of  their  union,  as 
follows:  Lulu  Laura,  John  Samuel,  Cora  Nelson, 
Tliomas  Alexander,  Bessie  May,  and  Mary  Ethel. 

After  leaving  the  district  school,  where  he 
acquired  his  elementary  education,  John  Samuel 
Daniel  attended  the  high  schools  of  Cooleemee  and 
Clemmons,  thus  ailding  materially  to  his  knowledge 
of  books.  Beginning  life  for  himself  at  the  age 
of  fifteen  years,  he  was  for  quite  a  long  time 
employed  as  a  clerk  in  a  genera!  store  at  Ephesus. 
Then,  in  company  with  Messrs.  Harris  and  Free- 
man, Mr.  Daniels  opened  a.  mercantile  establish- 
ment, piutting  in  a  fine  stock  of  general  merchan- 
dise, and  for  a  few  years  carried  on  business  as 
head  of  the  firm  of  Daniel,  Harris  &  Freeman. 
He  was  afterward  salesman  in  a  produce  house 
at  Winston  for  a  few  months.  Giving  up  that 
]iosition,  Mr.  Daniel  returned  to  Ephesus,  and 
purchased  a  half  interest  in  the  S.  T.  Foster 
Mercantile  Company,  and  likewise,  in  copartner- 
shi]i  with  Mr.  Everhart,  bought  a  cotton  gin.  In 
1915  he  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  mercantile 
Inisiness,  but  still  retains  his  ownership  in  the 
cotton  gin. 

In  1914  Mr.  Daniel,  having  been  appointed  reg- 
ister of  deeds,  removed  to  MocksviUe,  and  the  fol- 
lowing year  built  the  attractive  home  which  he 
now  occupies.  In  the  fall  of  1914,  he  was  con- 
firmed in  the  office  of  Registry  of  Deeds,  and 
during  the  term  of  his  office  performed  the  duties 
devolving  upon  him  so  efficiently  that  in  1916 
he  was  reelected  to  the  same  official  position. 

Mr.  Daniel  married,  December  3,  1912,  Thirza 
Alliertine  McCuHoli,  who  was  born  in  Jerusalem 
Township,  a  daugliter  of  Cicero  C.  and  Alice 
(Louder)  McCulloli.  Three  children  have  been 
born  of  their  union,  namely:  Tolliver  Harold; 
Helen  McCulloli ;  and  Evelyn  Dale,  who  lived  but 
seven  short  months.  Religiously  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Daniel  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Fraternally  Mr.  Daniel  belongs  to  Mocks- 
viUe Council  No.  226,  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics. 


228 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Hox.  Jacob  Bragg  Scott.  It  is  a  wholesome 
sigu  of  the  broadening  processes  of  enlightened 
democracy  in  North  Carolina  when  a  man  busied 
with  the  management  and  responsibilities  of  a 
large  farm  is  called  to  the  State  Capital  to  serve 
in  the  Legislature.  One  of  the  best  representatives 
of  the  country  districts,  and  one  most  keenly  and 
effectively  interested  in  the  solution  of  all  prob- 
lems pertaining  to  country  life,  during  the  sessions 
of  1916  and  1917  was  Mr.  Jacob  Bragg  Scott,  who 
came  to  the  Legislature  from  Pender  County. 

Mr.  Scott  is  a  member  of  an  old  and  prominent 
family  of  Long  Creek  Township  in  Pender  County. 
The  farm  where  he  now  lives  was  bought  by  his 
grandfather,  Jacob  Scott,  about  1830.  Jacob 
Scott  spent  the  rest  of  his  years  there,  and  on  the 
place  was  born  his  son  John  Scott.  John  Scott 
when  a  young  man  removed  to  an  adjoining  place 
about  three  miles  northeast,  and  it  was  there  that 
Jacol)  Bragg  Scott  was  born  in  1861.  John  Scott 
married  Barbara  Jane  George. 

The  Scotts  are  of  a  strong,  sturdy  type  of  citi- 
zens who  have  always  done  well  and  lived  up  to 
their  responsibilities  as  citizens  of  the  county  and 
of  the  world.  They  have  been  chiefly  distinguished 
as  landowners  ajid  farmers,  and  as  a  family  they 
have  been  strong  believers  in  education  and  in  a 
thorough  training  for  life 's  work. 

Jacob  Bragg  Scott  grew  up  in  the  ' '  poor ' ' 
period  of  the  Soutli,  when  educational  advantages 
were  very  meager.  His  father,  recognizing  the 
value  of  education,  arranged  for  the  best  schooling 
he  could  give  his  son  both  in  private  schools  and 
under  private  teachers.  Among  those  teachers, 
famous  in  his  day,  who  left  special  influence  upon 
Mr.  Scott  was  A.  J.  Mclntyre. 

The  home  of  Mr.  Scott,  where  he  lived  for  many 
years,  was  the  original  Scott  place  bought  by  his 
grandfather  and  has  been  in  the  Scott  family 
nearly  100  years.  It  is  situated  seven  miles  west 
of  Rocky  Point,  in  Long  Creek  Township.  He  has 
at)Out  600  acres  of  land  of  which  135  acres  are 
cleared  and  in  cultivation,  devoted  to  general  farm- 
ing. Besides  the  staple  crops  of  cotton,  corn,  and 
small  grain  and  feed  crops,  of  late  years  he  has 
ness.  His  specialty  is  the  growing  and  shipping 
of  strawberries.  He  is  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the 
Rocky  Point  district  in  that  industry,  having  begun 
to  grow  strawberries  on  a  commercial  scale  more 
than  twenty  years  ago.  Since  then  Rocky  Point 
has  produced  some  of  the  most  desirable  shipments 
of  strawberries  for  the  early  northern  markets. 

Mr.  Scott  is  a  democrat  by  principle  as  well  as 
liy  partisan  aflS^liation.  For  many  years  he  has 
been  one  of  the  leaders  in  his  party  in  Pender 
County.  He  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  191.'3,  and  was  again  elected 
in  1916.  His  services  were  so  valuable  as  to  bring 
about  a  general  expression  of  opinion  that  he 
should  be  reelected  for  the  session  of  1919.  Among 
other  committees  on  which  he  served  was  the  Com- 
mittee of  Agriculture,  and  in  that  he  was  naturally 
a  leader.  He  studied  the  entire  program  of  legis- 
lation, endeavored  to  give  his  honest  support  to 
every  matter  that  was  needful  and  wise,  but  was 
a  determined  opponent  of  needless  and  harmful 
legislation,  especially  bills  and  measures  the  chief 
result  of  which  would  have  been  to  breed  strife 
and  litigation  and  afford  opportunity  for  lawyers 
to  fatten  off  the  public  purse.  His  legislative 
record  cannot  be  reviewed  in  detail,  aside  from  his 
interest  in  one  special  matter  which  was  of  par- 
ticular concern  to  Pender  County.  This  was  the 
consideration  of  the  Stock  Law  of  the  state.     Mr. 


Scott  upheld  the  jirinciple  that  the  free  range  for 
stock  was  not  a  subject  of  general  legislation  but 
of  local  regulation  and  should  be  settled  by  those 
directly  interested  in  the  county  and  in  accordance 
with  the  welfare  of  all  concerned.  Pender  County 
as  much  as  any  other  county  in  the  state  was 
directly  affected  liy  the  proposed  Stock  Law. 

Mr.  Scott  married  Miss  Hattie  Wheeler.  They 
have  nine  living  children,  Robert  M.,  Arthur  A., 
Claudeaus  Bernard,  Leslie  B.,  Viola,  Eva  D.,  Irene, 
Eloise  and  Elmer  J. 

Charles  Vines  Brown,  former  cashier  of 
the  National  Bank  of  Lumberton  and  a  former 
state  bank  examiner,  has  recently  devoted  all  his 
time  and  attention  to  general  insurance,  and  has 
accjuired  a  most  gratitjdng  business  at  Lumber- 
ton.  He  is  one  of  the  live,  progressive  and  pub- 
lic  spirited  citizens   of   that  flourishing  city. 

Mr.  Brown  was  born  at  Hamilton  in  Martin 
County,  North  Carolina,  in  1883,  a  son  of  George 
and  Lula  (Vines)  Brown,  both  now  deceased. 
When  he  was  ten  years  of  age  the  family  moved 
to  a  farm  in  Edgecombe  County,  and  he  lived 
there  until  his  father's  death  in  1895.  The  fol- 
lowing two  years  he  spent  in  the  home  of  an 
aunt  in  Washington  County,  twelve  miles  below 
Plymouth.  Altogether  Mr.  Brown  acquired  the 
equivalent  of  a  liberal  education.  At  Tarboro 
he  was  under  the  instruction  of  that  splendid 
teacher,  F.  S.  Wilkinson,  and  for  three  years  he 
was  a  student  at  Fishburn  Military  Academy  at 
Waynesboro,  Virginia. 

Mr.  Brown's  first  banking  experience  was  ac- 
quired in  the  Planters  Bank  at  Rocky  Mount. 
In  March,  1910,  he  was  appointed  assistant  state 
bank  examiner,  and  in  September,  1911,  was  made 
a  chief  examiner  under  the  state  board.  That 
brought  him  an  extensive  acquaintance  among 
Nortli  Carolina  bankers  and  added  to  the  many 
natural  qualifications  which  enabled  him,  when 
he  came  to  Lumberton  on  May  1,  1912,  to  take 
the  position  of  cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Lumber- 
ton,  to  afford  that  institution  a  thoroughly  able 
and  competent  administration  of  its  affairs.  The 
Bank  of  Lumberton  is  now  the  National  Bank  of 
Lumberton,  Mr.  A.  W.  McLean,  president,  and 
it  is  one  of  the  largest  financial  institutions  in 
this  part  of  the  state,  having  a  capital  stock  of 
$100,000  and  deposits  aggregating  $600,000.  Mr. 
Brown  continued  as  its  cashier  until  January  1, 
1918.  Having  resigned,  he  established  his  ofiice 
for  general   insurance. 

Mr,  Brown  is  doing  his  part  to  sustain  the  mil- 
itary activities  of  the  state  in  co-operation  with 
the  regular  National  Army.  He  is  first  lieuten- 
ant of  the  Twenty-first  Company,  North  Caro- 
lina Reserve  Militia,  a  war  organization  under 
state  control  but  formed  with  the  encouragement 
and  advice  of  the  Federal  Government  at  Wash- 
ington. The  Twenty-first  Company  is  the  quota 
of  Robeson  County.  This  company  is  divided  into 
three  detachments,  Mr.  Brovm  being  in  com- 
mand of  the  detachment  of  twenty-six  men  sta- 
tioned at  Lumberton.  The  entire  company  has 
an  enrollment  of  eighty-one  men,  incluiling  three 
commissioned  officers,  and  it  is  a  timely  and  ef- 
fective unit  with  possibilities  of  great  value  to 
the  state. 

Mr.  Brown  is  a  democrat.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Lumberton  graded 
schools,  a  steward  of  the  Chestnut  Street  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  and  in  Masonry  is  affil- 
iated  with   the   lodge   and   chapter   of   York   Rite 


^Ify.O^ 


CLf^y^j 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


229 


and  the  LoJge  of  Perfection  of  the  Scottish  Eite. 
He  man-ieil  Miss  Mary  F.  Pitts,  of  Warren 
County,  North  Car'olina.  Tlieir  two  chiltlerii  axe 
Charles  V.,  Jr.,  and  Francis  Sterling. 

James  Iredell  Johnson.  One  of  the  veteran 
merchants  and  business  men  of  Raleigh,  James 
Iredell  Johnson,  is  a  native  of  that  city,  and  in 
many  ways  has  been  closely  identified  with  its  life 
and  progress  during  the  last  forty  years. 

He  was  born  at  Raleigh  Novfember  2,  1854,  a 
son.  of  Dr.  Charles  Earl  and  Frances  Lenox 
(Iredell)  Johnson.  His  father  was  a  physician, 
and  for  a  time  during  the  Civil  war  was  surgeon 
general  of  the  state. 

Educated  in  private  schools  and  in  Love  joy's 
Academy,  James  I.  Johnson  early  took  up  the 
profession  of  pharmacist,  and  for  forty  years 
conducted  one  of  the  principal  drug  houses  of 
Raleigh.  He  is  now  president  of  the  Raleigh 
Building  and  Loan  Association. 

A  man  of  great  public  spirit  and  interested  in 
everything  that  concerns  the  welfare  of  his  home 
city,  Mr.  Johnson  has  given  much  of  his  time 
during  the  last  twelve  or  fifteen  years  to  mu- 
nicipal affairs.  In  1903  he  was  elected  and  served 
two  years  as  an  alderman,  and  in  1905  was  elected 
mayor,  being  again  returned  to  the  same  office 
in  1907,  in  1911,  1913,  1915  and  1917.  For  years 
■  he  was  a  vestryman  in  Christ 's  Episcopal  Church, 
but  is  now  an  active  member  and  Sunday  school 
worker  in  St.  Sariour's  Church.  He  is  afliliated 
with  the  Junior  Order  of  United  American  Me- 
chanics, with  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order 
of  Elks,  and  the  Travelers  Protective  Association. 

At  Raleigh  in  February,  1885,  he  married  Miss 
Rebecca  Murray.  They  are  the  parents  of  four 
children:  James  Iredell,  Jr.,  now  in  Motor  Truck 
Company  No.  1,  105th  Supply  Train;  Elizabeth 
Murray,  now  Mrs.  G.  H.  Anthony  of  Hartford, 
Connecticut ;  Lenox,  now  in  Headquarters,  Sixtieth 
Infantry  Brigade;  and  Earl  is  now  in  Head- 
quarters, 113th  Field  Artillery. 

Jacob  Stewart.  Scholarly  in  his  attainments 
and  habits,  and  endowed  with  keen  perceptive 
faculties,  Jacob  Stewart,  of  Mocksville,  attorney- 
at-law,  lias  long  been  recognized  as  a  thorough- 
going, painstaking  lawyer,  and  noted  for  his  un- 
swerving loyalty  to  the  interests  of  his  many 
clients.  A  native  of  Davie  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, he  was  born,  January  2,  1860,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fork  Church,  not  far  from  the  place  where,  in 
1820,  the  birth  of  his  father,  Archibald  H.  Stewart, 
occurred.  The  immigrant  ancestor  of  the  branch 
of  Stewarts  to  which  he  belongs  was  of  Scotch- 
Irish  descent,  and  on  coming  to  this  country  set- 
tled in  Virginia.  His  descendants  and  relatives 
may  be  found  in  many  of  the  states  of  the  Union, 
the  name,  however,  being  spelled  in  three  different 
ways,  Stewart,  Stuart,  and  Steuart.  Many  mem- 
bers of  the  family  have  attained  jirominenc'e  in 
national  affairs,  among  them  being  Gen.  J.  E.  B. 
Stuart. 

Archibald  H.  Stewart  acquired  a  good  education, 
and  in  his  early  life  was  well  known  in  educational 
circles  as  a  successful  school  teacher.  For  a  num- 
ber of  ■  years  he  served  as  justice  of  the  peace, 
and  also  as  deputy  sheriff  of  Davie  County.  As  a 
teacher,  and  a  justice  of  the  peace  he  was  exempt 
from  military  duty  during  the  Civil  War.  Turn- 
ing his  attention  later  to  agricultural  pursuits,  he 
bought  land  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fork  (Tluirch, 


and  was  there  a  resident  until  his  death,  in  1905, 
in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  He  married 
Jane  Pack,  who  was  born  in  Davie  County,  the 
descendant  of  an  old  and  honored  family  of 
Virginia.  She  died  in  1907  in  her  eighty-ninth 
year,  leaving  seven  children. 

Obtaining  the  rudiments  of  his  education  in  the 
district  school,  Jacob  Stewart  continued  his  studies 
first  at  Fork  Academy,  and  later  at  Yadkin  Col- 
lege, of  which  Rev.  S.  Simpson  was  the  principal. 
In  1882  he  entered  Wake  Forest  College,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  with  the  class  of  June, 
1886.  While  in  college,  he  was  an  editor  of  the 
"Wake  Forest  Student,"  and  in  1886  was  the 
first  debater  for  the  Phi  Society,  and  won  the 
Phi  Society  essay  medal.  Going  to  Greensboro, 
Guilford  County,  in  the  fall  of  1886,  Mr.  Stewart 
became  a  student  in  Dick  &  Dillard  's  Law  School, 
and  in  September,  1887,  received  his  license  to 
practice.  In  February,  1888,  he  opened  a  law 
ofiice  in  Mocksville,  and  has  since  been  actively 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  that 
place,  through  his  legal  skill  and  ability  having 
won  an  extensive  patronage.  He  is  also  attorney 
for  many  private  corporations. 

Mr.  Stewart  married,  June  5,  1890,  Miss  Fannie 
M.  Dulin.  She  was  born  in  Davie  County,  a  daugh- 
ter of  P.  N.  and  Harriet  E.  Dulin,  the  former 
of  whom  was  a  native  of  Davie  County,  while  the 
latter  was  born  and  bred  in  Mississippi.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Stewart  are  the  parents  of  nine  children, 
namely: — Alma,  Jacob,  Jr.,  Edna,  Philip,  Janet, 
Roger  H.,  Sallie  Mabel,  Marjorie  and  Helen.  Alma 
married  Wilbur  Collins  of  Gates,  North  Carolina, 
and  has  one  child,  Stewart  Collins.  Jacob  Stewart, 
Jr.,  enlisted  in  the  United  States  Army,  and  is 
now  serving  in  the  officers  training  camp.  Camp 
Jackson.  Philip,  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years, 
enlisted  in  the  United  States  Army,  and  now,  in 
1917,  is  with  the  Medical  Department  Hospital 
Corps,  at  Fortress  Monroe. 

Religiously  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  are  members 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  in  which  he  has  served  as 
trustee.  Politically  Mr.  Stewart  has  been  actively 
identified  with  the  democratic  party  since  casting 
his  first  presidential  vote  in  favor  of  Grover 
Cleveland.  He  is  at  the  present  time  city  solicitor, 
and  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
graded  schools  of  Mocksville. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Stewart  is  a  member  of 
Mocksville  Lodge  No.  134,  Ancient  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Order  of  Masons,  and  of  Mocksville  Coun- 
cil, Jimior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics. 
The  first  Masonic  Annual  Picnic  was  held  at 
Shoals  Mills,  the  present  site  of  the  Cooleemee 
Mills,  Davie  County,  and  the  fourth  one  was  held 
at  Clements  Grove,  Mocksville.  These  picnics 
have  been  held  every  year  from  the  start,  the  last 
one  having  been  the  thirty-ninth  one.  Mr.  Stewart 
has  attended  each  picnic,  and  at  the  present  time 
is  general  manager  of  the  picnic  organization. 

Robert  K.  Bryan,  Sr.  It  was  the  profession  of 
journalism  that  tlu'  talents  and  abilities  of  the  late 
Robert  K.  Bryan,  Sr.,  particularly  adorned,  though 
such  was  his  character  that  he  was  highly  qualified 
to  fill  every  responsible  position  to  which  he  was 
called  by  general  suffrage  or  by  appointment.  He 
was  a  noble  member  of  one  of  the  splendid  old 
families  of  North  Carolina,  and  some  of  the  illus- 
trious record  of  the  family  belongs  here  as  intro- 
ductory to  the  career  of  the  late  Robert  K.  Bryan. 

His  great-great-great-grandfather  was  William 
Bryan,    who  was   born   in  Virginia   in    1660.     He 


230 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


married  Alice  Neeilham,  daughter  of  Lord  Need- 
ham  of  England.  They  established  their  home  in 
Isle  of  Wight  County,  Virginia.  One  of  their  sous 
was  Needham  Bryan,  and  his  son  in  turn  was  the 
famous  Col.  Needham  Bryan  of  North  Carolina. 
Colonel  Bryan  oommanded'  the  troo]is  from  .John- 
ston County  under  Governor  Tryon  at  the  battle  of 
Alamance  May  16,  1771,  against  the  Regulators. 
The  Byrans  are  closely  related  to  the  Whi'tfields 
and  other  families  whose  names  are  distinguished 
in  state  history.  William  Jennings  Bryan  is  of  the 
same  family.  There  have  been  Bryans  prominent 
in  superior  intellectuality  in  every  generation  since 
the  family  was  founded  in  America. 

The  late  Robert  K.  Bryan,  Sr.,  was  born  in 
Sampson  County,  North  Carolina,  January  22,  1827. 
son  of  Kedar  and  Mary  (Evans)  Bryan.  He  and 
his  older  l)rother  Josiah  were  small  boys  when 
their  father  died  and  the  widowed  mother  then 
took  her  children  to  Fayetteville  where  Robert  K. 
Bryan  was  reared.  He  was  educated  in  Donaldson 
Academy  and  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 
On  leaving  the  university  he  took  up  the  study  of 
law  under  Judge  Pearson  at  Richmond  Hill",  in 
1846-47.  He  was  licensed  to  practice  in  January, 
1848,  and  for  214  years  was  located  at  Kenans- 
ville  in  Duplin  County.  He  was  then  prevailed 
upon  by  the  people  of  Fayetteville  to  return  to  that 
city  and  take  editorial  charge  of  the  North  Car- 
olinian. That  was  the  beginning  of  a  long  and 
distinguished  career  as  an  editor  and  journalist — 
a  profession  for  which  he  was  eminently  qualified, 
not  only  by  reason  of  his  literary  skill,  but  by  the 
discriminating  juilgment  and  intelligence  "with 
which  he  sifte<l  all  matters  of  public  interest.  The 
North  Carolinian  was  at  tliat  time  the  organ  of  the 
democratic  party  in  the  Upper  Cape  Fear  Section. 
He  was  in  editorial  charge  of  the  paper  for  four 
years  from  18.51  to  18.54.  During  that  time  there 
was  associated  with  him  on  the  paper  William 
J.  Yates,  who  was  afterwards  and  for  many  years 
editor  of  the  Charlotte  Democrat. 

February  10,  18.52,  Mr.  Bryan  married  in  Wil- 
mington Miss  Susan  H.  Loftin,  ward  of  Nicholas 
N.  Nixon.  She  came  of  a  wealthy  family  and 
owned  valuable  landed  estates  at  Scott's  Hill  in 
what  is  now  Pender  County.  In  .lune,  185.5,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bryan  removed  to  Scott 's  Hill,  settling 
on  his  wife's  estate.  Though  in  later  years  he  had 
a  temporary  home  in  other  localities,  this  was  his 
permanent  home,  and  has  lieen  continuously  in  the 
family  and  is  now  the  residence  of  his  son  Robert 
K.  Bryan,  .Ir. 

In  1858  Mr.  Bryan  was  elected  and  served  as  a 
member  of  the  Lower  House  of  the  General  As- 
sembly representing  New  Hanover  County.  New 
Hanover  at  that  time  included  Pender  County, 
which  was  organized  in  1875.  In  1869  and  con- 
tinuing for  over  a  year.  Mr.  Bryan  in  association 
with  the  late  Maj.  William  H".  Bernard,  edited 
the  Carolina  Farmer,  an  agricultural  journal  at 
Wilmington.  In  the  fall  of  1878  he  was  elected  on 
the  democratic  ticket  to  the  office  of  state  senator, 
from  the  Twelfth  Senatorial  District,  composed  of 
New  Hanover  and  Pender  counties.  His  was  a 
prominent  part  in  the  legislative  record  of  that 
period.  He  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Propositions  and  Grievances.  It  was  during  this 
session  of  tlie  Assembly  that  Zeb  Vance  was  elected 
to  his  first  term  as  United  States  Senator. 

In  the  spring  of  1880  Mr.  Bryan  began  the 
publication  of  the  Fayetteville  Examiner,  which  he 
conducted  for  three  years.  Selling  the  paper  in 
188.3  to  Maj.  E.  J."  Hale,  he  removed,  at  the 
solicitation  of  friends,  to  Hickory,  North  Carolina, 


and  edited  and  owned  the  Hickory  Press  for  four 
years. 

In  the  fall  of  1886  he  lost  the  sight  of  one  of  his 
eyes  by  an  obscuration  of  the  retina,  but  con- 
tinued his  editorial  work  at  his  desk.  In  February, 
1887,  his  remaining  eye  began  to  fail,  and 
eventually  he  had  to  live  in  total  blindness.  Not- 
withstanding tliis  affliction,  he  remained  tlie  same 
gentle,  strong,  courageous,  cheerful  character  he 
had  always  been.  For  several  years  he  had  an  un- 
failing source  of  comfort  in  the  kindly  and  constant 
administrations  of  his  wife  until  she  passed  away 
November  26,  1890.  After  that  he  continued  a  life 
of  hopefulness  and  serenity,  and  died  at  his  home 
at  Scott 's  Hill  June  9,  1898,  when  past  seventy 
years  of  age. 

He  is  remembered  as  a  man  of  splendid  dignity, 
a  dignity  based  upon  proved  values  and  not  of  his 
own  assumption.  He  was  wonderfully  clear  in  his 
mental  processes,  as  his  editorials  abundantly  tes- 
tify, and  while  he  could  when  occasion  demanded 
resort  to  controversialism  and  wield  a  trenchant 
]ien,  he  was  always  singularly  free  from  bitterness 
and  rabid  jiartisanship.  His  lifelong  friends  knew 
and  a])i)reciated  the  splendid  purity  and  upright- 
ness of  his  character.  He  was  exceedingly  progres- 
sive and  enterprising  and  there  can  be  no  question 
that  his  work  did  much  to  further  the  cause  of 
commercial  and  industrial  development,  the  build- 
ing of  railroads  and  good  highways,  and  all  other  ■ 
measures  for  the  enlightened  progress  of  the  com- 
munity and  state. 

For  some  years  just  after  the  close  of  the  war 
in  1865  Mr.  Bryan  conducted  an  academy  for  boys 
at  Scott 's  Hill  and  later  on  in  Wilmington. 
Associated  with  him  in  this  educational  enterprise 
was  John  C.  Calhoun,  nephew  of  the  great  com- 
moner of  that  name.  Many  business  and  profes- 
sional men  now  living  in  Wilmington  were  trained 
in  this  tine  old  school.  It  was  a  training  school  of 
character  as  well  as  of  mental  efficiency.  One  of  its 
students  entered  the  University  of  Virginia  and 
contrary  to  usual  precedence  was  accepted  as  a 
student  there  without  preliminary  examination. 

Mr.  Bryan's  name  is  inseparably  connected  with 
the  history  of  Pender  County  and  he  was  a  leader 
in  the  movement  for  its  sepiaration  and  organiza- 
tion. About  1870  the  residents  of  the  northern 
portion  of  old  New  Hanover  County  had  begun 
agitation  for  a  separate  county  division.  In  that 
jieriod  of  Reconstruction  New  Hanover  County  was 
dominated  by  northern  carpet  baggers  associated 
with  ignorant  negroes.  It  was  realized  that  if  a 
new  county  could  be  formed  that  the  county  could 
be  made  democratic  and  governed  by  white  people. 
Prominent  in  the  agitation  and  in  the  eventful 
fruition  of  the  movement  were  Mr.  Bryan  of  Scott 's 
HiU,  Doctor  Satchwell,  and  Dr.  E.  Porter  of  Rocky 
Point,  and  Dr.  H.  F.  Murj.hy  of  South  Washington. 
These  men  visited  Raleigh  many  times  during 
legislative  sessions,  and  while  meeting  with  count- 
less obstacles  and  discouragements  on  account  of 
the  turbulent  political  situation  of  the  times,  they 
finally  won  their  purpose  and  object.  The  new 
county  of  Pender,  named  for  Gen.  W.  D.  Pender, 
was  created  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly 
enacted  in  1875. 

Robert  K.  Brtan  of  Scott  "s  Hill,  Pender  County, 
has  long  been  prominent  as  a  member  of  the  North 
Carolina  bar,  is  a  successful  planter  and  farmer, 
and  is  present  chairman  of  the  County  Board  of 
Education  of  Pender. 

He  was  horn  at  Fayetteville,  Cumberland  County, 
North   Carolina,    in    185.3,   but    since    infancv   has 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


231 


lived  at  the  old  Bryan  plantation  at  Scott's  Hill. 
He  is  a  son  of  the  late  Robert  K.  Bryan  and  Susan 
H.  (Loftin)  Bryan.  His  early  education  was 
directed  by  his  father  and  he  began  the  study  of 
law  at  his  home  finishing  under  Prof.  N.  Y.  GuUey 
at  Wake  Forest  College.  Mr.  Bryan  was  licensed 
to  practice  in  1904,  and  since  then  has  responded  to 
the  demands  of  an  increasing  clientage,  in  the 
courts  of  Pender,  New  Hanover,  Onslow  and  sur- 
rounding counties  and  also  in  the  state  and  Fed- 
eral courts. 

At  one  time  he  followed  tlie  example  of  his 
father  and  was  in  tlie  profession  of  journalism. 
He  was  responsible  for  establishing  the  Wilming- 
ton Dispatch  in  1895,  and  was  its  editor  the  first 
two  years. 

His  home,  the  old  Bryan  plantation  at  Scott's 
Hill,  is  one  of  the  most  charming  and  attractive 
estates  in  this  part  of  North  Carolina.  Here  he 
engages  in  general  farming  and  is  a  large  producer 
of  the  staple  crops  and  also  of  the  trucking  crops. 
Scott's  Hill  Is  in  the  midst  of  an  agricultural 
region  noted  for  its  richness  and  productiveness. 
As  his  father  was  almost  solely  engaged  in  literary 
pursuits,  and  could  spare  no  time  for  farming,  tlie 
son  early  became  manager  in  charge  of  the  planta- 
tion, and  even  since  becoming  a  lawyer  lias  given 
it  much  of  his  active  supervison.  The  plantation 
contains  about  800  acres. 

Mr.  Bryan  has  served  continuously  as  chairman 
of  the  County  Board  of  Education  of  Pender 
County  since  1907. 

He  married  Miss  Gertrude  Shepard,  daughter  of 
the  late  Dr.  J.  C.  Shepard  of  Wilmington,  a  prom- 
inent physician  and  surgeon  of  his  day.  Doctor 
Shepard  received  the  best  medical  advantages  of 
this  country  and  was  in  Pnris  taking  post-graduate 
work  when  the  war  between  tlie  states  began. 
Returning  home  immediately,  he  offered  his  services 
to  the  Confederacy,  and  was  a  surgeon  in  the 
Southern  armies  throughout  the  period  of  hos- 
tilities. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bryan  have  two  children:  Ger- 
trude and  J.  Shepard.    The  daughter  is  the  wife  of 

E.  M.  Toon,  a  lawyer  of  Whiteville,  North  Carolina. 
The  son  graduated  from  tlie  University  of  North 

*  Carolina  with  the  class  of  1915,  and  is  now  prin- 
cipal of  the  Hemenway  School  at  Wilmington.  He 
is  a  young  man  who  is  rapidly  achieving  distinction 
as  an  educator. 

WiLLi.\M  FiTZHUGH  WiLLiAMS.  A  notable  fig- 
ure in  the  lunilier  industry  of  North  Carolina  was 
the  late  William  Fitzhugh  Williams  of  Red 
Springs,  Robeson  County.  Mr.  Williams  was  of 
a  very  prominent  old  Virginia  family,  and  he 
and  his  brother,  .Tames  G.  -Williams,  became  iden- 
tified witli  the  North  Carolina  lumber  industry 
about  thirty  years  ago. 

Tlie  lumbermen  of  the  state  experienced  a 
sense    of    bereavement    in    the    death    of    William 

F.  Williams,  which  occurred  at  his  home  in  Red 
Springs  March  19,  1917.  That  sense  of  loss  was 
emphasized  and  multiplied  in  the  community 
where  he  had  lived  for  so  many  years,  and  where 
lie  was  esteemed  as  one  of  the  foremost  men  of 
business  and  as  a  genial  personal  associate  and 
friend  of  many.  William  Fitzhugh  Williams  was 
born  in  Culpepper  County,  Virginia,  in  April, 
1851,  and  was  not  yet  sixty-six  years  of  age  when 
lie  died.  He  was  a  son  of  James  and  Rosalie 
(Fitzhugh)  Williams,  of  Culpeper  County,  Vir- 
ginia. His  mother  was  of  the  noted  Fitzhugh 
family    of    Virginia.      On    the    paternal    side    he 


represented  a  long  line  of  distinguisheil  people. 
His  great-grandfather.  Gen.  James  Williams,  was 
a  gallant  officer  in  the  continental  line  in  the  Rev- 
olutionary war.  As  an  officer  he  subsequently  be- 
came a  charter  member  in  the  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati.  The  late  William  F.  Williams,  as  the 
oldest  sou  of  his  father,  was  likewise  a  member 
of  the  Order  of  the  Cincinnati.  Gen.  James  Wil- 
liams' home  was -tlie  noted  "Soldiers'  Rest"  in 
Orange  County.  Tliis  old  ancestral  liome  of  the 
Williams  family  is  at  Edgewood,  two  miles  from 
and  witliiu  view  of  Culpeper  Court  House.  Dr. 
William  Williams  was  the  father  of  James  Wil- 
liams, who  in  turn  was  the  father  of  the  late 
William  F.  Williams. 

The  late  William  F.  Williams  came  to  man- 
liood  througli  the  turbulence  and  turmoil  of  the 
decade  of  the  '60s.  He  was  well  educated  and 
when  little  more  than  a  boy  he  gained  his  first 
experience  in  lumber  manufacturing.  That  was 
in  Pittsylvania  County,  Virginia,  and  his  first 
experience  gave  him  a  pursuit  whicli  he  followed 
successfully  the  rest  of  his  life.  While  at  Pitt- 
sylvania his  brother,  James  G.  Williams,  became 
associated  with  him  and  for  alAut  ten  years  they 
operated  saw  mills  on  quite  an  extensive  scale. 

In  1888  the  Williams  brothers  came  into  North 
Carolina  and  estalilished  headquarters  at  Red 
Springs,  Robeson  County,  on  the  11th  of  June 
of  tliat  year.  Here  they  organized  the  R«d 
S]irings  Lumber  Company,  and  soon  liad  their 
liusiness  in  operation  on  a  large  scale,  employ- 
ing hundreds  of  men.  The.y  built  a  lumber  mill 
at  Red  Springs  and  in  order  to  get  their  supply 
of  timber  constructed  a  narrow  gauge  railroad 
for  logging  purposes  from  Red  Springs  to  Wa- 
gram  in  Scotland  County.  This  logging  road 
extended  a  distance  of  nearly  twenty  miles,  be- 
sides a  branch  line  extending  to  Bonier  in  what 
is  now  Hike  County.  This  road  was  known  as 
the  Red  Springs  and  Bomer  Railroad.  Though 
it  was  not  built  for  a  common  carrier  it  hauled 
in  addition  to  the  logs  for  the  Williams  Broth- 
ers Mill,  a  considerable  amount  of  supplies  for 
jilanters  and  mercliants  in  the  territory.  When 
all  the  available  timber  was  cut  and  the  road  had 
ser\-ed  its  jiurpose  the  rails  were  taken  up  and 
tlie   riglit   of   way   abandoned. 

However,  the  operations  of  the  mill  at  Red 
Springs  were  continued,  and  some  years  ago  the 
name  of  the  firm  was  changed  to  W.  F.  and  J. 
G.  Williams,  under  which  it  is  still  continued. 
W.  F.  Williams  had  the  enterprise  and  the  judg- 
ment which  make  successful  men.  Besides  these 
lumber  industries  he  was  interested  in  other 
enterprises  financially  and  for  some  years  was 
president  of  the  Harnett  Lumber  Company  of 
Harnett  County,  and  he  and  his  brother,  J.  G. 
Williams,  became  extensively  interested  in  farm- 
ing. They  established  and  developed  a  fine  farm 
now  consistiuff  of  about  2,200  acres  between  Red 
Springs  and  Wagrain.  They  also  had  some  large 
lioldiiiss  of  Florida  timber  lands. 

William  F.  Williams  was  noted  not  only  for 
his  business  ability  but  for  his  charity  and  his 
liberality  of  time  and  means  in  belialf  of  all 
worthy  causes.  He  was  a  man  of  the  highest  honor 
and  inteffiity,  and  he  did  much  for  the  community 
of  Red  Springs  in  particular.  He  was  an  active 
member  of  St.  Stephens  Episcopal  Church.  He 
was  laid  to  rest  in  the  old  family  burial  ground 
at  Culpeper,  Virginia. 

Mr.  Williams  was  married  in  Pittsylvania 
County,     Virginia,     to     Miss     Margaret     Walker, 


232 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


daughter  of  Nathaniel  B.  and  Eleanor  (Nuu- 
uellyj  Walker,  ot  that  county.  Mrs.  Williams, 
four  daughters  and  one  son,  and  several  grand- 
children, survive  him.  The  children  are:  Mrs. 
Louis  Hall,  of  Wilmington;  Mrs.  T.  A.  McNeiU, 
Jr.,  of  Lumberton;  Mrs.  John  Heath,  of  Ha- 
vana, Cuba;  Miss  Lucy  Williams  and  Mr.  J.  A. 
Williams,   of  Ked  Springs. 

Capt.  James  (j.  Williams,  younger  brother  of 
the  late  William  F.  Williams,  was  closely  asso- 
ciated with  his  brother  iu  business  attairs  tor 
about  forty  years.  He  is  now  active  head  of 
the  lumber  business  which  he  and  his  brother 
established  and  built  uji.  Besides  the  mill  in- 
terests in  Red  Springs  and  his  share  iu  the  fine 
farm  above  mentioned,  and  the  timber  holdings 
in  Florida,  Gapt.  James  G.  Williams  has  a  fine 
place  in  C'ulpeper  County,  Virginia,  about  four 
miles  from  his  birthplace. 

James  G.  Williams  was  married  to  Miss  Jes- 
sie Wood,  of  Brandy  Station,  a  historic  old  town 
of  Culpeper  County.  They  are  the  pai-ents  of 
five  children:  Annie  Belle,  Mary  Fitzhugh,  George 
M.,  James  G.,   Jr.,  and  William  F. 

Rev.  Christopher  Thomas  Bailey,  who  died  iu 
1895,  was  one  of  the  distinguished  Baptist  min- 
isters of  North  Carolina  and  served  his  church 
faithfully  and  well  both  as  a  pastor  and  as  an 
editor  for  thirty  years. 

He  was  born  in  William  and  Mary  County, 
Virginia,  in  1835,  a  son  of  William  and  Alice 
(Clarke)  Bailey.  He  took  his  higher  education 
in  William  and  Mary  College  and  Eichmond  Col- 
lege in  Virginia,  but  was  still  in  school  when 
the  war  came  on,  and  before  finishing  his  course 
left  to  enlist  in  the  Confederate  army.  He  served 
as  a  private  during  the  war  and  then  entered  the 
Baptist  ministry.  He  was  pastor  at  Carrsville, 
Virginia,  from  1865  and  afterwards  came  to  North 
Carolina  and  untU  1876  was  pastor  successively  at 
Eeynoldson,  Edeuton,  and  Warrenton.  From  1876 
until  his  death  in  1895  he  was  editor  of  the 
Biblical  Hecorder  at  Raleigh,  and  by  that  work 
exercised  his  largest  influence  in  the  Baptist 
churches  throughout  the  state. 

He  also  served  as  trustee  of  Wake  Forest  Col- 
lege and  as  trustee  of  Shaw  University.  He  was 
a  democrat  and  a  Mason.  He  married  Annie  Sallie 
Bailey,  a  daughter  of  Josiah  C.  and  Sarah 
(Cooper)  Bailey,  of  GreenesvUle  County,  Virginia. 
Their  children  were:  Sallie  Bailey,  wife  of  W. 
N.  Jones;  C.  T.  Bailey,  Jr.;  J.  W.  Bailey;  E. 
L.  Bailey,  who  died  in  1915;  and  Bayard  Gates 
Bailey,  who  died  in  1883. 

Josiah  William  Bailey.  Now  one  of  the 
leading  lawyers  of  Raleigh,  Josiah  WUliam  Bailey 
was  for  a  number  of  years  editor  of  the  Biblical 
Recorder,  succeeding  his  father  in  that  olfice,  and 
has  also  filled  many  important  civic  positions  in 
the  state  at  large. 

Born  in  Warrenton,  North  Carolina,  in  1873, 
the  second  son  of  Rev.  C.  T.  and  Annie  S.  Bailey, 
both  of  whom  came  to  North  Carolina  from  Vir- 
ginia, he  spent  seven  years  in  the  Raleigh  public 
schools,  two  years  in  the  Raleigh  Male  Academy, 
and  four  years  at  Wake  Forest  College,  where  he 
received  his  A.  B.  degree  in  1893.  On  leaving  col- 
lege Mr.  Bailey  entered  his  father's  oiEce  with  the 
Biblical  Recorder  and  on  the  death  of  his  father 
in  1895  was  formally  elected  editor  of  that  paper. 
That  was  his  work  and  position  until  1907,  though 
in  the  meantime  he  had  determined  upon  the  law 


as  his  real  profession  and  had  taken  preparatory 
steps  for  admission  to  the  bar.  He  studied  law 
under  Doctor  Mordecai  of  Trinity  University  and 
Cootor  GuUey  of  Wake  Forest,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  North  Carolina  bar  in  February,  1908. 
Since  that  date  he  has  been  active  iu  practice  at 
Raleigh. 

The  distinctive  part  of  his  record  is  the  service 
he  has  rendered  in  various  oflicial  capacities. 
From  1903  to  1907  he  was  chairman  of  the  Anti- 
Saloon  League  of  North  Carolina  and  from  1904 
to  1909  was  also  chairman  of  the  Child  Labor 
Commission.  Active  in  democratic  politics,  he  was 
elector  at  large  on  the  ticket  in  1908,  and  can- 
vassed the  state  for  the  party  in  1908,  1910,  1912 
and  1914.  In  1913  he  served  as  a  member  of  the 
Constitutional  (Jominission,  and  in  the  same  year 
was  appointed  collector  of  the  internal  revenue 
for  the  Eastern  District  of  North  Carolina,  an 
olfice  he  still  holds.  He  has  served  as  a  member  of 
the  Raleigh  Township  graded  schools,  of  the 
County  Board  of  Education,  as  trustee  of  Wake 
Forest  College  and  Meredith  College,  and  as  a 
member  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture.  In 
1907  he  delivered  the  baccalaureate  address  at  the 
Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  and  the 
missionary  address  at  the  Southern  Baptist  Con- 
vention. Mr.  Bailey  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  the  Raleigh  Country  Club,  the  Neuseeo 
Club,  and  the  Panther  Branch  Club. 

Frank  J.  Dempsey  was  for  many  years  one  of 
the  practical  and  thorough  farmers  of  New  Han- 
over County,  but  by  reason  of  his  administration 
during  the  last  two  years  of  the  New  Hanover 
County  Home,  of  which  he  is  superintendent,  he 
has  become  one  of  the  interesting  men  of  the  state, 
and  much  attention  has  been  attracted  to  him  and 
to  his  work  Ijy  the  press  and  state  ofiicials. 

Mr.  Dempsey  was  born  near  Wallace  in  the 
southern  part  of  Duplin  County  January  19,  1860, 
and  his  father,  the  late  George  F.  Dempsey,  spent 
his  life  in  Duplin  County,  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion and  during  the  war  served  in  the  Confederate 
army  the  entire  four  years.  Grandfather  Dempsey 
was  a  native  of  Ireland,  coming  from  that  country  , 
to  North  Carolina,  in  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  and  locating  in  Duplin  County. 

Frank  J.  Dempsey  was  reared  on  a  farm  and 
has  declined  to  be  classified  as  anything  but  a 
farmer.  It  was  on  these  qualifications  primarily 
that  he  was  selected  by  the  Board  of  Commissioners 
of  New  Hanover  to  take  charge  of  and  manage  the 
New  Hanover  County  Home,  a  property  worth  ap- 
])roximately  .$75,000  and  famous  as  the  best  institu- 
tion of  its  kind  in  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Dempsey  has  a  fine  farm  of  his  own,  four 
miles  north  of  Wilmington,  on  the  Castle  Hayne 
Road.  He  located  there  about  1896.  It  was  iu  the 
latter  months  of  1916  that  he  became  superin- 
tendent of  the  New  Hanover  County  Home,  and  the 
duties  of  that  position  have  occupied  his  entire 
time. 

The  home  and  adjacent  buildings  are  located  on 
the  county  farm  two  miles  north  of  Wilmington 
on  the  Castle  Hayne  Road.  The  Atlantic  Coast 
Line  Railway  passes  through  the  farm  and  directly 
in  front  of  the  home.  The  farm  comprises  about 
600  acres,  100  of  which  are  in  a  thorough  state  of 
cultivation.  At  the  end  of  the  first  fiscal  year 
of  Mr.  Dempsey 's  management  of  the  farm  his 
inventory  showed  that  the  institution  was  more 
than  self  sustaining.  After  all  bills  had  been  paid 
the   credit   side  of   the  ledger  showed  a   total   of 


PRANK  J.  DEMPSEY 


THE  l-Z'"  ^"'-^^     , 

PUBLi:  ■' 


..ox 


u 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


233 


about  $2,900.  Tliis  record  is  so  unusual,  and  in 
fact  almost  unjirecedented,  especially  in  North 
Carolina,  that  it  has  drawn  out  many  flattering 
comments  from  the  jiress  and  commendation  from 
the  state  officials,  and  of  course  the  farm  is  a 
source  of  extreme  local  pride  in  Hanover  County. 

As  typical  of  the  comments  made  upon  the  insti- 
tution one  of  the  Raleigh  papers  printed  the  fol- 
lowing: "Commissioner  B.  F.  Beasley  of  the  de- 
jiartnient  of  public  welfare,  has  recently  returned 
from  New  Hanover  county  where  he  found  a  county 
home  tliat  fed  fifty  people  and  turned  over  a  profit 
of  twenty-nine  liundrcil  dollars  after  meeting  ex- 
penses. The  keeper  of  the  lionie  is  superintendent 
of  the  farm  and  the  prisoners  who  are  unable  to 
do  road  n-ork  are  sent  there  for  service.  The  home 
is  charged  thirty-five  cents  a  day  for  their  labor 
and  they  still  make  a  good  profit  after  being  kept 
in  comfort  all  the  year.  The  treatment  of  prisoners 
i.s  one  of  the  bright  phases  of  prison  work  done 
by  tlie  commissioner,  who  has  had  to  listen  to  sordid 
stories  that  sicken  him.  He  has  no  censure  for 
New  Hanover.  He  thinks  that  the  solidarity  of  com- 
munity spirit  and  enterprise  is  wonderfully  de- 
velojied  in  New  Hanover." 

The  main  liuilding  is  a  large  two-story  brick 
structure  of  jileasing  architectural  appearance,  con- 
taining the  rooms  and  wards  for  the  white  inmates 
of  tlie  home,  together  with  eight  rooms  reserved  for 
the  jicrsonal  use  of  Mr.  Dempsey  and  family  and 
assistants,  with  one  office  room.  An  adjoining  build- 
ing also  of  brick  is  for  the  colored  inmates.  The 
buildings  are  equipped  with  modern  conveniences, 
such  as  electric  light,  steam  heat,  etc.,  and  since 
Mr.  Dempsey  took  charge  he  has  had  a  thoroughly 
sanitary  water  and  sewerage  system  installed  with 
plenty  of  bath  room  facilities,  also  a  shower  bath 
in  a  small  separate  building. 

Any  evidences  of  the  old  fashioned  "poor 
house"  of  former  days  are  nowhere  to  be  seen. 
On  the  contrary,  the  place  gives  one  the  impres- 
sion of  a  comfortable  hotel  or  dormitory.  The 
rooms  all  look  cozy  and  comfortable,  with  pictures 
on  the  walls,  magazines  and  reading  matter,  and 
a  general  atmosphere  of  cheer  and  contentment 
prevails.  All  those  who  are  able  are  emjjloyed  at 
useful  work  about  the  place,  while  those  who  are 
ill  are  well  taken  care  of  by  the  nurses  and  by  the 
county  physician  under  whose  direction  they  work. 
There  is  a  chapel  in  the  main  building,  where  re- 
ligious services  are  held  every  Sunday  afternoon. 
The  .average  number  of  inmates  is  between  thirty- 
five  and  forty.  Including  the  superintendent's 
family  and  staff  a  total  of  about  fifty-five  persons 
live  at  the  home. 

It  is  in  farm  management  that  Mr.  Dempsey  is 
at  his  best.  The  chief  field  crops  are  cotton,  corn, 
sufficient  grain  and  feed  stuffs  for  the  farm 
animals.  However,  the  specialty  is  gardening  and 
trucking.  This  department  furnishes  all  the  gar- 
ilen  vegetables  for  feeding  the  home  and  besides 
a  large  amount  of  stuff  is  shipped  at  a  good  profit. 
Some  of  the  principal  crops  are  Irish  potatoes, 
sweet  potatoes,  soy  beans,  cabbage  and  tomatoes. 
The  most  profitable  livestock  are  hogs,  and  Mr. 
Dem]isey  has  arranged  eight  different  hog  runs, 
into  which  the  drove  is  turned  in  succession  furnish- 
ing them  op])ortunity  for  foraging  and  for  feeding 
themselves.  In  the  smokehouse  is  an  ample  supply 
of  meat,  and  adjoining  that  is  a  large  refrigerator 
which  Mr.  Dempsey  designed  and  built  himself.  It 
liolds  .lOO  pounds  of  ice,  and  is  adequate  to  pre- 
serve all  the  fresh  meat  and  other  perishable  goods 
consumed  at  the  farm.     To  the  successful   admin- 


istration of  this  farm  Mr.  Dempsey  has  brought 
long  and  successful  exjierience  and  he  gives  to 
it  the  best  of  his  knowledge  and  efforts  so  as  to 
make  it  a  genuine  benefit  to  the  unfortunate  people 
kept  there  and  a  source  of  pride  and  profit  to  the 
county.  All  tlie  work  on  tlie  farm,  which  he  per- 
sonally superintends,  is  thoroughly  done  and  the 
program  is  carried  out  witli  exactitude  for  every 
day  of  the  year.  An  importaJit  feature  of  farm- 
ing in  this  section  is  drainage,  and  the  ditches  at 
the  county  farm  are  kept  at  the  top  notch  of  use- 
fulness. All  the  work  of  preparing  the  .soil,  fer- 
tilizing, planting,  cultivating  and  harvesting  has 
been  arranged  on  a  plan  at  once  systematic  and 
efficient.  It  is  not  strange  therefore  that  this 
farm  has  become  a  "show  place"  for  the  county, 
and  is  in  fact  a  demonstration  farm  that  many 
individual  farmers  have  studied  with  profit  to  them- 
selves. Mr.  Dempsey  is  constantly  making  new 
improvements.  Among  other  live  stock  cows  are 
kept  in  sufficient  number  to  furnish  an  ample  sup- 
ply of  milk,  cream  and  butter  for  the  home,  while 
the  poultry  yard  supplies  all  the  chickens  and  eggs. 
One  of  the  early  acts  of  his  administration  was 
the  installing  of  a  cannery.  In  1917,  2,000  cans 
of  tomatoes,  all  grown  on  the  farm,  were  preserved 
for  the  use  of  the  home,  and  a  large  number  of 
cans  of  miscellaneous  fruit.  These  canned  goods 
with  occasional  extra  cakes  and  jiastry,  are  features 
of  the  substantial  meals  that  are  greatly  appre- 
ciated by  the  inmates  and  have  a  tendency  to  keep 
all  in  the  best  of  health  and  spirits.  All  the  buy- 
ing of  groceries,  dry  goods,  clothing,  etc.,  for  the 
use  of  the  inmates,  is  done  in  wholesale  quantities. 
Mr.  Dempsey 's  entire  administration  has  been 
characterized  by  economy,  so  far  as  consistent  with 
good  judgment  and  common  sense.  In  the  house- 
hold department  of  the  work  he  is  aided  and  as- 
sisted by  his  wife,  who  is  an  expert  in  that  sphere. 

Some  years  ago  Mr.  Dempsey  was  for  a  term  of 
two  years  county  commissioner  of  New  Hanover 
County. 

He  married  Miss  Savila  Kerr.  Their  seven  chil- 
dren are  Mrs.  Emma  Hoggard,  Mrs.  H.  S.  Strick- 
liind,  George  F.,  .John  B.,  William  G.,  June  L.,  and 
Clarence  L.  John  B.  Dempsey  is  active  manager  of 
his  father's  farm  four  miles  north  of  Wilmington. 
The  sons  June  L.  and  Clarence  are  both  in  the 
National  Army,  June  being  in  the  Engineering 
Corps  with  the  Expeditionary  Forces  in  France. 

Samuel  Willwiison  McEaohern.  A  well-known 
resident  of  Davidson  County,  Samuel  W.  McEach- 
ern,  station  agent  at  Linwood,  and  a  successful 
farmer,  is  a  man  of  excelleu  business  capacity 
and  judgment,  and  a  citizen  of  high  repute.  A 
son  of  John  C.  McEachern,  he  was  born  in  Cabar- 
rus County,  North  Carolina,  of  pioneer  ancestry. 

John  C.  McEachern  was  born  and  reared  on  a 
farm,  and  as  a  young  man  bought  land  in  Number 
One  Township,  Cabarrus  County,  and  was  there 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  until  his  death, 
in  1881,  at  the  comparativelv  early  age  of  forty- 
four  years.  He  married  Mary  Eugenia  Davis, 
whose  father  owned  and  occupied  a  farm  in  Cabar- 
rus County.  She  died  in  188-j,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Martha  .lane,  Anna,  and  Samuel 
Williamson.  Martha  Jane,  married  William  H. 
Kirkpatrick.  She  was  born  in  Harrisburg,  North 
Carolina,  moved  to  Orlando,  .\rkansas,  where  they 
both  died,  leaving  three  children,  Beulah.  Howard, 
and  Nellie.  Anna,  wife  of  James  W.  Tavlor,  of 
Harrisburg,  Cabarrus  County,  has  seven  children, 
Ira,  Mary  Ola,  Lena,  John   Hugh,  Beulah,   Annie, 


234 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


and  James.  John  C.  McEacliern  and  wife  are  both 
buried  in  the  Rocky  River  Churchyard. 

Left  an  orphan  when  quite  young  Samuel  W. 
McEachern  spent  two  years  at  the  home  of  S.  W. 
Harris,  and  afterwards  lived  with  his  uncle,  John 
W.  Davis,  in  Number  One  Township,  Cabarrus 
County,  until  eighteen  years  old,  during  which 
time  he  attended  the  rural  schools,  and  studied 
telegraphy.  Accepting  then  an  offered  position 
with  a  railway'  comjiany,  Mr.  McEachern  came 
to  Linwood  to  take  charge  of  the  railroad  station, 
and  has  since  remained  here,  for  twenty-eight 
consecutive  years  having  served  faithfully  and 
most  acceptably  as  station  agent.  In  the  mean- 
time Mr.  McEachern  has  made  wise  investments 
of  his  money,  and  owns  a  good  farm,  which  he 
operates  through  tenants. 

Mr.  McEachern  married,  in  1895,  Laura  Palmer, 
who  was  born  in  Tyro  Township,  Daviilson  County, 
a  daughter  of  George  W.  and  Amanda  (Holmes'! 
Palmer.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McEacliern  have  three  chil- 
dren, namely: — Carey  Williamson,  Geneva  Palmer, 
and  Hugh  Samuel.  Religiously  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
McEachern  are  church  members,  though  not  belong- 
ing to  the  same  church.  Fraternally  Mr.  Mc- 
Eacliern is  a  member  of  Charry  Camp  Lodge  Num- 
ber 60.5,  Lexington,  and  he  also  belongs  to  the 
Order  of  Railway  Telegraphers. 

•  John  Hauohton  Jajies.  Though  only  thirty- 
one  years  of  age  John  Haughton  James  has  trav- 
eled a  long  and  broad  road  of  business  experi- 
ence, beginning  as  clerk  in  a  bank  and  is  now 
the  head  of  or  one  of  the  directing  oflScials  in 
half  a  dozen  prominent  Wilmington  business  or- 
ganizations. 

He  was  born  at  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  Oc- 
tober 27,  1886,  and  when  two  years  of  age  his 
jiarents,  Thomas  Cowan  and  Eliza  Alice  (Haugh- 
ton) James,  moved  to  Wilmington.  His  father 
at  the  time  of  his  death  was  connected  with 
the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway,  and  was  a  most 
valuable  citizen. 

Educated  in  a  private  and  in  the  Wilmington 
High  School,  John  Haughton  James  made  an 
early  start  in  business  life.  From  bank  clerk  he 
was  promoted  to  note  teller  in. the  Atlanta.  National 
Bank  and  then  cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Whitesville, 
and  was  also  connected  for  a  time  w-ith  the 
Murchison  National  Bank  as  teller.  In  1898  he 
gave  up  banking  to  engage  in  the  insurance  busi- 
ness, and  in  1913  the  firm  of  .Tames  &  James 
was  organized  and  incorporated  in  1914  with  him- 
self as  president.  Mr.  James  organized  the  Orton 
Building  and  Loan  Association,  was  one  of  the 
organizers  and  is  a  director  of  the  Home  Savings 
Bank,  director  in  the  Willard  Bag  and  Manufac- 
turing Company,  director  of  the  Carolina  In- 
surance Company,  an  organizer  and  a  director  in 
the  Community  Savings  &  Loan  Company,  and  is 
piresident    of    the    Citizens    Bank. 

He  is  well  known  socially  and  in  those  organ- 
izations which  represent  the  civic  and  moral  in- 
terests of  Wilmington.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Cape  Fear  flub.  Cape  Fear  Country  Club,  the 
Carolina  Yacht  Club,  and  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. 

October  23,  1912,  Mr.  James  man-ied  Isabel 
Hamilton  Clark  of  Tarboro,  North  Carolina.  Her 
father,  William  S.  Clark,  is  a  prominent  merchant 
and  planter.  They  have  a  daughter,  Isabel  Clark, 
.and  a  son,  William   Clark. 


Hon.  Theodore  Derondo  Brown.  An  active, 
able  and  influential  citizen  of  Salisbury,  Hon. 
Theoiiore  D.  Brown,  secretary  of  the  Salisbury 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  has  contributed  much  to- 
ward the  advancement  of  the  business  interests 
of  Rowan  County,  which  he  has  represented  in 
both  branches  of  the  State  Legislature.  He  was 
born  on  a  farm  not  verj-  far  from  Salisbury,  it 
being  the  homestead  on  which  the  birth  of  his 
father,   Adam    Monroe   Brown,  occurred. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  Adam  Brown,  spent 
his  earlier  life  in  the  eastern  part  of  North  Caro- 
lina. Migrating  to  Rowan  County,  he  received  a 
grant  of  land  lying  three  miles  southeast  of  Salis- 
bury, and  having  erected  a  log  cabin  immediately 
began  the  pioneer  labor  redeeming  a  homestead 
from  its  original  wildness.  Laboring  with  untir- 
ing energ}-,  he  succeeded  in  his  efforts,  and  added 
to  his  farm  by  purchase,  making  it  one  of  the 
largest  farms  in  his  neighborhood,  and  there  lived 
tlie  remainder  of  his  days.  He  married  Fanny 
Thomas,  who  spent  her  entire  life  in  Rowan 
County,  although  her  parents,  with  all  of  the 
other  children,  removed  to  Illinois.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  were   buried  on  the  home   farm. 

Born  and  bred  on  the  home  farm,  Adam  Monroe 
Brown  served  an  apprenticeship  at  the  shoemaker 's 
trade  at  a  time  when  all  boots  and  shoes  were 
made  by  hand,  and  to  order,  only.  During  the 
jirogress  of  the  Civil  war,  he  was  detailed  to  make 
shoes  for  the  Confederate  Government.  Succeed- 
ing to  the  ownership  of  the  parental  homestead, 
he  erected  a  substantial  set  of  frame  buildings, 
and  was  there  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  active 
in  jiublic  affairs,  and  for  twenty-six  years  prior 
to  his  death,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years,  he 
was  superintendent  of  the  County  Home. 

Tlie  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Adam  Monroe 
Brown  was  Mary  Malvina  Fesperman.  She  was 
a  daughter  of  Michael  and  C^'nthia  Aramintha 
(Gaines)  Fesperman,  early  settlers  of  Rowan 
County.  She  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years. 
Both  she  and  her  husband  were  active  members  of 
St.  Paul 's  Lutheran  Church.  They  wei-e  the  parents 
of  nine  children,  as  follows:  Clinton  N.  died,  un- 
married, at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years;  Henderson 
M.  married  Mary  J.  Crossett,  and  they  have  two 
sons  and  two  daughters;  Charles  M.  married  Effie 
Barries,  who  ilied,  leaving  one  son;  Ida  L.,  wife  of 
H.  T.  Halshouser,  has  one  son;  Joseph  A.  died  at 
the  age  of  thirty-two  years,  unmarried  ;  .John  F. ;  T. 
Clayton,  a  resident  of  Georgia,  married  Paulina 
Stillwell,  and  they  have  a  son  and  a  daughter; 
Fannie  A.,  who  married  Michael  J.  Heilig,  died 
in  early  life,  leaving  one  son;  and  Theodore 
Derondo. 

Theodore  D.  Brown  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools,  and  at  the  Mulberry  Academy.  He  began 
when  a  lad  to  assist  his  father  in  the  management 
of  the  homestead,  and  is  now  the  owner  of  that 
part  of  it  on  which  the  buildings  are  located. 
He  has  always  made  his  home  on  the  farm,  which 
is  now  managed  by  his  nephew,  Harry  Brown,  an 
industrious  and  enterprising  young  man  of  eighteen 
years,  who   lives  with  him. 

Mr.  Brown  has  always  taken  a  keen  interest  in 
public  matters,  and  in  1912  was  elected  to  the 
State  Senate,  in  which  he  served  in  the  session 
of  1913,  and  the  extra  session  following.  In  1914 
he  was  elected  as  a  representative  to  the  State 
Legislature,  and  served  in  the  session  of  1915. 
In  1915  Mr.  Brown  became  associated  with  the 
State   Department    of   Agriculture.      Subsequently 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


235 


he  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Eowau  County 
Farmers '  Union,  of  which  he  was  president  for 
two  years,  and  at  the  present  writing,  in  1917, 
is  secretary  of  the  People 's  Agricultural  Fair 
Association.  He  cast  his  first  presidential  vote 
for  William  J.  Bryan,  and  has  since  activeh'  and 
earnestly  supported  the  principles  advocated  by 
the  democratic  party. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Brown  is  a  member  of  Winona 
Council  No.  18,  Junior  Order  of  United  American 
Mechanics,  of  which  he  was  secretary  for  fifteen 
I  jeai-s;  of  Bogley  Council  No.  5,  Daughters  of 
Liberty;  and  of  Rowan  Lodge  No.  100,  Knights 
■of  Pythias.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of 
Washington  Camp,  Patriotic  Sons  of  America,  and 
served  as  its  first  state  president.  Religiously  Mr. 
Brown  is  a  valued  member  of  St.  Paul's  Lutheran 
'Church,  and  has  served  as  a  member  of  its  official 
board,  and  as  superintendent  of  its  Sunday  school. 

Maj.  John  Washington  Graham.  The  oft 
repeated  honors  of  the  soldier,  lawyer  and  public 
official  are  only  an  index  to  the  worth  and  value  of 
the  long  and  distinguished  career  of  John  Wash- 
ington Graham  of  Hillsboro.  Now  living  in  the 
shadow  of  his  forescore  years,  Major  Graham 
stands  high  on  the  roll  of  achievements  in  this 
state. 

He  was  born  at  Hillsboro  July  22,  18.38,  a  son 
of  William  Alexander  and  Susan  (Washington) 
Graham.  Of  his  father  it  need  only  be  said  that  he 
was  governor  of  North  Carolina  from  1845  to  1849, 
was  secretary  of  the  United  States  Navy  from 
July,  1850,  to  1852,  resigning  his  place  in  the 
Cabinet  to  accept  the  nomination  for  Vice  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  He  was  also  a  United 
States  senator  from  1841  to  184.3,  was  the  first 
member  of  the  Legislature  elected  from  Old  Hills- 
boro, served  as  speaker  of  the  House,  and  was  also 
a  member  of  the  State  Senate. 

The  life  of  Major  Graham  has  been  in  keeping 
with  the  high  standard  of  honors  and  achievements 
of  his  noted  father.  He  was  educated  in  the  Cald- 
well Institute  at  Hillsboro,  at  Georgetown,  D.  C, 
and  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  where  he 
perfected  himself  in  the  classics,  especially  Latin, 
was  a  splendid  student  of  mathematics,  and  studied 
law  under  Hon.  W.  H.  Battle  and  S.  F.  Phillips 
and  was  tutor  of  mathematics  from  June,  1858,  to 
June,  1859,  and  of  Latin  from  that  time  to  June, 
1860.  He  has  the  degrees  A.B.,  A.M.  and  LL.  B. 
from  the  State  University. 

His  university  career  had  hardly  closed  when  the 
war  broke  out,  and  on  April  20,  1861,  he  joined 
the  Confeilerate  army  with  the  rank  of  second  lieu- 
tenant. He  was  on  staff  duty  from  June,  1861, 
until  March,  1862,  when  he  returned  home  and 
raised  Company  D  of  the  Fifty-sixtli  Regiment. 
In  September,  186.3,  he  was  elected  major,  and 
filled  that  rank  until  the  dissolution  of  the  army 
at  Appomattox  in  1865.  He  was  one  the  hardest 
fighting  soldiers  from  North  Carolina.  He  was 
wounded  at  Petersburg,  Virginia,  June  18,  1864, 
in  the  right  arm,  and  on  March  25,  1865,  in  the 
attack  on  Fort  Steadman  was  shot  through  both 
legs. 

The  war  over.  Major  Graham  took  up  private 
practice  as  a  lawyer.  He  served  as  eountv  solicitor 
from  1865  to  1868  until  the  office  was  abolished. 
In  1867  he  was  elected  to,  and  beginning  in  Jan- 
nary,  1868,  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention.  In  November  of  that  .vear,  under  the 
constitution,  he  was  elected  state  senator,  and  in 
1870  was  elected  for  a  second  term  of  two  years. 


In  1872  he  was  unsuccessful  candidate  for  state 
treasurer.  In  1876  he  was  again  in  the  Senate, 
and  in  1886  was  a  candidate  for  Congress.  During 
all  these  years  he  carried  on  an  increasing  practice 
as  a  lawyer,  and  at  one  time  was  associated  with 
the  noted  Judge  Kutlin,  later  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
in  the  firm  of  Graham  &  Ruffiu.  Major  Graham  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  State  Senate  in  1906,  and 
during  the  following  session  was  chairman  of  the 
Railroads  Committee.  Thirty  years  before  he  had 
served  as  chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee.  In 
the  Senate  of  191011  he  was  chairman  of  the 
Judiciary  Committee. 

From  1877  to  1889  Major  Graham  was  trustee  of 
the  sinking  fund  for  the  North  Carolina  Railroad. 
Another  distinguished  service  he  rendered  was  iu 
1886-87  when  through  appointment  from  Governor 
Scales  he  was  chairman  of  the  North  Carolina  Tax 
Conunission.  This  body  of  three  men  sul)mitted  a 
report  to  the  state  which  was  the  basis  of  the  tax- 
system  for  many  years.  Major  Graham  has  been 
a  trustee  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  con- 
tinuously since  1876.  He  is  a  senior  warden  of 
St.  Mathew  's  Episcopal  Church. 

The  home  of  Major  Graham  is  the  old  Graham 
homestead  which  was  bought  by  his  father  Gov- 
ernor Graham  iu  1842.  Major  Graham  married  at 
Hillsboro  October  9,  1867,  Rebecca  Cameron,  a 
daughter  of  Paul  C.  C!ameron.  Their  children  were : 
Judge  Paul  C.  of  Durham;  George  M.,  a  broker; 
Joseph,  a  physician;  Annie  Cameron,  wife  of 
Robert  F.  Smallwood  of  Newbern ;  Isabella,  de- 
ceased wife  of  Thomas  H.  Weeb ;  Dr.  William  A. 
Graham,  deceased,  a  prominent  physician  of  Dur- 
ham. On  December  14,  1887,  Major  Durham  mar- 
ried Margaret  F.  Mailey  of  Tallahassee,  Florida. 
By  this  union  there  is  one  son,  Alexander  Haw- 
kins Graham,  who  has  won  merited  advancement 
iu  the  law,  and  is  now  serving  with  the  rank  of 
lieutenant  in  the  324th  Regiment  of  Infantry,  at 
this  writing  being  stationed  at  Camp  Jackson. 

James  Richard  Young  has  been  state  insurance 
commissioner  of  North  Carolina  since  1899. 
Though  many  people  do  not  realize  it,  this  is  an 
office  whose  work  vitally  concerns  practically 
every  individual  in  the  state.  It  has  been  the 
good  fortune  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina 
that  the  insurance  commissioner  is  a  man  praci- 
cally  versed  in  insurance  affairs,  and  also  a  man 
of  the  highest  personal  integrity  and  possessing 
all  the  best  qualifications  for  his  responsibilities. 

He  was  born  Febi'uary  17,  1853,  in  Granville 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  son  of  Dr.  P.  W.  and 
Jane  Eliza  (Cooper)  Young.  As  a  boy  he  at- 
tended Horner 's  Military  School  at  Oxford  and 
completed  his  education  in  Hampden-Sidney  Col- 
lege iu  Virginia.  During  the  greater  part  of 
his  career  before  he  was  made  state  insurance 
conunissioner  he  was  representative  and  salesman 
of  insurance,  and  it  was  his  long  and  successful 
experience  in  that  line  that  brought  him  to  the 
post  he  now  holds.  From  1881  to  1890  he  served 
as  clerk  of  the  Vance  County  Superior  Court. 

Mr.  Young  is  a  member  of  the  Masons,  Elks, 
Odd  Fellows,  and  is  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  He  married  for  his  first  wife  Miss  Anna 
Southerland  of  Warren  County,  and  for  his 
second  wife  Miss  Virginia  Nichols. 

John  Alexander  McNorton.  Now  a  well 
known  memlier  of  the  Wilmington  bar,  John 
Alexander  McNorton  began  his  career  as  a  sten- 
ographer,  was   for  many  years  in   the   service   of 


236 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


one  of  the  officials  of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line 
Eailway,   and   while   there   he   studied   law. 

He  was  born  iu  Bladen  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, October  19,  1869,  a  son  of  Solomon  aud 
Catherine  (King)  MeNorton.  His  father  was  a 
farmer,  but  the  son  was  not  content  to  spend  his 
life  on  the  farm,  aud  after  his  education  in  the 
public  schools  he  took  a  shorthand  course  at  Wil- 
mington, and  then  entered  the  employ  of  the 
Atlantic  Coast  Line  Railway.  For  ten  years  he 
was  secretary  to  the  treasurer  of  that  system, 
studying  law  in  the  meantime.  Since  his  admis- 
sion to  the  bar  in  February,  1911,  Mr.  MeNorton 
has  carried  on  a  general  practice  and  is  accorded 
a   high   place   in    the   local   bar. 

He  has  taken  considerable  interest  in  demo- 
cratic jiolitics  and  is  a  steward  of  Grace  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  Wilmington.  On  October  26, 
1899,  he  married  Miss  Cornelia  Walker  Daniel,  of 
Columbus   County,   North   Carolina. 

James  Gordon  Hackett.  A  well-known,  prom- 
inent and  popular  resident  of  Wilkes  County, 
James  Gordon  Hackett  has  been  active  in  public 
affairs  for  many  years,  and  is  now  serving  most 
eflSciently  and  acceptably  as  postmaster  at  North 
Wilkesboro.  He  was  born  August  7,  1864,  iu 
Wilkesboro,  North  Carolina,  a  son  of  Dr.  Robert 
Franklin  Hackett,  and  a*  grandson  of  James 
Hackett,  a  pioneer  settler  of  Western  North 
Carolina. 

Robert  Hackett,  the  great-grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  and  educated  in 
Ireland,  where  he  became  an  extensive  landholder 
aud  a  man  of  great  influence.  Being  convicted  of 
conspiring  against  the  government,  he  was  sen- 
tenced to  death.  Making  his  escape,  however,  he 
came  to  America,  the  laud  of  the  free,  and  settled 
iu  the  western  part  of  North  Carolina.  He  sub- 
sequently enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution- 
ary Army,  and  fought  with  the  colonists  at  Kings 
Mountain.  He  was  subsequently  drowned  in  the 
French  Broad  River.  His  first  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Margaret  Sloan,  was  the  great-grand- 
mother of  James  Gordon  Hackett,  of  whom  we 
write. 

James  Hackett,  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  was 
born  and  educated  in  Charleston.  Inheriting  the 
patriotic  ardor  of  his  father,  he  served  in  the 
War  of  1812.  Subsequently  locating  iu  the  Yadkin 
River  Valley,  he  bought  large  tracts  of  land,  and 
engaged  in  farming.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
first  wife  was  Mary  Herndon,  and  that  of  his 
second  wife,  mother  of  Dr.  R.  F.  Hackett,  was 
Fanny  Johnson. 

Robert  Franklin  Hackett  was  born  on  a  planta- 
tion lying  three  mUes  below  Wilkesboro.  After 
obtaining  his  diploma  at  Emory  and  Henry  Col- 
lege, in  Virginia,  he  was  graduated  from  the  Jef- 
ferson Medical  College,  in  Philadelphia,  with  the 
degree  of  M.  D.  Locating  in  Wilkesboro,  not  far 
from  his  birthplace,  Doctor  Hackett  built  up  a 
large  and  remunerative  practice  in  that  vicinity, 
residing  there  until  his  death,  November  5,  1886. 
The  maiden  name  of  Doctor  Hackett 's  wife  was 
Caroline  Gordon.  She  was  born  on  the  Gordon 
homestead,  on  the  west  hank  of  Reddies  River,  a 
daughter  of  Nathaniel  and  Sarah  Lenoir  (Gwyn) 
Gordon,  aud  a  sister  of  Gen.  James  B.  Gordon, 
her  father  having  been  a  son  of  George  Gordon, 
an  early  pioneer  of  Wilkes  County.  She  passed 
to  the  life  beyond  June  30,  1891.  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Hackett  reared  four  children,  namely:  Geneva, 
Florence,  James  Gordon,  and   Richard  N. 


Obtaining  his  rudimentary  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Wilkesboro,  James  Gordon  Hackett 
was  graduated  from  the  Lenoir  High  School,  and 
afterwards  continued  his  studies  at  Trinity  Col- 
lege. Since  the  death  of  his  father,  he  has  de- 
voted a  large  part  of  his  time  in  looking  after 
the  parental  estate,  and  iu  oaring  for  his  own 
private  interests. 

Having  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for 
Grover  Cleveland,  Mr.  Hackett  has  since  been 
actively  identified  with  the  democratic  party.  He 
has  the  distinction  of  having  served  as  the  first 
mayor  of  Wilkesboro,  and  has  also  tilled  the  same 
position  in  North  Wilkesboro.  Mr.  Hackett  was 
a  member  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  State 
Penitentiary  under  Governor  Aycock,  and  under 
the  administration  of  Governor  Glen  served  as 
chairman  of  that  board.  In  1913  he  was  ap- 
pointed, by  President  Wilson,  as  postmaster  at 
North  Wilkesboro,  and  is  performing  the  duties 
devolving  upon  him  in  that  capacity  with  ability 
and  fidelity. 

Mr.  Hackett  married,  June  27,  1906,  Miss  Mary 
Grimes,  who  was  born  in  Pitt  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, a  daughter  of  Gen.  Bryan  and  Charlotte 
(Emily)   Grimes. 

Young  Eldribge  Smith.  While  his  executive 
responsibilities  have  been  growing  for  many  years, 
Mr.  Y'.  E.  Smith  has  also  sustained  a  very  active 
and  influential  relationship  with  the  broader  enter- 
prises and  movements  of  Durham  County,  has  been 
one  of  the  men  who  has  helped  to  develop  the 
better  public  spirit  and  a  larger  sense  of  community 
resjjonsibility  and  well  deserves  the  reputation  of 
leadership  which  is  often  credited  to  him  in  that 
city. 

He  was  bom  in  Wake  Countv,  North  Carolina, 
April  8,  1872,  a  son  of  Talbott  B.  and  Eliza  E. 
(Brown)  Smith.  He  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm, 
attended  puljlic  schools,  also  a  private  school  at 
Raleigh.  At  an  early  age  he  was  attracted  into  the 
cotton  industry  and  his  first  regular  position  was 
as  clerk  in  the  commissary  department  of  the  Dur- 
ham Cotton  Manufacturing  Company.  From  that 
he  was  promoted  to  bookkeeper,  and  since  1900  has 
been  superintendent  of  the  mills  and  a  director  of 
the  company.  He  also  organized  and  since  has 
been  president  of  the  People's  Bank  of  Durham, 
where  the  cotton  mills  are  located.  He  is  a  di- 
rector of  the  Durham  Cliamber  of  Commerce.  The 
pioneer  modern  dairy  farm  and  business  of  Dur- 
ham was  established  by  Mr.  Smith,  and  he  has 
taken  a  great  deal  of  pride  and  satisfaction  run- 
ing  that  business  along  thoroughly  up-to-date 
lines  and  furnishing  the  highest  quality  milk  and 
milk  products  to  the  local  trade.  His  interest  in 
education  has  always  been  keen  and  lively,  and  for 
twenty  years  he  has  served  as  a  member  of  the 
school  board.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State 
Legislature  during  the  session  of  1909.  In  church 
matters  Mr.  Smith  is  a  trustee  and  steward  of  the 
Carr  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Church  Extension 
and  has  frequently  attended  the  annual  conferences 
of  the  church.  Fraternally  he  is  a  Knight  of 
Pythias. 

December  14,  1898,  he  married  Alma  Randle  of 
Warrenton,  North  Carolina.  They  have  three  chil- 
dren: Janet,  Bernard  Sanford  and  Albert  Nor- 
fleet. 

Watson  Smith  Rankin,  M.  D.  Few  states  in 
the    Union    have    a    more    progressive    board    of 


PUBL 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


237 


health  than  North  Carolina.  The  services  of 
many  devoted  physicians  and  men  of  light  and 
leading  have  been  given  to  this  work,  and  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  board  is  due  to  the  courage,  disin- 
terestedness and  enlightened  ability  of  a  group 
of  men  vpho  primarily  are  public  spirited  citizens 
as  well  as  prominent  representatives  of  their  pro- 
fession. Tlie  present  secretary  is  Dr.  Watson  Smith 
Rankin,  who  is  effectively  carrying  ou  the  serv- 
ice for  which  the  foundation  was  laid  some  years 
by  Dr.  Richard  H.  Lewis  and  Dr.  Thomas  F.  Wood 
his  predecessors  in  office. 

Doctor  Rankin  was  born  in  Mooresville,  North 
Carolina,  January  18,  1879,  a  son  of  John  Alexan- 
der and  Minnie  (McCorkle)  Bankin.  His  father 
was  a  farmer.  Doctor  Rankin  received  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Cabarrus  County 
and  Mooresville,  spent  two  years  in  the  North 
Carolina  Medical  College  at  Davidson,  and  in  May, 
1901,  graduated  from  tlie  medical  department  of 
the  University  of  Maryland.  He  had  experience 
as  an  interne  in  the  University  of  Maryland  Ma- 
ternity Hospital,  was  a  post  graduate  student  in 
the  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital  Medical  School  from 
1901  to  1902,  and  was  resident  Pathologist  at  the 
University  of  Maryland  Hos|)ital  one  year. 

Returning  to  his  native  state  he  became  profes- 
sor of  bacteriology  and  for  four  years  was  dean 
of  the  medical  department  of  Wake  Forest  Col- 
lege. He  held  that  office  until  1909,  and  in  July 
of  that  year  was  called  to  the  greater  responsi- 
bilities of  secretary  of  the  North  Carolina  Board 
of  Health. 

He  is  recognized  as  at  national  leader  in  preven- 
tive medicine  and  in  the  sanitary  control  of  public 
health.  He  belongs  to  the  American  Pulilic  Health 
Association,  to  the  Council  on  Health  and  Public 
Instruction  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  is 
chairman  of  the  Section  on  Preventive  Medicine  of 
tlie  American  Medical  Association,  is  secretary  of 
the  Conference  of  Secretaries  of  State  and  Prov- 
incial Boards  of  Health  of  North  America,  is  mem- 
her  and  vice  president  of  the  National  Association 
for  the  Study  and  Prevention  of  Tuberculosis.  Is 
a  director  of  the  National  Association  for  the 
Study  and  Prevention  of  Infant  Mortality,  is 
president  of  the  Southeastern  Sanitary  Association, 
with  jurisdiction  over  five  states,  and  is  a  member 
of  the  Wake  County  and  the  North  Carolina 
Medical  Societies  and  the  American  Medical  As- 
sociation. 

Doctor  Rankin  is  a  Mason,  is  president  of  the 
Ualeigh  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and 
belongs  to  the  Baptist  Church.  On  August  14, 
1906,  he  married  Miss  Elva  Margaret  Dickson,  of 
Wake  Forest.  They  have  one  son,  Jesse  Dickson 
Uankin,  born  January  21,  1911. 

William  W.  Carltle.  When  the  history  of 
Robeson  County  comes  to  be  written  in  detail,  one 
of  the  most  active,  influential  and  vigorous  figures 
in  the  period  of  intense  development  which  trans- 
formed Lumberton  from  a  straggling  country  vil- 
lage into  a  populous  city  and  hive  of  industrv 
will  he  referred  to  by  the  name  William  W. 
Carlyle.  Mr.  Carlyle  was  for  many  years  one  of 
the  leading  merchants  of  Lumberton,  has  been 
interested  in  nearly  every  phase  of  its  industrial 
growth,  and  is  still  living  there,  but  his  main 
active  interests  at  present  are  as  a  farmer  and 
stock  man. 

He  was  born  in  Saddle  Tree  Township  of  Rol>e- 
son  County  in  1861,  a  son  of  Simeon  C.  and 
Sarah    (Conoley)    Carlyle.      This    is    an    old    ami 


prominent  branch  of  the  Carlyle  family,  and  has 
lived  in  Robeson  County  for  Ujiwards  of  a  cen- 
tury. His  grandfather,  Elias  Carlyle,  had  his 
liome  in  St.  Paul 's  Township,  and  lie  and  other 
memliers  of  the  family  owned  extensive  tracts 
of  land  both  in  that  township  and  in  Saddle  Tree 
Townsliip  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county. 
Another  iirominent  member  of  the  family  was  the 
late  Professor  J.  B.  Carlyle,  of  the  faculty  of 
Wake  Forest  College.  Simeon  C.  Carlyle,  father 
of  William  W.,  was  a  gallant  Confederate  soldier, 
and  was  all  through  the  war. with  the  Fifty-first 
North  Carolina  Cavalry. 

In  1871,  when  William  W.  Carlyle  was  ten 
years  of  age,  his  parents  moved  from  the  farm 
to  Lumberton,  and  in  that  town  he  acquired  much 
of  his  early  education.  During  1876-77  he  was 
a  student  in  the  Carolina  Academy  at  Ansonville, 
which  was  then  under  the  direction  of  that  splendicl 
educator  Professor  Needham  B.   Cobb. 

From  the  time  he  left  Carolina  Academy  forty 
years  have  elapsed,  and  it  is  that  period  of  his 
life  which  has  shown  so  many  achievements  in 
a  business  way.  On  returning  home  from  school  he 
became  clerk  in  a  local  store.  For  thirty-five 
years  he  was  continuously  identified  wtih  mer- 
chandising at  Lumlierton,  and  his  first  employ- 
ment was  in  the  store  of  A.  C.  Melke.  In  1884 
he  became  a  partner  with  Mr.  R.  D.  Caldwell, 
his  brother-in-law.  The  firm  of  Caldwell  &  Carlyle 
built  up  and  developed  the  largest  general  mercan- 
tile or  department  store  in  Robeson  County,  and 
many  interesting  facts  concerning  that  business 
will  be  found  elsewhere  in  the  sketch  of  Mr. 
Caldwell.  The  firm  of  Caldwell  &  Carlyle  con- 
tinued until  January  1,  1912,  at  which  date  Mr. 
Carlyle  retired,  and  the  business  is  now  R.  D. 
Caldwell  &  Son. 

Mr.  Carlyle  had  the  ]nil)lic  spirit  and  confidence 
to  give  his  enthusiasm  and  his  financial  means 
toward  establishing  the  cotton  manufacturing  in- 
dustry at  Lumberton — the  backbone  of  this  modern 
city's  prosperity.  He  is  a  large  stockholder  in 
the  three  mills  at  Lumberton,  the  Lumberton, 
Dresden  and  Jennings  Mills,  which  have  a  com- 
liined  capital  of  .$650,000,  and  he  is  also  sub- 
stantially interested  in  the  St.  Pauls  Cotton  Mill 
Company  at  St.  Pauls. 

A  number  of  years  ago  Mr.  Carlyle  built  three 
brick  store  buildings  on  the  east  side  of  Elm 
Street,  the  main  business  thoroughfare  of  Lum- 
berton. When  they  were  completed  he  was  well 
satisfied  to  receive  a  rental  of  $12.. "30  per  mouth  for 
each  building.  Today  the  fixed  rental  is  $.'i0.00 
per  month,  and  tliat  is  mentioned  as  a  definite 
evidence  of  how  Lumberton  has  grown  in  a  busi- 
ness way. 

Mr.  Carlyle  is  now  largely  interested  in  the 
stock  business  at  Lumberton  and  is  one  of  the 
extensive  farmers  and  laml  owners  in  Robeson 
County.  His  best  farm  is  five  miles  south  of 
Fairmont.  It  comprises  440  acres,  largely  planted 
to  tobacco  and  cotton.  While  it  today  ranks 
as  one  of  the  finest  and  most  valuable  farms 
in  the  county,  it  was  a  virgin  timbered  wilderness 
some  years  ago  when  he  bought  it  and  the  land 
.  was  all  cleared  and  developed  under  his  im- 
mediate sujiervision.  He  also  owns  a  farm  at  his 
father 's  old  home  in  Saddle  Tree  Township,  and 
three  other  farms  near  Lumberton.  The  extent 
of  his  agricultural  operations  may  be  measured 
by   the   fact   that   he  operates   about   thirty  plows. 

Mr.  Carlyle 's  mother,  who  died  some  years 
ago,    has    a   lasting   place   in    the   memory    of   all 


238 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


the  people  of  Lunibertou  for  her  zeal  and  activity 
as  a  church  woman.  She  was  originally  a  mem- 
ber of  wliat  is  now  the  First  Baptist  Church  of 
Lumbertou,  and  was  with  that  eongre:)ation  when 
it  worshipped  in  a  small  and  poorly  located  church 
building.  She  was  one  of  tlie  leaders  in  a  move- 
nicut  which  led  to  the  erection  of  a  much  larger 
and  finer  edifice  in  the  best  residence  district. 
A  church  meant  to  her  not  merely  a  place  for 
individual  worship  but  an  opijortunity  for  service, 
and  her  zeal  and  interest  in  home  missionary  work 
finally  lead  her  to  withdraw  from  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church  and  found  the  Tabernacle  Church  at 
Lumbertou,  an  undenominational  church  of  a  mis- 
sionary nature  open  to  people  of  all  religious  faith 
and  especially  attended  by  the  mill  workers  of 
the  city,  as  well  as  by  all  who  had  no  regular 
denominational  connections.  From  its  founding 
until  her  death  she  was  a  guiding  spirit  in  this 
prosperous  congregation,  and  as  a  religious  insti- 
tution it  stands  as  a  monument  to  her  Christian 
work   and   influence. 

Mr.  Carlyle  married  Miss  Lillian  Vampill,  only 
daughter  of  the  late  Dr.  Rudolph  and  Jane  (Har- 
grove) Vanillin,  of  Lumberton.  Their  family  of 
seven  children  consists  of  Rudolph  R.,  Janie, 
Frank  Ertel,  Hazel,  Sarah,  Lillian  and  W.  W.,  Jr. 

Dr.  Rudolph  Vampill,  father  of  Mrs.  Carlyle, 
was  a  remarkable  man  with  a  mind  enriched  by 
scholarship  and  true  learning  and  of  many  talents 
that  rendered  him  a  source  of  service  to  human- 
it.y.  He  was  born  at  Breslau,  Germany,  had  a 
university  education  in  his  native  country,  grad- 
uated in  medicine,  and  when  about  twenty-two 
years  of  age  came  to  America.  He  located  at 
Mullins,  South  Carolina.  Among  his  varied  ac- 
complishments was  a  practical  knowledge  of 
botany,  music  ajul  horticulture,  exemplified  in 
love  of  flowers  and  trees,  which  led  him  to  beau- 
tify his  home  at  Mullins  with  gardens,  groves, 
the  construction  of  an  artificial  lake,  and  alto- 
gether he  surrounded  the  place  with  such  charm 
and  landscape  effects  that  it  became  noted  and 
every  year  attracted  hundreds  of  visitors.  Here 
he  turned  his  talents  successfully  to  the  practice 
of  medicine  and  lived  a  beloved  and  greatly 
esteemed  figure  in  the  entire  community.  His 
daughter,  Mrs.  Carlyle,  is  an  active  member  of 
the   Tabernacle    Church. 

Daniel  J.  Cockerham,  a  Confederate  veteran, 
and  long  active  in  business  affairs  at  Elkin,  was 
born  on  Mitchell's  River  seven  miles  from  Elkin 
in  Surry  County,   July  15,  1841. 

His  parents  were  Daniel  and  Sally  (Roberts) 
Cockerham,  and  his  paternal  grandparents  were 
David  and  Mary  (Bureh)  Cockerham  and  his 
maternal  grandparents  Pleasant  B.  and  PoUy 
(Bowles)  Roberts.  Both  grandfathers  were  plant- 
ers in  Surry  County.  Grajidfather  Cockerham  was 
a  lifelong  resident  of  that  county,  while  Grand- 
father Roberts  came  to  this  state  from  Georgia. 
Grandfather  Roberts  was  quite  active  in  public 
affairs  and  at  one  time  represented  Surry  County 
in  the  State  Legislature.  Daniel  Cockerham, 
father  of  Daniel  J.,  was  a  planter  who  owned 
numerous  slaves  and  refusing  to  sell  them  at  the 
time  of  the  war  he  lost  all  of  them  by  the  emanci- 
pation proclamation.  His  death  occurred  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five  and  his  wife  passed  away  at 
sixty-five. 

Daniel  J.  Cockerham  was  one  of  nine  children, 
grew  up  on  a  farm  and  had  a  country  school 
education.     On  June  5,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 


pany H  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment,  North  Caro- 
lina Troo]is,  and  fought  gallantly  with  his  comrades 
in  every  campaign  and  battle  including  Gettsburg 
until  he  was  captured  almost  at  the  end  of  the 
war  on  April  (i,  186-5.  As  a  prisoner  of  war  he 
was  sent  to  Johnson 's  Island  in  Lake  Erie,  was 
kept  there  until  the  following  July  when  he  was 
released.  He  reached  home  a  war-worn  veteran 
on  the  26th  of  July. 

After  that  for  a  nimiber  of  years  he  was  a 
public  school  teacher,  spending  his  winters  in  the 
schoolroom  and  farming  the  rest  of  the  year.  In 
February,  1892,  Mr.  Cockerham  engaged  in  the 
merchandise  business  at  Elkin,  his  active  as- 
sociates being  his  five  sous.  The  business  was 
conducted  under  the  name  D.  J.  Cockerham  & 
Son  and  he  had  an  active  part  therein  until  1917, 
when  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  he  retired. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-eight  Mr.  Cockerham  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Jarvis  Roberts.  She  was  born  in 
Surry  County,  daughter  of  Sanborn  Woodson  and 
Melinda  Roberts.  The  seven  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cockerham  are  Clarence  Ralston,  Ella  Mage, 
Warrick  Woodson,  Charles  Everett,  Thomas  Ver- 
non, Grady  Hoke  and  Ruby  Grace.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
C'oekerham  are  active  members  of  the  Missionary 
Baptist  Church  and  reared  their  children  in  the 
same  faith. 

Joseph  T.  Kerb.  In  1877  the  first  vegetables 
from  the  Wilmington  district  of  North  Carolina 
made  their  appearance  in  the  northern  markets. 
The  man  who  made  the  shipment,  Joseph  T.  Kerr, 
has  been  a  producer  and  shipper  of  such  crops  from 
this  section  to  the  northern  markets  in  every  one 
of  the  subsequent  forty  years  and  thus  enjoys  the 
distinction  of  being  the  pioneer  of  an  industry 
which  has  grown  to  immense  proportions  and  has 
made  New  Hanover  County  famous  as  a  truck 
gro%ving  region  and  has  contributed  a  large  pro- 
l>ortion  of  the  total  wealth  and  income  to  the 
people  of  this  district.  Mr.  Kerr's  early  truck 
crops  were  cantaloupes,  tomatoes,  egg  plant,  cab- 
bage, railishes,  etc.  He  continued  the  shipment  of 
miscellaneous  vegetables  for  a  number  of  years. 
After  it  was  completely  demonstrated  that  lettuce 
could  be  successfully  and  profitably  grown  in  this 
district  in  the  open  ground,  he  concentrated  more 
and  more  of  his  attention  upon  the  crop  and  the 
larger  volume  of  his  business  for  a  number  of 
years  lias  been  lettuce.  Mr.  Kerr  knows  the  culture 
and  handling  of  lettuce  to  the  pioint  of  being  an 
authority  on  the  subject.  He  has  studied  and  ex- 
perimented with  the  soil,  with  cultivation,  with 
types  and  varieties,  with  various  methods  of  han- 
dling and  shipping,  and  out  of  this  wide  experience 
has  acquired  a  just  fame  as  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful lettuce  growers  around  Wilmington.  An- 
other important  main  crop  on  his  farm  is  potatoes 
and  a  portion  of  his  ground  is  devoted  to  the  other 
typical  truck  crops  of  this  region.  His  place  con- 
tains about  ninety  acres  and  lies  on  the  Gordon 
Road  about  four  miles  northeast  of  Wilmington, 
being  situated  on  Acorn  Branch  in  Cape  Fear 
Township. 

Mr.  Kerr  was  born  at  old  South  Washington  now 
known  as  Watha  in  L^nion  Township  in  what  is 
now  Pender  County  but  was  then  New  Hanover 
County.  He  was  born  in  1849,  a  son  of  Daniel  and 
Martha  Elizabeth  (Malpass)  Kerr.  The  Kerrs  are 
an  old  and  prominent  family  in  Duplin,  .Sampson, 
Pender  and  New  Hanover  counties  and  are  of 
Scotch  origin.  One  of  the  notable  members  of  the 
familv   was  the  late   Dr.    Charles   Kerr   of  Kerr, 


^i^^'"'^^^^^  </-  Ji^e-^r^?-^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


239 


Sampson  County.  Kxeept  in  the  case  where  physi- 
cians are  scientists  and  have  gained  fame  as 
original  discoverers  or  founders  of  new  methods, 
the  services  of  the  profession  have  permanent  re- 
wards only  in  the  more  or  less  uncertain  memories 
of  tlieir  grateful  patients.  But  in  the  Village  of 
Kerr  staiuls  a  line  monument  to  Dr.  Charles  Kerr, 
a  monument  erected  directly  at  tlie  initiative  and 
through  subscriptions  from  his  old  patients,  neigh- 
bors and  friends,  and  it  is  probably  tlie  only  monu- 
ment erected  under  sucli  auspices  to  a  physician 
in  the  United  States.  The  home  of  the  Kerr  an- 
cestors was  on  the  Black  River  in  Sampson  County, 
and  it  was  in  tliat  county  that  Joseph  T.  Kerr's 
father  was  born. 

Josejih  T.  Kerr  grew  up  on  a  farm,  and  has 
always  been  a  farmer,  that  vocation  making  pri- 
mary claims  upon  his  interests  and  energy.  His 
youth  was  spent  in  the  poor  period  of  the  South  's 
history,  during  and  after  the  war,  and  consequently 
his  educational  advantages  were  limited.  He  at- 
tended country  schools  during  about  two  years  only. 
For  all  that  he  has  become  one  of  the  solid,  sub- 
stantial citizens  of  the  state,  a  man  enjoying  the 
confidence  and  respect  of  all,  and  from  a  humble 
beginning  and  through  tlie  merit  of  hard  work  and 
constant  application  has  achieved  a  definite  success. 

Mr.  Kerr  moved  from  Pender  Coiuity  to  New 
Hanover  County  in  1871,  the  first  engaged  in  farm- 
ing on  what  was  known  as  the  Rose  Hill  Farm  near 
the  present  village  of  Wrightsboro  about  fonr 
miles  north  of  Wilmington.  From  the  first  he  took 
an  active  interest  in  tlie  growing  of  garden  and 
truck  crops  and  did  much  to  set  the  example  which 
has  made  practically  this  entire  region  a  vast  vege- 
table garden.  He  is  also  prominent  in  public 
affairs,  sliowing  that  his  neighbors  and  fellow 
citizens  appreciate  his  strong  qualities  and  his 
ability  as  a  representative  in  affairs  of  govern- 
ment. In  1900  lie  was  elected  to  represent  his 
county  in  the  Lower  House  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, serving  during  the  session  of  1901.  In 
1910  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
County  Commissioners  in  Hanover  County  for  a 
term  of  four  years,  and  was  re-elected  in  1914.  He 
served  the  jieople  of  the  county  faithfully  in  this 
important  position  until  December,  1918,  a  period 
of  eight  years. 

Mr.  Kerr  married  Mrs.  Margaret  (Westbrook) 
.Johnston.  She  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  .Tackson 
Westbrook  of  Harrison  Creek,  Pender  County, 
where  she  was  born,  and  granddaughter  of  Jesse 
Westbrook,  a  native  of  Jones  County,  North  Car- 
olina. Jesse  Westlirook  and  family  in  the  late 
'20s  moved  to  that  part  of  New  Hanover  County 
that  is  now  Pender  County,  first  locating  near  Top- 
sail, but  a  year  or  two  later  moving  to  a  per- 
manent home  on  Harrison  Creek.  The  ancestors  of 
the  Westbrook  family  in  North  Carolina  came  from 
the  State  of  Maine.  One  of  Mrs.  Kerr's  cousins, 
Mr.  David  George  Westbrook,  came  from  Harrison 
Creek  to  New  Hanover  County  in  188.J  and  his  fam- 
ily located  on  the  Gordon  Road  about  a  mile  north 
of  the  Kerrs,  where  he  has  a  nice  farm  and  a  good 
home.  These  families  are  among  the  substantial, 
sturdy  pioneer  people  who  have  made  this  a  rich 
agricultural  region. 

Mrs.  Kerr  liy  her  first  marriage  to  James  John- 
ston had  three  children:  Mrs.  Annie  Miller,  J. 
Herbert  Johnston,  and  Mrs.  Ella  Kerr.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Kerr  have  four  living  children:  Colin  E. 
Kerr,  Mrs.  Marietta  Morris,  Mrs.  Lillian  May 
Woodberry  and  Lottie  Catalina,  wife  of  Mr.  N.  L. 


Johnston.      N.    L.   Johnston   is   superintendent   of 
tlie  St.  Helena  Colony  in  Pender  County. 

Walters  Durham.  The  cashier  of  the  Me- 
clianics  Savings'  Bank  of  Raleigh,  Walters  Dur- 
ham, has  been  connected  witli  this  institution  since 
1896,  having  started  his  career  in  the  employ  of 
the  institution  and  from  a  modest  beginning 
worked  his  way  to  a  responsil)le  oflSee.  His  entire 
business  life  has  been  sjjent  in  banking,  and  among 
his  associates  he  is  known  as  a  man  of  financial 
skill,  shrewd  foresight  and  keen  discrimination. 

Mr.  Durham  was  born  at  Goldsboro,  North  Caro- 
lina, June  2.5,  1874,  and  is  a  son  of  Columbus  and 
Lila  M.  (Walters)  Durham.  His  father  was  a 
Baptist  minister,  of  Goldslioro  and  Durham  and 
afterwards  the  corresponding  secretary  of  the 
Baptist  State  Board  of  Trustees.  The  public 
schools  of  his  native  place  furnished  Walters  Dur- 
liam  with  his  early  education,  following  whicli  he 
attended  the  Morson  &  Denson  Private  School, 
where  he  was  prejiared  for  his  higher  education. 
He  next  took  a  full  course  at  Wake  Forest  College, 
where  he  took  the  degrees  of  Bachelor  of  Arts, 
Master  of  Arts  and  Bachelor  of  Laws,  and  was 
graduated  with  honors  in  the  class  of  1895.  In 
January,  1896,  Mr.  Durham  began  his  connection 
with  the  bank  in  which  he  now  holds  official  posi- 
tion, which,  however,  was  then  known  as  the  -Me- 
ilianics  Dime  Savings  Bank.  From  a  minor  posi- 
tion he  arose  to  be  bookkeeper  and  teller,  and  in 
1900  was  elected  cashier  of  the  institution,  an 
■  oifiee  wliich  he  has  retained  to  the  present  time. 

Mr.  Durham  is  treasurer  of  the  North  Carolina 
Baptist  State  Convention.  He  belongs  to  the  Be- 
nevolent and  Protective  Order  of  Elks  and  to  the 
Country  Club,  in  both  of  which  he  has  many 
friends,  as  he  has  also  in  business  and  banking 
circles.  In  politics  he  is  a  democrat,  but  he  has 
not  cared  for  public  life  and  only  takes  an  active 
part  in  those  movements  which  affect  the  welfare 
of  his  community.  He  is  a  good  representative  of 
the  lianking  material  that  has  made  Raleigh  so 
financially  strong. 

R.  C.  Lawrence.  At  a  stage  of  his  career 
when  he  is  only  beginning  to  do  his  best  work, 
it  is  possible  to  speak  about  R.  C.  Lawrence  of 
Lumberton  as  a  highly  successful  lan-yer,  a  man 
of  exceptional  scholarship  and  range  of  interests, 
and  of  a  depth  and  maturity  of  experience  such  as 
is  rarely   associated  with   men   of   his  years. 

Mr.  Lawrence  was  born  at  Raleigh,  North 
Carolina,  February  7,  1877,  son  of  V.  D.  and 
Mary  (Corbelle)  Lawrence.  He  is  of  Norman 
French  ancestry  on  both  sides.  Several  gener- 
ations of  the  Lawrence  family  in  America  lived 
in  Hanover  County,  Virginia,  while  the  Corbelles 
had  their  home  in  Nansemond  County  of  the 
Old  Dominion.  V.  D.  Lawrence  was  a  merchant 
at  Raleigli  and  died  when  R.  C.  Lawrence  was 
six   years    old. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  member  of  the  bar  of 
North  Carolina  began  tasting  the  joys  of  the 
fruits  of  his  own  work  so  early  as  R.  C.  Lawrence. 
Soon  after  his  father  died  lie  was  assigned  duties 
proportionate  to  his  years  in  the  office  of  Ed- 
wards &  Broijgliton  at  Raleigli.  Subsequently  he 
served  as  a  page  in  the  State  Senate,  and  was  a 
boy  in  years  when  he  was  appointed  postmaster 
of  the  Senate.  His  culture  and  ready  familiar- 
ity with  literature  and  history  causes  most  of  the 
acquaintances  of  Mr.  Lawrence  to  regard  him  as 
a  product  of  a  thorough  classical  education.    The 


240 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


fact  is  he  hardly  weut  to  school  at  all.  A  remark- 
able native  talent  led  him  practically  without 
direction  to  absorb  and  search  out  knowledge  in 
many  diverse  fields. 

Mr.  Lawrence  gi-aduated  irom  Wake  Forest 
College  with  degrees  of  A.  B.  and  LL.  B.  in  1898. 
He  also,  took  his  law  course  at  the  same  insti- 
tution and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1898.  Dur- 
ing his  examination  lor  admission  to  tlie  bar  his 
answers  were  submitted  so  promptly  and  concisely 
that  he  had  covered  tlie  entire  list  of  sixty-six 
questions  in  about  sixty  minutes.  This  remai-k- 
ably  brief  time,  together  with  the  quality  of  re- 
plies made,  caused  an  exclamation  of  surprise 
from  Judge  Walter  Clark  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
who  was  in  charge  o±  the  examination,  and  who 
bestowed  upon  the  young  aspirant  for  attorney 's 
honors  a  most  generous  compliment. 

After  his  admission  to  the  bar  Mr.  Lawrence 
practiced  at  Kaleigh  with  Col.  Jolin  \V.  Hmsdale, 
and  in  1903  established  himself  at  Lumberton  as 
a  partner  with  Mr.  Stephen  Mclntyre,  the  firm 
now  being  Mclntyre,  Lawrence  and  Proctor.  This 
is  one  of  the  notable  law  firms  of  the  state,  com- 
bining a  large  general  and  corporate  practice. 
They  act  as  division  counsel  for  the  Seaboard 
Air  Line,  special  counsel  for  the  Southern  Rail- 
way, and  counsel  for  the  Virginia  &  Cai-olina 
Southern,  the  Raleigh  &  Charleston  Railroad,  the 
Aberdeen  &  Roekfish  Railroad,  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Company,  and  some  of  the  cotton  mills 
of  Lumberton  and  other   business  firms. 

While  Mr.  Lawrence  finds  the  chief  outlet  for 
his  energies  and  talents  in  the  practice  of  his  law 
firm,  he  has  several  delightful  avocations  and  one 
of  them  is  literature  and  writing.  At  different 
times  he  has  devoted  himself  to  preparing  sketches 
of  North  Carolina  legal  celebrities,  both  living  and 
dead,  and  a  number  of  these  have  been  pronounced 
as  classics  in  style  and  as  portraits  and  estimates. 

Mr.  Lawrence  married  Miss  Emma  Norwood, 
daughter  of  Judge  William  L.  Norwood,  of 
Waynesville,  member  of  a  family  distinguished  in 
North  Carolina  history  since  colonial  times.  Mrs. 
Lawrence  is  also  a  niece  of  Judge  Garland  S.  Fer- 
guson, one  of  the  oldest  judges  on  the  Superior 
Court  bench  of  North  Carolina.  The  three  children 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lawrence  are  Anna,  Virginia 
and   Mary. 

William  Johnston  Andrews.  Scholarly  at- 
tainments and  a  business  sense  developed  far  be- 
yond the  ordinary  are  characteristics  which  dis- 
tinguish William  Johnston  Andrews,  one  of  the 
leading  figures  in  the  business  circles  of  Raleigh, 
as  well  as  a  forceful  personality  in  its  social  life. 
A  man  of  ripened  experience,  he  has  lirought  his 
knowledge  of  men  and  affairs  to  bear  upon  his 
conduct  of  the  several  concerns  with  which  he  is 
connected,  to  such  an  extent  that  they  have  not 
only  enjoyed  a  long  era  of  prosperous  activity,  but 
have  their  influence  in  determining  the  standards 
of  other  houses  of  a  similar  character.  In  his 
career,  Mr.  Andrews  is  an  earnest  refutation  of 
the  claim  that  too  much  mental  development  is  a 
handicap  in  the  business  world.  Had  he  been  less 
learned,  his  life  history  might  have  been  entirely 
different.  As  it  is,  his  scholarly  pursuits  lend  a 
character  to  all  that  he  undertakes  and  not  only 
have  jiroven  beneficial  to  others,  but  vastly  en- 
tertaining to  himself. 

William  Johnston  Andrews  was  born  at  Hender- 
son, now  Vance  County,  then  Granville  County, 
North  Carolina,  March  1,  1871,  and  is  the  eldest 


son  of  Alexander  Boyd  and  Julia  Martha  (John- 
ston) Andrews.  Col.  A.  B.  Andrews,  his  father, 
was  for  many  years  one  of  the  best  known  men 
ill  railroad  circles  of  the  South,  and  at  the  time  of 
his  deatli  was  a  director  and  first  vice  president 
of  the  Southern  Railway.  He  was  a  veteran  of 
the  Civil  war,  having  been  captain  of  Company  B, 
Ninth  Regiment  (First  Cavalry),  North  Carolina 
Troops.  After  the  war  he  entered  actively  into 
the  work  of  reconstruction  of  railroad  properties 
and  other  organizations  pertaining  to  transporta- 
tion, and  through  nearly  a  half  a  century  of  con- 
nection with  railroad  building  and  operation  be- 
came one  of  tlie  chief  factors  in  the  development 
of  the  new  South,  one  of  his  most  noted  accom- 
jdishments  being  the  construction  of  the  Western 
North  Carolina  Railroad  to  Paint  Rock,  the  Ten- 
nessee line,  and  the  branch  to  Ducktown,  North 
Carolina. 

William  Johnston  Ajidrews  secured  his  early 
education  in  the  Ealeigh  Male  Academy,  follow- 
ing which  he  entered  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, from  wluch  institution  he  was  graduated  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  class  of  189-1. 
He  then  entered  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  New 
I'ork,  where,  during  1893  and  1894,  with  William 
F.  Hunt,  of  New  York  City,  he  developed  the 
aluniiuum-zinc  alloys,  which  were  later  success- 
fully used  in  the  manufacture  of  bicycles,  thus 
materially  reducing  the  weight  in  bicycle  con- 
struction, although  it  was  not  until  ten  years  later 
that  they  received  credit  for  this  work  and  tests. 
Mr.  Andrews  graduated  wtih  the  degree  of  me- 
chanical engineer  at  Cornell  in  1894,  and  in  that 
year  accepted  a  position  as  superintendent  of  the 
foundry  of  the  North  Carolina  Car  Company,  and 
as  such  was  the  only  man  who  has  ever  been  al- 
lowed to  put  the  name  Lobdell  on  a  wheel  made 
outside  of  their  works  in  Wilmington,  Delaware, 
He  retained  that  position  during  that  year,  the 
following  and  a  part  of  the  next  year.  In  1896 
he  became  private  secretary  to  the  United  States 
minister  to  Mexico,  the  Hon.  Matt  W.  Ransom, 
but  in  1897  returned  to  Raleigh  and  in  1898  was 
made  president  of  the  Raleigh  Electric  Company, 
which  operated  the  street  railway  and  lighting 
plant,  a  position  which  he  retained  until  1906 
when  he  and  his  associates  sold  this  property  to 
the  company  now  operating  it.  Since  the  latter 
year  he  has  been  engaged  in  a  variety  of  busi- 
ness Teutyres,  all  eonnnected  with  the  growing  in- 
dustrial importance  of  the  capital  city. 

With  Mr.  Jas.  H.  Pow  and  Mr.  A.  L.  Murray 
he  organized  and  developed  the  first  of  the  now- 
many  suburbs  of  the  City  of  Raleigh,  which  Mrs. 
Andrews  named  Glenwood.  At  the  present  time 
Mr.  Andrews  is  president  of  the  Monitor  Graphite 
Company  of  Ashland,  Alabama,  which  he  formed 
and  is  operating;  president  of  the  City  Land  Com- 
pany, a  director  of  the  Citizens  National  Bank 
of  Raleigh,  president  of  the  Raleigh  Furniture 
Company,  a  director  of  the  Melrose  Knitting  Mill, 
and  an  executor  in  both  his  father's  and  mother's 
estates,  both  of  whom  died  in  1915.  Mr.  Andrews' 
business  life  has  been  a  full  one,  but  he  has 
found  time  to  develop  and  maintain  delightful 
social  and  fraternal  relations.  He  is  a  past 
exalted  ruler  of  the  Elks  and  present  chairman 
of  the  house  committee ;  has  reached  the  Shrine 
in  Masonry;  and  belongs  to  the  Odd  Fellows,  the 
Improved  Order  of  Red  Men  and  the  Royal  Ar- 
canum. His  social  connections  include  member- 
sliip  in  the  Capitol  and  Country  clubs.  He  also 
belongs   to   the   American   Society   of   Mechanical 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


241 


Engineers,  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revo- 
lution, is  an  active  member  of  the  Raleign  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  an  lionorary  member  of  the  Luther 
Burbank  Society,  and  a  life  member  of  the  North 
Carolina  Agricultural  Society,  which  operates  the 
State  Fair.  Mr.  Andrews  has  declined  fine  offers 
to  go  to  New  York,  Richmond  aud  other  cities  but 
'  like  his  father  he  is  devoted  in  his  attachment  to 
the  State  of  North  Carolina.  As  an  engineer  Mr. 
Andrews  enrolled  in  the  United  States  Public 
Service  Reserve  under  the  department  of  labor. 
His  religious  connection  is  with  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Raleigh. 

Mr.  Andrews  was  married  January  7,  190.3,  to 
Miss  Augusta  Webb  Ford,  daughter  of  Francis 
and  Augusta  (Webb)  Ford.  Mr.  Ford  was^  a 
jirominent  banker  and  business  man  of  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio,  although  he  resided  in  Covington, 
Kentucky.  Four  children  have  been  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Andrews,  namely:  William  Johnston 
Andrews,  Jr.  (deceased,  Augusta  Ware-Webb 
Ford  Andrews,  Martha  Bailey  Hawkins  Andrews, 
and  Jane  Virginia  Hawkins  Andrews. 

Charles  Lee  Smith,  distinguished  by  his  schol- 
arship and  his  practical  activities  in  the  field  of 
educational  administration  and  sociology  and 
economics,  is  a  Raleigh  man  whose  name  is  as- 
sociated with  various  business  and  civic  responsi- 
bilities. 

He  was  born  at  Wilton  in  Granville  County, 
North  Carolina,  August  29,  1865,  son  of  Dr.  Louis 
Turner  and  Nannie  Green  (Howell)  Smith.  Ho 
is  the  descendant  of  a  prominent  English  family 
that  settled  in  Gloucester  County,  Virginia,  in  early 
colonial  times.  In  the  paternal  line  his  great-great- 
grandfather was  James  Smith  of  Virginia,  his 
great-grandparents  were  John  and  Nancy  (Wil- 
son) Smitli  and  his  grandparents  John  and  Sallie 
(Bradford)  Smith.  On  both  sides  his  ancestors 
rendered  distinguished  service  in  the  Revolutionary 
and  Civil  wars. 

In  IS?.^,  when  Doctor  Smith  was  ten  years  of 
age,  his  parents  removed  to  Durham,  North  Caro- 
lina, where  he  prepared  for  college  at  Buchanan's 
School.  In  1884  he  was  graduated  from  Wake 
Forest  College.  The  honorary  degree  LL.  D.  was 
awarded  him  by  that  institution  in  1906.  During 
his  senior  year  in  college  he  was  chief  editor  of 
Wake  Forest  Student.  During  1884-8.5  he  was 
in  Raleigh  as  an  instructor  in  the  Raleigh  Male 
Academy  and  at  the  same  time  was  associate  editor 
of   the   Biblical   Recorder. 

Mr.  Smitli  did  graduate  work  at  Johns  Hopkins 
University  in  Baltimore,  from  which  he  received 
the  degree  Doctor  of  Philosophy  in  1889.  He  also 
studied  abroad  in  Germany.  At  Johns  Hopkins 
from  1886  to  1891  he  was  successively  university 
scholar,  fellow  in  history  and  politics,  instructor 
in  history  and  lecturer  on  sociology.  It  was  dur- 
ing 1888  while  a  fellow  by  courtesy  of  Johns  Hop- 
kins tliat  Doctor  Smith  was  a  student  in  the 
University  of  Halle. 

While  still  on  the  academic  staff  of  Johns  Hop- 
kins he  served  as  general  secretary  of  the  Balti- 
more Charity  Organization  Society  from  1889  to 
1891,  and  in  1889  was  appointed  by  the  governor 
of  Maryland  a  delegate  to  the  National  Confer- 
ence of  Cliarities  and  Correction  which  met  at  San 
Francisco.  He  was  elected  a  secretary  to  that 
body  for  1890. 

Resigning  his  connections  at  Baltimore  in  Jan- 
uary, 1891,  Doctor  Smith  took  the  chair  of  history 
and   political    science    in   William   Jewell    College 

Vol.  IV— 16 


at  Liberty,  Missouri.  He  remained  with  that  in- 
stitution for  fourteen  years  until  he  resigned  in 
1905  to  accept  the  presidency  of  Mercer  Univer- 
sity at  Macon,  Georgia.  While  in  Missouri  Doctor 
Smith  did  pioneer  work  as  a  university  extension 
lecturer.  Doctor  Smith  remained  at  Mercer  Uni- 
versity during  the  year  1905-06.  That  year  was 
marked  by  a  large  increase  in  the  college  endow- 
ment, the  securing  of  new  buildings,  and  excep- 
tional prosperity  for  the  institution  as  a  whole. 
He  resigned  the  presidency  of  Mercer  and  returned 
to  his  native  state  where  he  became  identified  with 
important  business  interests. 

Since  1906  a  resident  of  Raleigh,  Doctor  Smith 
has  been  a  member  aud  is  now  president  of  the 
Edwards  &  Broughton  Printing  Company,  state 
printers  and  jiublishers.  Along  with  his  regular 
duties  he  has  always  been  identified  with  many 
other  important  interests.  In  1901  he  was  Gay 
lecturer  in  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Sem- 
inary. He  has  contributed  many  articles  and  re- 
views to  periodicals  and  is  author  of  "The  History 
of  Education  in  North  Carolina,"  and  a  number 
of  monographs.  In  1909  Governor  W.  W.  Kitchin 
appointed  him  a  member  of  the  Library  Commission 
of  North  Carolina,  which  was  created  by  act  of 
that  year 's  Legislature  and  he  is  now  treasurer 
and  member  of  its  executive  committee.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  administrative  council  of  the 
Southern  History  Association  from  1897  to  1907; 
is  now  a  trustee  and  a  member  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  a 
member  of  the  advisory  board  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Booklet,  a  member  of  the  board  of  managers 
of  the  North  Carolina  Society  Sons  of  the  Revo- 
lution, chairman  of  the  Raleigh  Municipal  Recrea- 
tion Commission,  and  vice  chairman  of  the  Wake 
County  Committee  for  War  Service. 

October  24,  1889,  at  High  Point,  North  Caro- 
lina, Doctor  Smith  married  Sallie  Lindsay,  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  William  Oliver  and  Elizabeth  Clay 
(Lindsay)  Jones.  They  are  the  parents  of  four 
children:  Howell  Lindsay,  William  Oliver,  Kather- 
ine  Clark  and  Charles  Lee  Smith,  Jr. 

Henrt  Faison  Peirce  is  a  business  man  of 
Warsaw.  His  active  career  began  less  than  twenty 
years  ago  but  by  experience  and  the  utilization 
of  widening  opportunities  he  has  placed  himself 
in  the  front  rank  of  the  men  of  efficiency  and 
leadership   in   Duplin   County. 

Mr.  Peirce  was  born  in  Duplin  County  Sep- 
tember 12,  1874.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas  Buckner 
and  Sallie  Eliza  (Faison)  Peirce.  His  father  for 
a  number  of  years  has  been  a  manufacturer  of 
fruit  and  vegetable  packages.  The  son  was  well 
educated,  attending  the  Faison  public  schools  and 
the  schools  at  Scotland  Neck,  and  later  entered 
the  University  of  North  Carolina,  where  he  was 
graduated  in  1898.  He  also  had  training  in  busi- 
ness colleges.  For  several  years  Mr.  Peirce  was 
associated  with  his  father  as  superintendent  of 
the  package  factory.  During  1901-02  he  was  in 
the  hardware  business  under  the  firm  name  of 
H.  F.  Peirce  Hardware  Company,  and  on  selling 
out  his  interests  in  that  line  he  organized  in  1903 
the  Bank  of  Warsaw,  of  which  he  has  been  cashier 
for  fourteen  years. 

In  addition  to  banking  Mr.  Peirce  is  president 
of  the  Warsaw  Prize  Warehouse  Company,  a 
tobacco  warehouse -concern,  deals  extensively  in 
real  estate  in  both  city  and  country,  in  fire  in- 
surance, and  represents  the  Atlantic  Life  Insurance 
Company.     He  is  also  secretary  and  treasurer  of 


242 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


the  il.  K.  Moore  Tobacco  Conrpany,  a  stemming 
company,  and  is  district  rcjiresentative  and  dis- 
tributing agent  for  tlie  Briscoe  Automobile  and 
Knickerboclver  Tractor  and  local  agent  for  the 
Stewart  Truck. 

Mr.  Peiree  is  alderman  of  "Warsaw  and  is  now 
treasurer  of  the  City  School  Fund  and  the  Road 
Fund  and  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Town 
of  Warsaw.  He  is  a  deacon  in  the  Presbyterian 
Cliurch  and  fraternally  is  aiBliated  with  the  Ma- 
sonic Lodge,  Sepia  Grotto  of  Master  Masons,  with 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Knights 
of  Pythias  and  the  Junior  Order  of  United  Amer- 
ican Mechanics.  He  is  president  of  the  Nahunga 
Country   Cnub. 

Mr.  Peiree  was  married  September  6,  1899,  to 
Miss  Annie  Saunders  Noel,  of  Lexington,  Mis- 
sissippi. 

Julius  F.  Miller  is  descended  from  one  of  the 
oldest  families  in  Western  North  Carolina,  and 
the  better  part  of  his  active  career  has  been  spent 
at  Rural  Hall  in  Forsyth  County,  where  he  now 
resides  and  near  where  he  was  born.  He  has  al- 
ways kept  himself  in  close  touch  with  the  growth 
and  development  of  his  native  county,  and  at  dif- 
ferent times  has  participated  in  public  affairs. 

His  ancesti-y  goes  back  several  generations  to 
Jacob  Miller,  who  was  born  in  Northampton 
County,  Pennsylvania.  Jacob  came  to  North  Caro- 
lina with  the  party  which  made  the  survey  for  the 
Moravian  land  grant.  He,  himself  entered  400 
acres  of  land  in  what  is  now  Bethania  Township, 
Forsyth  County,  but  soon  afterward  returned  to 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life. 
In  his  will  he  gave  the  North  Carolina  land  to  his 
son,  Jacob  Miller,  Jr. 

This  son  Jacob,  great-grandfather  of  Julius,  was 
born  in  Northampton  County,  Pennsylvania,  and 
came  to  North  Carolina  to  occupy  and  improve 
the  property  inherited  from  his  father.  In  this 
work  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life.  His  widow  sub- 
sequently married  Henry  Kreeger,  who  was  a  Revo- 
lutionary soldier,  and  who  was  present  at  the  battle 
of  King's  Mountain,  being  a  member  of  the  first 
attacking  party. 

John  Benjamin  Miller,  son  of  Jacob  Miller,  Jr., 
and  grandfather  of  Julius,  was  born  two  miles 
north  of  Bethania,  and  being  the  only  child  of  his 
parents  he  inherited  the  old  homestead,  the  culti- 
vation and  improvement  of  which  he  directed  all 
his  active  life.  He  had  a  number  of  slaves,  and 
was  one  of  the  substantial  and  highly  respected 
citizens  of  that  community.  He  married  Elizabeth 
Shore,  a  daughter  of  John  Shore,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Forsyth  County,  where  the  Shore 
family  located  in  previous  generations.  Elizabeth 
(Shore")  Miller  died  in  middle  life,  and  John  Ben- 
.ianiin  afterward  married  Martha  Hill  Davis.  By 
the  first  marriage  there  were  four  children,  Wil- 
liam, Solomon  A.,  Paulina  and  Lydia,  and  the 
children  of  the  second  marriage  were  John  T., 
Robert  J.,  and  Elizabeth. 

Solomon  A.  Miller,  son  of  John  B.  Miller  and 
Elizabeth  (Shore)  Miller,  was  born  near  Rural 
Hall  Octolier  22,  1828.  After  reaching  manhood 
he  bought  a  part  of  the  old  homestead,  and  later 
a  portion  of  the  Null  farm.  He  followed  general 
farming  until  his  death  in  1897.  He  married 
Almira  Null,  who  was  born  in  Bethania  Township. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  John  Null,  Jr.,  and 
Frances  (Bennett)  Null.  She  died  in  191.S.  Her 
three  children  were:  Julius  Francis,  Sarah  Eliza- 
beth, and  Martha  Anne. 


Julius  F.  Miller  as  a  boy  attended  a  school  at, 
Bethania  taught  by  Prof.  A.  I.  Butner.  At  the 
age  of  sixteen  he  left  school  aud  found  a  clerkship 
in  a  general  store  at  Salem.  After  two  years  he 
returned  to  Bethania  and  resumed  his  studies  under 
Professor  Butner.  After  his  education  was  com- 
pleted ne  was  clerk  in  a  store  at  Bethania  for  six 
years,  and  then  built  a  flour  mill  near  that  place. 
He  continued  the  operation  of  this  industry  until 
1891,  when  he  removed  to  Rural  Hall,  where  he 
was  instrumental  in  promotiug  a  general  store  and 
later  a  roller  flouring  mill,  the  latter  of  which  he 
managed  for  many  years.  For  the  past  several 
years  he  has  given  his  time  entirely  to  the  sale  of 
agricultural  implements. 

'Mr.  Miller  was  married  iu  1882  to  Ellen  C.  Lash, 
who  was  born  near  Bethania,  daughter  of  Thomas- 
B.  and  Wilhelmina  (Stoltz)  Lash.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Miller  have  two  children :  Frank  T.,  who  married 
Louise  Davis,  and  Lillian  A.,  who  married  Robt. 
M.  Cox.  Mr.  Miller  has  one  grandchild,  Frank  T. 
Miller,  Jr. 

He  cast  his  first  presidential  ballot  for  U.  S. 
Grant,  and  has  interested  himself  in  public  affairs 
since  that  time.  A  number  of  years  ago  he  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  registrar  of  deeds  of  For- 
syth County  and  gave  a  very  exact  and  competent 
administration  of  that  office. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  are  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church. 

John  Sprunt  Hill.  In  every  state  aud  in  every 
generation  a  few  names  gain  common  currency  of 
recognition  and  appreciation,  whether  it  be  in  the 
halls  of  Legislature,  the  crowded  marts  of  trade,  or 
the  isolated  villages  and  the  remote  and  lonely 
farms.  Such  a  name  iu  North  Carolina  today  is 
that  of  John  Sprunt  Hill  of  Durham.  While  he  has 
had  a  liusy  and  active  career  for  over  twenty  years,, 
Mr.  Hill  is  just  now  in  the  prime  of  his  life  and 
usefulness,  and  while  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
final  estimate  of  his  work  must  be  deferred  many 
years,  it  is  a  distinction  such  as  few  of  his  con- 
temporaries can  enjoy  that  his  record  contains  so 
many  elements  of  value  and  achievement.  He  is 
known  as  ' '  the  father  of  rural  credits  in  North 
Carolina, ' '  and  with  special  reference  to  this  pains- 
taking achievement  with  which  he  is  credited  Prof. 
E.  C.  Branson,  of  the  Chair  of  Rural  Economics 
iu  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  recently  pre- 
pared an  article  on  the  career  of  Mr.  Hill  from 
which  practically  all  that  follows  is  taken  with  only 
such  modifications  as  the  purposes  of  the  present 
publication  seem  to  jarescribe. 

He  was  born  on  a  farm  near  the  village  of 
Faison,  Duplin  Countv,  North  Carolina,  March  17, 
1869.  His  father,  William  E.  Hill,  a  prominent 
lawyer  and  land  owner  of  Duplin  County,  was  the 
sou  of  General  William  Lanier  Hill,  a  native  of 
Brunswick  County,  Virginia,  and  Aune  Dudley, 
sister  of  Gov.  Edward  B.  Dudley,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Col.  Christopher  Dudley  of  Onslow 
County,  a  prominent  ship  builder  aud  large  landed 
proprietor,  whose  record  of  service  in  Revolutionary 
times  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  colonial  j 
records  of  North  Carolina.  John  Sprunt  Hill's  1 
mother  was  Frances  Diana  Faison,  daughter  of 
Isham  Faison  and  Sallie  Thompson,  both  of  whom 
were  lineally  descended  from  Henrick  Fayson  van 
Doverack  of  York  County,  Virginia,  the  original 
ancestor  of  the  Faison  family  in  this  country,  who 
was  of  French  Huguenot  aud  Dutch  descent  and 
who  was  naturalized  by  .\ct  of  the  Joint  Assembly 
of  Virginia,  September  24,  1672.    A  few  years  prior 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


243 


to  the  Revolutionary  war  James  and  Elias  and 
Henry  Faison,  great-great-grandsons  of  the  first 
Faisou  ancestor,  moved  from  Nortliampton  County, 
North  Carolina,  to  Duplin  County,  and  took  out 
}iatents  on  large  tracts  of  land  near  the  present 
Village  of  Faison.  James  Faison  served  with  dis- 
tinction as  captain  in  the  Patriot  army,  and  Henry 
Faison,  grandfather  of  Frances  Faison,  served  as  a 
private. 

As  a  boy  Jolin  Sprunt  Hill  sliowcd  great  apti- 
tude for  study  and  for  work,  and  at  the  early  age 
of  twelve  hail  completed  the  entire  course  of  study 
lirovided  liy  tlie  Faisou  High  Scliool.  Being  too 
young  to  enter  college,  he  secured  a  position  as 
clerk  in  a  large  country  store,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed for  nearly  four  years,  during  which  time  he 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  business  that  in  after 
years  proved  of  immense  value  to  him.  During 
these  four  years  of  service  as  a  country  merchant 
he  devoted  hi.s  leisure  hours  to  study  and  to  the 
reading  of  all  kinds  of  books.  Upon  this  prejiara- 
tion.  as  meager  as  it  was  unusual,  he  entereil  the 
freshman  class  of  the  university  in  the  fall  of 
1885. 

As  a  student,  says  his  biographer,  he  was  ex- 
ceedingly active  in  all  pihases  of  college  life,  and 
rapidly  rose  to  a  position  of  leadership  in  college 
activities.  His  meager  preiiaration  for  college 
seriously  handicapped  him  during  the  first  two 
years  of  his  college  career,  but  by  close  application 
and  tireless  energy,  step  T)y  step,  he  overcame  all 
the  difficulties  that  lay  in  his  pathway  to  college 
honors.  At  the  end  of  his  four  years'  course  he 
succeeded  in  sharing  with  anotlier  classmate  the 
highest  honors  of  his  class. 

During  the  succeeding  two  years  he  taught 
private  and  ]iulilic  schools  at  his  old  home  in  Duiilin 
County,  and  quickly  attracted  the  atteniou  of  prom- 
inent educators  by  reason  of  his  original  methods 
of  teaching  and  by  virtue  of  his  strong  advocacy 
of  educational  prosress.  His  deep  interest  in  edu- 
cation dates  from  his  early  exi)erience  as  a  teacher. 

He  re-entered  the  university  for  study  of  law  at 
the  fall  term  of  1891.  After  completing  the  year's 
work  in  the  law  school  he  determined  to  leave  the 
home  of  liis  birth  and  seek  liis  fortune  in  New  York 
City,  where  he  was  soon  tendered  a  scholarship  in 
law  at  Coli.'uibia  X^niversity.  He  was  graduated 
from  this  ereat  institution  with  the  dee'rce  LL.  B. 
in  June.  1804.  The  month  previous  he  had  been 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and 
soon  began  practice  on  his  own  account,  establish- 
ing the  well  known  metropolitan  law  firm  of  Hill, 
Sturcke  &  Andrews,  which  enjoyed  a  lar^e  and 
lucrative  practice.  During  his  practice  of  law  in 
New  York  he  became  a  member  of  the  New  York 
Bar  Association.  Brick  Presbvtcriau  Church.  Na- 
tional Democratic  Cluli,  Reform  Club.  Colonial 
Club,  and  many  other  social  and  militar_y  organiza- 
tions. 

Immediately  after  the  declaration  of  war  with 
Siiain  he  volunteered  as  a  private  in  Troop  A  of 
New  York  Cavalry,  and  served  with  distinction  as 
a  cavalryman  throughout  the  Porto  Eican  caiu- 
paign.  It  was  only  after  he  had  become  well  estab- 
lished in  his  profession  that  he  was  drawn  into  an 
active  piart  in  democratic  politics  in  the  metropolis. 
In  the  fall  of  1900  he  consented  to  become  a  can- 
didate for  Congress  in  the  Fourteenth  Congres- 
sional District,  which  was  heavily  republican.  He 
accented  the  nomination  on  the  condition  that  he 
should  be  allowed  to  run  the  campaign  on  his  own 
platform  and  according  to  his  independent  methods, 
and  he   introduced   such   fire   and   enthusiasm   into 


his  work  that  lie  probaldy  received  as  much  atten- 
tion from  the  metropolitan  press  as  any  other  single 
candidate  in  that  year.  While  it  was  a  foregone 
conclusion  that  he  could  not  overcome  the  normal 
republican  majority,  he  surprised  even  his  most 
ardent  friends  bj'  running  thousands  of  votes  ahead 
of  his  ticket  and  all  but  winning  the  election.  More- 
over, his  candidacy  was  publiel}'  conmiended  by 
some  of  the  greatest  democrats  of  the  day,  and 
from  that  time  forward  he  was  a  marked  man  and 
conspicuous  as  manager  of  several  campaigns  in 
New  York  City. 

On  November  29,  1899,  Mr.  Hill  married  Miss 
Annie  Louise  Watts,  daughter  of  George  W.  Watts 
of  Durham,  reference  to  whom  is  made  on  other 
pages.  For  four  years  after  their  marriage  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hill  lived  in  New  York  City,  and  in  Sep- 
tember, 190.'!,  they  returned  to  Durham,  North 
Carolina.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hill  have  three  children, 
George  Watts  Hill,  born  September  27,  1901; 
Laura  Valinda  Hill,  born  January  12,  1905;  and 
Frances  Faison  Hill,  born  October  14,  1908. 

In  June,  1903,  a  few  months  before  returning  to 
his  native  state,  Mr.  Hill  delivered  the  alumni  ad- 
dress at  the  University  of  North  Carolina  on  the 
' '  Needs  of  the  University. ' '  Several  thousand 
copies  of  this  address  were  printed  and  distributed. 
Professor  Branson  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
this  address  was  the  first  great  jiublie  plea  for  the 
splendid  library  ami  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Building 
that  now  adorns  the  campus  of  the  university,  and 
it  was  also  the  first  plea  for  a  post-graduate  de- 
partment, which  is  now  thoroughly  organized  and 
lias  reflected  great  credit  upon  the  university. 

On  locating  at  Durham  Mr.  Hill  began  his  career 
of  business  aiad  political  activity  in  his  native 
state.  He  proceeded  at  once  to  organize  a  large 
trust  company,  of  which  he  is  now  president,  and  a 
savings  bank,  of  which  he  is  vice  president  and 
general  manager.  As  a  banker  he  made  service  his 
watchword,  and  sought  as  his  constant  aim  to  be 
an  upbuilder  of  the  community,  not  a  loan  shark 
and  a  parasite.  He  put  his  ideas  into  execution, 
and  all  of  his  great  banking  business  in  Durham 
was  built  up  on  those  principles.  He  believed 
also  in  the  democratization  of  credit.  His  savings 
bank  has  always  cultivated  the  business  of  people 
of  snlall  means,  and  has  kept  the  deposits  of  these 
]>eople  at  work  building  homes  for  and  lending 
credit  to  thousands  of  people  of  small  means  in  his 
community. 

Avowedly  without  any  political  ambition,  John 
Sprunt  Hill  has  entered  actively  into  every  political 
campaign  in  his  adopted  home,  and  has  played  an 
imjiortant  ]iart  in  practically  every  election,  espe- 
cially those  involving  great  moral  issues,  educa- 
tional advancement  and  public  improvement.  He  be- 
came an  ardent  advocate  of  prohibition,  an  untiring 
worker  for  education,  and  a  fearless  champion 
of  the  rights  of  the  people  of  small  means  of  his 
county  and  state.  As  Professor  Brandon  says: 
"He  dearly  loves  a  fight — and  he  is  always  found 
on  the  firing  line.  He  thrives  best  on  opposition. 
He  unfurls  his  flag  to  the  breeze  and  boldly  defies 
his  adversaries.  Any  campaign  that  he  conducts 
soon  becomes  a  crusade.  Easy  to  approach,  fear- 
less in  manlier  and  direct  in  sjieech,  he  is  a  strong 
partisan,  but  full  of  .sympathy  and  always  gen- 
uinely democratic. 

"A  study  of  his  character  and  of  his  career  re- 
veals in  a  marked  degree  many  of  the  elements 
so  characteristic  of  the  old  aristocracy  of  the  Old 
South  and  of  the  new  democracy  of  the  New  South. 
Into  this  harmonious  whole  are  carefully  combined 


2U 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


capacity  for  leadershii:,  intelligence,  imagination, 
courage  and  independence  on  the  one  hand,  with 
industry,  adaptabilitj',  resourcefulness,  sympathy 
and  enterprise  on  the  other. ' ' 

A  lifelong  student  of  literature  and  history,  one 
who  has  accomplished  valuable  work  in  genealogical 
and  historical  research,  Mr.  Hill's  intere.sts  have 
lirought  him  into  active  touch  with  educational 
institutions  and  especially  have  enabled  him  to 
render  important  service  as  a  trustee  of  the  uni- 
versity. In  planning  the  construction  of  the  library 
building  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  it 
was  largely  due  to  his  influence  that  a  special  room 
was  set  aside  for  the  collection  of  all  kinds  of  his- 
torical information  pertaining  to  North  Carolina 
and  the  preservation  and  continued  growth  of  the 
North  Caroliniana  was  made  sure  by  him  through 
a  liberal  endowment. 

Some  of  his  talent  for  constructive  work  is 
happily  illustrated  in  his  beautiful  suburban  resi- 
dence at  Durham  known  as  ' '  Hill  House. "  It  is 
surrounded  by  extensive  gardens  and  grounds,  and 
the  whole  is  a  monument  to  his  ability  as  an  archi- 
tect and  builder.  While  so  much  immersed  in  prac- 
tical affairs.  Mi-.  Hill  has  always  been  a  deep  lover 
of  nature.  Every  kind  of  plant  life  claims  his 
deepest  interest,  especially  the  plants  and  trees 
in  the  forests.  He  is  a  fellow  of  the  American 
Geographical  Society,  a  member  of  the  Geological 
Board  of  North  Carolina,  a  member  of  the  Ameri- 
can Forestry  Association,  and  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Forestry  Association.  He  helped  to  represent 
our  country  as  a  delegate  to  tlie  last  International 
Congress  of  Foresters  at  Paris. 

In  the  opinion  of  Professor  Brandon  the  crown- 
ing achievement  of  his  career  has  been  in  connec- 
tion with  developing  the  rural  credit  system  in 
North  Carolina,  and  of  that  great  work  the  words 
of  Professor  Branson  must  be  allowed  to  speak  in 
detail. 

' '  Having  for  years  been  an  enthusiastic  advocate 
of  the  economic  principle  of  cooperation,  he  volun- 
teered to  represent  his  state  as  a  member  of  the 
American  Commission  that  visited  the  European 
countries  in  the  spring  of  1913,  to  examine  the  sys- 
tems of  cooperative  finance,  cooperative  production 
and  cooperative  marketing  that  have  so  completely 
revolutionized  agricultural  conditions  in  •  these 
coimtries.  This  commission  was  composed  of  about 
100  representative  persons  from  thirty-six  states 
of  the  American  Union  and  from  six  provinces  of 
Canada,  to  all  of  whom  John  Sprunt  Hill  was  a 
stranger.  But  a  few  days  on  ship  board,  spent  in 
conference  and  discussion,  was  sufficient  to  force 
this  young  son  of  the  Old  North  State  to  the  front 
ranks  of  this  great  body  of  leading  men  and  women, 
and  he  became  their  unanimous  choice  for  chairman 
of  their  committee  on  '  Rural  Credits, '  the  investi- 
gation of  which  subject  was  to  be  the  chief  work 
of  the  Commission  in  Europe.  For  months  and 
months  his  splendid  capacity  for  leadership,  his 
tireless  energy,  and  his  strong  mental  powers  were 
all  subjected  to  the  greatest  possible  tension.  At 
the  end  of  this  great  work  that  secured,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  world,  a  tremendous  amount  of 
first-hand  information  of  incalculable  value,  it  was 
the  opinion  publicly  expressed  by  many  members 
of  the  Commission  that  no  one  circumstance  con- 
tributed more  to  the  success  of  the  Commission  than 
its  choice  for  chairman  of  its  committee  on  rural 
credits. 

"Having  thoroughly  examined  with  his  own 
eyes  the  workings  of  the  cooperative  institutions  of 
Europe,  Mr.  Hill  returned  to  his  home  with  a  clear 


understanding  of  those  great  institutions,  and  with 
a  burning  zeal  to  plant  similar  enterprises  in  his 
own  state  ami  in  his  own  country.  He  promptly 
laid  his  plans  for  an  active  propaganda  in  behalf 
of  the  jirinciple  of  organized  self  help  as  applied 
to  agricultural  finance,  production  and  distribution. 
His  first  jiublie  address  on  the  subject  of  'Coopera- 
tion and  the  Work  of  the  American  Commission  in 
Eurojie '  was  delivered  before  the  State  Conven- 
tion of  Farmers  assembled  at  Raleigh,  in  August, 
1913.  Many  thousand  copies  of  this  address  were 
printed  and  widely  distributed  over  our  state  and 
tliroughout  the  country.  It  attracted  a  great  deal 
of  attention  at  home  and  abroad  because  of  its 
clear,  clean-cut  enunciation  of  the  fundamental 
principles  underlying  successful  cooperative  work 
in  agriculture. 

' '  This  address  was  followed  by  an  address  be- 
fore the  Southern  Educational  Association  at  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky,  in  April,  1914,  on  'Land  Mortgage 
Credit  Associations, '  which,  for  the  first  time  in 
our  great  Southland,  set  forth  a  full  and  complete 
plan  for  bringing  long-term  credit,  repayable  on 
the  installment  plant  at  low  rates  of  interest,  to 
the  door  of  the  Southern  farmer,  by  means  of  the 
formation  of  local  cooiierative  land  mortgage  asso- 
ciations federated  into  great  central  land  mortgage 
banks.  This  address  was  widely  distributed  and 
received  much  favorable  comment  from  students  of 
agricultural  economics,  and  persons  interested  in 
this  great  subject,  many  of  whom  were  members 
of  Congress. 

"In  August,  1915,  before  the  State  Convention 
of  Farmers  at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  Mr.  Hill  de- 
livered his  address  on  '  Rural  Credits '  which  cov- 
ered not  only  the  subject  of  land  mortg-age  credit 
for  Southern  farmers,  but  also  set  forth  a  con- 
structive plan  for  the  formation  of  Farmers'  Co- 
oper.ative  Credit  Unions  to  provide  short-term  credit 
to  small  farmers  for  raising  crops,  at  six  per  cent 
interest,  and  proposed  to  abolish  in  North  Car- 
olina the  iniquitous  crop  lien  system  which  has 
proven  such  a  curse  to  the  small  farmers  of  the 
South. 

' '  Probably  no  person  in  our  country  contributed 
more  firsthand  information  pertaining  to  the  land 
mortgage  business  of  a  practical  and  adaptable 
kind  than  did  John  Sprunt  Hill  during  these  few 
months  of  his  work.  His  testimony  before  the 
Joint  Sub-Committee  on  Banking  and  Currency  of 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  on  the 
land  mortgage  business,  and  his  long  scries  of 
printed  addresses  upon  this  subject,  and  upon  the 
problems  of  short-term  credit,  soon  qualified  him 
as  an  expert  upon  the  subject  of  Rural  Credits, 
not  only  in  his  own  state  but  throughout  the 
country. 

"Largely  through  his  efforts  the  Legislature  of 
North  Carolina,  in  1915,  unanimously  passed  the 
Credit  Union  Act,  which  was  drafted  almost  en- 
tirely by  him,  and  which  sets  forth  a  complete  and 
workable  plan  for  bringing  the  great  blessings  of 
short-term  credit,  at  low  rates  of  interest,  to  the 
doors  of  the  small  farmers  of  North  Carolina.  The 
wisdom  of  the  legislative  act,  which  has  been  pro- 
nounced 'one  of  the  greatest  pieces  of  construc- 
tive legislation  ever  enacted  in  North  Carolina,' 
has  already  been  fully  demonstrated.  Just  a  few 
months  after  the  passage  of  the  Act  the  first 
Credit  Union,  under  the  personal  direction  of  John 
Sprunt  Hill,  was  established  at  Lowe 's  Grove,  Dur- 
ham county.  Although  several  states  had  previ- 
ously passed  Rural  Credits  legislation,  they  proved 
dead  letters  and  no   real  Credit   Unions,   for  the 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


245 


benefit  of  the  farmers  of  a  neighborhood,  were 
established  in  tliis  county  under  legislative  act 
until  tho  organization  of  the  Lowe's  Grove  Credit 
Union  under  the  Credit  Union  Law  of  North 
Carolina.  In  rapid  sviccession  many  other  Credit 
Unions  have  been  established  in  other  parts  of  the 
state,  all  of  which  have  demonstrated  their  tre- 
mendous usefulness.  It  is  the  Credit  Union  which 
opens  wide  tlie  door  of  hope  for  the  triumphant 
march  of  agriculture,  and  for  the  thorough 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  small  farmers 
of  North  Carolina. 

' '  The  inspiration  that  brought  the  establishment 
of  these  Ci-edit  Unions,  and  a  great  deal  of  the 
actual  work  of  organizing  and  starting  them  off 
for  business,  can  to  traced  directly  to  the  great 
unselfish  work  of  John  Sprunt  Hill,  who  has  al- 
ready been  justly  named  the  'Father  of  Rural 
Credits  in  North  Carolina.'  " 

From  the  beginning  of  the  great  world  war  Mr. 
Hill  has  taken  an  active  part  in  support  of  the 
cause  of  the  Belgians,  the  French  and  the  English, 
and  frequently  by  pen  and  by  speech  advocated 
plans  for  greater  preparedness  on  the  part  of  our 
own  country.  Immediately  after  our  entrance  into 
the  war  he  volunteered  his  services  to  the  nation 
and  to  his  state,  and  tendered  the  use  for  military 
purposes  of  Hillandale,  his  beautiful  farm  at  Dur- 
ham, to  the  Govermnent,  free  of  charge,  for  the 
an  active  and  generous  supporter  of  the  many 
war  activities  of  his  county  and  of  his  state. 
As  chairman  of  the  War  Savings  Committee  of 
Durham  County  he  has  rendered  untiring  and  con- 
spicuous service  in  carrying  the  real  meaning  of 
the  war  to  all  the  people  of  his  county,  and  in 
thoroughly  organizing  them  for  effective  patriotic 
work. 

Joseph  H.  Aiken  was  postmaster  of  Hickory, 
Catawba  County,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  June 
■26,  1917.  A  better  administration  and  service 
could  not  be  desired  than  was  rendered  by  Mr. 
Aiken.  He  was  an  old  resident  of  Catawba  County, 
and  closely  identified  with  the  City  of  Hickory, 
liotli  by  business  and  family  connections,  and  aside 
from  tlie  honor  of  the  office  his  public  spirited 
loyalty  to  the  community  in  which  he  had  spent 
most  of  his  years  impelled  him  to  make  the 
postmastership  a  means  of  utmost  service. 

He  was  born  at  Hickory,  North  Carolina,  in 
1861,  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  (Link)  Aiken. 
The  name  is  one  of  historic  prominence  in  the  Caro- 
linas.  Aiken  is  an  English  name,  and  in  colonial 
times  the  family  located  in  South  Carolina,  where 
the  City  of  Aiken  bears  the  family  name.  Mr. 
Aiken 's  great -great-grandfather  emigrated  from 
Dublin  to  America  and  acquired  property  in  South 
Carolina.  Joseph  Aiken,  father  of  Joseph  H.,  was 
born  in  North  Carolina,  and  his  boyhood  and  early 
manhood  were  spent  on  the  Aiken  farm  in  the 
northwest  part  of  Catawba  County  in  the  vicinity 
of  Hickory.  He  also  lived  for  a  time  in  what  was 
then  the  small  Village  of  Hickory,  now  one  of 
the  most  important  industrial  centers  in  the  state. 
Joseph  Aiken  volunteered  his  services  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  South  at  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
went  out  with  a  company  from  Catawba  County, 
and  fought  valiantly  with  his  command  until  the 
Battle  of  Gettysburg,  where  he  .fell  on  the  field 
and  sacrificed  his  life. 

Elizabeth  (Link)  Aiken,  mother  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  represents  some  of  the  sterling 
elements  of  German  stock  that  settled  as  pioneers 


in  Catawba  County.  Her  father,  Henry  "W.  Link, 
served  as  postmaster  of  Hickory  during  the  war. 
Her  brother,  the  late  A.  C.  Link,  was  appointed 
to  the  oflice  of  postmaster  at  Hickory  under  the 
Wilson  administration,  and  died  while  still  admin- 
istering its  duties  in  April,  1915. 

In  his  extreme  youth  Joseph  H.  Aiken  came 
to  know  Hickory  as  an  unimportant  village  and 
he  also  was  impressed  by  some  of  the  scenes  and 
incidents  of  tlie  late  Civil  war  and  reconstruction 
period.  On  his  memory  have  been  recorded  the 
rapid  advance  which  would  make  a  complete  his- 
tory of  Hickory  from  an  inland  village  until  its 
modern  industrial  growth  has  made  it  a  city.  Most 
of  his  early  education  was  acquired  under  the- 
well  known  teacher.  Miss  Lou  Brower.  Many 
men  and  women  owe  this  noble  woman  a  debt  of 
gratitude.  She  was  notable  for  the  excellence 
and  thoroughness  of  her  teaching  and  for  the  high 
character  she  imparted  to  the  pupils  who  attended 
her  school. 

During  Cleveland's  second  administration,  Jo- 
seph H.  Aiken  was  located  at  Asheville  as  office 
deputy  in  the  oflice  of  the  internal  revenue  col- 
lector. Subsequently  he  was  transferred  to  the 
field  work  and  was  field  deputy  for  the  western 
district  of  North  Carolina.  When  not  engaged  in 
the  performance  of  oftieial  duties  Mr.  Aiken  was 
for  a  number  of  years  in  the  live  stock  and  livery 
business  at  Hickory.  Soon  after  the  beginning  of 
the  Wilson  administration  he  was  appointed  deputy 
United  States  internal  revenue  collector  with  head- 
quarters at  Hickory.  That  position  he  filled  until 
the  death  of  his  uncle,  Mr.  A.  C.  Link,  above  re- 
ferred to,  in  April,  191.5,  when  he  was  appointed 
postmaster  to  fill  the  vacancy.  He  entered  upon 
these  duties  with  accumulated  wisdom  and  busi- 
ness efliciency  that  added  further  honor  to  his  pub- 
lic record.  The  rapid  commercial  and  industrial 
growth  of  Hickory  has  given  a  steady  increase 
to  the  business  of  the  postoffice.  It  is  now  only 
a  question  of  time  when  the  equipment  and  facil- 
ities of  the  beautiful  new  postoffice  building 
erected  in  1914  will  be  taxed  to  capacity. 

Mr.  Aiken  married  Miss  Martha  E.  Eobiuson 
of  Catawba  County.  Reference  should  be  made 
to  her  family  which  is  one  of  the  old  and  very 
jirominent  ones  of  Catawba  County.  She  is  di- 
rectly descended  from  James  Robinson,  who  was  of 
English  lineage,  and  who  settled  in  what  is  now 
Catawba  County,  North  Carolina,  about  1755.  His 
son,  Jesse  Robinson,  married  a  daughter  of  Henry 
Weidner,  a  German,  who  was  the  first  white  set- 
tler west  of  the  Catawba  River.  The  descendants 
of  the  Robinson  family  are  still  living  on  the  old 
Henry  Weidner  farm  about  six  miles  from  the 
present  City  of  Hickory,  where  Henry  Weidner  lo- 
cated in  1750.  Mrs.  Aiken's  grandfather,  Henry 
Robinson,  son  of  Jesse  Robinson,  at  one  time 
owned  the  land  on  which  the  City  of  Hickory  was 
built.  With  the  development  of  a  town  there  he 
showed  a  public  spirit  which  was  partly  respon- 
sible at  least  for  much  of  the  prosperity  that  the 
town  has  since  enjoyed  as  a  city.  He  made  ex- 
tensive donations  of  land  for  streets,  parks, 
churches,  schools,  railroad  and  all  other  public 
purposes.  Mrs.  Aiken  is  a  daughter  of  the  late 
.John  W.  Robinson,  who  died  in  1904.  John  W. 
Robinson  married  Elizabeth  Shuford,  daughter  of 
Jacob  H.  Shuford.  The  Shufords  are  another 
old  family  of  German  stock  who  settled  in  Catawba 
County  not  long  after  the  Weidners  came. 

Mr.    and   Mrs.   Aiken   are   the   parents   of   four 


246 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


chiljreii :  H.  R.  Aikeu,  Joseph  H.  Aikeu,  Jr.,  John 
Aikeu  and  Aileen  Aiken. 

John  Alfred  Gavix,  a  former  representative 
ill  the  State  Legislature,  has  been  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  bar  at  Keuansville  for  the  past  twenty 
years. 

Mr.  Gavin  is  a  native  of  Dupliu  County,  where 
he  was  born  February  18,  1877,  son  of  substantial 
farming  people  of  this  locality,  Samuel  Henry 
and  Martha  E.  (Frederick)  Gavin.  He  grew  uj) 
on  his  father 's  farm,  had  a  public  school  educa- 
tion, and  took  his  college  and  professional  work 
in  Wake  Forest  College,  where  he  graduated  from 
the  law  department  in  September,  1897,  before 
he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Since  his  ad- 
mission to  the  bar  Mr.  Gavin  has  practiced  at 
Kenansville,  and  has  risen  steadily  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  people  and  enjoys  a  large  and  profit- 
able clientage.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  from  Duplin  County  in  1909,  having 
a  committee  chairmanship  aiid  also  was  member 
of  the  judiciary  committee.  Mr  Gavin  was  also 
honored  with  the  otfiee  of  mayor  of  KenansviUe 
in  1914-16  and  again  in  1917-18  He  and  his 
family  are  niembers  of  the  Missionary  Baptist 
Church  and  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic 
Order. 

Octolier  27,  1909,  Mr  Gavin  married  Ella  Beasley, 
of  Magnolia,  Duplin  County.  Her  father  is  Maj. 
Austin  Bea-sley,  a  well  known  Duplin  County 
farmer.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gavin  have  two  children: 
Mary  Carlton  and  Vance  Beasley. 

L.  G.  Lewis  of  Walnut  Cove  has  lived  a  long 
life.  As  a  young  man  he  fought  with  all  the 
ardor  of  his  soul  and  strength  of  body  for  the 
Confederacy  in  the  war  between  the  states.  For 
many  years  after  that  struggle  he  applied  his 
energies  to  farming  and  since  then  largely  to 
mercantile  enterprise  in  the  village  of  Walnut 
Cove,  where  he  is  one  of  the  most  esteemed  citi- 
zens. 

Mr.  Lewis  was  Ijorn  on  a  farm  five  miles  from 
Leaksville  in  Rockingham  County,  North  Carolina, 
AprU  .30,  18.39.  The  Lewises  were  pioneers  in 
Rockingham  County.  His  father,  James  M.  Lewis, 
had  a  farm  in  that  county  and  lived  there  until 
the  war  times  when  he  removed  to  Forsyth  County 
and  spent  his  last  years.  His  death  occurred  in 
his  eighty-ninth  year.  He  married  Agnes  Dixon, 
who  was  born  in  Rockingham  County  and  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-nine. 

L.  G.  Lewis,  who  was  one  of  four  children,  at- 
tended the  rural  schools  during  his  youth  and 
also  assisted  in  the  management  of  the  home  farm. 
He  was  twenty-three  years  of  age  when  on  Sep- 
tember 13,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  D  of  the 
Sixty-third  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops,  and 
was  soon  in  the  midst  of  some  of  the  heaviest 
fighting  of  the  war.  He  served  continuously  with 
his  conunand  exeejit  for  a  very  brief  interval.  He 
fought  in  many  of  the  historic  engagements  that 
occurred  on  Virginia  soil  in  the  defense  of  the 
capital  at  Richmond,  and  on  AprU  2,  1865,  was 
captured  near  Petersburg  and  was  confined  as  a 
prisoner  of  war  at  Point  Lookout,  Maryland,  until 
the  last  of  June.  Being  paroled  he  set  out  for 
home  and  arrived  on  the  second  day  of  July.  Mr. 
Lewis  then  engaged  in  farming  near  Walkertown, 
and  was  one  of  the  enterprising  agriculturists  of 
that  community  until  1892,  when  he  came  to  Wal- 
nut Cove.  In  Walnut  Cove  Mr.  Lewis  entered 
merchandising  while  his  wife  conducted  the  Hotel 


Lewis,  which  under  her  management  became  noted 
among  commercial  men  and  tourists  as  a  favorite 
hostelry.  Mr.  Lewis  conducted  active  business  as 
a  merchant  for  nineteen  years  and  he  and  his 
wife  now  live  retired  in  a  modest  and  comfortable 
home  in  the  village. 

On  March  27,  1862,  he  married  Eleanor  C. 
Smith.  They  have  been  married  much  beyond 
half  a  century,  have  a  family  of  ten  living  chil- 
dren, the  youngest  thirty-five  years  of  age,  and 
also  have  gi-andehildreii  and  great-grandchildren 
about  them.  Mrs.  Lewis  was  born  in  Spartanburg 
District,  South  Carolina.  Her  grandfather,  John 
Smith,  was  born  in  Maryland  and  removed  to 
Spartanburg  as  a  young  man.  A  wheelwright  by 
trade  and  a  very  expert  workman,  he  made  his 
living  by  that  occupation  and  also  bought  and 
developed  a  farm  which  he  occupied  for  many 
years  until  his  death  when  he  was  eighty.  He 
married  Ellen  McElrath,  who  was  born  in  County 
Down,  Ireland,  of  Scotch  ancestry.  She  and  her 
sister  were  the  only  members  of  her  family  to 
come  to  America.  She  reared  ten  children,  one 
of  whom  was  Henry  Dixon  Smith,  father  of  Mrs. 
Lewis.  He  was  born  in  Spartanburg  District, 
subsequently  bought  land  there  and  w-as  a  pros- 
perous general  farmer  until  his  death  at  the  com- 
paratively early  age  of  fifty-three  years.  He  mar- 
ried Lottie  Martin  Wood,  who  was  born  in  Green- 
ville District  of  South  Cai'olina,  a  daughter  of 
Daniel  and  Mary   (Dean)   Wood. 

The  ten  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis  are 
named  James  Henry,  Jefferson  Van  Buren,  John 
Alvis,  Joseph  King,  Walter  Judson,  Mary  Hen- 
rietta, Carrie  Emma,  Dora  Frances,  William 
Luther  and  Agnes.  James  Henry  married  for  his 
first  wife  Powell  Samuel  and  for  his  second  wife 
Ella  Lashmitt,  and  by  the  second  union  has  six 
children  named  David  H.,  Fred,  Dewey,  Sadie, 
Smith  and  Mary.  The  sou  Jefferson  Van  Buren 
married  Mrs.  Dyer.  John  Alvis  married  Mary 
Barnes  and  his  two  children  are  William  L.  and 
Willard.  Joseph  King  married  Lessie  Carniichael, 
now  deceased,  and  their  children  are  Wallace, 
Thelma  Mabel-Cavin  and  Mary  Frances.  Walter 
.Indson  married  Beulah  Wade,  their  children  being 
Walter  Franklin  and  Eleanor  Christine.  Mary 
Henrietta  married  T.  T.  AVatkins  of  Advance,  anil 
their  children  are  Linzy,  Mary  and  Atlee  Pom- 
erene.  Carrie  Emma  married  David  Boyles  and 
their  children  are  Linzy  Elwood,  Ora  Cavin,  J. 
Van,  Busie,  and  Moselle.  Dora  Frances  married  J. 
M.  Young,  their  children  being  Millard  Smith,  Har- 
lee  Eleanor,  and  George  Howerton.  William  Luther 
married  Amy  Bell  StuU  and  their  children  are 
Otis  Wood  and  Elsie  Leighton.  .^gnes  married 
R.  P.  Sartin  of  Winston  and  has  no  children. 

JOHN'  H.\AR.  There  is  hardly  a  more  popular 
and  influential  citizen  in  Wilmington  than  John 
Haar,  who  upwards  of  fifty  years  ago  came  to  Wil- 
mington, a  young  German,  and  has  maiie  good  both 
in  the  ability  with  which  he  has  conducted  his  busi- 
ness affairs  and  also  as  a  sterling  and  public 
spirited  citizen. 

He  was  born  in  Germany  March  9,  18-ii,  a  son 
of  Martin  and  Catherine  (Schnakenberg)  Haar. 
His  father  was  a  brick  mason  by  trade.  John 
Haar  was  educated  in  Germany,  learned  the  car- 
penter's trade  there,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
set  out  for  America.  After  living  in  New  York 
for  three  years  he  arrived  in  Wilmington  in  1868, 
and  soon  afterward  entered  business  as  a  grocer. 
He  was  in  the  grocery  trade  until  1886,  then  took 


^ 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


247 


.up  life  insurance,  aud  after  three  years  was  elected 
to  tlie  office  of  register  of  deeds  for  New  Hanover 
County.  He  carried  into  that  office  the  confidence 
of  the  great  majority  of  his  fellow  citizens,  aud 
his  administration  from  1890  until  1896  was  a 
complete  justification  of  his  election.  After  leav- 
ing the  office  of  register  of  deeds  he  was  again  in 
the  life  insurance  business  until  1906,  when  he  was 
again  chosen  for  county  office,  and  has  since  served 
as  recorder  of  deeds. 

Mr.  Haar  is  a  member  of  the  Germania  Club 
of  Wilmington,  of  the  German  American  Alliance, 
has  for  years  been  an  active  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  and  has  served  as  trustee  aud 
deacon,  is  a  past  chancellor  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  and  politically  his  allegiance  has  been 
given  without  reserve  to  the  democratic  party. 

On  October  9,  1872,  at  Wilmington,  he  married 
Miss  Margaret  Catherine  Tienckeu.  Four  children 
have  been  born  to  their  marriage:  John  Edward 
of  Wilmington,  Lottie  Margaret,  Emma  Gisine, 
and  Martin  Henry.  The  last  named  is  a  member  of 
the  United  States  Army  and  stationed  at  Port 
Caswell. 

Bascom  B.  Blackweldek.-  Representing  in  his 
lineage  some  of  the  oldest  and  most  prominent 
families  of  the  Catawba  District  of  North  Carolina, 
a  young  man  whose  start  in  life  was  fortunate  as 
a  result  of  early  liome  training  and  influences, 
Bascom  B.  Blackwelder  has  won  and  sustained  a 
fine  reputation  as  a  lawyer  and  is  easily  one  of 
the  leaders  in  the  bar  of  Hickory  and  Catawba 
County. 

Pie  was  born  at  Catawba  in  Catawba  County  m 
1884,  a  son  of  John  Wilson  and  Mary  (Long) 
Blackwelder.  The  Blackwelders  came  from  Penn- 
sylvania into  Cabarrus  County,  North  Carolina, 
some  years  prior  to  the  Eevolutiouary  war.  The 
earlier  ancestors  came  to  Pennsylvania  out  of  Ger- 
many. They  are  a  sturdy,  thrifty  race  of  people, 
and  in  the  past  many  of  the  name  have  proved 
their  worth  as  men  aud  as  citizens. 

Mr.  Blackwelder  's  great-grandfather  was  Henry 
Blackwelder.  The  chief  occupation  of  the  family 
through  the  different  generations  has  been  farm- 
ing. The  grandfather,  Wilson  Blackwelder,  was 
born  in  the  northwest  section  of  Cabarrus  County, 
North  Carolina,  his  birthplace  being  on  the  old 
Gold  Hill  Road  about  four  miles  northeast  of 
Concord.  He  married  Leah  Cruse.  Wilson  Black- 
welder was  for  a  number  of  years  engaged  in  grist 
milling  in  the  northwest  part  of  Cabarrus  County, 
operating  an  old  water  power  mill,  which  subse- 
quently became  known  as  the  Dodson  Mill. 

John  Wilson  Blackwelder  was  born  in  Cabarrus 
County,  North  Carolina,  in  1855,  and  in  1871 
came  to  Catawba  County,  locating  at  the  Town  of 
Catawba  on  the  Catawba  River.  Some  years  later 
he  removed  with  his  family  to  Hickory,  of  which 
thriving  and  rapidly  growing  industrial  city  he 
is  one  of  the  most  substantial  citizens.  Here  he 
is  engaged  in  the  grain  and  feed  business. 

Mary  (Long)  Blackwelder  is  a  member  of  a 
very  prominent  old  time  family  of  North  Caro- 
lina. She  is  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Camilla 
(Neil)  Long  of  Iredell  County.  Through  her 
mother  she  is  related  to  the  Brevards,  Alexanders, 
Grahams,  and  other  historic  families  of  Scotch- 
Irish  ancestry  who  played  an  important  part  in 
the  early  history  of  North  Carolina,  and  whose 
descendants  are  now  found  in  Iredell,  Lincoln  and 
Mecklenberg  counties.     Thomas  Long   was   a  son 


of  William  and  Rachel  (Eobersou)  Long.  The 
Robersons  were  from  Haywood  County.  William 
Long  was  one  of  the  prominent  figures  in  his  day. 
He  was  of  strong  character  and  showed  remarkable 
business  enterprise.  His  name  figures  in  the  in- 
dustrial annals  of  the  state  as  a  pioneer  in  the 
building  of  cotton  mills.  He  was  associated  with 
Dr.  A.  M.  Powell  under  the  firm  name  of  Powell 
&  Long.  This  firm  built  the  old  cotton  mill  at 
Long  Island  in  Lincoln  County.  It  was  one  of  the 
first  if  not  the  first  cotton  mill  in  the  state.  At 
any  rate  it  makes  good  its  claim  to  being  con- 
temporaneous with  the  establishment  of  a  similar 
industry  by  Elijah  Holt  in  Alamance  County. 
Doctor  Powell,  it  should  be  recalled,  was  a  citizen 
of  constructive  spirit  aud  enterprise,  aud  subse- 
quently was  one  of  the  builders  of  the  Western 
North  Carolina  Railway,  now  part  of  the  South- 
ern System.  William  Long  was  a  man  of  cour- 
age and  independence,  well  shown  in  his  pioneer 
attempt  at  cotton  manufacture,  and  in  the  various 
other  affairs  he  handled.  When  convinced  of  its 
wisdom  he  did  not  hesitate  to  launch  out  in  a  new 
aud  untried  industry,  and  he  made  it  successful  be- 
cause he  was  personally  a  man  of  almost  unlimited 
resources  and  of  thorough  business  ability.  This 
William  Long,  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Mary  Black- 
welder, was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  came  from 
Port  Tobacco  in  that  state  to  North  Carolina, 
crossing  the  Catawba  River  at  Beatty  's  Ford  in 
the  year  that  George  Washington  died.  Mrs.  Mary 
Blackwelder  during  her  girlhood  often  heard  him 
refer  to  that  event  as  an  incident  of  his  journey. 

Bascom  B.  Blackwelder  took  into  his  professional 
career  a  training  and  culture  derived  from  the 
finest  of  early  associations  and  attendance  at  the 
best  schools  of  the  state.  For  several  years  he 
was  a  student  in  Catawba  College  at  Newton,  also 
at  Lenoir  College  at  Hickory,  and  in  1906  he 
graduated  in  the  literary  course  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina.  Subsequently  he  took  up 
the  study  of  law  at  the  university  and  was  granted 
his  degree  Bachelor  of  Laws  in  1911  and  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  the  same  year.  Mr.  Blackwelder  be- 
gan practice  at  Hickory,  the  rapidly  growing  me- 
tropolis of  Catawba  County,  and  his  ability  has 
enabled  him  to  realize  the  many  splendid  oppor- 
tunities oft'ered  in  that  city. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blackwelder  are  active  members  of 
the  Corinth  Reformed  Church  of  Hickory.  Mrs. 
Blackwelder  before  her  marriage  was  Miss  Esther 
Shnford,  daughter  of  the  late  Abel  A.  Shuford. 
Mr.  Shuford  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  aud  most 
prominent  citizens  of  Catawba  County.  He  was 
a  great-great-grandson  of  the  pioneer,  John  Shu- 
ford, who  came  to  what  is  now  Catawba  County 
from  Pennsylvania  about  1750.  The  Shufords  were 
of  German  origin,  and  it  is  one  of  the  names 
about  which  many  substantial  associations  cling 
in  the  early  annals  of  this  section  of  North  Caro- 
lina. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blackwelder  have  two  children : 
Bascom  B.,  Jr.,  and  Esther  Shuford  Blackwelder. 

Thaddeus  Jones  has  for  many  years  played  a 
varied  and  useful  part  in  the  affairs  of  Duplin 
County,  is  widely  known  as  a  prominent  Baptist, 
whose  work  in  behalf  of  that  church  has  resulted 
in  the  growth  and  advancement  of  several  con- 
gregations, and  he  is  also  a  successful  lawyer 
practicing  at    Kenansville. 

Mr.  Jones  was  born  in  Duplin  County  July  23, 
186-t,  a  son  of  Marshall  B.  and  Lucy  (Lee)  Jones. 
His  father  was  a  farmer  and  operator  of  saw- 
mills and  cotton  gins.     Thaddeus  Jones   grew  up 


248 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


at  the  old  homestead,  aud  was  well  educated  in 
private  schools  aud  also  the  Davis  Military  Acad- 
emy and  the  tamous  yuackenbush  Institute.  In 
early  life  he  followed  various  liues  of  business 
aud  also  church  work,  aud  in  the  meantime  became 
interested  in  law,  studying  in  private  offices  and 
also  in  the  law  department  of  the  University  of 
^.'orth  Carolina.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  by 
the  Supreme  Court  in  February,  190U,  and  has 
since  handled  a  growing  practice  at  Kenausville. 
rrom  iDOO  to  1902  Mr.  Jones  filled  the  office  of 
register  of  deeds  of  Duplin  County  and  was  again 
incumbent  of  that  ofiice  from  19U4  to  1908.  For 
fourteen  years  he  was  postmaster  of  KenansviUe. 

Mr.  Jones  is  a  deacon  and  lay  minister  of  the 
Baptist  Church  and  for  sixteen  years  was  pres- 
ident of  the  Interstate  Sunday  School  work  in 
North  Crolina.  Both  in  an  oMcial  capacity  and 
through  his  private  means  he  has  done  much  to 
advance  the  cause  of  religion  and  church  establish- 
ment. There  are  three  tiourishing  churches  iu  his 
part  of  the  state  that  practically  owe  their  origin 
and  maintenance  to  his  efforts.  These  are  known 
as  Jones  Chapel,  Bethel  Church  and  Cedar  Grove 
Church. 

Mr.  Jones  married  November  8,  1885,  Mittie  B. 
Elmore  of  Mount  Olive,  North  Carolina.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jones  have  a  very  fine  family  of  children: 
William  B.,  a  traveling  salesman;  Myrtle  G.,  wife 
of  William  C.  Herbert,  superintendent  of  s^'iools 
at  Bennettsville,  South  Carolina;  Leonidus  Leroy, 
who  graduated  from  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1917  and  is  now  a  member  of  the  United 
States  Navy  stationed  in  the  Naval  Hospital  at 
Norfolk,  Virginia;  Thaddeus  Elmore;  Francis  Cor- 
nelia, who  graduated  from  high  school  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  and  is  now  a  student  in  Greensboro 
State  College;  Harmon  Lee,  and  Helen  B.  aud 
Margaret,  who  are  still  a  part  of  the  family 
circle.  Thaddeus  Elmore  and  Harmon  Lee  are 
both  in  France  in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
Army,  members  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Thir- 
teenth  Field   Artillery. 

John  Gideon  Clayton  has  spent  all  his  life 
in  Forsyth  County  and  was  born  in  June,  1873,  on 
the  farm  where  he  still  lives  in  Bethania  Town- 
ship. His  people  have  been  farmers  since  the 
pioneer  epoch  in  Western  North  Carolina.  They 
have  lived  quiet  aud  sturdy  lives,  have  done  their 
duty  to  state,  nation  and  to  the  institutions  of 
religion  and  home,  and  the  name  is  everywhere 
mentioned  with  unqualified  respect  and  esteem. 

The  founder  of  the  family  in  this  section  of 
North  Carolina  was  Mr.  Clayton's  great-grandfa- 
ther, who  according  to  the  best  available  informa- 
tion was  a  native  of  New  England  and  one  of  the 
pioneers  in  Bethania  Township  where  he  im- 
proved a  farm.  Grandfather  John  Clayton  was 
born  in  Bethania  Township  September  11,  1788, 
about  the  time  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  approved  and  the  colonies  really  be- 
came a  nation.  After  reaching  manhood  he  bought 
land  in  Bethania  Township.  This  land  was  on 
the  old  road  leading  from  Oldtown  to  Germanton. 
Germanton  was  then  the  county  seat  of  Stokes 
County.  Grandfather  John  Clayton  found  on  this 
land  a  substantial  log  house.  This  house  was 
subsequently  weather  boarded  in  1860  aud  in  its 
improved  condition  it  is  still  standing  and  oc- 
cupied as  a  residence.  John  Clayton  conducted 
his  place  as  a  general  farm  and  owned  a  number 
of  slaves  who  worked  the  fields.  He  lived  there 
until   his   death   on   May   22,   1863.      Grandfather 


John  Clayton  married  Elizabeth  Moore  who  was 
born  in  Stokes  County  February  8,  1796,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Reuben  Moore,  a  farmer,  and  she  died  De- 
cember 11,  18.58.  Her  nine  children  were  named 
Mary,  John,  Elizabeth,  Reubeu,  William,  Matthew 
C,  Gabriel,  Gideon  and  Eleanor. 

Matthew  Columbus  Clayton,  father  of  John  G. 
Clayton,  was  born  on  the  old  farm  in  Bethania 
Township  first  mentioned  above  on  October  27, 
1830.  His  early  years  were  quietly  spent  with 
the  experiences  of  a  typical  farm  boy  and  with 
such  ailvantages  as  came  from  the  local  schools. 
He  left  the  farm  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
and  enlisted  May  22,  1861,  in  Company  D  of  the 
Twenty-first  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops.  On 
account  of  wounds  and  sickness  he  was  unable  to 
continue  his  service  throughout  the  war,  but  was 
present  in  many  of  the  greatest  campaigns  and 
battles  including  Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg  and 
Drury  's  Bluff.  He  was  wounded  in  a  skirmish 
and  narrowly  escaped  death.  A  bullet  struck  him 
in  the  corner  of  the  right  eye  ne.xt  to  the  nose, 
entered  his  head,  and  twenty-one  days  later  was 
removed  by  the  surgeon  who  located  it  behind  the 
left  ear.  In  passing  through  his  head  the  bullet 
almost  miraculously  missed  the  vital  spots.  In 
1917  this  old  veteran  of  the  Confederacy  is  still 
living  and  apparently  is  none  the  worse  physically 
or  mentally  because  of  the  dangers  through  which 
he  passed  as  a  soldier.  He  has  many  interesting 
recollections  of  early  pioneer  days  of  western  North 
Carolina.  When  he  was  a  boy  his  mother  used  to 
card,  spin  and  weave  and  dress  her  family  in  home- 
spun. Matthew  C.  Clayton  and  wife  commenced 
housekeeping  in  the  old  log  building  above  men- 
tioned and  his  wife  cooked  by  the  open  fire.  After 
the  war  Matthew  C.  Clayton  resumed  farming  at 
the  homestead,  and  succeeded  to  its  ownership. 
He  erected  a  substantial  brick  home  and  frame 
barn  and  in  many  other  ways  imjjroved  his  pos- 
sessions. 

He  was  married  February  26,  1866,  to  Sarah 
Mildred  McKinney,  who  was  born  April  2,  1840, 
and  died  January  9,  1916.  Her  parents  were 
Gideon  and  Mildred  (Doss)  McKinney  of  Surry 
County,  North  Carolina. 

John  Gideon  Clayton  was  the  only  child  of  his 
parents.  He  has  always  lived  at  home  and  gave 
the  utmost  solicitude  and  care  to  his  parents  dur- 
ing their  declining  years.  His  early  education  was 
acquired  in  the  district  schools  and  also  in  tlie  Oak 
Ridge  Institute.  He  has  long  been  recognized  as 
one  of  the  progressive  and  successful  farmers  of 
Bethania  Township  and  his  name  is  also  associated 
with  democratic  politics.  He  served  as  chairman 
of  the  Executive  Committee  since  attaining  his 
majority,  and  for  more  than  thirty  years  has  been 
a  justice  of  the  peace.  He  is  affiliated  with  Beth- 
ania Lodge  No.  86,  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  New  Garden  Friends  Church,  though 
his  parents  were  both  active  in  the  Protestant  Bap- 
tist Church. 

Mr.  Clayton  was  married  November  1,  1898,  to 
Ora  Belle  Ziglar.  Mrs.  Clayton  was  born  in 
Bethania  Township,  January  8,  1879,  a  daughter  of 
James  and  Martha  (Moore)  Ziglar.  They  have 
two  living  children,  Virginia  and  Mary  Belle. 

S.VMFEL  Westray  Battle,  M.  D.,  retired  medical 
officer  of  the  United  States  Navy,  physician  and 
surgeon  of  long  experience  and  many  influential 
associations,  one  of  the  eminent  sous  of  North 
Carolina,  has  during  a  residence  of  more  than 
thirty  years   probably   conferred   more   substantial 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


249 


benefits  upon  the  City  of  Asheville  than  any  other 
man. 

He  was  born  in  Nash  County,  North  Carolina, 
August  4,  1854,  son  of  William  S.  ami  Mary  Eliza- 
beth (Dancy)  Battle,  and  grandson  of  James  Smith 
Battle  and  Frances  L.  Dancy.  The  Battle  family 
was  established  on  the  Cool  Spring  Plantation  in 
Edgecombe  County  by  his  ancestor  Elisha  Battle  as 
early  as  1748. 

Doctor  Battle  was  reared  in  a  home  of  wealth 
and  utmost  culture  and  refinement.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  Horner's  Classical  and  Mathematical 
School  at  Oxford,  at  Bellevue  High  School  in  Bed- 
ford County,  Virginia,  at  tlio  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  attended  both  the  classical  and  the 
medical  courses,  and  in  1874  entered  the  Bellvue 
Hospital  Medical  College  of  New  York  City,  from 
which  he  received  the  degree  Doctor  of  Medicine 
in  March,  1875.  He  then  stood  the  examination  for 
the  medical  service  of  the  United  States  Navy.  It 
was  a  most  rigorous  test,  and  the  fact  that  he  was 
passed,  and  was  commissioned  assistant  surgeon 
in  October,  1875,  when  he  was  only  twenty-one, 
was  not  only  gratifying  to  him  but  a  testimonial  to 
the  efficiency  of  his  early  training  and  to  his  per- 
sonal talents. 

Doctor  Battle  was  in  active  service  in  the  navy 
for  nearly  ten  years.  His  last  shore  duty  was  as 
surgeon  in  charge  of  the  naval  hospital  at  Pensa- 
cola,  Florida.  In  1878  he  was  on  the  United  States 
ship  Marion,  one  of  the  vessels  detailed  to  escort 
General  Grant  around  the  world.  This  ship  was  at 
Smyrna  when  war  broke  out  between  Eussia  and 
Turkey  in  1878,  and  the  vessel  was  required  to  jiro- 
tect  American  interests  in  the  East  and  therefore 
remained  on  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor  for  some 
months.  Doctor  Battle's  first  duty  at  sea  was  in 
connection  with  the  demonstration  made  by  the 
United  States  following  the  historic  Virginius  af- 
fair. The  Virginius  had  been  captured  by  a 
Spanish  vessel  on  charge  of  piracy,  and  half  of  its 
crew  were  executed  at  Santiago,  C!uba,  before  a 
British  warship  intervened  and  threatened  to  bom- 
bard the  city  unless  the  murders  were  stopped. 

Doctor  Battle  served  on  a  number  of  warships, 
but  on  account  of  injuries  received  while  cruising 
he  was  put  on  the  retired  list  in  1884. 

Doctor  Battle  took  up  his  residence  at  Asheville 
in  1885.  He  had  made  a  study  of  the  meteorologi- 
cal reports  of  the  United  States  Oovcrnmcnt  and 
was  impressed  by  the  fact  that  the  Asheville 
Plateau  was  the  dryest  atrnospheric  area  east  of 
the  Mississippi  River.  The  peculiar  value  of  the 
location  for  the  cure  of  throat  and  pulmonary 
troubles  was  widely  advertised  by  him  among  his 
professional  brethren.  Mr.  John  P.  Arthur  in  a 
sketch  of  Doctor  Battle,  from  which  the  facts  of 
the  present  article  are  taken,  described  one  feature 
of  his  early  residence  which  must  be  quoted  in  full: 

' '  Dr.  Battle  occupied  a  cottage  near  which  lived 
Bill  Nye  in  a  domicile  described  in  one  of  his  let- 
ters as  of  'perforated  architecture,'  because  of  the 
many  cracks  and  seams  in  its  walls,  through  which 
the  winter  air  penetrated  with  uncomfortable 
frequency  and  intensity.  He  and  the  Doctor  were 
fast  friends  and  together  they  did  much  to  herald 
the  fame  of  the  rising  city  to  the  world.  In  wit 
and  humor  the  Doctor  was  a  match  for  the  genial 
humorist,  and  as  a  raconteur  was  his  superior.  He 
remembered  the  best  and  wittiest  things  Nye  said 
or  wrote,  and  gave  additional  point  and  relish  to 
them  by  his  inimitable  manner  of  telling  them.  To- 
gether they  made  the  little  community  laugh  and 
grow  fat.  Nye 's  letter  to  the  New  York  World  and 
the  Doctor's  letters  to  medical  journals  and  periodi- 


cals seemed  to  reach  every  class  in  the  United 
States,  and  there  probably  never  was  a  city  so 
well  advertised  as  Asheville  with  so  small  an  out- 
lay in  cash.  And  the  advertisement  blessed  not 
oiijly  the  town  but  the  authors  of  th3  good  tilings 
said  for  it ;  for  Nye 's  reputation  as  a  humorist 
grew  and  the  Doctor 's  practice  surpassed  his 
ability  to  attend  to  all  of  it.  He  had  to  secure 
the  services  of  two  assistants,  and  even  with  their 
help  was  barely  able  to  keep  up  with  it,  notwith- 
standing his  strenuous  efforts  to  do  so." 

Doctor  Battle's  services  to  Asheville  did  not 
stop  merely  with  advertising  its  fame  and  advan- 
tages. He  was  one  of  the  promoters  of  a  com]pany 
which  secured  a  charter  for  a  general  system  of 
street  car  service  and  undertook  the  building  and 
equipment  of  a  road,  the  idea  of  which  was  fur- 
nished by  the  Sprague  system  of  street  railway  at 
Richmond,  Virginia.  Doctor  Battle  was  elected 
vice  president  of  the  company,  subscribed  largely 
to  its  stocks  and  bonds,  and  has  generally  been 
credited  with  being  the  father  of  the  very  efficient 
.street  car  system  of  Asheville.  He  also  contributed 
from  his  means,  and  loyally  supported  many  local 
industries,  such  as  furniture  and  wood  working 
plants,  and  though  some  of  those  enterprises  failed 
to  meet  the  expectations  of  those  who  supported 
them.  Doctor  Battle  refused  to  become  a  pessimist 
and  his  continued  generosity  has  more  than  once 
set  the  pace  for  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  com- 
munity. While  he  has  done  so  much  in  a  material 
sense  to  build  up  the  city.  Doctor  Battle's  most 
important  contribution  has  been  described  as  of 
a  social  character.  A  cosmopolitan,  a  world  wide 
traveler,  and  a  man  of  most  diverse  interests,  and 
of  understanding  of  life  from  the  world  point  of 
view  rather  than  from  the  provincial  or  local  stand- 
point. Doctor  Battle  was  well  fitted  to  bring  into 
social  contact  congenial  spirits  of  both  the  North 
and  the  South  in  the  City  of  Asheville,  which  iu 
character  of  population  is  one  of  the  most  cos- 
mopolitan centers  of  America.  Thus  Doctor  Bat- 
tle has  helped  to  make  Asheville  a  common  meeting 
ground  for  the  people  of  the  North  and  the  South, 
where  sectional  prejudices  are  thrown  down  and 
where  men  meet  as  men,  face  to  face,  and  upon 
their  merits. 

Doctor  Battle  has  enjoyed  many  honorable  asso- 
ciations and  distinctions.  He  has  been  medical 
director  of  the  Clarence  Barker  Memorial  Hos- 
pital and  Dispensary  at  Biltmore  since  its  begin- 
ning in  1900;  served  as  colonel  and  surgeon-gen- 
eral of  the  North  Carolina  State  Guard  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  and  retired  June  22,  1915,  with  the 
rank  of  Brigadier  General :  is  a  member  of  the 
Buncombe  County  Medical  Society,  North  Carolina 
State  Medical  Society,  long  time  a  member  of  the 
Tri-State  Medical  Society,  Mississippi  Valley  Medi- 
cal Society  and  the  American  Medical  Association. 
He  also  belongs  to  the  professional  organizations  of 
Rhinological,  Otological  and  Laryngological  So- 
cieties, American  Climatological  Society,  American 
Public  Health  Association,  Association  of  Military 
Surgeons  and  State  Board  of  Health.  Socially  he 
is  a  member  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  Sons 
of  the  American  Revolution,  Naval  Order  of  the 
United  States,  Army  and  Navy  Clubs  of  New  York 
and  Washington,  Metropolitan  Club  of  Washington, 
Swannanoa  Country  Club  of  Asheville,  Asheville 
•  Club,  Catawba  Game  Association,  which  he  has 
served  as  president,  Asheville  Gun  Club,  of  which 
he  has  been  vice  president,  Mottfield  Club  at  George- 
town,  South  Carolina,  and  others. 

Thoiigh  a  Southerner  by  birth  and  son  of  one  of 
the  delegates  to  the  North  Carolina  Secession  Con- 


250 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


vention,  Doctor  Battle  chose  as  his  wife  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  naval  otiieer  who  had  fought  against  the 
establishment  of  tlie  Southern  Confederacy.  lu 
1880  he  married  Alice  Maude  Belknap,  daughter 
of  Admiral  George  E.  Belknaj),  who  was  not  only  a 
fine  sailor  and  naval  commander  but  a  man  of  lit- 
erary and  scientific  attainments.  Doctor  and  Mrs. 
Battle  had  four  children,  Madelou,  Maude  Danoy,  S. 
Westray,  Jr.,  and  Belknap.  Three  came  to  mature 
age,  Madelon,  wife  of  Capt.  Mortimer  Hancock, 
S.  Westray,  Jr.,  and  Belknap,  but  the  older  son, 
S.  Westray  Battle,  Jr.,  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years  upon  the  eve  of  his  graduation  from  the 
United  States  A^aval  Academy  at  Annapolis  in 
1905. 

Mrs.  Battle  died  iu  1899  and  Doctor  Battle  re- 
mained a  widower  until  February,  1918,  when  he 
was  married  to  Mrs.  Vinton  Liddell,  a  widow  of 
northern  birth,  but  for  most  of  her  life  a  resident 
of  North  Carolina.  The  present  Mrs.  Battle  was 
born  at  Jane  Hyde  Hall  and  was  the  daughter  of 
Hon.  John  G.  Hall  and  Mrs.  Hall  of  Pennsylvania. 
Mr.  Hall  was  a  distinguished  lawyer  iu  his  day  and 
an  older  brother  of  Judge  Harry  Alvau  Hall  of 
Pennsylvania.  Mrs.  Battle  has  one  tlaughter  by 
her  former  marriage.  Miss  Vinton  LiildcU,  of  whom 
it  may  be  said  that  she  is  one  of  Doctor  Battle  's 
most  devoted  admirers. 

In  conclusion  two  other  paragraphs  should  be 
■  quoted  from  the  biographer  already  drawn  upon 
for  the  principal  materials  of  this  sketch.  "It  is 
as  a  physician  that  Dr.  Battle  shows  to  the  best 
advantage.  He  chose  the  right  calling  in  life.  He 
is  as  essentially  a  physician  as  was  the  '  Weelum 
MeClure '  of  the  Bonnie  Briar  Bush,  or  the  '  Doc 
Sifert'  of  Whitconib  Riley,  and  withal  without  any 
of  tlieir  peculiarities.  The  essential  factor  in  the 
makeup  of  the  physician  is  human  sympathy.  That 
quality  Dr.  Battle  possesses  in  an  overwhelm- 
ing degree.  The  sufferings  and  troubles  of  his 
[latients  are  in  very  truth  his  own. 

' '  There  is  still  another  aspect  of  Dr.  Battle 's 
character  that  is  especially  dear  to  the  writer  of 
this  imperfect  sketch,  and  that  is  his  loyal  friend- 
ship to  his  friends.  Jonathan  's  love  for  David  was 
not  greater  than  his  for  those  he  numbers  among 
his  friends.  There  is  today  many  a  wreck  on  the 
highway  of  life  who  knows  of  but  one  staunth 
friend  left  to  him  in  his  low  estate,  and  that  friend 
is  Dr.  S.  Westray  Battle.  Hence  he  is  poor;  hence 
he  is  of  the  salt  of  the  earth — that  man  possessing 
the  essentials  of  the  truest  Christianity,  love  for 
his  neighljor. 

' '  There  is  no  finer  character  than  Dr.  Battle 's. 
Of  large  and  commanding  presence,  distinguished 
air  and  polished  manner,  he  is  a  striking  figure  in 
the  most  distinguished  company.  One  would  hardly 
believe  that  beneath  the  somewhat  foreign  apjiear- 
ance  of  this  striking  jiersonality  is  to  be  found  by 
those  who  know  him  best  the  plain  and  unpreten- 
tious Tar  Heel  citizen,  with  no  false  notions  as  to 
his  own  importance  and  no  very  exalted  opinion  of 
himself.  He  loves  his  fellow-countrymen,  and  is 
proud  of  all  that  makes  the  Old  North  State  dis- 
tinguished and  excellent  among  the  sisterhood  of 
states.  He  is  that  best  of  all  men,  a  good  citizen, 
a  kind  friend,  and  good  neighbor.  All  who  know 
him  love  and  respect  him,  and  his  life  and  example 
are  an  insjiiration  to  all. ' ' 

Addison  Hewlett  is  one  of  the  fortunate  men 
of  North  Carolina.  He  has  a  successful  business, 
being  ]iroprietor  of  a  highly  developed  truck  grow- 
ing farm.  The  business  is  an  adjunct  to  a  beauti- 
ful rural  retreat,  and  few  families  anywhere  enjoy 


more  of  the  comforts  and  pleasures  of  life  than 
can  be  found  in  the  Hewlett  home  on  Hewlett 's 
Creek,  Masonboro  Sound,  New  Hanover  County. 
Mr.  Hewlett  is  also  fortunate  in  the  possession  of 
good  family  connections,  and  his  wife  is  a  highly 
cultured  woman  and  belongs  to  a  family  of  edu- 
cators and  scholars. 

The  farm  where  he  now  lives  was  the  birthplace 
of  Mr.  Addison  Hewlett  in  1876.  He  is  a  son 
of  Elijah  and  Almira  (Craig)  Hewlett.  The  Hew- 
lett liome  is  on  Hewlett's  Creek  not  far  from 
where  it  discharges  into  Masonljoro  Sound,  and 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  It 
is  seven  miles  southeast  of  Wilmington  on  the 
Grainger  's  Point  Road.  The  name  of  the  place  is 
' '  Waterside  Farm.  "  It  is  a  part  of  the  old  Lilling- 
ton  plantation  owned  by  General  Lillington  before 
and  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  It  was  pur- 
chased from  Lillington  by  John  Hewlett,  grand- 
father of  the  present  owner.  The  Hewletts  are  of 
English  descent,  and  of  the  same  ancestry  as  is 
the  noted  English  author  of  this  generation, 
Maurice  Hewlett.  This  branch  of  the  family  has 
lived  in  New  Hanover  County  since  prior  to  the 
Revolutionary   war. 

One  nieml)cr  of  the  Hewlett  family  is  the  vener- 
able Elijah  Hewlett,  who  was  born  in  July,  1828, 
and  attained  the  remarkable  age  of  ninety  years 
iu  July,  1918.  He  has  lived  on  the  Hewlett  farm 
for  more  than  seventy  years.  During  the  war 
between  the  states  he  was  a  captain  of  Home 
Guards  in  New  Hanover  County  and  also  entrusted 
with  the  important  civil  duties  under  the  Con- 
federate government  of  transporting  and  storing 
salt.  One  of  the  oldest  living  citizens  of  North 
Carolina,  he  is  also  the  oldest  living  Mason,  his 
affiliations  with  that  order  antedating  those  of  any 
other  man  now  living.  He  is  a  member  of  St. 
John's  Lodge  No.  1,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  at  Wilmington. 

Almira  (Craig)  Hewlett,  mother  of  Addison 
Hewlett,  is  now  decea-sed.  Her  father  was  Jesse 
Craig  of  Federal  Point,  New  Hanover  County.  She 
was  a  cousin  of  the  late  James  William  ("Jim 
Billy")  Craig,  the  famous  pilot  of  blockade  run- 
ners during  the  war.  Reference  to  this  famous 
character  will  bo  found  on  other  pages  of  this 
publication. 

Mr.  Addison  Hewlett  grew  up  on  the  old  home- 
stead, and  was  educated  in  local  schools  and  Wake 
Forest  College.  Of  late  years  he  has  gone  quite 
extensively  into  the  commercial  truck  farming 
l)usiness,  and  has  made  of  it  a  splendid  success.  He 
is  one  of  the  large  shi])pers  from  Wilmington  to 
the  northern  markets.  Waterside  Farm  comprises 
something  more  than  fifty  acres.  Its  principal 
crops  are  lettuce,  potatoes,  beans,  cucumbers  and 
peas.  These  are  the  crops  for  shipment  while  for 
home  consumption  he  also  raises  corn  and  sweet 
]iotatoes.  The  farm  has  an  exceedingly  pleasant 
and  happy  location.  Its  position  on  the  waterside 
furnishes  the  delightful  pleasures  of  boating,  fish- 
ing and  other  aquatic  sports  both  on  fresh  and  salt 
waters,  and  the  entire  surroundings  constitute  an 
ideal  home  and  a  climate  that  cannot  be  surpassed 
for  healthfulness.  Mr.  Hewlett  was  elected  county 
commissioner   in   1916   for   a  t^rm   of  four  years. 

Mr.  Hewlett  married  Miss  Ethel  Herring.  She 
was  born  at  Long  Creek,  Pender  County,  and  her 
ancestry  includes  a  number  of  names  of  distinction 
iu  North  Carolina  history.  Her  father  was  George 
A.  Herring  of  Pender  County,  son  of  James  and 
.Jane  (Alderman)  Herring.  Jane  Alderman  was 
born  in  1800,  and  was  a  granddaughter  of  a  Patriot 


O^dLdL,,,^  //eufS// 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


251 


Revolutionary  soldier  who  fought  at  the  famous 
battle  of  Moore's  Creek  in  Peuder  County,  his 
■widow  afterwards  receiving  a  pension  on  account 
of  his  military  service.  Dr.  B.  A.  Alderman,  presi- 
dent of  the  University  of  Virginia  and  one  of  the 
South 's  and  the  nation 's  most  distinguished  edu- 
cators, is  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Hewlett's  father,  as  is 
also  Eev.  E.  S.  Alderman,  D.  D.,  a  prominent 
Baptist  minister  of  Spartanburg,  South  Carolina. 
Another  cousin  is  Prof.  J.  T.  Alderman,  who  for 
several  years  was  superintendent  of  the  city  schools 
of  Henderson,  North  Carolina,  and  is  now  tempo- 
rarily by  appointment  of  Governor  Bickett,  filling 
the  position  of  superintendent  of  the  State  Institu- 
tion for  the  Blind  at  Raleigh.  The  Alderman  fam- 
ily goes  back  to  prominent  English  ancestry. 

Mrs.  Hewlett's  mother  was  Margaret  E.  (Wells) 
Herring,  daughter  of  Rev.  David  Wells,  a  Baptist 
minister  of  Sampson  County.  The  ancestors  of  the 
Wells  family  came  from  Holland  in  1751,  and  set- 
tled in  Duplin  and  Sanii>son  counties. 

One  of  Mrs.  Hewlett's  brothers  is  Mr.  J.  P. 
Herring,  a  successful  farmer  of  the  Masonboro 
community  and  county  farm  demonstration  agent 
for  New  Hanover  County.  Another  brother  is  Eev. 
D.  W.  Herring,  a  Baptist  minister  and  noted  mis- 
sionary in  China,  where  he  has  lived  for  many 
years.  One  of  the  sons  of  this  missionary,  a  uotably 
fine  specimen  of  young  American  manhood  of  whom 
the  family  are  all  justly  proud,  is  George  Nntt 
Herring,  a  young  surgeon,  graduate  of  the  Jetfer- 
■sou  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  now  in  the 
X'^nited  States  Navy  as  a  surgeon  with  the  rank  of 
lieutenant  on  the  U.  S.  S.  North  Dakota. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hewlett  are  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  Mrs.  Hewlett  was  educated  in  Oxford 
College.  She  has  Ijeen  greatly  interested  in  educa- 
tion, not  only  for  the  sake  of  her  own  children  but 
for  that  of  others.  She  contributed  a  very  inter- 
esting and  historically  valuable  article  containing 
a  history  of  the  Masoiiboro  School  to  the  Wilming- 
ton Star  of  February  9,  191.3.  The  family  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hewlett  consists  of  five  children:  Roger 
Wells,  Bettie  Herring,  Dorris  Alderman,  George 
Addison  and  David  Carlyle. 

Everett  Fletcher  Loxg,  M.  D.  After  building 
\ip  a  fine  general  practice  as  a  physician  and 
surgeon  at  Lexington,  Doctor  Long  was  recently 
calied  to  take  an  official  part  in  the  public  health 
movement  in  Davidson  County  and  is  now  devoting 
his  whole  time  to  his  work  as  county  health  officer. 
Doctor  Long  was  liorn  on  a  farm  in  old  Richmond 
Township  of  Forsyth  County,  North  Carolina. 

The  Long  family  has  been  identified  with  West- 
■ern  Nortli  Carolina  for  more  than  a  century.  His 
great-grandfather,  a  native  of  Germany,  was  one 
of  three  brothers  that  came  to  this  country,  one 
setting  in  what  is  now  Forsyth,  tlien  Stokes 
County,  one  in  Yadkin  County,  and  the  other  in 
Iredell  County.  The  great-grandfather  lived  first 
in  Pennsylvania  for  a  time  before  coming  South  to 
North  Carolina  and  established  his  home  in  the 
■wilderness  in  that  part  of  Stokes  County  which  is 
now  Old  Richmond  Township  of  Forsyth  County. 
Land  in  abundance  could  be  obtained  on  almost  any 
terms,  and  he  chose  a  tract  which  he  developed  for 
general  farming  purposes.  There  were  of  course 
DO  railroads  and  the  principal  market  for  supplies 
was  at  Fayetteville,  nearly  150  miles  away.  Most 
of  the  merchandise  consumed  in  those  backwoods 
■districts  was  transported  from  Fayetteville  with 
■wagons  and  teams  over  the  rough  country  roads  to 
the  points  of   distribution.     Some   of  those  early 


jiioneer  farmers  manufactured  tobacco  which  was 
grown  in  their  lields,  and  at  the  end  of  each  season 
would  load  the  toljacco  in  wagons  and  market  it 
through  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 

Thomas  Long,  grandfather  of  Doctor  Long,  was 
liorn  in  Old  Richmond  Township  iu  1804,  and  when 
he  grew  up  inherited  a  part  of  the  old  homestead. 
Before  he  married  he  erected  a  complete  set  of 
farm  buildings.  He  had  learned  the  trade  of 
cabinet  maker,  and  besides  superintending  his 
farm  he  made  furniture  and  was  called  upon  to 
make  nearly  all  tlie  coffins  over  a  wide  territory. 
He  made  the  coffins  for  himself  and  wife  several 
years  before  they  died.  He  married  Elizabeth 
boub.  Her  brother.  Rev.  John  B.  Doub,  was  a 
prominent  Methodist  Episcopal  preacher  and  the 
Doub  family,  among  the  first  iu  Western  North 
Carolina,  furnished  several  names  that  were  prom- 
inent in  organizing  and  establishing  churches  of 
this  denomination.  Grandfather  Long  died  at  the 
age  of  eighty-six  and  his  wife  at  seventy-eight. 
Their  only  son  was  John  M.,  but  they  had  several 
daughters,  namely:  Martha,  who  married  Alex- 
ander Waldraven;  Mary,  who  became  the  wife  of 
William  Strupe;  Rebecca,  who  married  Aquilla 
Hunter;  Sarah,  who  married  John  Trest;  and 
.Jane,  who  married  Columbus  Slate. 

John  M.  Long,  father  of.  Doctor  Long,  was  born 
on  the  same  old  homestead  in  Forsyth  County  in 
1847  and  grew  up  iu  that  neigldjorhood  and  re- 
ceived his  education  iu  the  local  schools.  At  the 
age  of  seventeen  he  was  called  upon  for  duty  in  the 
Confederate  army,  went  to  the  front  with  his  com- 
nmnd,  and  soon  afterward  was  captured.  He  was 
taken  first  to  Maryland  and  afterwards  to  Ohio, 
and  was  kept  a  prisoner  of  war  until  the  close  of 
hostilities,  when  he  was  paroled.  Soon  after  his 
return  home  he  went  to  Missouri  and  lived  in  that 
state  four  years.  On  returning  to  North  Carolina 
he  succeeded  to  the  ownership  of  the  old  home 
farm  and  is  still  living  there,  having  been  quietly 
engaged  in  the  vocation  of  agriculture  for  nearly 
half  a  century.  He  married  Elizabeth  Doub,  a 
native  of  Vienna  Township  of  Forsyth  County  and 
daughter  of  Elijah  and  Lucy  (Newsom)  Doub. 
She  was  a  grandniece  of  Rev.  Peter  Doub,  one  of 
the  most  prominent  members  of  the  family  already 
noted  in  establisliing  Metliodist  churches  in  West- 
ern North  Carolina.  John  M.  Long  and  wife  had 
two  sons  and  two  daughters  named  Flora,  Arthur, 
Sarah  and  Everett  Fletcher.  Both  parents  are  ac- 
tive members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
John  M.  Long  served  several  terms  as  county  com- 
missioner of  Forsyth  County. 

Doctor  Long  as  a  boy  attended  the  district 
schools  near  his  old  homo,  and  received  a  portion 
of  his  education  in  a  subscri)ition  school  taught 
liy  Professor  Jordan.  His  early  life  was  one  cal- 
culated to  discipline  him  in  the  habits  of  industry 
and  thrift,  and  -n-hen  not  in  school  he  was  doing 
nuich  of  the  work  on  the  farm.  He  finally  turned 
his  attention  to  the  study  of  medicine,  entering 
tlie  Medical  College  of  Virginia  at  Richmond, 
where  he  was  graduated  M.  D.  in  1909.  After  a 
lirief  practice  in  Forsyth  County  he  moved  to 
Bethany  and  in  1912  came  to  Denton,  where  he 
carried  the  burdens  of  a  large  private  practice 
until  1916.  In  that  year  he  was  elected  health 
officer  for  Davidson  County  and  has  since  made 
his  home  at  Lexington,  the  county  seat.  Doctor 
Long  is  a  member  in  good  standing  of  the  David- 
son County  and  North  Carolina  State  Medical 
societies,  the  Southern  Medical  Association  and 
the   American   Medical   Association.      He   and   his 


252 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  In  1911  he  married  Esther  A.  Irby.  She 
is  a  native  of  Virginia,  daughter  of  Charles  Irby. 

Marsdex  Bellamy.  No  name  has  Lad  more 
intimate  and  honorable  association  with  the  legal 
profession  at  Wilmington  than  that  of  Bellamy. 
Marsden  Bellamy  is  a  son  of  Marsdcu  Bellamy,  Sr., 
and  his  wife,  Harriet  Bellamy,  and  befoi  •  the 
junior  Bellamy  took  up  practice  there  was  the  old 
firm  of  Bellamy  &  Bellamy,  made  up  of  Marsden 
Bellamy,    Sr.,    and    John   D.    Bellamy,    Jr. 

Born  at  Wilmington  December  4,  1878,  Mar='1en 
Bellamy,  Jr.,  was  educated  in  the  Cape  Fear  Acad- 
emy and  in  Horner 's  Military  School  at  Oxtord, 
and  completed  his  literary  course  by  giaduatiug 
A.  B.  in  1899  from  the  University  ot  North  Caro- 
lina. He  studied  law  in  the  ofiice  of  his  father 
and  completed  his  course  in  the  University  of 
North  Carolina  in  1900.  Since  his  admission  to 
the  bar  in  September,  1900,  he  has  been  in  general 
practice,  and  is  now  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Bellamy   &   Bellamy. 

His  fellov  citizens  have  called  him  to  positions 
of  trust  and  from  1905  to  1909  he  was  city  attor- 
ney of  Wilmington,  and  from  1909  to  1913  was 
county  attorney.  He  is  a  former  chairman  of 
the  Democratic  Committee  of  the  county  and  was 
elected  member  of  the  State  Senate  for  the  session 
of  1913.  During  1915-16  Mr.  Bellamy  was  mem- 
ber and  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Governors  of 
the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association. 

Fraternally  he  is  a  Mason,  a  member  of  the 
Junior  Order  of  the  United  American  Mechanics, 
the  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men,  the  Benevolent 
and  Protective  Order  of  Elks  and  also  belongs 
to  the  College  Societies  Phi  Beta  Kappa  and 
Sigma  Alpha  Epsilon.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
the  Rotary  Cnub  of  Wilmington,  North  Caroli^  i. 
He  and  his  family  attend  St.  James  Episcopal 
Church. 

November  14,  1906,  Mr.  Bellamy  married  Miss 
Sue  Clark,  of  Tarboro,  North  Carolina.  The  have 
three  children,  Marsden,  Jr.,  Virginia  C.  and 
William  Clark. 

Abraham  G.  Jones,  M.  D.  For  much  the 
greater  part  of  a  century  members  of  the  Jones 
family  have  been  prominent  and  have  rendered 
distinctive  service  in  various  professions  and  oc- 
cupations in  Western  North  Carolina.  Doctor  Jones 
has  practiced  medicine  at  Walnut  Cove  during  most 
of  the  years  since  the  war,  in  which  he  played 
a  gallant  part  as  a  Confederate  soldier.  His  fa- 
ther was  a  prominent  physician  in  the  same  lo- 
cality and  he  is  a  brother  of  Judge  E.  B. 
Jones,  whose  career  has  lent  distinction  to  the 
legal  profession. 

Doctor  Jones  was  born  at  Bethania  in  Forsyth 
County  in  1844.  He  is  of  Welsh  lineage,  and  the 
family  at  one  time  lived  in  the  City  of  Baltimore, 
a  creek  in  that  city  being  known  as  Jones  Creek, 
because  of  the  activities  of  the  family  in  the 
operation  of  a  grist  mill  along  its  banks.  From 
Baltimore  the  family  moved  to  Virginia,  and 
Doctor  Jones'  father.  Dr.  Beverly  Jones,  was  bom 
on  a  farm  in  Henry  County.  He  was  graduated 
in  medicine  from  the  Jefferson  Medical  College 
in  Philadelphia  and  coming  to  North  Carolina 
practiced  about  half  a  dozen  years  at  Germanton 
in  Stokes  County%  For  his  permanent  home  he 
settled  on  a  farm  near  Bethania  and  looked  after 
his  plantation  while  attending  to  his  country  prac- 
tice.    His  was  a  life  of  unceasing  service  to  his 


feUowmen.  His  practice  extended  for  many  mUes 
around  his  plantation  and  he  w;is  obliged  to  keep 
several  horses  for  riding  and  driving.  He  rode 
horseback  most  of  the  time,  carrying  his  instru- 
ments and  medicines  in  saddle  bags.  Though  his 
life  was  a  strenuous  one  he  lived  to  the  age  of 
niuety-two.  Dr.  Beverly  Jones  married  Julia  A. 
Conrad,  who  was  born  at  Bethania,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  eighty-seven.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Abra- 
ham and  PhUlipina  (Lash)  Conrad,  both  the 
Lashes  and  Conrads  having  been  prominent  as 
early  settlers,  farmers,  merchants,  and  in  other 
vocations  in  Forsyth  County.  Dr.  Beverly  Jones 
and  wife  had  ten  children:  Abraham  G.,  James  B., 
Alexander  C,  Robert  H.,  Erastus  B.,  Ella,  Virginia 
E.,  Julia  P.,  Catherine  E.  and  Lucian  G. 

As  a  boy  Dr.  Abraham  G.  Jones  had  the  in- 
spiration of  the  example  and  service  of  his  honored 
father  to  give  him  high  ideals  of  what  constitute 
a  worthy  life.  He  lived  on  his  father's  planta- 
tion, attended  the  rural  schools,  and  also  attended 
the  school  taught  by  Professor  Baldwin  at 
Bethania.  His  family  had  been  actively  identified 
with  the  Moravian  Church  for  many  generations 
and  for  his  higher  education  he  was  sent  to  the 
old  school  mauitained  by  that  denomination  at 
Nazareth  Hall  in  Pennsylvania. 

A  boy  of  eighteen.  Doctor  Jones  enlisted  Sep- 
tember 4,  1862,  in  Company  K  of  the  Fifth  North 
Carolina  Cavalry.  He  was  mustered  into  the  serv- 
ice as  a  corporal  and  subsequently  was  promoted 
to  sergeant.  For  a  few  months  he  and  his  comrades 
were  stationed  in  the  eastern  part  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  during  that  time  Doctor  Jones  was  cap- 
tured by  the  enemy  and  was  confined  as  a  prisoner 
of  war  at  Newbern,  for  several  weeks  until  paroled. 
On  being  exchanged  he  joined  his  command  which 
in  the  meantime  had  gone  to  Virginia,  His  regi- 
ment was  commanded  by  General  Gordon  and  was 
attached  to  the  famous  cavalry  corps  of  General 
Stuart.  Doctor  Jones  remained  with  his  regiment 
in  all  its  movements  and  had  many  arduous  ex- 
periences as  a  soldier.  In  the  fight  at  Chamber- 
lain 's  Run  he  was  wounded,  being  hit  by  a  ball 
that  furrowed  its  way  through  the  right  side  of 
his  neck.  He  was  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Danville, 
and  was  still  in  the  hospital  when  his  command 
surrendered.  He  had  left  his  horse  in  care  of  a 
friend  and  recovered  it  and  rode  home  and  was 
granted  his  parole  at  Greensboro.  Doctor  Jones 
has  carefully  preserved  many  interesting  me- 
mentoes of  his  war  service  and  of  the  war  in  gen- 
eral. Among  others  he  has  the  parole  pajjer  and 
also  a  revolver  and  leather  girdle  captured  from 
a  Union  soldier  and  a  leather  cartridge  box. 

His  first  work  after  the  war  was  on  the  farm, 
but  a  year  later  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  study 
of  medicine.  One  course  of  lectures  he  took  in  the 
University  of  Virginia  and  then  going  to  New 
York  City  entered  the  University  of  New  York, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  M.  D.  in  the  spring 
of  1868.  Doctor  Jones  practiced  at  Bethania  a 
year,  spent  several  months  in  Texas  and  on  re- 
turning to  North  Carolina  located  permanently  at 
Walnut  Cove,  from  which  town  he  has  looked 
after  his  widening  interests  as  a  practitioner  for 
over  forty-five  years.  He  possesses  many  of  the 
characteristics  and  abilities  of  his  honored  father 
and  is  greatly  beloved  by  his  wide  circle  of  friends 
and  professional  patrons. 

Doctor  Jones  was  married  in  1876  to  Nannie  E. 
Dalton.  Mrs.  Jones  was  born  at  Dalton  in  Stokes 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  David 
Nicholas  and  Melissa  (Rives)  Dalton  and  a  grand- 


J... 

PUE: 

TILDi 


<!^^^o  Qyr^^^^£z./A^^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


253 


daughter  of  Ahsolum  B.  and  Nancy  (Poindexter) 
Dalton.  Her  maternal  grandfather  was  William 
Rives,  a  jjromiuent  planter  of  Chatham  County, 
North   Carolina. 

Doctor  and  Mrs.  Jones  have  seven  childi'en: 
Margaret  Melissa,  Fannie  Louise,  Annie  Kate, 
Abe  Dalton,  Beverly  Nicholas,  Nannie  Ella,  and 
Robert  Rives.  Margaret  is  the  wife  of  L.  H. 
Smith  and  has  a  daughter  Frances  Patterson. 
Fannie  L.  married  Norman  Stone. 

Doctor  Jones  besides  his  large  private  practice 
is  local  surgeon  for  the  Norfolk  &  Western  and 
the  Southern  Railway  companies.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Stokes  County  ami  the  North  Carolina 
State  Medical  societies  and  the  American  Medical 
Association,  and  fraternally  is  affiliated  with  Wal- 
nut Cove  Lodge  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Ma- 
sons, and  Norfleet  Camp  of  United  Confederate 
Veterans. 

George  Henrt  Smathers  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  June,  1881.  With  ability  out  of  the  ordi- 
nai-y,  with  the  greatest  nf  industry  and  most  com- 
plete fidelity  he  has  in  tlie  years  since  his  admis- 
sion represented  increasingly  imi)ortant  interests 
entrusted  to  his  charge,  has  served  private  clients 
and  the  larger  public  welfare  with  equal  devo- 
tion, and  has  a  record  that  may  without  hesita- 
tion he  placeil  side  by  side  with  tlie  foremost 
lawyers  in   North   Carolina. 

Mr.  Smathers  was  born  in  Buucomlie  County 
near  the  Haywood  County  line  on  .Tanuai'y  29, 
1854.  His  family  has  been  in  this  section  of  North 
Carolina  for  several  generations.  Grandfather 
George  Smathers  was  born  in  what  then  was 
Buncombe  County,  but  is  now  Haywood  County. 
His  father,  John  C.  Smathers,  was  born  in  Hay- 
wood County  Feliruary  15,  1826.  His  mother 
was  Lucilla  E.  Johnson,  a  native  of  Haywood 
County  and  daughter  of  Harry  Johnson,  who 
moved  to  Ilaj'wood  County  when  he  was  ten  years 
of  age.  His  father  and  mother  were  married 
during  the  year  1847,  and  moved  to  the  place 
wliich  has  since  been  so  well  known  as  Turn- 
pike, midway  between  Asheville  and  Wayuesville, 
where  they  lived  until  their  death,  except  an  in- 
terval between  the  years  1872-6,  when  they  lived 
at  Wayuesville.  His  mother  died  at  the  old  home- 
place  at  Turnpike  on  May  5,  1911,  and  his  father 
died  there  on  July  21,  1918,  and  when  he  died 
he  was  ninety-two  years,  five  months  and  six  days 
old.  and  among  tlie  old  inhabitants  he  was  one 
of  the  best  known  men  in  Western  North  Caro- 
lina, as  he  had  in  former  years  been  au  active 
bu.siness   man. 

George  H.  Smathers  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  and  at  Sand  Hill  Academy,  and  was  pre- 
pared for  the  bar  in  the  famous  law  school  of 
Dick  &  Dillard  at  Greensboro.  On  his  admission 
he  located  at  Wayuesville,  where  he  engaged  in 
active  practice  until  he  moved  to  Asheville  about 
eight  years  ago. 

Mr.  Smathers  gained  special  fame  by  his  work 
in  perfecting  the  title  to  the  lauds  of  the  Eastern 
band  of  Cherokee  Indians  in  Jackson,  Swain,  Gra- 
ham and  Cherokee  counties,  N.  C.  He  was  ap- 
pointed special  assistant  United  States  attorney 
by  Attorney-General  Miller  during  President  Har- 
rison 's  administration,  and  specially  charged  with 
the  litigation  prosecuted  by  tlie  United  States 
in  liehalf  of  the  Eastern  band  of  Cherokee  Indians 
vs.  Wm.  H.  Thomas  and  about  two  hundred  other 
defendants   in   the   two   suits   respectively,   of   the 


Eastern  band  of  Cherokee  Indians  vs.  Wm.  H. 
Thomas  and  others,  and  the  United  States  vs. 
Wni.  H.  Thomas  and  others,  then  pending  in  the 
U.  S.  Circuit  Court  for  the  Western  District  of 
North  Carolina,  and  his  work  was  so  satisfactory, 
that  although  a  republican,  he  was  continued 
in  charge  of  this  litigation  by  Attorney-General 
Olney  under  President  Cleveland 's  second  term, 
and  by  succeeding  administrations  until  the  title 
of  the  Indians  was  perfected  in  1902.  After  the 
pleadings  had  been  filed  against  the  numerous 
defendants  in  tlie  suits,  Mr.  Smathers  was  called 
on  by  Attorney-General  Olney  for  a  report  as  to 
the  status  of  the  two  suits,  and  Mr.  Smathers 
accordingly  made  his  report  and  recommended  that 
inasmuch  as  it  appeared  to  him  that  it  would 
take  many  years  to  settle  the  title  to  the  Indian 
lands  by  litigation,  that  in  justice  to  the  Indians, 
he  deemed  it  advisable  to  try  and  effect  a  compro- 
mise with  the  numerous  defendants  in  the  suits. 
Mr.  Olney  authorized  Mr.  Smathers  to  proceed 
to  try  and  effect  a  compromise  with  the  defendants 
along  the  lines  outlined  in  his  report,  and  Mr. 
Smathers  accordingly  went  to  work  and  effected 
compromise  with  the  different  defendants  by  pay- 
ing to  tliem  a  stated  sum  of  money  for  their 
interest  in  the  lands  claimed  by  them,  and  com- 
promise agreements  were  entered  into  between  the 
United  States  and  the  defendants,  and  Congress 
made  the  necessary  appropriations  from  time  to 
time  to  carry  the  same  into  effect,  and  compro- 
mise judgments  and  decrees  of  the  court  were 
entered  in  the  two  suits  from  time  to  time  from 
the  year  1894  up  to  the  year  1902,  when  the  title 
of  the  Indians  was  perfected  to  about  100,000 
acres  of  land  in  the  counties  above  mentioned, 
and  the  defendants  surrendered  possession  thereof 
to  the  Indians.  The  work  done  by  Mr.  Smathers 
in  perfecting  the  title  to  the  Indians  proved  en- 
tirely satisfactory  to  the  United  States,  the  Indians 
and   the    defendants. 

Mr.  Smathers  has  attained  an  enviable  place  in 
the  bar  of  his  home  state  largely  through  his  own 
efforts.  His  education  was  practically  self  di- 
rected from  the  time  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age.  Another  important  achievement  with  which 
Mr.  Smathers  may  be  credited,  was  the  work  he 
did  in  helping  to  secure  the  Champion  Fibre  Com- 
pany to  establish  its  large  pulp  and  acid  jilants  at 
Canton,  N.  C,  and  since  the  establishment  of  the 
same,  he  has  been  the  attorney  for  this  company. 
The  pulp  mill  when  established  was  said  to  be  the 
largest  in  the  world.  For  some  twenty  years  Mr. 
Smathers  has  largely  specialized  in  land  title  work. 

He  served  as  mayor  of  Wayuesville  in  1886-7, 
and  in  1896  was  elected  state  senator  from  the 
Thirty-third  District,  then  comprising  Buncombe, 
Madison  and  Haywood  counties,  which  elected  two 
senators.  Major  W.  W.  Rollins,  former  postmaster 
of  Asheville,  North  Carolina,  was  his  colleague. 
Mr.  Smathers  served  as  chairman  of  the  Senate 
Judiciary  Committee  during  his  term  in  the  State 
Senate.  For  a  number  of  years  he  practiced  law 
as  the  head  of  the  firm  of  Smathers  &  Crawford, 
has  partner  being  Hon.  William  Thomas  Crawford, 
who  represented  the  Tenth  North  Carolina  Dis- 
trict in  Congress  for  many  years. 

Mr.  Smathers  is  now  and  has  been  attorney  for 
the  Champion  Fibre  Company  since  its  organiza- 
tion in  1904,  and  on  account  of  the  large  amount 
of  legal  work  required  of  him  by  this  company,  he 
surrendered  the  general  practice  sometime  ago, 
and  now  gives  his  time  exclusively  to  the  work  of 


254 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


this  company,  reserving  only  sueli  time  as  is  neces- 
sary to  take  care  of  tlie  work  of  clients  that  he  had 
on   hand,   and   his   private  business. 

January  6,  1892,  Mr.  Smathers  married  Daisy 
Rice,  of  Montgomery,  Alabama,  daughter  of 
Samuel  F.  Rice,  former  chief  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Alabama,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
three  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smathers  have  one 
child,  Ellen  Rice  Smathers,  born  July  .30,  189."!, 
and  who  was  married  September  5,  1913,  to  Alli- 
son Cady  Clough  of  Warren,  Pennsylvania.  Mr. 
Clough  entered  the  United  States  Forestry  Service 
witli  the  army  division  of  that  service,  and  was 
sent  to  France  in  December,  1917..  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Clough  have  one  son,  Allison  Cady  Clough,  Jr., 
born   November   17,   1914. 

Mr.  George  H.  Smathers  among  other  business 
associations  is  jiresident  and  general  manager  of 
the    Brevard    Land    &    Timber    Company. 

THOM.-iS  S.  Eane.s.  The  City  of  Lexington 
credits  Mr.  Eanes  with  having  supplied  much  of 
the  enterprise  and  business  progress  of  that  com- 
munity and  he  is  a  man  of  affairs  and  has  built 
up  and  developed  the  Lexington  Ice  and  Coal  Com- 
)iany,  an  incorporation  which  is  regarded  as  a  pub- 
lie  utility.  Mr.  Eanes  is  secretary  and  treasurer 
of  this  compjany. 

He  was  horn  on  a  farm  near  Mocksville  in 
Davie  County,  North  Carolina.  His  grandfather 
Washington  Eanes  was  born  in  Pittsylvania  County, 
Virginia,  and  spent  his  entire  life  in  that  state. 
He  combined  the  ministry  of  the  Primitive  Baptist 
Church  with  school  teaching.  He  married  a  Miss 
Parri.sh,  also  a  lifelong  resident  of  Virginia.  They 
had  seven  sons  named  Holbrook,  Preston,  To]ilady, 
Robert,  Osborne,  John  and  Arthur  Clay.  Their 
daughters  bore  the  names  of  Mary,  Martha,  Eliza- 
beth and  Susan.  The  son  Robert  died  while  a 
soldier  in  the  Confederate  Army. 

Arthur  Clay  Eanes,  father  of  Thomas  S.,  was 
liorn  in  Henry  County,  Virginia,  acquired  a  good 
education,  and  as  a  young  man  assisted  his  father 
in  teaching  work.  Later  he  removed  to  Davie 
County.  North  Carolina,  and  became  overseer  of  the 
Peter  Hairston  Farm.  On  account  of  disability  he 
was  exempt  from  service  in  the  army  during  the 
war.  After  the  war  he  liought  a  farm  near  Mocks- 
ville,  and  became  a  very  successful  tobacco  raiser 
and  was  noted  as  an  expert  in  curing  the  leaf. 
His  home  was  on  his  farm  in  Davie  County  until 
his  death  at  the  age  of  seventy-one.  He  married 
a  Miss  Shackelford,  who  was  born  in  Pittsylvania 
County,  Virginia,  daughter  of  .John  and  Nancy 
(Shelton)  Shackelford,  also  natives  of  Virginia 
who  removed  to  Davie  County,  North  Carolina, 
where  they  spent  their  last  years.  Mrs.  Arthur 
C.  Eanes  had  six  brothers  named  Terry,  Tavener, 
.Tames,  Rufus,  .John  and  William,  all  of  whom  were 
loyal  defenders  of  the  South  at  the  time  of  the 
war  lietween  the  states.  Her  brother  John  was 
sev-erely  wouuiled  and  granted  a  furlough,  return- 
ing home  and  dving  a  few  weeks  later.  All  the 
other  brothers  died  in  the  army  while  away  from 
home.  Mrs.  Arthur  C.  Eanes  died  at  the  age  of 
forty-three.  Her  children  were:  John,  who  died  In 
infancy;  Susan,  who  became  the  wife  of  Noah 
Rou.se;  James  G.,  a  resident  of  Roanoke,  Virginia; 
William,  who  died  in  Davie  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, at  the  age  of  forty -nine;  Emma,  wife  of 
Borden  Foster ;  Robert,  who  died  in  Roanoke,  Vir- 
ginia;  Ada  Augusta,  who  married  A.  M.  Nesse; 
Thomas  S. :   Charles,  who  died  in  infancy. 

Thomas  S.  Eanes  had  to  be  content  with  such 


advantages  as  were  supplied  by  the  district  schools 
during  his  boyhood,  and  he  spent  much  of  his  time 
working  on  the  farm.  On  leaving  the  homestead 
he  entered  an  apprenticeship  with  James  H. 
Coley  at  Mocksville  and  learned  the  trade  of  brick 
mason.  After  an  apprenticeship  of  three  years,  he- 
went  to  Edgefield,  Soutli  Carolina,  and  was  em- 
ployed liy  D.  K.  Cecil,  a  prominent  contractor  for 
three  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  a  partnersliip  in  1899,  and  the  firm  did 
a  large  Ijusiness  in  contracting  for  all  classes  of 
building  work  until  1903.  In  that  year  Mr.  Eanes 
left  the  partnership  and  located  at  Lexington, 
where  he  continued  the  contracting  business  alone 
until  1907. 

In  that  year  he  established  yards  and  headquart- 
ers for  handling  wood,  coal  and  ice.  At  first  he 
shipped  in  large  quantities  of  ice  to  supply  the 
demand  for  the  local  community,  but  in  1914 
erected  a  modern,  completely  equipped  artificial 
plant,  with  a  capacity  for  manufacturing  all  the 
ice  consumed  in  Lexington  and  over  a  wide  terri- 
tory. From  this  plant  is  now  distributed  ice  both 
for  the  local  demand  and  for  outside  towns  and 
communities  and  in  order  that  his  equipment  and 
capital  may  not  lie  idle  in  the  winter  season  he 
uses  them  for  the  fuel  business.  Mr.  Eanes  is  also 
treasurer  of  the  Davidson  County  Creamery 
Company. 

In  1897  he  married  Miss  Rebecca  Cecil,  who  was 
born  in  Lexington,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Cornelia  (Burke)  Cecil.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Eanes  are  the  parents  of  eight  children ;  Cecil 
Clay,  Thomas  S.,  Jr.,  Samuel  Stanford,  Catherine 
Cornelia,  Charles  Raymond,  Ralph  H.,  Robert  Lee, 
while  Willianr  P.  died  in  infancy.  The  family  are 
all  active  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South.  Mr.  Eames  is  affiliated  with  Lex- 
ington Lodge  No.  473  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  Lexington  Chapter  No.  35  Royal  Arch 
Masons,  Lexington  Council  No.  21  Junior  Order 
United  American  Mechanics,  Lodge  No.  71  of  the 
Knights  of  Pythias  and  the  Patriotic  Sons  of 
America.  While  he  has  been  too  busy  to  take  an 
active  part  in  politics,  he  has  always  performed  his 
duty  at  the  polls  as  a  voter  and  gave  two  years 
as  a  member  of  the  Lexington  Board  of  Aldermen. 

Brooke  Gwathhet  Empie.  About  the  time  he 
completed  his  literary  studies  Brooke  Gwathmey 
Empie  was  called  home  by  the  death  of  his  f  ther, 
and  for  nearly  twenty  years  applied  himself  to 
various  business  affairs  before  taking  up  the  study 
and  the  practice  of  law.  Since  then  he  has  been 
recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
Wilmington  bar,  and  has  also  made  a  most  i  'dlt- 
able  record   in   public  service. 

He  was  born  at  Wilmington  November  8,  1856, 
a  son  of  Adam  and  Virginia  (Gwathmey)  Fmpie. 
His  father  was  for  many  years  a  successful  law- 
yer at  Wilmington.  The  son  attended  p  ivate 
schools,  the  Colston  Military  Academy,  the  Bethel 
Military  Academy  at  Warrenton,  A^irginia,  and 
at  the  end  of  his  four  rears  cour.se  was  graduated 
in    1876. 

The  death  of  his  father  occurred  about  that 
time,  and  in  1878  he  entered  the  service  of  the 
Bank  of  New  Hanover  at  Wilmington  as  mes- 
senger. Enthusiasm  and  diligence  in  his  work 
have  been  the  characteristics  of  Mr.  Empie  "s 
career  throughout.  He  was  promoted  teller  in  the 
bank,  and  filled  that  position  until  1885.  For  the 
next  six  or  seven  years  he  was  in  the  cotton  ex- 
port Inisiuess.     An  important  service  he  rendered 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


25E 


the  cotton  iiulustry  was  his  efforts  to  secure  equi- 
talile  freight  rates  for  the  small  shippers  of  cotton, 
and  he  busied  himself  with  this  matter  for  some 
time  during  the  year  189o.  Tor  three  years  Mr. 
Emjiie  was  connected  with  the  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany   at    Lynchlmrg,    Virginia. 

In  the  meantime  he  had  begun  the  study  of 
law,  and  spent  the  year  1897-98  in  the  law  de- 
jiartment  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 
He  was  graduated  in  June,  1898,  and  in  the  mean- 
time, in  the  preceding  February,  had  been  liv  sed 
to  practice.  Since  then  he  has  enjoyed  a  high 
standing   at   the   Wilmington    bar. 

In  1905  Mr.  Enipie  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  State  Senate  from  the  district  comprising  New 
Hanover  and  Brunswick  counties,  and  his  con- 
stituency returned  liim  to  the  office  in  1909.  For 
the  term  1915-16  he  was  elected  recorder  ■  "  the 
Criminal  Court  in  Wilmington  City  and  New 
Hanover  county,  and  in  that  position  he  al.o  has 
civil  jurisdiction  in  contracts  comprehending  all 
claims  rccognizalile  by  justices  of  the  peace  up 
to  the   value  of  i)il,006  and  torts  up  to   $500. 

Mr.  Empie  has  been  a  member  of  the  Alpha 
Tau  Omega  college  fraternity  since  1876.  His 
church   is    the    St.    James    Ei^iscopal. 

On  September  5,  1905,  he  married  Mary  Allen 
Poisson. 

John  Columbus  Hammack.  M.  D.  After  gi-adu- 
ating  from  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons in  1895,  Doctor  Hammack  located  for  prac- 
tice at  Walkertowu,  and  his  reputation  and  serv- 
ice have  been  constantly  increasing  in  the  suc- 
cessive years.  Doctor  Hammack  is  a  physician  and 
surgeon  of  high  qualifications,  and  in  his  profes- 
sional career  he  has  measured  uji  to  the  high  at- 
tainments of  the  family  ever  since  it  became  iden- 
tified with  this  part  of  Western  North  Carolina. 

Doctor  Hammack  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Kern- 
ersville  Township  of  Forsyth  County,  a  son  of 
Thomas  B.  Hammack,  a  grandson  of  John  Ham- 
mack, and  a  gi-eat-grandson  of  the  original  immi- 
grant of  the  family.  The  great-grandfather  was 
a  native  of  England  and  on  coming  to  America 
settled  in  Culpeper  County,  Virginia.  Doctor 
Hammack  "s  grandfather,  John  Hammack,  was 
born  at  CHilpeper,  Virginia,  and  as  a  young  man 
came  to  North  Carolina  and  bought  a  tract  of  land 
in  Middle  Fork  Township  of  Forsyth  County.  This 
land  he  operated  with  the  aid  of  his  slaves  and  he 
lived  there  prosperous  and  contented  until  his 
death  at  the  age  of  eighty-three.  He  was  twice 
married.  By  his  first  wife  he  had  three  children 
named  Robert,  Elizabeth  ajid  Martha.  For  his 
second  wife  he  married  Emily  Wilkerson,  who  was 
a  lifelong  resident  of  North  Carolina  and  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-nine.  Her  five  children  were 
named  Thomas  B.,  John  Henry,  James  A.,  George 
W.  and  Nancy. 

Thomas  B.  Hammack,  father  of  Doctor  Ham- 
mack, was  born  in  Middle  Fork  Township  of 
Forsyth  County  in  1838.  He  grew  up  on  the 
farm  and  during  the  war  between  the  states  of  the 
Confederate  government  assigned  him  to  one  of 
the  factories  for  the  manufacture  of  salpetre, 
which  was  extensively  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
anmiunition.  Upon  leaving  his  father's  home  he 
bought  land  in  Kernersville  Township,  lived  there 
many  years,  and  finally  sold  ami  bought  another 
place  in  Salem  Chapel  Township.  There  he  was 
successfully  engaged  in  general  farming  until  after 
the  death  of  his  wife  and  he  is  now  spending  his 
declining   years    in    the    home    of    his    sou,    Doctor 


Hammack.  Thomas  B.  Hammack  married  Adeline 
Young,  who  was  boru  in  Forsyth  County.  Her 
father,  Jesse  Young,  was  boru  in  Stokes  County, 
North  Carolina,  and  was  the  son  of  a  native 
Englishnmn,  who  on  coming  to  America  located 
along  tlie  Dan  River  near  the  mouth  of  Town 
Creek  in  North  Carolina.  There  he  improved  a 
farm  and  made  it  his  home  until  his  death.  Jesse 
Young  bought  land  near  the  j^resent  site  of  Dennis 
in  Forsyth  County,  and  was  a  general  farmer  and 
before  the  war  used  his  slaves  to  cultivate  his 
crops.  His  death  occurred  there  at  the  age  of 
eighty-three.  Jesse  Young  married  Anna  Young, 
who  died  when  in  her  ninety-ninth  year.  She 
reared  six  children  named  Rebecca,  J.  Davis,  Pau- 
liue,  Mary,  Adeline  and  James.  Mrs.  Adeline 
Hannnaek  died  in  1911,  the  mother  of  two  sons, 
Dr.  John  C^olumbus  and  Jesse  Davis. 

Doctor  Hammack  acquired  his  early  education 
in  the  district  schools,  subsequently  attended  Dal- 
ton  Institute  and  Liberty  Institute.  For  four 
years  he  was  a  teacher  and  then  entered  the  rail- 
way mail  service.  After  six  months  he  became 
discontented  with  that  work  and  sought  a  better 
means  of  using  his  talents  to  advantage.  Taking 
up  the  study  of  medicine  lie  attended  lectures  in 
the  Baltimore  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons, 
where  he  was  graduated  M.  D.  in  1895  and  in  the 
same  year  located  at  Walkertowu.  Doctor  Ham- 
mack has  always  kept  up  with  the  progress  of  his, 
profession  and  has  associated  with  prominent  men 
in  the  profession  and  has  also  made  use  of  medi- 
cal literature  to  keep  himself  well  informed.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Forsyth  County,  the  North 
Carolina  State  Medical  societies  and  the  Southern 
Medical  Association  and  the  American  Medical 
Association.  Fraternally  he  is  atliliated  with 
Lodge  No.  449,  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order 
of  Elks,  at  Winston-Salem.  He  is  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
and  Mrs.  Hammack  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  Doctor  Hammack  was  married  in  1898 
to  Olive  Fiddler.  She  was  born  in  Winston-Salem, 
daughter  of  William  H.  and  Fannie  (Charles) 
Fiddler.  They  have  two  children,  William  Thomas 
and  Annie. 

Walter  Edward  Yopp.  One  of  the  old  and  re- 
lialile  business  houses  of  Wilmington  is  the  under- 
taking establishment  of  Walter  Edward  Yopp, 
which  has  been  favorably  known  to  the  people  of 
this  city  since  1893.  Mr.  Yopp  has  been  a  lifelong 
resident  of  Wilmington,  and  not  only  has  a  substan- 
tial reputation  as  an  honorable  man  of  business, 
liut  is  widely  known  in  fraternal  circles,  particu- 
larly in  connection  with  the  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics. 

Walter  E.  Yopp  was  born  at  Wilmington,  North 
Carolina,  June  20,  1860,  and  is  a  son  of  Samuel 
Larkins  and  Georgiana  (Reaves)  Yopp.  His  father, 
who  was  a  cabinet  maker  by  vocation,  was  engaged 
for  a  number  of  years  in  the  undertaking  business, 
and  was  a  citizen  who  was  resjiected  and  esteemed 
by  the  people  of  his  community.  The  education  of 
Walter  E.  Yopp  was  secured  in  the  Wilmington 
public  schools,  after  leaving  which  he  entered  upon 
his  business  career  as  a  funeral  director  and  the 
business  has  since  been  developed  along  lines  that 
make  it  a  necessary  commercial  asset.  Mr.  Yopp 
has  installed  the  most  modern  equiimient  for  the 
reverent  care  of  the  dead,  and  his  house  is  up-to- 
date  and  com]dete  in  all  its  appointments.  He  is 
.secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Bellview  Cemetery 
Company.     A   number  of   other  business  interests 


256 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


have  attracted  liis  abilities,  and  he  is  a  director  of 
the  Co-Operative  Building  and  Loan  Association. 

Mr.  Yo]ip  has  been  a  prominent  figure  in  the 
public  life  of  Wilmington,  having  served  as  alder- 
man for  four  terms,  or  eight  years.  In  1912  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Board  of  County 
Commissioners,  and  in  1916  was  elected  for  another 
four-year  term,  his  public  services  having  been  of 
the  highest  character.  As  a  fraternalist  he  belongs 
to  Wilmington  Lodge  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  the  Woodmen  of  the  World,  the  Indepen- 
dent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Improved  Order  of 
Red  Men,  and  the  Junior  Order  of  United  American 
Mechanics.  Of  this  latter  order  he  was  the  founder 
at  Wilmington,  and  has  represented  the  local  lodge 
in  the  grand  lodge  of  the  state  for  nineteen  years. 
He  is  a  progressive  and  honorable  business  man 
and  a  citizen  who  has  always  been  ready  to  do  his 
share  in  advancing  the  interests  of  Wilmington 
and  its  people. 

On  April  29,  1891,  Mr.  Yopp  was  married  to 
Miss  Emma  H.  Donnelly,  and  they  are  the  parents 
of  three  children :  Varina  A.,  Emma  Donnelly  and 
Walter  Edward,  Jr.  With  his  family  Mr.  Yopp 
belongs  to  the  Fifth  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  of  which  he  is  a  member  of  the  board  of 
trustees. 

Charles  Eugene  McIntosh  is  a  teacher  by  pro- 
fession, is  now  superintendent  of  the  city  schools 
of  Hickory,  Catawba  County,  and  by  his  achieve- 
ments and  attainments  has  gained  a  first  rank 
among  the  school  men  of  North  Carolina. 

It  is  a  work  in  which  he  is  well  qualified  both 
by  talents  and  experience.  He  began  teaching  in 
early  youth,  acquired  his  liberal  education  in  the 
intervals  of  schoolroom  work,  and  has  adapted  and 
coordinated  his  individual  training  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage of  his  professional  career.  He  is  of  the 
energetic  and  progressive  type  of  educators  who  is 
helping  his  native  state  to  realize  the  vastly  in- 
creased responsibilities  of  the  school  system  in  its 
relation  to  the  wholesome  and  thorough  training 
and  equipment  of  the  youth  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Mcintosh  belongs  to  one  of  the  old  families 
of  Gaston  County,  originally  part  of  Lincoln 
County.  He  was  born  near  Stanley  in  Gaston 
County,  a  son  of  Joseph  Craig  and  Elvira  Eliza- 
beth (Davis)  Mcintosh.  His  mother  is  deceased 
and  his  father  now  lives  at  Denver  in  Lincoln 
County.  His  grandfather  William  Mcintosh  was 
born  in  Scotland  and  some  time  between  1800  and 
1820  came  with  his  mother  from  that  country  and 
settled  in  what  is  now  the  northeast  part  of  Gaston 
County.  William  Mcintosh  subsequently  saw  active 
service  in  the  Confederate  army  throughout  the  war 
between  the  states.  Joseph  Craig  Mcintosh  was 
born  in  18.57,  and  for  many  years  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Denver  in  Lincoln  County,  where  Professor 
Mcintosh  was  reared. 

Charles  E.  Mcintosh  was  reared  in  a  home  of 
substantial  comforts  and  of  high  ideals,  but  was 
not  given  a  generous  allowance  which  permitted 
him  to  finish  a  university  course  consecutively. 
It  is  probable  therefore  that  he  received  much 
more  practical  benefit  from  his  school  training  than 
many  who  passed  through  school  without  a  definite 
purpose  to  guide  them  in  appl.ving  their  knowledge. 
He  taught  school  three  years  before  he  entered  the 
University  of  North  Carolina,  and  his  course  in  the 
university  was  not  consecutive.  By  teaching  in  the 
meantime  his  graduation  from  the  State  University 
was  delayed  until  1911.  During  his  last  year  at 
Chapel  Hill  he  was  tutor  of  history  in  the  fresh- 


man class.  For  two  years  he  was  head  of  the 
department  of  history  of  the  city  schools  of  Dur- 
ham, for  three  years  was  chief  clerk  in  the  office 
of  the  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction  at 
Raleigh,  and  in  July,  1916,  he  came  to  Hickory  to 
take  the  position  of  superintendent  of  city  schools. 
His  presence  at  Hickory  means  much  to  the  school 
system  of  a  city  which  is  rapidly  becoming  one  of 
tlie  leading  industrial  centers  of  the  state. 

Mr.  Mcintosh  has  never  been  an  exponent  and 
exemplar  of  the  dry  as  dust  curricula  of  public 
school  work.  He  has  shown  a  pi'actical  interest 
in  every  means  and  method  by  which  the  school 
becomes  a  vital  part  of  community  life.  He  has 
been  interested  in  athletics,  Ijut  more  than  any- 
thing else  deserves  credit  for  a  movement  which  he 
originated  while  a  student  in  university.  He  was 
the  mainspring  and  founder  of  what  is  now  known 
as  the  State  High  School  Debating  Union.  That 
began  with  a  very  few  schools  as  mendjers,  but 
in  1917  it  embraces  about  S-jO  schools  in  North 
Carolina,  and  more  are  constantly  being  added. 
This  feature  of  public  school  life  has  proved  a 
most  wliolesome  influence  in  tlie  educational  affairs 
of  North  Carolina,  and  is  a  source  of  practical 
benefit  and  inspiration  to  thousands  of  students 
as  well  as  the  public  generally.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  the  organization  of  the  North  Carolina  De- 
bating Union  has  since  been  copied  as  a  model  by 
similar  state  organizations  throughout  the  country. 

Mr.  Mcintosh  married  Miss  Linda  Shuford  of 
Catawba  County.  Her  father,  Hon.  Alonzo  Craig 
Shuford  is  a  former  congressman  and  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  members  of  the  pioneer  Shu- 
ford family  of  the  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mcintosh 
have  two  sons,  Craig  Shuford  Mcintosh  and  Charles 
Eugene  Mcintosh,  Jr. 

WiLLUM  N.  PoiNDEXTER,  a  tobacco  manufac- 
turer of  Forsyth  County,  is  a  member  of  a  famUy 
that  has  been  identified  with  this  section  of  the 
state  since  colonial  days. 

The  Poindexters  came  originally  from  France. 
His  great-grandfather  was  named  David  Poindex- 
ter.  He  was  a  native  of  France  and  in  colonial 
times  crossed  the  ocean  to  America  with  two 
brothers.  One  of  these  brothers  settled  in  Vir- 
ginia and  another  in  Mississippi.  David  Poin- 
dexter  fouglit  with  the  colonists  for  independence 
in  the  Revolutionary  war.  He  jiurchased  some  land 
bordering  the  Dan  River  in  Western  North  Caro- 
lina in  Stokes  County,  and  spent  many  happy  and 
prosperous  years  in  that  community.  He  acquired 
slaves  and  used  them  to  develop  and  cultivate  his 
plantation. 

William  Poindexter,  grandfather  of  William  N., 
was  born  in  Stokes  County  and  in  his  early  man- 
hood bought  some  land  near  Germanton  in  that 
county  and  was  also  a  slave  owner.  He  fought 
with  the  American  army  in  the  War  of  1812. 
His  death  occurred  at  the  age  of  seventy-four. 
William  Poindexter  married  Eliza  Nelson,  who 
was  born  at  Germanton  in  Stokes  County.  Her 
father,  Isaac  Nelson,  married  Susan  Scales,  of  the 
well  known  and  prominent  Scales  family,  dating 
from  the  pioneer  epoch  of  North  Carolina.  Both 
William  Poindexter  and  his  wife  lived  to  a  good 
old  age.  They  reared  nine  children,  Susan  Frances, 
Mary  Ann,  JElizabeth,  David,  William,  Caroline, 
Lena,  Martha  and  John. 

David  Poindexter,  father  of  William  N.  Poin- 
dexter, was  born  in  Sauratown  Township  of  Stokes 
County  in  1838.  He  was  well  educated  in  the 
Masonic  school  at  Germanton  and  as  a  voung  man 


THE  V'-' 
'PUP' 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


ioi 


in  18(31  enlisted  in  the  Twenty-first  Eegiment  of 
North  Carolina  troops  and  saw  some  active  service 
in  the  Confederate  army.  Besides  land  he  inher- 
ited he  purchased  other  tracts  in  Sauratowu  Town- 
ship and  was  a  successful  general  farmer  there 
until  his  death.  He  married  Susan  C.  Davis,  a 
native  of  Halifax  County,  Virginia.  She  died  at 
the  early  age  of  thirty-one,  having  three  children, 
Eliza  Sue,  Martha  Sherman  and  William  N. 

William  N.  Poindexter  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
Sauratowu  Township  of  Stokes  County  and  had 
good  advantages  during  his  youth.  He  attended 
the  district  schools,  the  high  school  at  Germantou 
and  the  Baltimore  Business  College  in  Maryland. 
His  early  inclinations  were  for  a  business  career, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  became  a  travel- 
ing salesman  mid  sold  goods  all  over  South  Caro- 
lina, Georgia  and  Alabama.  This  was  his  work 
until  his  marriage,  when  he  located  at  Walkertowii 
and  became  actively  associated  with  his  father-in- 
law  in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco.  He  is  still 
connected  with  the  Sullivan  tobacco  interests  and 
has  done  much  to  build  them  up  and  maintain  them 
at  a  jioint  wiiore  they  contribute  to  the  fame  of 
this  section  as  a  tobacco  producing  center. 

The  business  enterprise  of  the  inconspicuous 
hamlet  of  Walkertown  is  naturally  considered  iu 
the  larger  group  of  industrial  connections  of  Win- 
ston-Salem, and  it  is  with  that  city  that  Mr.  Poin- 
dexter 's  name  is  properly  associated  as  a  business 
man  and  citizen.  He  has  been  active  in  the 
business  life  of  Winston  and  has  been  one  of  those 
live  ajid  intelligent  men  who  have  promoted  its 
growth  and  develojiment  so  actively  within  recent 
decades. 

Mr.  Poindexter  married  December  16,  1890,  Miss 
Elizabeth  E..  Sullivan,  who  was  born  at  old  Walker- 
town,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  D.  and  Elizabeth 
(Moir)  Sullivan,  elsewliere  referred  to.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Poindexter  have  three  children,  named 
Nathaniel  Sullivan,  Bettie  Moir  and  William  N., 
.Jr.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Poindexter  are  active 
members  !of  the  Methoilist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  and  for  several  years  he  has  served  on  the 
official  board  and  for  nineteen  years  as  superin- 
tendent of  the  Sunday  school.  Fraternally  he  is 
affiliated  with  Walkertown  Lodge  No.  167,  Junior 
Order  of  United  American  Mechanics.  The  Poin- 
dexter home  is  one  of  the  very  beautiful  places  in 
the  vicinity  of  Winston.  It  is  situated  in  Salem 
Chapel  Township,  a  mile  from  Walkertown  station, 
and  the  large  and  commodious  house  is  framed  in 
a  landscape  of  trees,  shrubbery  and  an  environment 
which  in  itself  has  every  element  of  beauty  and 
good  taste. 

Nathanibx  D.  Sullivan  was  a  conspicuous 
figure  in  the  tobacco  industry  of  Western  North 
Carolina.  The  Sullivan  family  may  be  considered 
as  among  the  pioneers  in  developing  that  business 
in  what  is  now  one  of  the  most  famous  tobacco 
growing  and  manufacturing  districts  of  America. 
The  home  of  Nathaniel  D.  Sullivan  for  nearly  all 
his  years  was  at  Walkertown,  but  though  that 
was  the  center  of  his  manufacturing  enterprise, 
he  was  even  more  a  factor  in  building  up  the 
community  in  and  around  Winston-Salem.  He 
was  enterprising,  industrious  and  a  very  popular 
and  successful  business  man,  all  his  dealings  being 
characterized   by   the  strictest  honesty. 

He  was  born  in  Belew  Creek  Township  in  what 
is  now  Forsyth  County,  in  1828.  His  father  was 
born  near  the  present  site  of  Walkertown  in  what 
was  then  Stokes  County  and  wa.s  of  pioneer  stock 

Vol.  IV— 17 


in  North  Carolina.  The  father  was  a  farmer  and 
was  one  of  the  first  tobacco  manufacturers  in  the 
Piedmont  district  of  North  Carolina.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Alsee  Carr  Vance,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  well  known  and  prominent  Vance  fam- 
ily of  North  Carolina.  Mr.  Sullivan's  father  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five  and  his  mother  at  about 
fifty. 

Nathaniel  D.  Sullivan  spent  his  early  life  on  a 
farm  and  at  a  very  early  age  began  assisting  his 
father  in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco.  He  learned 
that  business  in  all  its  details  and  for  years  there 
was  none  considered  a  more  expert  autliority  on 
all  lines  of  the  tobacco  industry.  In  18.38  he  estab- 
lished his  factory  at  Walkertown  and  the  Sulli- 
van tobacco  interests  have  been  the  only  sustain- 
ing interest  in  that  community.  Walkertown  is 
now  kept  on  the  map  merely  by  the  presence  of  a 
tobacco  factory.  Naturally  Mr.  Sullivan 's  business 
affairs  were  of  such  importance  as  to  gi-avitate 
toward  the  larger  center  of  Winston,  and  he  more 
and  more  gave  liberally  of  his  time  and  means 
to  the  upbuilding  of  that  chief  city  of  Western 
North  Carolina  He  was  prominent  in  business 
affairs  there  and  a  silent  partner  iu  several  mer- 
cantile houses 

However,  he  continued  a  resident  of  his  estate 
at  Walkertown  luitil  his  death  in  1910  in  his 
eighty-second  year.  He  married  Elizabeth  Moir, 
a  daughter  of  Robert  Moir,  who  was  born  at 
Forres,  Scotland,  October  15,  1796,  and  came  to 
America  when  a  young  man.  Robert  Moir  married 
Elizabeth  Perry  Porter,  who  was  born  in  Madison 
County,  Virginia,  May  10,  1801.  Robert  Moir  ac- 
quired a  plantation  near  Leeksville  in  Rockingham 
County,  North  Carolina,  and  at  the  time  of  the 
war  had  fifty  slaves.  His  home  was  on  his  farm 
in   Rockingham   County  until   his   death. 

Mrs.  Nathaniel  D.  Sullivan  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years.  Her  two  children  were:  Sally 
H.,  who  married  Philip  Henry  Booe,  and  Elizabeth 
R.,  now  wife  of  William  N.  Poindexter.  The  late 
Mr.  Sullivan  and  his  wife  were  active  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

William  Thomas  Lek.  It  is  not  given  to  every 
individual  to  excel  both  in  business  and  politics. 
Every  line  of  endeavor  demands  certain  specific 
talents,  and  few  there  are  who  have  so  many  dif- 
ferentiating ones  or  are  able  to  adapt  those  they 
possess  so  as  to  make  them  eminently  fitting  for 
diverging  avenues  of  progress.  Yet  there  are 
found  men  in  each  community  whose  names  are 
equally  well  known  in  political  and  in  business 
circles  and  perhaps  no  one  who  can  honestly  lay 
claim  to  this  distinction  is  more  widely  recognized 
as  entitled  to  the  honor  than  is  William  Thomas 
Lee,  of  Waynesville  and  Raleigh,  successful  busi- 
ness man  over  a  long  period  of  years,  and  newly 
reelected  corporation  commissioner  of  North  Caro- 
lina. 

Mr.  Lee  was  born  August  14,  1858,  on  Jona- 
than 's  Creek,  near  Waynesville,  Haywood  County, 
North  Carolina.  His  father,  Henry  C.  Lee,  was 
a  native  of  Cabarrus  County,  but  moved  to  Hay- 
wood County  in  1856  and  settled  in  the  Jonathan's 
Creek  Valley.  He  was  a  prominent  and  successful 
merchant  and  farmer,  and  married  Margaret 
Henry,  a  daughter  of  Lorenzo  Henry,  of  Haywood 
County.  As  a  boy  William  T.  Lee  was  sent  to  the 
common  schools  of  the  county,  where  he  received 
the  rudiments  of  an  education.  He  further  pursued 
his  studies  at  the  Waynesville  Academy,  thus  re- 
ceiving a  substantial  education  that  has  stood  him 


258 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


in  good  stead  in  all  the  different  experiences  he 
has  met  with  siuee.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he 
engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  at  Waynesville, 
which  he  has  continued  without  interruption  to 
the  present  time.  Mr.  Lee  has  always  been  closely 
identified  with  aU  matters  pertaining  to  Haywood 
County.  He  has,  also,  been  deeply  interested  in 
all  the  affairs  of  Waynesville.  He  has  held  the 
office  of  mayor  of  the  city,  as  well  as  those-  of 
treasurer  and  alderman;  in  1903  was  appointed 
by  Governor  Aycock  as  a  member  of  the  commis- 
sion ordered  by  the  Legislature  to  examine  the 
condition  of  the  Atlantic  &  North  Carolina  Eail- 
road,  and  later  served  as  president  of  the  Waynes- 
ville Board  of  Trade  and  of  the  Haywood  County 
Fair  Association.  However,  Mr.  Lee's  interest 
in  public  and  political  affairs  has  been  largely  an 
unselfish  interest,  and  he  has  rarely  sought  political 
honors  or  preferment  for  himself.  Many  public 
men  of  the  state,  who  have  been  honored  by  the 
democratic  party  and  who  have  honored  tliat 
party,  have  tested  the  quality  and  the  value  of 
his  friendship  and  have  found  it  lacking  in  no 
particular.  For  twenty  years  consecutively  he  was 
a  member  of  the  State  Democratic  Executive 
Conmiittee  from  the  Tenth  District.  He  was 
chairman  of  the  Tenth  Congressional  District 
Democratic  Exeeutiee  Committee  and  managed 
the  campaign  of  his  lifelong  friend,  Hon.  W.  T. 
Crawford,  in  1906,  when  Mr.  Crawford  defeated 
the  present  congressman  from  that  district,  Hon. 
J.  J.  Britt.  Mr.  Lee  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  North  Carolina  Legislature  from  Haywood 
County  in  1894,  the  year  in  which  the  fusiouists 
made  such  a  clean  sweep  in  the  state,  and  was  one 
of  the  lonesome  minority  in  that  Legislature  that 
made  such  a  determined  fight  against  the  fusion- 
ists '  plans.  He  had  enacted  for  his  county  at  that 
session  tlie  first  dispensary  law  adopted  in  this 
state,  establishing  a  dispensary  at  Waynesville, 
superseding  the  bar  rooms,  which  was  operated 
finite  successfully  until  the  time  came  for  the  dis- 
pensary, in  turn,  to  give  way  to  state  wide  pro- 
hibition. Mr.  Lee  was  again  elected  to  the 
Legislature  in  1909,  and  in  1910  secured  the 
nomination  for  corporation  commissioner  in  a 
state-wide  contest  with  two  distinguished  North 
Carolinians,  and  was  duly  elected.  In  1916  he 
stood  upon  his  record,  and  this  was  sufficient  to 
gain  him  reelection  to  the  same  important  posi- 
tion. 

In  speaking  of  Mr.  Lee's  career,  the  State 
Journal,  of  May  5,  1916,  says  in  part:  "Hon. 
W.  T.  Lee  (Tom  Lee,  as  he  is  familiarly  known 
to  a  large  number  of  business,  personal  and 
political  friends)  has  one  unusual  claim  to  dis- 
tinction. It  is  some  achievement  for  a  man  to 
succeed  in  business,  and  in  the  same  business,  in 
the  same  town,  for  thirty-odd  consecutive  years. 
He  has  for  many  years  conducted  at  Waynesville, 
Haywood  County,  North  Carolina,  one  of  the 
largest  mercantile  businesses  in  the  tier  of  counties 
west  of  Asheville,  and  while  he  has  not  made 
enough  money  to  become  an  undesirable  citizen, 
it  may  be  fairly  said  that  he  has  been  a  successful 
business  man.  It  is  some  distinction  for  a  man 
to  have  been  successfully  associated  in  an  in- 
fluential way  in  the  management  and  direction 
of  public  affairs  for  a  long  period  of  years.  Time 
is  the  acid  test  of  the  genuine,  and  a  position  of 
influence  in  public  affairs  can  only  be  maintained 
for  a  long  period  of  time  when  it  is  based  on  an 
unselfish  ambition  to  serve.  It  takes  an  old  in- 
habitant to  remember  the  time  when  Tom  Lee  did 


not  have  an  influential  part  in  the  public  affairs 
of  his  county  and  district,  and  the  people  of  his 
county  and  district  have  never  failed  to  stand  by 
him  in  any  enterprise  he  has  undertaken,  or  to 
support  liim  in  any  political  ambition.  Mr.  Lee 's 
distinction  docs  not  rest  upon  his  success  in  either 
of  these  wortliy  lines  of  effort,  but  in  his  consistent 
and  continuous  success  in  both  of  them  together. 
It  is  quite  generally  understood  that  business  and 
politics  do  not  mix,  but  it  is  one  of  Mr.  Lee's 
political  maxims  that  '  politics  is  business, '  and 
that  success  in  the  management  of  public  affairs 
require  the  same  high  standards  of  candor  and 
fair  dealing  that  is  recjuired  for  sustained  success 
in  business.  Another  of  his  maxims  is  that  'you 
can  fool  yourself  easier  that  you  can  fool  anybody 
else. '  He  has  great  faith  in  the  ability  of  the 
people  to  distinguish  the  genuine  from  the  spur- 
ious. ' ' 

Mr.  Lee  was  married  in  1883  to  Miss  Margaret 
Ehinehart,  of  Waynesville,  They  have  nine 
children  four  boys  and  five  girls  all  living. 

John  W.  McCrary.  An  honored  and  highly 
esteemed  citizen  of  Lexington,  John  W.  McCrary, 
president  of  the  Commercial  &  Savings  Bank,  was 
for  many  years  a  prominent  factor  in  the  mercan- 
tile life  of  Davidson  County,  but  is  now  living 
retired  from  active  pursuits,  enjoying  to  the  ut- 
most the  fruits  of  his  successful  and  creditable 
business  career.  A  native  of  Davidson  County,  he 
was  born,  August  3,  1839,  on  a  farm  lying  two 
miles  from  Lexington,  on  the  Salem  road,  in  the 
same  locality  that  the  birth  of  his  fatlier,  John 
McCrary,  occurred.  His  paternal  grandfather,  who 
married  a  Miss  Yount,  was  of  Scoteli-Irish  an- 
cestry, and  after  settling  in  Davidson  County  was 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  on  the  plantation 
where  the  bodies  of  both  himself  and  wife  are 
liuried,  that  plot  having  been  reserved  for  a  fam- 
ily burying  ground. 

His  father,  John  McCrary,  born  and  brought  up 
on  a  farm,  succeeded  to  the  free  and  independent 
occupation  to  which  lie  was  reared,  and  spent  his 
entire  life  of  fifty-two  years  on  a  Davidson  County 
farm.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Sarah 
Eaker,  was  a  life-long  resident  of  Davidson  County. 
She  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-three  years,  her  death 
being  the  result  of  an  accident.  She  was  the 
mother  of  nine  children,  four  sons  and  five 
daughters. 

In  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth,  John  W. 
McCrary  attended  the  district  schools  and  worked 
on  the  farm.  He  subsequently  served  an  appren- 
ticeship at  the  cabinet  maker 's  trade,  and  being 
endowed  with  much  mechanical  ability  and  in- 
genuity, he  became  an  expert  workman.  Going  to 
Thomasville,  Davidson  County,  in  1861,  Mr.  Mc- 
Crary embarked  in  the  cabinet-maker  and  retail 
furniture  business,  with  which  he  was  there  iden- 
tified for  four  years.  During  the  Civil  war,  he  was 
not  in  active  service  in  the  army,  but  served  in 
the  Home  Guard,  being  commissioned  lieutenant 
of  his  company.  Coming  to  Lexington  in  1865, 
Mr.  McC>rary  was  here  actively  and  successfully 
engaged  in  the  retail  furniture  and  undertaking 
business  for  a  period  of  fifty  years,  being  one  of 
the  leading  merchants  of  the  community.  He  was 
elected  county  treasurer  of  Davidson  County  in 
1880  and  was  re-elected  from  time  to  time  and 
served  in  this  official  position  for  eighteen  years. 
He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

Mr.  McCrary  married,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  Drusilla  Leonard,  who  was  born  in  Davidson 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


259 


County,  five  miles  uorth  of  Lexixngton,  November 
20,  1S4U,  being  a  daugliter  of  Daniel  and  Catherine 
(Wagner)  Leonard,  and  grand-daughter  of  Val- 
entine Leonard,  Jr.  Her  great-grandfather,  Val- 
entine Leonard,  Sr.,  born  October  lo,  1718,  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Eevolutionary  war,  and  partici- 
pated in  the  battle  of  Guilford  Court  House.  Later 
he  was  shot  by  the  tories.  He  was  a  farmer  in 
Davidson  County,  where  the  birth  of  his  son,  Val- 
entine Leonard,  Jr.,  occurred  in  1762.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  McCrary  reared  five  children,  namely:  Lou, 
wife  of  Kev.  L.  E.  Thompson,  has  four  children, 
Edna  E.,  Hartwell,  John  McCrary,  and  Earl  Mc- 
Crary; Theodore  Earl;  John  Kaymond;  Clayton 
M.,  widow  of  William  H.  Walker,  has  one  child, 
Katheriue;  and  J.  Edna  McCi-ary.  Mrs.  McCrary 
passed  to  the  life  beyond  May  26,  1915.  She  was 
a  consistent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  to  which  Mr.  McCrary  also  belongs, 
and  toward  the  support  of  which  he  is  a  liberal 
contributor.  He  has  always  been  an  active  and 
faithful  member  and  loyal  to  all  its  institutions, 
supporting  its  colleges  and  asylums. 

Hon.  Theodore  Earl  McCrary.  A  member  of 
the  Korth  Carolina  bar,  Hon.  Theodore  E.  Mc- 
Crary, of  Lexington,  is  widely  known  as  one  of 
the  leading  attorneys  of  Davidson  County.  He  is  a 
native-born  citizen,  his  birth  having  occurred, 
June  5,  1867,  in  Lexington.  He  is  a  son  of  John 
W.  and  Drusilla  (Leonard)  McCrary,  and  a 
brother  of  Hon.  John  B.  McCrary. 

As  a  boy,  he  received  excellent  educational  ad- 
vantages, after  leaving  the  public  schools  of  Lex- 
ington having  continued  his  studies  at  the  South- 
ern Normal  School,  an  excellent  educational  insti- 
tution, located  in  Lexington.  Mr.  McCrary  sub- 
sequently attended  old  Trinity  College,  at  which 
he  graduated  in  1888,  with  the  B.  A.  degree,  and 
in  1907  entered  the  law  department  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina.  Being  admitted  to  prac- 
tice in  1908,  he  became  associated  with  his  brother, 
John  R.  McCrary,  under  the  firm  name  of  McCrary 
&  McCrary,  and  has  since  been  actively  and  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  his  professional  work. 

Since  easting  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Ben- 
jamin Harrison,  Mr.  McCrary  has  been  a  stalwart 
supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  republican  party, 
and  influential  in  public  affairs.  He  was  appointed 
postmaster  at  Lexington  by  President  Harrison, 
and  served  four  years.  He  was  again  appointed 
to  the  same  position  by  President  McKinley,  but 
resigned  the  office  at  the  end  of  ten  months.  He 
then  became  chief  office  deputy  marshal  in  the 
office  of  the  United  States  marshal  at  Greensboro, 
North  Carolina,  which  position  he  held  for  nine 
years. 

In  1908  Mr.  McCrary  was  elected  as  a  represen- 
tative to  the  State  Legislature,  as  member  of  the 
House  of  Bepresentatives,  in  which  he  served  ac- 
ceptably, being  ever  mindful  of  the  highest  and 
best  interests  of  his  constituents.  He  has  served 
as  a  delegate  to  numerous  county,  district  and 
state  conventions,  and  was  a  delegate  from  the 
Seventh  Congi'essional  District  to  the  National 
Bepublican  Convention  held  in  Chicago  in  the 
year  1908.  For  a  number  of  years  he  has  served 
his  party  as  chairman  of  its  county  executive  com- 
mittee, and  in  1914  was  candidate  for  Congress 
from  the  Seventh  Congressional  District. 

On  February  21,  189-1,  Mr.  McCrary  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Etta  Shemwell,  who  was  born 
in  Lexington,  June  30,  1870,  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
O.  M.  Shemwell.     She  died  January  2,  1901,  leav- 


ing one  child,  Helen,  now  attending  the  Greensboro 
College  for  Women.  Mr.  McCrary  married  second, 
Mrs.  Ida  (Jordan)  Beeson,  of  Guilt ord  County, 
l^orth  Carolina.  Mr.  McCrary  is  identified  with 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Cnurch,  South,  and  is 
loyal  in  the  support  of  its  institutions.  His  wife 
is  a  Presbyterian  and  active  in  local  charitable 
movements  and  local  movements  for  the  betterment 
of  society. 

Hon..  John  Raymond  McCrary.  Public  spirited, 
energetic,  and  possessing  pronounced  business 
acumen,  and  a  thorough  comprehension  of  juris- 
prudeuqe,  Hon.  John  Kaymond  McCrary,  ot  Lex- 
ington, has  won  a  place  of  distinction  in  legal 
circles,  and  has  served  most  acceptably  in  various 
public  positions,  his  clear  intuitions  of  law  and 
statecraft  making  him  a  leader  among  men.  A  son 
of  John  W.  and  Drusilla  (Leonard)  McCrary,  he 
was  born  in  Lexington,  his  home  city,  April  23, 
1871,  coming  from  Revolutionary  stock  and  pio- 
neer ancestry. 

Scholarly  in  his  ambitions  as  a  youth,  he  was 
gTaduated  from  the  Southern  Normal  School,  in 
Lexington,  with  the  class  of  1886,  and  in  1891  was 
graduated  from  Trinity  College  with  the  degree 
of  A.  B.  Subsequently  taking  a  post  graduate 
course,  he  entered  the  University  of  Michigan, 
where  he  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts 
in  the  year  1892.  He  then  studied  law  under  Dr. 
John  Manning  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina 
and  in  189-1:  began  to  practice  law  in  Lexington, 
where  he  has  since  built  up  an  extensive  clientele, 
his  legal  skill  and  ability  being  recognized  •  and 
appreciated. 

Mr.  McCrary  has  always  taken  an  active  interest 
ill  public  affairs,  being  a  prominent  member  of  the 
republican  party,  and  an  earnest  advocate  of  all 
movements  of  a  beneficial  nature.  In  lB97  he  was 
elected  to  the  State  Legislature,  in  which  he  rep- 
resented Davidson  County  that  year,  receiving  the 
largest  majority  of  votes  that  had  ever  been  given 
in  the  county.  He  was  again  elected  as  a  rejire- 
sentative  to  the  State  Legislature,  being  a  member 
in  1917,  and  at  that  election  received  a  larger 
majority  of  votes  than  any  other  candidate  siuce 
his  first  election.  Mr.  McCrary  was  at  one  time 
a  candidate  for  solicitor  but  was  defeated  by 
W.  C.  Hammer.  In  1900  he  was  candidate  for 
elector  at  large  on  the  McKinley  ticket,  and  for 
ten  years  following  the  passage  of  the  Bankrupt 
Law,  he  served  as  referee  in  bankruptcy. 

During  the  1917  session  of  the  State  Legisla- 
ture, Mr.  McCi-ary  prepared,  and  caused  to  become 
a  law,  two  state- wide  measures,  namely:  The 
Bural  Public  Cemetery  Act,  and  the  act  to  estab- 
lish memorials  at  every  historical  site  in  the  state. 
Both  of  these  acts  carry  appropriations,  and  have 
been  spoken  of  most  favorably.  During  that  ses- 
sion, Mr.  McCrary  was  selected  by  the  republican 
element  as  minority  leader,  and  served  acceptably 
in  that  capacity  to  both  jjarties,  receiving  favor- 
able comment  from  Governor  Bickett  and  from 
the  democratic  press. 

In  1900,  Mr.  McCrary  inaugurated  a  movement 
to  commemorate  the  life  of  Daniel  Boone,  and  in 
May  of  that  year  a  replica  of  the  Boone  cabin  was 
erected  in  Davidson  County,  in  Boone  Park.  A 
Boone  monument,  surmounted  by  an  arrow  head, 
was  placed  in  the  same  park,  and  at  its  unveiling, 
in  May,  1910,  20,000  people,  it  is  estimated,  were 
in  attendance,  and  listened  to  the  eloquent  ad- 
dresses given  by  Judge  Pritchard,  Congressman 
Robert  N.  Page,  and  other  noted  speakers.     Many 


260 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


of  tlie  leading  newspapers  of  the  state,  in  comment- 
ing on  the  occasion,,  gave  Mr.  McCrary  credit  for 
liaviiig  been  the  leading  spirit  in  arousing  the  in- 
terest of  the  people,  and  starting  tlie  movement. 
He  is  an  ardent  lover  of  nature,  a  tliorough  be- 
liever in  progress,  and  generously  and  vfillingly 
lends  his  aid  toward  all  improvements. 

Mr.  McCrary  married,  in  1906,  Maiy  Tatuni, 
who  was  born  in  Patrick  County,  Virginia,  a 
daughter  of  John  P.  and  Martha  (Foster)  Tatum. 
Three  children  have  been  born  of  their-  union, 
Cliristine,  Virginia  Ray,  and  .John  Raymond,  Jr. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  McCrary  are  active  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  which  he 
is  a  steward,  and  for  ten  years  has  been  the  teacher 
of  the  Baraca  class.  Mr.  McCrary  has  often  been 
called  upon  to  speak  on  religious  and  other  sub- 
jects in  different  parts  of  the  state,  and,  espe- 
cially during  the  life  of  Joseph  Caldwell,  editor  of 
the  Charlotte  Observer,  he  contributed  articles  of 
interest  to  church  and  secular  papers. 

Robert  Henry  Powell  has  spent  his  active 
career  in  Columbus  County,  adopted  merchandising 
as  his  career  soon  after  leaving  school,  and  from  a 
clerkship  has  risen  to  one  of  tlie  largest  firms  in 
Wliiteville,  and  has  acquired  many  interests  that 
make  him  one  of  the  most  influential  citizens  of 
that  section. 

He  was  born  in  Columbus  County  on  a  farm 
September  4,  1856,  a  son  of  James  Calvin  and 
Lucy  Elizabeth  (Baldwin)  Powell.  His  father  was 
a  native  of  this  state  and  a  successful  farmer.  As 
a  boy  Mr.  Powell  attended  private  schools  and  the 
Wliiteville  Academy,  and  on  finishing  his  education 
became  clerk  in  a  general  store.  Experience,  natu- 
ral adaptability,  and  the  t'lrift  which  begets  cap- 
ital, enabled  him  in  1894  to  establish  a  business 
of  his  own.  He  conducted  it  alone  for  some  years, 
and  finally  took  in  his  son  Alexander  Elmo,  making 
the  firm  Powell  &  Powell,  as  it  stands  today.  Mr. 
Powell  is  also  vice  president  of  the  Bank  of  Colum- 
bus, is  a  director  of  the  Whiteville  Ginning  Com- 
Iiany,  and  is  a  worker  for  all  that  benefits  his  com- 
munity. 

For  ten  years  he  served  as  assistant  county 
treasurer,  was  then  elected  county  treasurer,  and 
remained  in  the  office  for  eight  years,  finally  declin- 
ing a  renomination.  He  also  served  for  a"  number 
of  years  as  alderman  of  Whiteville.  He  is  one  of 
tho  trustees  of  the  local  schools,  and  is  a  deacon 
in  tho  Baptist  Church.  His  only  fraternity  is  the 
Odd  Fellows. 

On  December  15,  1881,  he  married  Nott  McKin- 
non,  of  Robinson  County,  North  Carolina.  They 
are  the  parents  of  seven  children:  Alexander 
Elmo:  Walter  Hogue;  Robert  Jackson;  Edward 
F. ;  Mary  Lou,  who  is  a  teacher  in  the  public 
schools:  Junius  Kenneth,  bookkeeper  in  the  Bank 
of  Stanford,  North  Carolina;  and  WUliam  Calvin, 
who  is  still  pursuing  his  studies. 

Alexander  Elmo  Powell,  who  was  born  in  White- 
ville January  14,  1884,  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  and  the  Horner  Military  Academy,  and  then 
became  associated  with  his  father  in  the  general 
merchandise  business  and  soon  afterward  was  taken 
into  partnership.  In  January,  1913,  he  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster  of  Whiteville,  an  office  he  still 
fills.  He  has  served  as  alderman  and  is  affiliated 
with  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  is  active  in  the 
Baptist  Clmrch.  On  June  2n,  1907,  he  married  Miss 
Etta  Rockwell  Powell,  of  Whiteville.  Their  three 
children  are  Alexander  Elmo,  Jr.,  Etta  Hamilton 
and  Lucie  McKinnon. 


Walter  Hogue  Powell,  the  second  son  of  R.  H. 
Powell,  was  born  in  Whiteville  September  9,  1887, 
had  the  advantages  of  tlie  public  schools  and  the 
Horner  Military  School,  and  in  1911  graduated 
from  the  law  department  of  the  University  of 
North  Carolina.  He  has  since  been  in  active  prac- 
tice at  Whiteville  and  is  one  of  the  ablest  mem- 
bers of  the  bar.  He  belongs  to  the  Kappa  Alpha 
college  fraternity,  the  Masonic  Order  and  the  In- 
dependent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  is  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  Church.  October  20,  1915,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Toceoa  Cain,  of  Laurens,  South  Car- 
olina. 

Robert  Jackson  Powell,  who  was  born  at  White- 
ville April  26,  1890,  from  the  public  schools  entered 
the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  at  Raleigh, 
where  he  attended  in  1911,  then  gained  some  ex- 
perience in  business  with  his  father,  but  since  Jan- 
uary, 1916,  has  been  in  the  general  insurance  busi- 
ness, handling  fire,  life  and  other  forms  of  in- 
surance. He  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias 
and  the  Kappa  Alpha  fraternity  and  is  a  deacon 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Whiteville.  On 
October  1,  1911,  he  married  Elizabeth  Toon,  of 
Whiteville,  and  they  have  one  child,  Elizabeth 
McKinnon. 

Edward  Farrior  Powell  was  born  October  11, 
1893,  received  his  education  in  the  public  schools 
and  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  and  his 
experience  has  been  in  the  banking  business.  For 
eighteen  months  he  was  clerk  in  the  Bank  of  Colum- 
bus, then  became  cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Cerro- 
gordo.  North  Carolina,  and  on  February  1,  1915, 
returned  to  the  Bank  of  Columbus  as  cashier.  He 
is  also  vice  president  of  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Hamlet,  North  Carolina.  His  fraternal  con- 
nections are  with  the  Masonic  Order  and  the  In- 
dependent Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 

James  Foy  Justice.  Among  the  representative 
men  of  Henderson  County  one  whose  work  as  a 
lawyer  has  commended  him  to  the  confidence  of 
the  public  is  James  Foy  Justice,  who  in  addition 
to  other  responsibilities  served  with  cr-'dit  in  the 
1917  session  of  the  State  Senate. 

Senator  Justice  was  born  in  Buncombe  County, 
North  Carolina,  September  8,  1886,  a  son  of  Rev. 
Amos  I.  and  Minerva  (Fisher)  Justice.  The  father 
is  a  widely  known  Baptist  minister  in  North 
Carolina.  The  son  was  educated  in  the  Fruitland 
Institute  and  completed  his  literary  education  in 
Wake  Forest  Colleq-e,  where  he  was  graduated 
A.  B.  in  1908.  After  leaving  college  he  >ent  two 
years  as  a  teacher,  being  princijjal  of  the  literary 
department  of  the  Southern  Indiana  Institute. 
In  1910  he  completed  his  law  course  in  vN'ake 
Forest  College,  anil  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
February,  1911.  Since  then  he  has  been  in  ac- 
tive general  practi  rt  Hendersonville  has  han- 
dled a  large  share  of  the  routine  litigation  in  the 
local  courts,  and  has  from  the  first  been  an  inter- 
ested participant  in  public  affairs.  He  is  secre- 
tary of  the  Stony  Mountain  Company,  a  corpo- 
ration which  has  extensive  land  and  timber  inter- 
ests in  Henderson  County,  and  is  attorney  and 
trustee  of  the  Fruitland  Institute,  where  he  gained 
part  of  his  early  education,  as  well  at  attorney 
for  the  County  Board  of  Education. 

Mr.  Justice  was  a  member  of  the  County  Board 
of  Education  until  he  resigned  to  enter  the  Senate, 
an  office  to  which  he  was  elected  in  1916.  Mr. 
Justice  is  a  i^night  of  Pythias,  and  is  a  former 
superintendent  of  the  First  Baptist  School  of 
Hendersonville. 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


261 


August  23,  1917,  he  married  Pearl  GriflSn.  Mrs. 
Justice  was  boru  iu  Clareiulou  Clounty,  Soutli  Caro- 
lina, daughter  of  Samuel  Wilson  and  Isabella 
GrifSn,  her  father  being  a  cotton  planter. 

Franklin  P.  Hobgood  as  president  of  Oxford 
College  for  Young  Women  since  1880  and  as  a 
teacher  and  educator  in  North  Carolina  for  nearly 
lialf  a  century,  occupies  a  position  and  has  di- 
rected an  influence  and  rendered  a  service  which 
have  made  him  one  of  the  big  and  sustaining 
figures  in  the  life  and  affairs  of  the  state. 

Concerning  his  work  and  his  personal  career 
fortunately  material  is  at  hand  in  the  form  of 
an  editorial  which  appeared  in  tlie  Biblical  Re- 
corder in  1016.  From  that  it  is  learned  that 
Franklin  P.  Hobgood  was  born  in  Granville  County 
near  Oxford  in  1847.  His  preparation  for  college 
was  made  at  Horner  School,  to  which  he  came  daily 
on  horseback  from  his  home  in  the  country.  He 
is  proud  of  the  fact  that  he  rode  7,000  miles  while 
thus  preparing  '  for  college,  and  that  even  this 
time  was  not  wasted,  for  on  horseback  he  com- 
mitted to  memory  most  of  Andrews  and  Stoddard 's 
Latin  Grammar.  At  night  he  studied  by  the 
flame  of  a  beeswax  wick,  the  day  of  oil  and 
electric  lights  being  yet  many  years  away.  As 
with  many  other  young  men  of  that  day  Mr.  Hob- 
good 's  studies  were  interrupted  by  the  Civil  war. 
For  six  months,  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
conflict,  he  served  in  the  Junior  Reserve  Brigade 
in  the  Confederate  Army. 

Resuming  his  studies  in  1866  he  graduated  in 
1868  with  the  A.  B.  degree  from  Wake  Forest 
College,  valedictorian  of  his  class.  Athletes  of 
today  will  be  interested  in  knowing  that  Mr.  Hob- 
good was  captain  of  the  first  baseball  nine  ever 
organized  at  Wake  Forest. 

His  career  as  a  teacher  began  in  1869  when  he 
became  principal  of  a  boys  school  at  Reidsville, 
North  Carolina.  Two  years  later,  in  1871,  he 
moved  to  Raleigh  and  became  president  of  the 
Raleigh  Female  Seminary.  That  was  the  begin- 
ning of  his  long  and  successful  work  as  a  teacher 
of  young  women.  He  was  at  Raleigh  for  ten 
years,  having  as  his  patrons  many  of  the  state 's 
leading  citizens  and  as  his  pupils  hundreds  of 
young  women  who  in  after  years  filled  positions 
of  usefulness  in  the  home,  the  church,  the  school- 
room and  the  state.  And  the  same  can  be  said  of 
his  more  extended  service  as  president  of  Oxford 
College,  where  he  began  his  work  in  1880  and  where 
he  has  continued  to  the  present  time.  He  is  still 
in  the  harness,  and  doing  some  of  the  best  work 
of  his  life.  He  has  a  good  college  plant  at  Ox- 
ford, valued  at  about  .$40,000,  a  faculty  of  eleven 
instructors,  and  about  140  young  women  are  en- 
rolled every   year. 

Mr.  Hobgood  's  educational  ideals  have  been  high, 
demanding  superior  intellectual  culture,  develop- 
ing the  finer  social  sensibilities,  converging  upon 
a  life  at  once  practical  and  refined,  and  above 
all  centering  .in  Christ  the  Great  Teacher,  Savior 
and  Sovereign  of  the  race.  Several  positions  of 
honor  and  trust  have  been  enjoyed  by  him.  For 
six  years  he  was  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion in  his  home  county  of  Granville.  For  one 
term  he  was  president  of  the  North  Carolina 
Teachers  Assembly.  For  eight  years  he  has  been 
a  trustee  of  the  State  University  at  Chapel  Hill. 

His  religious  work  has  also  been  important.  He 
has  been  deacon,  Sunday  School  worker  and  active 
in  other  capacities  in  the  church  of  which  he  is 
a  member.  Moderator  of  the   Flat  River  Baptist 


Association  for  ten  years;  at  different  times  vice 
president  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  and 
for  several  years  chainnan  of  the  Laymen  's  Com- 
mittee of  the  convention ;  trustee  of  Wake  Forest 
College  forty-five  years  and  president  of  its  board 
eight  years;  identified  with  the  Thomasville 
Orphanage  from  its  inception — first  as  a  member 
of  the  visiting  committee  of  the  Orphanage  Asso- 
ciation, for  about  thirty  years  as  a  trustee,  and 
since  the  death  of  Dr.  W.  R.  Gwaltney,  president 
of  the  board.  His  fidelity  to  duty  is  shown  in  the 
remarkable  fact  that  in  all  the  years  of  his  service 
as  trustee  of  Wake  Forest  College  and  of  the 
Orphanage  he  has  missed  but  one  annual  meeting 
of  each  of  these  bodies,  both  coming  at  a  time 
when  he  was  in  a  hospital. 

Mr.  Hobgood  married  Miss  Mary  A.  Royall,  and 
theirs  has  been  a  most  happy  home  life.  Her 
father  Dr.  William  Royall  was  a  distinguished 
professor  in  Wake  Forest  College  and  died  about 
twenty  years  ago.  Mrs.  Hobgood  has  been  the 
sharer  and  inspirer  of  his  labors  and  achievements 
through  all  the  years  of  their  marriage.  They 
have  three  sons  and  three  daughters.  The  oldest 
son  is  Colonel  Frank  P.  Hobgood  of  Greensboro, 
former  state  senator  and  recently  assistant  counsel 
to  the  United  States  Attorney  General  in  the 
prosecution  of  oil  land  cases  in  Wyoming;  the 
second  son  Royall  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-one. 
The  third  Dr.  J.  Edward  Hobgood  of  Thomasville 
is  ])hysician  to  the  Thomasville  Orphanage.  The 
three  daughters  all  reside  at  Oxford:  Mrs.  Frank 
W.  Hancock,  Mrs.  Beverly  S.  Royster  and  Miss 
Carrie  Hobgood.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hobgood  also 
have  ten  grand-children  and  one  great-grand-child. 

Hon.  Frank  P.  Hobgood,  Jr.,  has  gained  as- 
sured prominence  as  a  lawyer,  resulting  from 
twenty  years  of  practice  among  private  clients 
and  service  to  the  state  and  nation.  His  work  has 
served  to  make  a  well  known  family  name  still 
better   known   and   honored   in  North  Carolina. 

He  wa.s  born  on  a  plantation  five  miles  west  of 
Oxford  iu  Granville  County,  North  Carolina,  and 
is  a  son  of  the  distinguished  educator,  Frank  P. 
Hobgood,  Sr.,  president  of  O.xford  College  and 
whose  career  is  elsewhere  sketched  in  this  publica- 
tion. The  Hobgoods  have  been  in  North  Caro- 
lina for  several  generations  and  Mr.  Hobgood 's 
great-grandfather  as  well  as  his  grandfather, 
James  B.  Hobgood,  were  planters  in  Granville 
County.  Col.  Frank  P.  Hobgood 's  mother  was 
Mary  Ann  Royall,  a  native  of  Wake  Forest  and 
daughter  of  Rev.  William  Royall,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
for  many  years  professor  of  English  in  Wake  For- 
est College.  Doctor  Royall  married  Elizabeth  Bai- 
ley. 

Frank  P.  Hobgood,  Jr.,  prepared  for  college 
at  Horner's  Military  Institute  at  Oxford,  and  in 
1891  entered  Wake  Forest  College,  graduating  at 
the  head  of  his  class  in  189.S  with  the  degree 
A.  B.  His  rapid  progress  in  his  studies  was  due 
to  inherited  talent  and  also  to  the  splendid  direc- 
tion and  inspiration  he  had  had  from  earliest 
youth  in  the  home  of  his  cultured  father  and 
mother.  After  leaving  Wake  Forest  he  entered 
the  Columbian  now  George  Washington  Univer- 
sity at  Wa.shington,  D.  C,  where  he  took  his  law 
course  and  received  his  LL.  B.  degree.  Mr.  Hob- 
good was  licensed  to  jiractice  law  in  1898.  He 
practiced  at  Oxford  until  190.3,  when  he  removed 
to   Greensboro. 

Along  with  his  work  as  a  general  practitioner 
he  has  always  taken  an  interest  in  public  affairs. 


262 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


He  was  elected  and  served  in  the  State  Senate  of 
North  Carolina  in  1911,  1913  and  191o.  During 
that  time  he  was  chairman  of  the  .iiidiciary  com- 
mittee and  wjs  author  of  the  state-wiile  primary 
■law  which  is  now  in  operation  in  the  state.  The 
service  which  lias  made  him  most  widely  known 
was  his  work  as  special  assistant  to  the  attorney 
general  of  the  United  States  from  July,  1915,  to 
October,  1917.  Mr.  Hobgood  was  employed  in  the 
prosecution  of  eases  in  California  and  Wyoming 
involving  violations  of  the  law  and  order  affecting 
the  public  oil  lands  of  those  states,  and  particu- 
larly the  alleged  fraudulent  procurement  of  pat- 
ents to  oil  lands  by  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad 
Company.  In  October,  1917,  his  work  on  these 
cases  having  been  finished,  he  returned  to  Greens- 
boro and  has  once  more  resumed  his  status  as  a 
member  of  the  local  bar.  Mr.  Hobgood  joined 
the  North  Carolina  National  Guard  at  the  age 
of  fifteen  as  a  private,  and  was  with  the  service 
for  a  number  of  years  and  in  all  branches  and 
grades  until  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  colonel. 

In  1907  he  married  Miss  Lucy  McGee  Glenn. 
She  was  born  in  Greensboro,  daughter  of  Robert 
G.  and  Helen  Clones)  Glenn,  elsewhere  men- 
tioned in  this  publication.  Mr.  Hobgood  is  aflSl- 
iated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  was  grand 
master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  in  North  Carolina  in 
191.5.     He  is  a  deacon  in  the  Baptist  Church. 

KnwiN  Alexander  Axdeb.son.  As  a  North 
Carolina  man  who  won  well  deserved  distinction 
in  the  United  States  Navy  both  before  and  during 
the  present  great  war,  a  brief  record  of  Edwin 
Alexander  Anderson  is  particularly  appropriate 
for  these  biographical  pages. 

He  was  born  at  Wilmington  July  16,  1860.  and 
graduated  from  the  United  States  Naval  Academy 
in  18^2.  His  record  since  then  stated  briefly  is  a.> 
follows:  Knsign,  July  1,  1884:  lieutenant  junior 
grade,  September  .30,  1894;  lieutenant,  March  28, 
1898:  lieutenant  commander.  September  11,  190.'?; 
commander.  December  6.  1907:  captain,  .Tune  14. 
1911:  temporarily  annointed  rear  admiral,  August 
?>1,  1917.  He  served  on  the  Marblehead  and  as 
commander  of  tbe  Sandoval  in  the  Spanish-Ameri- 
can war.  and  was  advanced  five  numbers  in  rank 
' '  for  extraordinary  heroism ' '  diiring  that  war. 
He  was  in  command  of  Callao  1902-0.3.  Don  .Tuan 
de  Austria,  190.3.  Isle  de  Cuba,  1903.  Naval  Gun 
Factory  at  Washington.  1904-0.5,  Pennsylvania, 
1905-06,  Second  Tomedo  Flotilla.  1906-07,  re- 
cruitiu!'  station.  Cincinnati.  1907-08,  navy  yards. 
Mare  Island  California.  1908-10.  Yorktown,"l910- 
n.  navy  yards.  Phlladelrihia.  1911-13,  at  Naval 
War  Collefe.  1916,  superintendent  of  naval  aux- 
iliaries. 1916-17.  commanded  Snund'-nn  3  Patrol 
Force,  1917,  and  later  Squadron  1,  Patrol  Force. 

George  B.  Cocker.  In  each  community  and  in 
every  branch  of  industrial  activity  there  are  cer- 
tain men  who  stand  out  from  the'r  associates 
because  of  their  purposeful  personality  and  de- 
termined methods  of  action.  Such  men  are  bound 
to  dominate  any  situation  and  control  whatever 
opDortunities  lie  in  the  path  of  their  onward  prog- 
ress. Through  them  and  their  efforts  spring  the 
vast  enterprises  that  have  so  direct  an  influence 
upon  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  In  this  class 
stands  George  B.  Cocker,  who  a  little  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago  started  upon  his  career 
as  an  apprentice  to  the  machinist's  trade,  and  who 
today  is  sreneral  manager  of  the  Cocker  Machine 
&  Foundry  Company  at  Gastonia,  one  of  the 
largest  enterprises  of  its  kind  in  the  country. 


Mr.  Cocker  is  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  which  city  he  was  reared,  educated  and 
received  liis  training  as  a  machinist  and  mechan- 
ical engineer.  After  leaving  school  he  entered  the 
works  of  the  Globe  Manufacturing  Company  at 
PhUadeljihia,  manufacturers  of  great  note,  as  an 
apprentice,  and  remained  with  that  concern  for 
twenty-five  years.  His  promotion  was  rapid,  being 
based  upon  his  fidelity,  industry  and  natural  abil- 
ity, qualities  which  have  characterized  him 
throughout  his  career,  and  he  became  in  turn  an 
expert  draughtsman,  machinist,  mechanical  engi- 
neer, and  inventor  and  designer  of  special  ma- 
chinery. He  is  today  known  as  one  of  the  best 
equipped  men  in  his  profession  in  the  entire  South. 
Before  leaving  the  Globe  concern  he  had  been  ad- 
vanced to  the  dual  capacity  of  chief  erector  and 
manager  of  the  jjlant,  in  addition  to  which  he 
traveled  in  the  South  for  the  company  for  several 
years,  selling  and  installing  cotton  mill  machinery. 

While  engaged  in  the  latter  pursuit  Mr.  Cocker 
became  convinced  of  tlie  wonderful  opportunities 
offered  by  Gastonia  for  the  establishment  of  a  busi- 
ness of  this  nature  here,  and,  after  extensive  prep- 
arations, in  1914  he  organized  the  Cocker  Machine 
and  Foundry  Company,  witli  the  following  oflicers: 
George  R.  Spencer,  president;  Thomas  L.  Craig, 
vice  president ;  J.  Robert  Craig,  secretary  and 
treasurer:  and  George  E.  Cocker,  general  manager. 
He  designed  and  built  the  shops  at  Gastonia,  and 
in,stalled  their  equipment  of  machinery,  all  of  which 
is  of  the  most  modern  type  and  manufacture.  The 
company  specializes  in  the  manufacture  and  in- 
stallation of  textile  machinery,  among  its  products 
being  warping  machinery,  including  linker  heads, 
linking  warpers,  balling  warpers,  section  beam 
warpers,  balling  attachments,  webb  warpers  and  spe- 
cial warpers  for  hea\'y  duck,  these  being  equipped 
with  electrical  or  mechanical  stop  motion,  as  de- 
sired; beaming  machinery,  including  short  chain 
(drum  drive),  short  chain  (spindle  drive),  long 
chain  and  special  beamers,  the  last  named  for 
heavy  duck;  warp  splitters  for  short  chain  warps; 
and  dye  house  machinery,  including  warp  sizing, 
warp  dyeing  machines  for  indigo,  and  warp  dyeing 
machines  for  long  and  short  chain  warps,  built 
with  iron,  wood  or  combination  tubs,  with  any 
numbers  of  compartments  required,  bailers  to  work 
in  connection  with  boiling  and  dyeing  machines, 
warp  doubling  machines,  and  warp  splitters  for 
doubling  system.  The  concern  also  does  high  grade 
machine  and  foundry  work,  and  all  of  its  work 
in  every  department  i?  of  such  a  high  class  that 
the  shops  have  been  running  twenty-four  hours  per 
day  since  the  latter  part  of  1915.  Although  not 
the  largest,  it  is  noted  as  being  one  of  the  finest 
machinery  plants  in  the  country.  The  work  turned 
out  is  exceptional,  and  meets  the  requirements  and 
specifications  of  the  most  exacting  machinery  pur- 
chasers. Mr.  Cocker  not  only  possesses  superior 
qualifications  and  talents  as  a  designer  and  engi- 
neer, but  is  equally  expert  in  shop  practice,  man- 
agement and  efBciency. 

At  this  writing  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  plant 
is  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of  shrapnel  shells 
for  the  Russian  government.  As  is  well  known, 
the  inspection  on  this  class  of  work  is  very  rigid, 
it  being  required  that  shells  be  turned  true  to  the 
thousandths  of  an  inch,  otherwise  rejected.  Mr. 
Cocker  designed  special  machinery  for  the  manu- 
facture of  shrapnel  that  is  quite  marvelous,  the 
machine  being  so  perfect  and  so  nearly  automatic 
that  it  can  be  easily  operated  by  unskilled  labor. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


263 


Wilbur  Ashley  McPhaul,  M.  D.  While  for 
fourteen  3-ears  Doctor  llcPhaul  has  been  one  of 
the  competent  general  physicir.ns  and  surgeons  of 
North  Carolina,  the  important  fact  that  makes  his 
service  and  career  of  more  than  ordinary  interest 
to  tlie  people  of  the  state  has  been  his  active 
leadership  in  the  public  health  movement,  than 
which  nothing  undertaken  and  carried  on  under 
the  suspices  of  government  authority  can  be  or 
is  more  vitally  connected  with  the  public  welfare. 
North  Carolina  as  a  state  has  an  enviable  record 
among  other  states  for  the  eflSciency  and  thor- 
oughness of  its  public  healtli  authorities,  and  among 
these  Doctor  McPhaul  has  done  much  of  the  pio- 
neer work  and  is  lielping  to  raise  the  stand  irds 
of  the  entire  state.  The  locality  which  is  espe- 
cially fortunate  in  the  presence  of  his  services 
and  influence  is  Eobeson  County,  of  which  he  is 
present  health  oflScer. 

Doctor  McPhaul  was  born  at  Fair  Bluff  in  Co- 
lumbus County,  North  Carolina,  in  1879,  a  son  of 
Dr.  T.  D.  and  Annie  E.  (Ashley)  McPhaul.  His 
grandfather,  Alexander  McPhaul,  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  and  located  at  Red  Springs  in  Robeson 
County  on  "niing  to  America.  Doctor  McPhaul 
has  an  especially  interesting  ancestry  in  the  ma- 
ternal line.  The  English  Ashleys  included  Lord 
Anthony  Ashley,  one  "of  the  Lords  Proprietors  of 
North  Carolina,  coming  from  England  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century.  For  many  years  prior  to  the  Rev- 
olutionary war  the  Ashleys  lived  on  the  Lumber 
River  in  the  lower  part  of  Robeson  County,  not  far 
from  the  present  village  of  Baruesville.  Some  of 
the  Ashleys  moved  to  Alabama  and  founded  the 
City  of  Montgomery,  going  there  when  Alabama 
was  a  territory  in  1792.  Richard  G.  Ashley,  mater- 
nal grandfather  of  Doctor  McPhaul,  was  the  first 
white  child  born  at  Montgomery.  In  the  late 
'20s  or  early  '30s  with  his  widowed  mother  he 
returned  to  Robeson  County,  North  Carolina,  and 
here  his  daughter  Annie  E.  Ashley  married  Dr. 
T.  D.  McPhaul. 

Wilbur  A.  McPhaul  grew  up  in  a  good  home  in 
Eobeson  County  and  had  the  example  of  his 
father  as  his  first  and  chief  inspiration  to  a 
medical  career.  He  attended  the  Ash  Pole  In- 
stitute at  Fairmont,  had  two  years  in  the  ITni- 
versity  of  the  South  at  Sewanee,  Tennessee,  and 
recciv'e<l  his  medical  education  in  the  Medical  Col- 
lege of  the  University  of  Tennessee  at  Nash- 
ville, where  he  was  graduated  M.  D.  with  the 
class  of  1904.  Since  leaving  university  his  home 
and  territory  of  practice  have  been  in  Robeson 
County,  and  for  several  years  he  has  been  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  leading  physicians  of  Luni- 
berton. 

All  this  time  one  duty  has  been  in  the  pulilic 
health  movement,  though  in  earlier  years  his  part 
was  largely  that  of  advocating  for  a  real  pul  'ic 
health  service  and  exerting  his  influeuce  wherever 
and  whenever  possible  in  an  educational  way.  In 
1910  he  was  elected  to  represent  his  county  in 
the  Legislature.  He  sought  that  political  honor 
not  as  an  honor  but  as  an  opportunity  to  render 
a  special  service  to  his  state.  During  the  ses- 
sion of  1911  he  probaldy  had  as  much  influence 
as  any  other  individual  legislator  in  promoting 
public  health  legislation.  Prior  to  his  legislative 
experience  he  had  been  county  superintendent  of 
health  in  addition  to  looking  after  his  jirivatc 
practice  for  about  five  years.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  up  to  1911  the  total  appropriation  to 
the  Legislature  for  pulilie  health  work  over  the 
state  at  large  was  $6,000  a  year.    In  the  session  of 


that  year  Doctor  McPhaul  enlisted  the  support 
and  co-operation  of  other  influential  members 
with  such  results  that  tliey  succeeded  in  secur- 
ing an  appro] iriation  amounting  to  $25,000  for 
an  active  ]>rosecution  of  public  health  work.  At 
tlie  same  time  they  started  a  movement  for  the 
education  of  the  people  to  the  expediency  and 
necessity  of  a  continuing  increased  expenditure 
for  similar  purposes.  The  campaign  thus  started 
has  been  carried  out  persistently  with  tlie  result 
that  no  succeeding  session  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly has  failed  to  make  appropriations  suflicient 
to"  keep  up  the  competent  administration  of  pub- 
lic healtli  work.  Rolieson  County  alone  now  spends 
more  for  public  health  service  than  was  appro- 
priated for  the  entii'e  state  in  1911. 

Doctor  McPhaul  was  instrumental  in  getting 
tlirough  the  Legislature  the  bill  giving  each  county 
that  would  comply  with  tli'e  necessary  require- 
ments the  privilege  of  employing  a  whole-time 
health  officer.  Tliat  is,  a  physician  who  would 
devote  his  entire  time  and  efforts  to  the  liealth 
work  of  the  country.  Rolieson  County  was  one  of 
the  first  to  take  advantage  of  this  measure.  In 
1912  the  county  commissioners  hired  a  health 
officer  for  full  time.  However,  througli  lack  of 
co-operation  and  of  whole-hearted  support  from 
all  concerned,  the  work  did  not  receive  a  thorough 
test  and  was  not  inaugurated  on  a  basis  of  thor- 
ough going  efficiency  until  the  fall  of  1917,  when 
Doctor  McPhaul  was  chosen  by  the  county  com- 
missioners, acting  in  conjunction  with  the  state 
medical  authorities,  to  take  up  county  health 
work  and  gives  his  entire  time  to  his  duties. 

Doctor  McPhaul  at  once  inaugurated  a  vigor- 
ous campaign.  He  put  into  his  official  adminis- 
tration the  full  vigor  and  enthusiasm  of  one  who 
has  made  public  health  his  special  study  and 
investigation  and  who  is  ambitious  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  movement  and  determined  that  so 
far  as  it  depends  upon  his  leadership  it  shall 
sliow  results  to  justify.  That  his  whole  heart  is 
in  it  may  be  .judged  from  the  fact  that  he  sac- 
rificed a  "private  practice  much  more  remunerative 
financially  than  the  salary  of  his  office.  Atten- 
tion has  been  frequently  called  to  the  fact  that 
the  ]iuldie  health  movement  is  in  a  sense  detri- 
mental to  the  income  of  the  medical  profession, 
and  it  is  in  every  way  creditable  to  their  public 
spirit  that  so  many  have  supported  the  move- 
ment so  whole-heartedly. 

Under  the  direction  of  Doctor  McPhaul  the 
activities  of  the  public  health  office  in  Robeson 
County  were  considerably  enlarged.  He  fitted  U]p 
adequate  quarters  in  the  courthouse,  with  a  com- 
plete office,  laboratory  and  dispensary  equipment. 
At  present  he  has  outlined  three  units  for  his 
work.  The  first  unit  was  inaugurated  in  Decem- 
ber, 1917.  This  is  known  as  the  Life  Extension 
Unit.  It  provides  for  a  thorough  medical  and 
physical  examination  of  every  person  between  the 
ages  of  twenty  and  sixty-five  in  the  county,  free, 
for  those  who  would  apply  for  it.  Accompanying 
this  examination  go  written  and  verbal  advice  to 
the  applicants  on  how  to  -prolong'  life.  Up  to 
November,  1918,  something  over  900  persons  had 
been  given  the  thorough  and  complete  examination, 
while  over  1,500  applications  for  free  physical  ex- 
amination were  received.  It  is  the  estimate  of  med- 
ical authorities  that  the  lives  of  these  people  can  be 
jirolonged  from  two  to  fifteen  years  each.  A 
little  calculation  will  show  the  enormous  total 
of   years   that   under   a  system   such   as   this   the 


264 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


human  race  can  be  prolonged.  It  is  well  known 
that  incipient  eases  of  tuberculosis  are  only  de- 
tected by  such  a  thoroughgoing  examination,  and 
it  is  in  the  incipient  stages  that  tuberculosis  can 
most  readily  be  cured.  Many  other  insidious  dis- 
eases, that  go  unrecognized  until  the  dangerous 
stages,   are  discovered  under  the   same  system. 

The  second  unit  of  service,  begun  on  March  1, 
1918,  embraced  school  inspection  and  medical  ex- 
amination of  school  children.  Robeson  County 
has  between  15,000  and  16,000  school  chililreu. 
The  work  under  this  unit  involves  the  coopera- 
tion  of  the  school  teachers.  The  children  are 
given  a  thorough  medical  examination,  all  acute 
conditions  at  once  are  treated  and  relieved,  advice 
is  given  to  pujiils  and  parents  on  the  prevention 
and  correction  of  numerous  disease  conditions  pe- 
culiar to  childhood  and  youth,  and  everything  pos- 
sible is  done  to  improve  and  conserve  their  health. 
A  complete  card  system  by  wliich  the  teachers  get 
a  complete  record  of  every  pupil,  and  which  is 
kept  on  file  in  Doctor  McPhaul  's  office,  is  one  of 
the  features  which  indicate  the  efSciency  of  this 
department  of  the  work.  The  schools  are  natu- 
rally the  medium  through  which  Doctor  MePhaul 
expects  to  vitalize  the  effectiveness  of  public 
health  education  upon  homes  not  ordinarily  sus- 
ceptible to  propaganda  carried  on  by  means  of 
illustrated  lectures  or  througli  the  )>ublic  press. 
Many  hundreds  of  handliills  and  circulars  and 
throughout  the  county,  and  many  of  these  liave 
circulars  of  information  have  been  distributed 
been   carried   from   the  schools  into  the  homes. 

The  third  unit  of  service,  begun  in  the  spring 
of  1918,  embraces  rural  hygiene  and  sanitation. 
In  that  Doctor  McPhaul  has  from  three  to  five 
assistants  in  the  field.  It  is  the  purpose  to  visit 
and  inspect  every  rural  home  m  Robeson  County. 
These  individual  visits  furnish  an  opportunity 
for  the  inspector  to  give  personal  advice  as  to  the 
construction  of  and  location  of  sanitary  privy,  the 
safeguarding  of  the  water  supply,  and  at  the 
same  time  every  child  in  the  home  would  be  ex- 
amined for  hook  worm  and  other  diseases  pecu- 
liar to  country  life,  and  free  medical  treatment 
and  advice  given. 

Another  unit  of  service  in  contemiilation  is  in- 
fant hygiene,  a.  work  which  has  unlimited  possi- 
bilities and  will  be  properly  emphasized  by  Doc- 
tor McPhaul 's  office. 

Educational  work  and  propaganda  form  a  large 
part  of  Doctor  MePhaul 's  service.  He  carries 
this  on  by  lectures  and  addresses  to  the  people  in 
the  schoolhouses  and  other  public  places  and  ]iar- 
tieularly  through  the  columns  of  the  Robeson- 
ian,  Lumberton  's  progressive  and  public  spirited 
newspaper.  His  articles  in  the  paper  on  the 
prevention  and  control  of  epidemics,  the  duty 
of  every  family  and  community  to  report  at  once 
any  symptom  or  suspicion  of  disease  to  the  proper 
authorities,  and  other  timely  and  important  sub- 
jects, are  doing  a  great  deal  of  good.  A  few  years 
ago  most  people  in  Robeson  County,  as  else- 
where, would  have  resented  and  even  repelled 
by  force  any  intrusion  of  their  homes  by  members 
of  the  County  Health  Department.  But  now  the 
coming  of  a  county  health  officer  is  welcomed, 
and  unquestionably  a  wonderful  amount  of  good 
is  being  done,  though  the  total  results  of  it  can- 
not be  estimated  for  some  years  to  come.  A 
large  number  of  illustrated  lectures  have  been 
delivered  throughout  the  county,  and  during  the 
first    two    or   three    months    of    the    service   these 


lectures  and  addresses  were  attended  bv  over 
2,000   people. 

Thus  Doctor  McPliaul  in  his  profession  lias  set 
himself  the  highest  standards  of  sen'vice  and 
aiready,  when  a  comparatively  young  man,  has 
won  the  grateful  acknowledgment  of  a  large  and 
important  community  of  his  home  state.  For 
several  years  he  has  been  the  medical  examiner 
for  all  the  standard  insurance  companies,  num- 
bering nearly  thirty,  doing  business  in  Lumlier- 
ton  and  Robeson  County.  During  the  ailministra- 
tion  of  Governor  Kitchin  by  appointment  of  the 
governor  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Di- 
rectors of  the  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane.  Doctor 
McPhaul  is  a  member  of  the  Robeson  County  and 
North  Carolina  Medical  societies  and  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association,  and  in  the  Southern  Med- 
ical Association  is  memlier  of  the  )>ublic  health 
section.  He  is  also  acting  as  a  member  of  the  Robe- 
son County  Exemption  Board.  Doctor  McPhaul 
belongs  to  the  Chestnut  Street  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  and  is  a  member  of  tlie  Masonic 
Order  and  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows. 

He  married  Miss  Clara  Brown  Grantham,  daughter 
of  Mr.  C.  P.  Grantham,  of  Fairmont.  They  have 
four  children:  Wilbur  A.,  Jr.,  Shirley,  Billy 
Weston  and  an  infant  boy  named  Jack  Powell. 

Soi!Tno.\TE  Jones.  Although  he  is  still  a  young 
man  under  thirty,  Mr.  Southgate  Jones  of  Durham 
has  been  prominently  identified  with  many  public 
and  private  enterprises  in  his  home  city. 

He  was  born  at  Durham,  July  23,  18S8,  the  son 
of  Thomas  Decatur  Jones,  a  pioneer  tobacconist 
of  the  Durham  market  and  one  of  the  most  highly 
beloved  citizens  of  his  day,  and  Mattie  Southgate 
.Jones,  herself  known  and  prized  throughout  North 
Carolina  for  her  culture  and  interest  in  public 
welfare. 

Mr.  Southgate  Jones  received  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  Durham  city  schools,  the  Trinity  Park 
School,  and  in  1905  he  entered  the  Bingham  School 
at  Asheville  where  he  spent  two  years,  there  be- 
coming first  sergeant  of  his  company,  a  member 
of  Alpha  Phi,  a  local  fraternity,  president  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associafion,  and  entering 
into  almost  every  phase  of  the  school's  activities. 
Later  he  entered  Washington  and  Lee  University 
at  Lexington,  Virginia,  where  he  stood  well  in  his 
classes  and  among  his  fellows,  joining  Kappa 
Sigma  and,  at  the  end  of  his  first  year,  being 
elected  vice  president  of  the  sophomore  class,  for 
the  presidency  of  which  he  was  defeated  by  only 
two  votes,  secretary  of  the  Washington  Literary 
Society,  an  officer  in  the  Young  Men 's  Christian 
Association,  and  to  other  parts  denoting  the  con- 
fidence of  the  student  body.  He  was  unable  to 
return  to  Washington  and  Lee  for  the  sophomore 
year,  however,  his  physician  advising  him  to  go 
West  for  the  purpose  of  budding  up  his  physical 
condition.  Following  this  advice  he  spent  one 
year  in  New  Mexico. 

Since  entering  business  Mr.  Jones  has  had  wide 
experience.  His  principal  activities  have  been 
in  banking,  he  having  served  for  several  years  in 
the  First  National  Bank  of  Durham  in  nearly  all 
capacities  up  to  that  of  paying  teller.  In  1909 
he  was  sent  by  that  institution  to  Chapel  Hill  to 
reopen  and  to  become  cashier  of  the  Peoples  Bank 
which  had  failed  previously,  and  after  eighteen 
months  spent  there  he  returned  to  Durham  and 
began    business    as    a    real    estate    broker.      This 


THE  KEV^  YOHK 
PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


■\ETOR,  LENOX 
^N    hOLT-DAlION? 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


265 


business  he  has  oontiiiuecl  and  in  March,  1917,- 
he  assumed  in  eonnci-tion  with  it  the  management 
of  the  Durham  Morris  Plan   Company. 

Mr.  Joues  has  been  interested  in  various  public 
institutions  and  enterprises.  He  is  one  of  the 
fourteen  charter  meniliers  and  treasurer  of  the 
Durham  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  he  has  served 
two  terms  as  president  of  the  Durham  Young 
Men 's  Christian  Association,  during  one  of  which 
the  institution  was  reorganized  and  the  founda- 
tion laid  for  its  present  enlarged  field  of  service. 
He  has  filled  offices  in  the  Masonic  and  Pythian 
lodges,  and  he  is  at  present  a  director  in  the  local 
Young  Men  's  Christian  Association,  and  a  steward 
in  Trinity  Methodist  Church,  South. 

LuTHEK  C.  HiNE  has  found  his  pleasant  and 
profitable  work  as  a  general  farmer  in  Oldtown 
Township  of  Forsyth  County.  He  is  a  member 
of  one  of  the  older  families  of  Western  North 
Carolina  and  his  own  life  and  achievements  have 
been  in  keeping  with  the  high  standards  set  by 
his  ancestry. 

He  was  born  on  a  farm  adjoining  the  church 
property  at  Oldtown  on  the  4th  of  July,  18.55.  His 
great-grandfather  was  a  native  of  Germany.  Com- 
ing to  America  when  a  young  man  he  located  in 
what  is  now  Forsyth  County,  North  Carolina,  se- 
cured some  wild  and  raw  land  and  in  the  course 
of  time  had  it  developed  and  improved  as  a  farm. 
It  remained  his  home  until  his  death.  Mr.  Hine's 
grandfather  was  John  Hine,  who  was  born  in  the 
Oldtown  community  of  Forsyth  County,  May  24, 
1799.  He  showed  no  disposition  to  depart  from 
the  ways  of  his  ancestors  and  remained  steadily 
as  a  farmer  and  a  good  upright  citizen  all  the 
days  of  his  life.  He  died  January  1,  1858.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Catherine  Fizer,  was 
born  in  the  same  year  and  died  in  the  same  year 
that  her  husband  did.  The  month  of  her  birth 
was  December,  and  the  day  of  her  death  was  the 
i!3d  of  June. 

Levine  Israel  Hine,  father  of  Luther  C,  was 
born  near  Oldtown,  May  7,  1826,  and  as  a  young 
man  learned  the  trade  of  tanner.  He  followed 
that  business  until  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  when 
he  entered  the  Confederate  army  and  was  in  active 
service  about  two  years.  "With  the  close  of  the 
war  he  returned  to  Forsyth  County  and  became 
actively  associated  with  the  manufacturing  firm 
of  F.  &  H.  Fries.  For  many  years  he  conducted 
a  tannery  at  Salem,  but  in  the  meantime  he  had 
invested  in  land  at  Oldtown,  and  a  few  years  be- 
fore his  death  he  retired  to  that  quiet  retreat  and 
spent  his  declining  days  in  peace  and  comfort  on 
the  farm.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 
His  wife  was  Regina  C.  Beck,  who  was  Ijorn  in 
what  is  now  Forsyth  County,  a  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  (Null)  Beck.  William  Beck  was 
born  in  Forsyth  County,  North  Carolina,  May  15, 
1802,  and  his  wife  was  born  September  11,  1806, 
and  died  in  June,  1862.  As  a  young  man  William 
Beck  settled  in  his  native  county  and  was  for 
many  years  a  prosperous  farmer  of  that  section. 
He  lived  to  venerable  years,  passing  away  May 
15,  1891.  The  mother  of  Luther  C.  Hine  died 
aged  eighty-three.  She  reared  two  sons,  Luther 
C.  and  Gilbert  C,  and  one  daughter,  Delia,  who 
was  born  February  26,  1868,  and  died  July  25, 
1891.      Delia  married   Ernest  Dalton. 

Luther  C.  Hine  spent  most  of  his  youtli  in 
Salem,  his  parents  having  moved  there  when  he 
was  a  child.  His  first  instruction  came  from  what 
was  known   as  the  Infants'  School,  and  later  he 


attended  the  Salem  Boys'  School.  His  school  days 
over  he  engaged  in  the  harness  business  at  Win- 
ston, remained  there  six  years,  and  then  chose 
his  permanent  vocation  as  a  farmer.  Returning  to 
his  father's  homestead  at  Oldtown,  he  has  since 
been  successfully  engaged  in  its  management  and 
cultivation,  and  while  providing  amply  for  his 
family  has  also  contributed  something  to  the  ad- 
vancement and  the  raising  of  the  standards  of 
agriculture  in  this  section  of  the  state.  He  has 
his  farm  well  equipped  with  implements  and  raises 
good  grades  of  live  stock. 

Mr.  Hine  married  Ada  M.  Shore,  who  was  born 
in  South  Fork  Township  of  Forsyth  County,  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Lusetta  (Walk)  Shore.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hine  have  reared  five  children:  Carl 
Edgar,  Ira  Walter,  Paul  Eugene,  Benlah  L.  and 
Ollie  Regina.  Carl  married  Ethel  Thomas,  and 
his  daughter,  Beulah  Catherine,  is  the  wife  of 
Harold  Shoaf.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hine  are  active 
members  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

Ancestral  Record  op  the  Forefathers  of 
James  Stuart  Kuykendall. 

Eecm-d  mid  References  of  Pre-American  Histories, 
of  Dutch-American  Families. 

Dutch  Reform  Church,  New  York  City;  Dutch 
Reform  Church,  Kingston,  New  York;  State 
Records,  Albany,  New  York;  The  Holland  Society 
of  New  York,  Mr.  D.  Versteeg,  genealogist  for  the 
society,  and  Mr.  L.  P.  de  Boer,  family  historian 
for  the  society,  99  Nassau  Street,  New  York  City ; 
Kingston  Methodist  Church,  Kingston,  New  York ; 
Minisiuk  Cemetery  records,  Minisink  Islands,  New 
Jersey;  state  records,  Richmond,  Virginia;  records 
of  Hampshire  County,  Richmond,  Virginia,  and 
Romney,  West  Virginia;  Fredrick  County,  Mary- 
land, records;  state  records  of  grants,  Raleigh, 
North  Carolina;  Rowan  County  records,  Salisbury, 
North  Carolina;  Iredell  County  records,  States- 
ville.  North  Carolina;  early  records  of  Daniel 
Boone,  Rowan  County,  North  Carolina;  records  of 
The  Daughters  of  The  American  Revolution  in  Ire- 
dell County,  North  Carolina,  Statesville,  North 
Carolina. 

Family  Tradition. 

It  is  a  family  tradition  that  the  Kuykendalls 
originally  were  from  Scotland,  that  they  fled  that 
country  because  of  political  and  religious  perse- 
cutions, that  they  went  to  Holland  about  852, 
where  they  married  and  intermarried  with  the 
Dutch,  lost  some  of  the  Scotch  characteristics,  took 
on  some  of  the  Dutch  characteristics,  and  that 
while  in  Holland  the  Dutch  twisted  the  name  from 
Kirk-in-dale,  meaning,  "church  in  the  valley,"  to 
Kuykendaal,  which  would  mean  "Valley  of 
Fowls,"  suggesting  that  somewhere  in  the  old 
country  the  ancestors  of  the  family  lived  in  a  valley 
where  fowls  abounded. 

AnotJier  tradition  is  to  the  effect  that  between 
852  and  1000  as  in  Biblical  times,  they  used  only 
the  given  name,  and  that  an  edict  was  issued  by 
the  Duke  of  Alba  and  Duchess  of  Parma  insist- 
ing that  surnames  should  be  taken.  This  met  with 
no  little  opposition,  and  resulted  in  many  of  the 
inhabitants  assuming  ridiculous  names,  viz. : 
Knicker,  meaning  marble,  Backer,  meaning  baker, 
or  Marble-Baker,  hence  the  aristocratic  New  York 
name  Knickerbocker,  also  De  Paauw,  meaning  pea- 
cock, from  which  came  another  old  Dutch  name, 
' '  DePew. ' ' 

Luer  Jacobson  van  Kuvkendaal  came  from  Hoi- 


266 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


land  to  America  with  the  van  Eeiissallaer  Colony 
some  time  prior  to  1640,  landed  at  New  Amsterdam, 
New  York,  and  lived  for  a  time  with  the  colony  at 
Wyldwick,  or  Fort  Orange  (New  Albany).  The 
date  of  his  birth  in  Holland  is  unknown,  research 
of  the  records  so  far  found  do  not  disclose  tlie 
name  of  his  wife.  His  death  occurred  at  Wyld- 
wick, New  York,  October  25,  1653. 

Jacol)  Luwreszen,  the  only  son,  was  baptized  at 
the  old  Dutch  Reform  Church  at  Kingston.  New 
Y'ork,  May  29,  1640,  and  married  Grietie  Artz  Tack 
in  1680.  To  them  was  born  twelve  children,  wliose 
names  were  Syntie,  Jacob,  Johannas  (who  died  in 
infancy) ,  Cornelius,  Johannas,  Matthew,  Ary, 
Arenitja,  Petrus,  Sara,  Syntie  and  Christina. 

The  line  of  descendants  wa-s  handed  down 
through  .Jacob,  who  was  baptized  August  12,  1683. 
He  was  twice  married,  the  name  of  his  first  wife 
being  Adriontjen  Tutsort,  who  lived  but  a  short 
time  after  their  marriage.  About  two  years  later 
he  was  re-united  in  hoi}-  wedlock  to  Sarali  "West- 
fall.  Matthew  and  .Taeob  both  owned  large  tracts 
of  land  adjoining  the  lands  of  the  Westfalls  and 
Westbrooks  on  both  sides  of  the  Delaware  Eiver  at 
Minisink  Islands,  New  Jersey  (see  records  and 
original  plats  Port  .larvis,  New  Y'ork). 

Jacob  and  Sarah  Kuykendaal  were  the  parents 
of  six  children:  Jacob,  baptized  1716;  David, 
baptized  1719;  Marretjen,  baptized  1721;  Benja- 
min, baptized  1723;  Christina,  baptized  1727;  and 
Nathaniel,  baptized  1728. 

The  old  records  show  that  Nathaniel  assisted  in 
surveying  and  locating  the  east  and  west  boundary 
line  between  the  states  of  New  York  and  Penn- 
sylvania, and  also  records  the  settlement  of  his 
father's  estate,  which  was  near  the  little  Village 
of  Reurwyck,  where  Albany  now  stands.  T)ie  name 
of  Nathaniel  also  appears  on  the  records  as  having 
assisted  in  settling  disputed  boundary  lines  among 
the  settlers,  and  indicates  that  he  was  rather  an 
important  character  for  one  of  his  youthful  years 
and  the  period  in  which  he  lived. 

About  1743  the  Dutch  were  planning  a  Dut<;-h 
republic  similar  to  that  in  Holland,  when  the  Eng- 
lish «ame  in  and  took  possession.  This  usurpation 
on  the  part  of  the  English  was  very  much  against 
the  wishes  of  the  Dutch,  who  determined  to  get  out 
from  the  old  New  Amsterdam  section  where  they 
had  been  operating,  and  sent  an  exploring  expedi- 
tion down  into  Virginia.  History  records  the  names 
of  Jacob  and  Nathaniel  Kuykendall,  Jan  Van 
Meter,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Blue,  and  others 
whose  names  are  not  given  as  being  members  of 
the  party.  They  reported  glowing  accounts  of  the 
country  upon  their  return  to  New  Amsterdam,  and 
immediately,  or  very  soon  after,  this  same  party 
with  others  moved  down  into  Virginia,  taking  lands 
on  the  south  branch  of  the  Potomac  River,  up  and 
down  the  river  from  where  Eomney,  Hampshire 
County,   is  now  located. 

On  June  15,  1749,  Nathaniel  Kuykendall  (it  will 
be  observed  that  the  name  is  spelled  ' '  Kuyken- 
dall" instead  of  "aal,"  as  former  records  aU 
show)  received  a  deed  for  a  large  boundary  of 
land  running  up  and  down  the  Potomac  River  at 
Romney  for  a  distance  of  eleven  or  twelve  miles, 
signed  by  Lord  Thomas  Fairfax,  the  deed  being 
simply  signed  ' '  Fairfax ' '  with  the  seal  of  Great 
Britain  affixed  thereto.  A  man  by  the  name  of 
Sullivan  received  a  deed  on  the  same  date  for  land 
adjoining  that  of  Nathaniel  Kuykendall.  A  great 
deal  of  interesting  historv  comes  in  here,  in  which 
the  name  of  George  Washington  appears  inti- 
mately  associated,   which   is   now   being   prepared 


for  publication  in  "The  History  of  the  Kuyken- 
dalls  in  America. ' ' 

The  writer  is  not  in  possession  of  the  name  of 
Nathaniel's  wife  or  names  of  any  of  the  other 
children  but  Isaac,  who  was  the  writer 's  great- 
grandfather. 

Hampshire  County  had  its  county  seat  laid  off 
and  made  legal  in  1762,  and  the  first  county  court 
was  held  two  or  three  years  later,  and  Nathaniel 
Kuykendall  sat  as  one  of  the  first  judges  of  the 
court. 

Isaac,  son  of  Nathaniel,  was  born  in  1766  and 
died  in  1845.  He  married  Jane  Calvin,  who  died 
in  1854.  To  their  union  were  born  six  children, 
Jacob,  Luke,  William,  James,  Susan  and  Sallie,  all 
of  whom  were  large  land  owners.  They  loved  and 
owned  good  horses  and  were  large  robust  men  and 
good  horsemen.  Isaac  Kuykendall  owned  a  large 
tract  of  land  southwest  of  Romney,  up  the  Potomac. 
The  boundary  ran  to  within  a  mile  or  two  of 
Romney,  on  which  he  built  a  large  stone  residence 
and  barn,  which  at  some  later  date  was  burned,  but 
the  walls  of  these  buildings  are  still  standing  and 
in  good  condition.  Over  the  door  is  inscribed  the 
name  of  Isaac  Kuykendall,  and  bears  the  date  of 
1789.  The  owners  of  the  old  Isaac  Kuykendall 
farm  at  present  are  Mrs.  Susie  Pancake  (who 
owns  the  land  on  which  the  ruins  of  the  old  stone 
house  are  located).  Harness  Johnson  and  Michael 
Kuykendall,  a  great-grandson  of  Isaac. 

•The  line  of  this  branch  of  the  family  was  handed 
down  through  James,  the  fourth  son  of  Isaac  and 
Jane  Kuykendall.  He  was  born  at  the  old  stone 
house  mentioned  above  in  1810,  and  married  Han- 
nah Lawson  Blue  October  25,  1836. 

James  Kuykendall  owned  a  farm  located  on  both 
sides  of  the  Potomac  River  adjoining  Eomney, 
West  Virginia,  which  he  later  sold  and  purchased 
another  farm  about  two  miles  east  of  Cumberland, 
Maryland,  known  as  the  ' '  Hitchcock  Farm, ' '  where 
the  family  resided  a  number  of  years,  or  until  about 
the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  between  the 
states,  in  1861,  when  he  disposed  of  his  holdings 
there  and  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  at 
Springfield,  West  Virginia,  which  is  about  nine 
miles  down  the  Potomac  Eiver  from  Romney,  the 
old  Isaac  Kuykendall  home  place,  where  he  was 
born.  James  Kuykendall  owned  a  number  of 
slaves  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  held  a  large 
sum  of  Confederate  money,  which  he  realized  from 
the  sale  of  lands  near  Cumberland,  Maryland,  in 
addition  to  what  he  had  invested  in  the  mercantile 
business.  The  money  was  worthless  at  the  close  of 
the  war,  and  most  of  his  goods  in  the  store  were 
confiscated  by  the  Union  Army,  leaving  him  with 
a  large  family  and  a  meager  sum  of  money  to  be- 
gin business  anew,  which  he  did,  and  while  he  never 
accumulated  as  much  as  the  losses  sustained  by  the 
war,  he  was  considered  a  successful  business  man 
and  always  provided  well  for  his  family,  which  has 
always  been  a  characteristic  of  the  family.  _  A  few 
years  after  the  close  of  the  war  he  sold  his  busi- 
ness at  Springfield,  West  Virginia,  and  engaged 
in  a  similar  business  at  Frenches  Depot,  about  one 
mile  from  the  junction  of  the  north  and  south 
branches  of  the  Potomac,  where  he  continued  suc- 
cessfullT  till  his  death  in  1876.  He  was  returning 
from  Presbytery  at  Charlestown,  West  Virginia, 
being  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  like  his 
father  before  him.  He  was  instantly  killed  by  an 
express  train  as  he  came  around  behind  the  west 
bound  train  from  which  he  had  just  gotten  off. 
The  watch  he  was  wearing  was  given  him  by  his 
father  and  is  still  in  the  family,  now  owned  by  his 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


267 


'Oldest  grandson.  His  death  occurred  in  September, 
1876. 

James  and  Hannah  Kuykendall  were  the  parents 
of  eight  children,  the  oldest,  Frances  Jane,  born  in 
October,  1837,  dying  in  infancy  April  4,  1839.  The 
names  of  the  other  children  were  Isaac,  Fannie, 
Michael,  James,  Willie,  Susie  and  Thomas. 

Hannah  Lawson  Blue,  wife  of  James  Kuyken- 
dall, was  of  an  old  Dutch  family  and  one  of  the 
early  settlers,  and  like  the  Kuykendalls  of  old 
Knickerliocker  stock.  Her  graudfatlier  's  name  was 
Uriah  Blue,  born  December  2,  1746,  and  he  died 
April  14,  1814.  His  wife,  Susan  Williams,  born 
November  25,  1754,  was  captured  and  scalped  by 
the  Indians  and  returned  home  b,y  tlie  Indians  upon 
payment  of  a  ransom.  She  died  September  19, 
1815.  Michael,  son  of  Uriah,  was  born  May  15, 
1782,  and  died  May  11,  1842.  Frances  Lawson,  his 
wife,  was  born  November  29,  1785,  and  the  date 
of  her  death  is  not  available  at  this  writing. 
Frances  Lawson  Blue,  wife  of  Michael  Blue,  was 
the  mother  of  Hannah  Lawson  Kuykendall,  wife  of 
James  Kuykendall. 

Reference  is  hereby  made  to  old  records  at  Rich- 
mond, Virginia,  and  Romney,  Hampshire  County, 
West  Virginia,  relative  to  grants  of  lands  to  the 
grandfather  of  Hannah  Lawson  as  compensation 
for  services  rendered  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 
(See  Book  of  Entry  for  Hampshire  County  at 
Richmond,  Virginia,  book  R,  page  281-282.  (See 
Records,  Second  Regiment,  Continental  Line.) 

Isaac  Kuykendall,  eldest  son  of  James  and  Han- 
nah Kuykendall,  was  born  August  30,  1839.  In 
addition  to  a  common  school  education  he  attended 
the  Academy  at  Cumberland,  Maryland,  and  en- 
listed in  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy  as  a  private 
under  Capt.  George  Sheetz  at  Romney,  West  Vir- 
ginia, in  1861,  entering  Company  F,  Seventh  Vir- 
ginia Cavalry,  Laurel  Brigade,  under  Gen.  Thomas 
Rosser  and  Gen.  .J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  commander. 

In  April,  1862,  Captain  George  Sheetz  was  killed 
in  a  cavalry  charge  at  Buckton  Station,  Paige 
County,  Virginia,  and  Isaac  Kuykendall  was  pro- 
moted to  second  lieutenant,  and  at  the  battle  of 
Cedar  Mountain  (where  he  had  two  horses  killed 
under  him)  he  was  promoted  to  the  captaincy  of 
his  company,  which  title  he  held  during  the  period 
of  the  war.  He  was  twice  captured,  being  held 
four  months  the  first  time  and  eleven  months  the 
second.  He  was  under  fire  at  Fort  Delaware,  and 
his  name  appears  in  the  records  of  tlie  Civil  war 
as  one  of  "The  Immortal  Six  Hundred." 

In  1870  he  was  married  to  Luc.y  Rebecca  Davis 
in  Mineral  County,  West  Virginia,  and  lived  in  the 
brick  home  erected  by  Samuel  Davis  ,iust  before  the 
Civil  war,  which  was  left  to  Lucy  Rebecca  with  280 
acres  of  fine  farming  land  at  his  death.  In  1881 
Isaac  and  Lucy  sold  the  farm  and  purchased  an- 
other farm  containing  670  acres  near  Huttons. 
Garrett  County,  Maryland,  from  Mortimer  Pollock 
of  Wheeling,  West  Virginia,  who  had  previously 
purchased  it  from  Col.  William  Schley,  brother  of 
Admiral  Schley.  This  was  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful and  most  valuable  farms  in  Western  Maryland, 
and  was  known  through  that  country  as  "The 
Promised  Land."  In  1894  tlie  family  moved  to 
Romney,  West  Virginia,  where  they  remained  until 
1904,  when  they  moved  to  the  old  Blue  farm  at 
Hanging  Rock,  four  miles  below  Romney,  on  the 
Potomac  River,  which  contained  1,300  acres  of 
land.  This  property  was  granted  to  the  Blue  fam- 
ily about  1744,  by  George  III  of  England,  and 
was  never  deeded  till  the  death  of  Michael  and 
Lawson   Blue,   which    occurred    in    1904    and    1908, 


respectivel.y,  the  dates  of  their  deaths  being  in  the 
order  which  their  names  ajipear. 

Isaac  Ku3'kendall  had  an  undivided  interest  in 
this  property  through  his  mother  Hannah  Lawson, 
who  was  a  sister  of  Michael  and  Lawson  Blue. 
Isaac  Kuykendall  with  his  family  lived  here  from 
1904  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1910.  He 
was  a  consecrated  Christian  man,  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  an  elder  in  the  church 
for  about  twenty  years. 

Lucy  Rebecca,  his  wife,  was  born  October  21, 
1834,  at  the  home  of  her  father,  Samuel  Davis,  one 
mile  south  of  Headsville,  Mineral  County,  West 
Virginia.  Her  grantf ather  's  name  was  Joseph 
Davis,  whose  wife  was  Rebecca  Dent,  both  being 
from  Prince  Edward  County,  Virginia.  Her  grand- 
father was  an  Edwards,  who  owned  and  farmed  a 
tract  of  forty  acres  of  land  located  where  Trinity 
Church,  Wall  Street,  and  a  part  of  Broadway  are 
now  located.  This  land  was  leased  for  ninety-nine 
years  and  expired  in  1892. 

Lucy  Rebecca  Kuykendall  received  her  education 
at  a  private  school  known  as  ' '  Thorndale, ' '  near 
Baltimore,  Maryland.  vShe  was  a  remarkably  well 
read  woman  and  a  fine  Christian  character,  her 
father  and  grandfather  both  being  elders  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Her  death  occurred  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1914.  J 

Isaac  and  Lucy  Kuykendall  were  the  parents  of 
eight  children,  the  four  eldest  being  boys  and  the 
four  youngest  girls.  Their  names  and  dates  of 
liirth  are  as  follows:  James  Stuart,  born  Septem- 
ber 8,  1871;  Edgar  Davis,  born  August  13,  1873; 
Isaac,  Jr.,  born  October  26,  1875;  Samuel  McCool, 
born  September  18,  1877;  Hannah  Susan,  born 
October  22,  1879;  Nannie  Blue,  born  November  2, 
1880;  Lucy  Virginia,  born  October  26,  1881;  and 
Frances  Lawson,  born  October  22,  1883. 

James  Stuart  Kuykendall  received  a  common 
school  education.  In  1889  he  entered  tl^e  mercan- 
tile business  as  clerk  at  Huttons,  .Maryland,  ;-nd 
on  the  10th  of  June  of  the  same  year  accepted  a 
position  with  Mr.  I.  H.  C.  Pancake  at  Romney, 
West  Virginia,  in  the  same  capacity,  and  worked 
up  to  head  clerk  in  a  large  business.  In  1894  he 
was  elected  general  manager  of  the  mercantile 
establishment  of  E.  M.  Gilkeson  at  Romney,  which 
jiosition  be  held  until  Mr.  Gilkeson  was  elected 
jiresident  of  the  bank  at  Parkersburg,  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  sold  tlie  liusiness  to  James  Russell,  when 
he  was  re-employed  by  Mr.  Pancake  to  open  up  a 
new  branch  store  at  Westernport,  Maryland,  nhere 
he  remained  two  years,  resigning  to  enter  mercan- 
tile business  for  himself  under  the  firm  name  of 
Sheppard  &  Kuykendall,  after  declining  a  very 
lucrative  position  offered  him  to  go  to  Johannes- 
burg, South  Africa,  to  assume  the  position  of 
general  manager  for  the  first  ice  manufacturing 
establishment  ever  established  in  South  Africa. 
Ten  years  of  close  confinement  in  the  mercan- 
tile business  brought  about  a  breakdown,  and  his 
physicians  ordered  a  change  in  climate,  and  after 
several  months  treatment  he  spent  several  mouths 
■with  his  brother  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  and  At- 
lanta, Georgia,  and  in  June,  1899,  located  in  Greens- 
boro, North  Carolina,,  engaging  in  the  mercantile 
business  as  clerk  three  years  and  in  the  real  estate 
business  a.bout  the  same  length  of  time.  In  1907 
he  was  elected  secretary  of  the  Greensboro  Cliam- 
ber  of  Commerce,  and  was  one  of  a  small  group 
of  young  men  who  were  largely  instrumental  in  pro- 
curing the  location  of  the  Wliite  Oak  Cotton  Mills 
at  that  point,  one  of  the  largest  in  the  South.  Dur- 
ing his  administration  as  secretary  of  the  Cham- 


268 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


her  of  Commerce  he  was  appointed  a  delegate  to 
represent  tlie  Fifth  District  of  Nortli  Carolina  at 
the  Southern  Immigration  and  Quarantine  Congress 
held  at  Chattanooga.  He  was  an  aggressive  leader 
in  locating  in  North  Carolina  the  National  Auto- 
mobile Highway  from  New  York  to  Atlanta,  and 
given  the  distinction  by  the  officials  of  the  New 
York  Herald  and  Atlanta  Journal,  who  promoted 
the  location  of  this  highway,  of  licing  the  only 
North  Carolinian  who  was  present  and  wliose  figure 
appears  on  the  bronze  medal  celebrating  the  event 
of  the  linking  up  of  the  North  and  the  South  with 
a  national  highway  system. 

In  1909  he  was  offered  the  position  of  secretary 
and  treasurer  of  the  board  of  trade  at  Winston- 
Salem,  North  Carolina,  and  held  this  position  until 
1912,  when  he  became  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  Standard  Bnilding  and  Loan  Association  in  the 
same  city,  whicli  position  he  still  occupies.  He  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Local  Exemption  Board 
under  the  selective  service  draft  by  President 
Woodrow  Wilson  in  November,  1917,  and  elected 
secretary  of  the  board,  which  registered  .5154 
registrants,  and  was  the  largest  board  and  fur- 
nished more  men  for  the  war  in  Europe  than  any 
other  board  in  the  .state,  the  number  inducted 
being  about  3,000  men  in   class   A-1. 

He  was  a  deacon  in  the  T^resbyterian  Church  at 
Eomney,  West  Virginia,  Westernport,  Maryland, 
and  an  elder  in  the  First  Clnirch  at  Winston-Salem 
and  Eeynolds,  North  Carolina,  about  three  miles 
distant  from  Winston-Salem. 

On  June  2.3,  1909,  James  Stuart  Kuykendall  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Ruth  Wharton  at  the  home 
of  her  parents  in  Greensboro,  North  Carolina.  Her 
father  being  John  W.  Wharton,  son  of  .John 
Wharton,  whose  father  was  Elisha,  son  of  Watson 
Wharton,  whose  father  was  Hinnian  Wliarton,  of 
an  old  English  family  whose  name  appears  in  the 
historic  records  of  both  the  Revolutionary  and  Civil 
wars.  Maria  Edwards,  wife  of  .John  W.  Wharton, 
and  mother  of  Ruth  Wharton  Kuykendall,  traced 
her  ancestry  back  to  the  New  York  Edwards,  who 
were  also  the  ancestors  of  Lucv  Rebecca  Kuyken- 
dall, mother  of  .1.  Stuart  Kuykendall.  James 
Stuart  Kiivkendall  and  wife,  Ruth,  have  one  daugh- 
ter. Ruth. 'born  October  2.1,  1914. 

.iohn  W.  Wliarton  lost  a  limb  at  the  battle  of 
Plymouth,  North  Carolina,  in  the  Civil  war,  and 
was  a  member  of  Company  M,  Twenty-first  Regi- 
ment, North  Carolina  Infantry.  He  was  born  Sep- 
tember 1-,  18.3.3,  and  died  April  21,  1910. 

Edgar  Davis,  second  son  of  Isaac  and  Lucy 
Kuykendall,  was  educated  at  Peabody  Normal  Col- 
lege. He  was  president  of  the  Literary  Society  of 
that  college,  was  a  noted  football  player,  and  had 
charge  of  all  the  athletics  of  this  institution  and 
graduated  .second  in  his  class  in  1896,  after  which 
he  completed  a  two  years '  law  course  in  one  year 
at  Lebanon  (Tenn.)  Law  School,  second  in  a  large 
class.  Immediately  after  graduating  he  begun  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
where  he  remained  until  1902,  when  he  removed  to 
Greensboro,  North  Carolina,  for  the  practice  of 
his  profession,  and  in  1912  was  elected  prosecuting 
attorney  in  the  Municiiial  Court,  which  position  he 
held  until  the  declaration  of  war  with  Germany, 
when  he  was  promoted  to  the  ]iosition  of  ma^or  of 
the  Third  Regiment.  North  Carolina  Coast  Artillery. 
He  was  married  in  1908  to  May  Lehman.  To  them 
were  born  two  children,  Edgar,  Jr.,  and  Harry. 

Isaac,  the  third  son  of  Isaac  and  Lucy  K\iyken- 
dall,  was  educated  at  Potomac  Academy,  Romney, 
West  Virginia,  was  sent  to  China  as  a  missionary, 


and  was  there  during  the  Boxer  Uprising,  where  h& 
remained  eight  years,  after  which  he  returned  home 
and  completed  his  theological  course  at  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  Richmond,  Virginia.  His 
death  occurred  in  February,  1913.  He  was  un- 
married. 

The  youngest  son,  Samuel  McCool,  received  his 
education  at  Potomac  Seminary,  Romney,  West 
Virginia.  He  was  married  to  Anna  DeBerry  of 
Garret  County,  Maryland.  To  them  was  born  one 
son.  Dent  Kuykendall. 

Hannah  and  Frances,  the  oldest  and  youngest 
daughters,  received  their  education  at  Potomac 
Seminary.  Hannah  took  a  special  course  in  Phila- 
delphia, in  Johns  Hopkins,  Baltimore,  Maryland, 
and  also  in  New  York  City,  and  is  now  a  trained 
nurse.  She  volunteered  for  home  or  foreign  serv- 
ice and  has  been  called  for  service  with  the  Red 
Cross.  Frances  married  Charlie  Blue  and  resides 
at  Hanging  Rock,  Hampshire  County,  West  Vir- 
ginia, on  a  part  of  the  old  Blue  farm,  formerly  the 
jiroperty  of  her  ancestors  and  now  owned  by  her 
husband.  Nannie  and  Lucy  completed  their  edu- 
cation at  the  Mary  Baldwin  School,  Winchester, 
Virginia.  Nannie  is  principal  of  the  graded  school 
at  Keyser,  West  Virginia,  and  Lucy  married  Wil- 
liam Washington,  near  Springfield,  West  Virginia. 
They  have  one  daughter,  Lucy  Virginia. 

.James  D.  Proctor.  It  is  not  every  son  of  an 
illustrious  father  who  is  able  to  reaeh  distinction 
in  the  same  field  of  endeavor  as  that  in  which  the 
parent  won  honors,  but  in  the  case  of  James  D. 
Proctor,  of  Lumberton,  it  would  appear  that 
through  high  intellectual  attainments  he  also  has 
reached  eminence  in  his  profession,  inheritance 
and  environment  by  no  means  having  been  neces- 
sary factors.  While  he  perpetuates  a  reputation 
for  professional  skill  earned  liy  his  honored  father, 
his  own  place  in.  the  ranks  of  law  has  been  gained 
through  force  of  merit.  For  more  than  ten 
years  he  has  been  engaged  in  practice  at  Lum- 
berton, where  he  is  junior  partner  of  the  well- 
known  law  firm  of  Mclntyre,  Lawrence  &  Proc- 
tor. 

.Tames  D.  Proctor  is  a  native  son  of  Robeson 
County,  North  Carolina,  and  was  born  in  188.5, 
at  Lumberton,  his  parents  being  Edward  K.  and 
Elizabeth  Gray  (Dick)  Proctor.  The  family  has 
been  in  America  since  1835,  when  the  great- 
grandfather of  James  D.  Proctor  brought  his 
family  from  Kent,  England,  and  located  in  Prince 
George  County,  Virginia.  There  he  became  a 
prominent  citizen  and  extensive  planter  and 
rounded  out  a  long  and  successful  life,  his  last 
resting-place  being  the  old  Blandwood  Church- 
yard at  Petersburg,  Virginia.  Edward  K.  Proc- 
tor, Sr.,  the  grandfather  of  James  D.  Proctor, 
was  born  in  Kent,  England,  in  1825  and  was  ten 
years  of  age  when  brought  by  his  father  to  the 
United  States.  He  grew  up  amid  rural  surround- 
ings in  Prince  George  County,  Virginia,  and  dur- 
ing the  middle  '50s  came  to  Robeson  County, 
North  Carolina,  locating  at  Lumberton.  Here 
he  became  a  large  land  owner  and  a  prosper- 
ous and  successful  man.  Mr.  Proctor  had  the 
full  confidence  of  the  people  among  whom  he 
lived,  and  on  various  oecasions  was  called  upon 
to  serve  in  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility, 
being  eventually  sent  to  the  North  Carolina  Leg- 
islature, in  which  body  he  served  with  distinc- 
tion for  two  terms.  When  he  was  called  in 
death  his  community  lost  one  of  its  best  and 
most   energetic   citizens,   and   he   left  behind   him 


\ . .  ,^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


269 


not  only  a  host  of  friends,  but  a  large  number 
of  admirers,  who  had  come  to  believe  in  his  ster- 
ling  integrity   and   worth   of   character. 

Edward  K.  Proctor,  the  younger,  was  born  at 
Lumbertou  in  1862,  and  here  his  entire  life  was 
passed.  He  was  educated  for  the  law,  a  profes- 
sion in  which  he  spent  his  career  and  in  which 
he  gained  an  excellent  standing.  He  was  also  a 
prominent  and  substantial  citizen  of  Lumberton 
and  became  the  owner  of  large  tracts  of  city  and 
country  property.  He  owned  the  land  upon  which 
the  Town  of  Proctorville  was  'built,  this  town  be- 
ing named  in  his  honor,  and  also  had  numerous 
other  interests  of  an  extensive  nature  which  made 
his  name  well  known  in  business  and  railroad  cir- 
cles. Mr.  Proctor  was  a  man  noted  for  civic  pride 
and  for  his  efficiency  and  thoroughness,  not  only 
in  business  affairs,  but  in  all  other  avenues  of 
life  as  well.  It  is  recalled  that  he  displayed  these 
qualities  in  church  movements,  and  as  a  promi- 
nent member  and  official  of  the  Baptist  Church  he 
was  forcibly  instrumental  in  having  the  church 's 
business  and  financial  affairs  carried  on  in  a 
thorough  and  systematic  manner,  this  policy  be- 
ing the  means  of  avoiding  debt  and  deficit  and 
building  up  a  thrifty  and  prosperous  church  or- 
ganization. He  was  one  of  the  powerful  and  cour- 
ageous leaders  in  the  prohibition  cause  in  North 
Carolina  during  the  pioneer  days  of  the  crusade 
against  the  great  liquor  interests,  at  a  time  when 
it  was  personally  and  decidedly  dangerous  for 
any  individual  to  openly  espouse  the  cause  of 
prohibition.  In  fact,  Mr.  Proctor 's  outspoken 
views  upon  the  subject  frequent!}'  exposed  him- 
self and  family  to  attack  by  the  liquor  element, 
and  on  several  occasions  he  and  his  loved  ones  had 
narrow  escapes  from  the  most  serious  harm. 
He  always  publicly  advocated  his  principles  in 
regard  to  the  prohibition  question,  and  it  was 
his  fortune  to  live  to  see  North  Carolina  begin 
to  throw  off  the  curse  of  liquor.  He  was  deeply 
interested  in  the  affairs  of  his  town,  and  through 
his  efforts  the  town  installed  its  first  public  im- 
provements in  the  shape  of  a  modern  water  and 
sewerage  system  and  pure  drinking  water.  His 
death  occurred  in  1902,  when  he  was  but  forty 
years  of  age,  his  early  demise  cutting  short  a 
most  brilliant  and  successful  career.  Mrs.  Proc- 
tor, who  survives  her  husband  and  lives  at  Lum- 
berton, is  a  daughter  of  the  late  James  Dick, 
whose  brother,  Hon.  Eobert  P.  Dick,  was  for  many 
years  United  States  judge  for  the  Western  Dis- 
trict of  North  Carolina'  and  a  member  of  the  law 
firm  of  Dick  &  Dillard,  of  Greensboro,  their  fa- 
ther having  been  Hon.  John  M.  Dick,  who  was  a 
judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  North  Carolina 
for  thirty  years  in  the  first  half  of  tlie  nineteenth 
century.  Messrs.  Dick  and  Dillard  for  several 
years  conducted  a  notable  law  class  at  Greens- 
boro in  which  were  educated  many  lawyers  who 
have  since  ranked  among  the  highest  in  the  state 
and  nation.  Edward  K.  Proctor  received  his  pro- 
fessional  training   in    this   school. 

As  a  pupil  in  the  public  schools  at  Lumber- 
ton,  James  D.  Proctor  showed  himself  possessed 
of  a  bright  nnd  retentive  mind,  and  when  still  a 
youth  he  disrlnyed  a  desire  to  enter  his  f  nther  's 
m-ofession.  He  attended  Wake  Forest  College, 
from  which  well  known  institution  he  was  gradu- 
ated in  190.5,  Tvith  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts,  and  then  entered  upon  his  professional 
studies  at  the  ITniversitv  of  North  Carolina,  com- 
pleting with  the  class  of  1906.  Eeturning  to  Lum- 
berton, he  at  once  embarked  in  iiractice  and  here 
he  has   continued  his   labors  with   signal   success. 


He  is  now  a  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Mclntyre, 
Lawrence  &  Proctor,  accounted  one  of  the  strong- 
est legal  combinations  to  be  found  in  Eastern 
North  Carolina,  who  practice  in  all  the  courts. 
Mr.  Proctor  is  interested  in  various  activities 
of  his  native  city,  is  mayor  of  Lumberton,  as  was 
his  father  and  grandfather,  and  at  present  is  a 
member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina.  He  is  popular  in  social 
circles  and  has  numerous  friends,  both  in  and 
outside   of  professional  life. 

John  .J.  Macket.  An  important  contribution  to 
the  history  of  a  great  state  is  that  which  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  representative  citizens  of  each  com- 
munity. That  they  are  representative  means  that 
through  their  activities,  their  sterling  character, 
their  personal  influence  and  trained  faculties,  most 
worthy  things  have  been  accomplished.  More  often 
than  not  these  representative  men  are  found  in 
public  life,  having  been  called  to  assume  official 
responsibilities  by  their  fellow  citizens  who  had 
faith  in  their  capacity,  and  continuing  long  in 
office  because  of  their  ability  and  trustworthiness. 

John  J.  Mackey,  one  of  Buncombe  County 's  rep- 
resentative men,  has  been  register  of  deeds  here 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  belongs 
to  one  of  the  old  families  of  the  state,  is  of  Irish 
extraction,  and  his  people  settled  in  McDowell 
County,  North  Carolina,  long  before  his  birth  there, 
which  took  place  October  9,  184.5.  His  parents 
were  Cliarles  and  Mary  Ann  (Jordan)  Mackey. 
For  many  years  his  father  was  an  extensive  farmer 
in  McDowell  County,  but  when  the  war  between  the 
states  came  on  he  put  aside  his  personal  interests, 
and  in  May,  1864,  like  many  fathers  in  the  present 
troubled  times  in  the  land,  saw  his  son  of  seven- 
teen years  become  a  soldier,  and  the  home  after  the 
war  was  in  Buncombe  County. 

John  J.  Mackey  obtained  his  education  in  private 
schools  and  remained  with  his  father  until  he  en- 
listed in  Company  K,  Sixth  North  Carolina  Cav- 
alry, in  which  he  served  until  the  end  of  the  war. 
He  then  completed  his  education  in  Weaverville 
College,  and  ever  since  has  devoted  himself  entirely 
to  the  interests  of  Buncombe  County. 

Mr.  Mackey  has  been  active  to  some  extent  in 
the  business  field,  as  a  hotel  keeper  and  a  merchant, 
but  a  great  part  of  his  life  has  been  passed  in 
public  office.  He  was  yet  a  young  man  when  he  was 
elected  superintendent  of  the  County  Home  of 
Buncombe  County,  and  during  his  seven  years  of 
administration  of  its  affairs  order  was  brought  out 
of  chaos,  .the  inmates  were  admirably  cared  for  and 
the  taxpayers  were  saved  needless  expenditure. 
Possessing  executive  ability,  he  conducted  the  home 
as  any  otlier  business  enterprise,  and  the  results 
were  creditable  to  himself  and  gratifying  to  the 
county. 

Afterward  Mr.  Mackey  established  a  private  hotel 
on  the  Murphy  Branch  Railroad  and  conducted  it 
very  successfully  for  eight-een  months,  and  then 
emljarked  in  a  general  mercantile  business  at  Ashe- 
ville.  Merchandising  in  this  beautiful  city  is  a 
business  of  great  importance.  While  the  county 
seat's  normal  resident  population  is  large,  with 
its  many  flourishing  manufacturing  plants,  it  is 
greatly  augmented  during  the  year  because  of  its 
renown  as  a  health  resort  and  as  the  home  of  some 
of  the  state 's  best  educational  institutions.  To 
please  and  satisfy  in  the  mercantile  line  so  large 
a  number  of  usually  affluent  patrons  makes  mer- 
chandising in  Asheville  almost  as  important  a  com- 
mercial enterprise  as  it  is  in  a  metropolis.  Mr. 
Mackey  was  one  of  the  leading  merchants  of  the 


270 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


city  for  six  years,  retiring  at  that  time  in  order 
to  assume  the  duties  of  his  present  office,  to  which 
he  was  elected  in  1888.  Mr.  Mackey  has  the  dis- 
tinction of  having  served  in  the  oifiee  of  register 
of  deeds  a  longer  time  than  any  of  his  predeces- 
sors, his  service  being  continuous,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  four  years,  since  first  elected. 

In  many  ways  Mr.  Mackey  has  been  a  good  and 
helpful  citizen  and  one  direction  in  which  he  is 
zealous  is  his  advocacy  of  good  roads,  and  he  is  a 
valued  member  of  the  Good  Boads  Association,  an 
organization  that  has  done  much  for  the  county 
in  this  regard.  For  many  years  he  has  been  identi- 
fied with  fraternal  bodies,  which  he  has  found  con- 
genial in  their  spirit  and  aims,  these  including  the 
Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics,  the 
Knights  of  Pytliias  and  the  Odd  Fellows,  with  their 
auxiliary  societies.  Few  men  are  better  known  in 
Buncombe  County  than  John  J.  Mackey. 

Mr.  Mackey  was  married  in  1869  to  Matilda 
Gill.  They  had  two  children:  Leona,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  about  three  years,  and  tlie  son  Lucious, 
who  died  when  about  eigliteen  montlis  old.  Mrs. 
Mackey  died  about  1874.  Mr.  Mackey  was  mar- 
ried in  1879  to  Sue  Stockely  of  Tennessee.  To  this 
union  there  wore  born  three  children,  all  of  whom 
died  before  reaching  five  years  of  age.  The  mother 
died  about  1891.  The  third  marriage  of  Mr. 
Mackey  was  to  Alberta  B.  Davis  of  Asheville, 
North  Carolina.  She  died  in  1906.  There  were  no 
children  of  this  union. 

John  Alpheus  Gkeen.  A  fine  representative 
of  the  keen,  clear-headed  and  prosperous  business 
men  of  Davidson  County,  John  Alpheus  Green, 
secretary,  treasurer,  and  general  manager  of  the 
Thomasville  Spoke  Works  Company,  is  actively 
identified  with  the  manufacturing  and  mercantile 
affairs  of  his  community,  and  is  likewise  prom- 
inent in  fraternal  circles.'  A  son  of  Joseph  Green, 
he  was  born,  in  1853,  in  Thomasville  Township, 
Davidson    County,   of   pioneer    stock. 

His  grandfather,  Jolin  Green,  was  born,  it  is 
supposed,  in  Abbotts  Creek  Township,  Davidson 
County,  where  his  mother  died  at  an  advanced  age. 
He  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  that  locality  soon 
after  his  marriage  to  Betsey  Kennedey,  and  there 
both  spent  the  remainder  of  their  lives,  being 
industrious,  thrifty  members  of  the  farming  com- 
munity. They  were  Methodists  in  religion,  and 
active  in  church  work.  Their  son  Jesse  lost  his  life 
in  the  Confederate  service,  and  another  son, 
Robert,  was  severely  wounded  while  serving  in 
the  Confederate  army. 

Born  on  the  home  farm  in  Abbotts  Creek  Town- 
ship, Joseph  Green  obtained  a  practical  knowledge 
of  the  three  "r's"  in  the  district  schools,  and  be- 
came familiarly  acquainted  with  the  various 
branches  of  agriculture  on  the  home  farm.  During 
the  Civil  war  he  was  detailed  as  a  mechanic  to 
build  wagons  for  the  Confederate  Government,  the 
factory  being  located  in  Thomasville  Township. 
There,  after  his  marriage,  he  settled  on  a  tract 
of  land  that  had  come  to  his  wife  by  inheritance, 
and  began  farming  on  his  own  account.  Succeed- 
ing well  in  his  operations,  he  subsequently  bought 
a  tract  of  adjoining  land,  and  was  there  engaged 
in  general  farming  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years.  He  married  Hannah  Gordy, 
who  was  born  in  Thomasville  Township,  a  daughter 
of  Laban  Gordy,  who  married  a  Miss  Murphy. 
Mrs.  Green  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight  years, 
leaving  three  daughters  and  two  sons,  namely: 
Naomi,    Sarah,   Mary,   John   Alpheus,   and   Julius 


Cicero.  None  of  the  daughters  are  living,  but 
both  of  the  sons  are,  Julius  being  engaged  in  the- 
furniture   Imsiness  at  Thomasville. 

Growing  to  manhood  beneath  th^  parental  roof 
tree,  John  A.  Green  was  graduated  from  the 
Abbotts  Creek  High  School,  and  soon  after  receiv- 
ing his  diploma  became  associated  with  his  father 
and  brother-in-law  in  the  manufactiire  of  lumber. 
At  the  end  of  three  years  he  came  to  Thomasville 
to  accept  the  superintendency  of  the  spoke  mill, 
then  owned  by  E.  S.  Parmalee,  a  non  resident  of 
the  town.  At  Mr.  Parmelee's  death,  Mr.  Green 
organized  the  Thomasville  Spoke  Works  Company, 
of  which  he  was  elected  secretary,  treasurer,  and 
general  manager,  positions  of  responsibility  which 
he  has  since  filled  with  much  credit  to  himself, 
and  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned.  In  1896, 
Mr.  Green,  with  characteristic  enterprise  and  fore- 
sight, established  a  lumber  yard,  and  has  since 
carried  on  a  profitable  business  as  a  dealer  in 
dressed  lumber. 

Mr.  Green  married,  in  1878,  Almeda  Jane 
Hoover.  She  was  born  in  Thomasville,  a  daughter 
of  P.  Absalom  and  Jane  (Holmes)  Hoover,  and 
maternal  grand-daughter  of  Moses  and  Anna 
(Riley)  Holmes.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Green  are  both 
active  and  valued  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  which  he  has  served 
as  steward  and  trustee,  at  the  present  time  being 
identified  with  its  Sunday  School  as  a  member  of 
the  business  men 's  class.  He  has  ever  taken  a 
lively  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  has  served 
as  a  member  of  the  Thomasville  town  commis- 
sioners, and  for  two  terms  was  one  of  the  county 
commissioners.  He  is  also  a  director  of  the  First 
Nationafl  Bank  of  Thomasville.  Fraternally 
Mr.  Green  is  a  member  of  Thomasville  Lodge  No. 
214,  Ancient  Free  and  Acee])ted  Order  of  Masons; 
of  Thomasville  Chapter,  Eoyal  Arch  Masons;  of 
Salisbury  Commandery,  Knights  Templar,  and 
Oasis  Temple,   Charlotte,  North  Carolina. 

Julius  Cicero  Green.  A  prominent  and  active 
citizen  of  Thomasville,  Julius  C.  Green  occupies 
a  place  of  influence  in  business  circles,  and  in 
the  various  public  positions  to  which  he  has  been 
called  has  invarialdy  devoted  his  time  and  energies 
to  the  duties  of  his  ofiice,  being  mindful  of  the 
interests  of  the  people.  A  native  of  Davidson 
County,  he  was  born  in  Thomasville  Township,  a 
son  of  Joseph  and  Hannah  (Gordy)  Green,  and 
grandson  of  John  Green,  a  lifelong  resident  of 
Abbotts    Creek    Township. ' 

An  ambitious  student  in  his  youthful  days, 
Julius  C.  Green  completed  the  course  of  study  in 
the  public  schools,  after  which  he  attended  a 
normal  school.  Developing  and  cultivating  the 
musical  talent  which  he  had  inherited,  Mr.  Green, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  began  teaching 
music.  Retiring  from  the  profession  at  the  end 
of  a  year,  he  embarked  in  mercantile  pursuits 
at  Forest  City,  Rutherford  County,  where  he  re- 
mained for  fifteen  years,  being  the  leading  under- 
taker and  furniture  dealer  of  that  place. 
Returning  then  to  Davidson  County,  Mr.  Green 
has  since  been  similarly  employed  in  Thomasville, 
where  he  has  met  with  excellent  success,  being 
popular  as  a  business  man  and  as  a  citizen.  i 

In  1889  Mr.  Green  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Dora  Tate.  She  was  born  in  Rutherford 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  H.  G.  and 
Caroline  Tate.  Nine  children  have  been  born  of 
their  union,  namely:  Paul,  Vera,  William  T., 
Julius  A.,  Jesse,  Eugene,  Dora  May,  Walter,  and 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


271 


Robert  Tate.  A  prominent  member  of  the  Metlio- 
dist  Episeopal  Church,  South,  to  which  Mrs.  Green 
also  belongs,  Mr.  Green  has  served  as  steward  of 
the  church;  as  district  recording  secretary;  and 
as  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School.  Ever 
ready  to  do  his  bit  in  promoting  the  advancement 
and  prosperity  of  the  community  in  which  he  now 
lives,  Mr.  Green  has  never  shirked  the  responsi- 
bilities of  public  office,  but  has  served  as  mayor, 
town  commissioner,  and  as  justice  of  the  peace. 
Fraternally  Mr.  Green  belongs  to  Thomasville 
Lodge  No.  214,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order 
of  Masons;  and  to  the  Woodmen  of  the  "World. 

Elmer  Lucius  Mathews.  Through  his  hard 
work  and  enterprise  Mr.  Mathews  has  built  up  one 
of  Wilmington's  promising  and  important  indus- 
tries. He  was  not  yet  nineteen  years  of  age  when 
in  May,  1899,  he  came  to  Wihningtou  in  the  employ 
of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line  Railway,  having  been 
transferred  from  Florence,  and  in  the  service  of 
this  company  he  remained  until  1906.  Having  in 
the  meantime  studied  the  prospects  of  an  indepen- 
dent business  career  and  having  saved  from  his 
salary  toward  that  end,  he  launched  out  in  1906 
in  the  business  of  manufacturers  and  jobbers  of 
candy  and  confectionery.  From  the  start  the  E.  L. 
Mathews  Candy  Company  has  more  than  held  its 
own  and  is  now  one  of  the  chief  concerns  of  the 
kind  in  the  state.  The  business  is  incorporated, 
with  Mr.  Mathews  as  president  and  general  man- 
ager. 

He  was  born  in  Florence  County,  South  Carolina, 
October  9,  1880,  a  sou  of  George  Washington  and 
Geneva  Woodrow  Mathews.  His  father  is  a  con- 
tractor. Elmer  L.  Mathews  gained  a  public  school 
education  and  before  coming  to  Wilmington  he 
had  some  experience  as  clerk  in  a  general  store. 
Among  other  interests  he  is  a  director  of  the  Orton 
Building  and  Loan  Association.  He  is  also  a 
steward  of  Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  a 
member  of  the  Grand  Lodge. 

On  January  30,  1901,  he  married  Bettie  James 
Rogers  of  Sampson  County,  North  Carolina.  They 
are  the  parents  of  five  children:  James  Woodrow, 
Elmer  Priseilla,  George  Rogers,  Randolph  Chapped 
and  Sarah  Elizabeth. 

James  M.  Whittington  has  long  been  promi- 
nent as  a  business  man  and  citizen  in  Yadkin 
County  and  for  several  years  has  given  his  chief 
time  and  attention  to  his  duties  as  cashier  of  the 
Yadkin  Valley  Bank  at  East  Bend.  His  is  one  of 
the  older  famOy  names  in  Western  North  Carolina 
and  tlie  Whittingtons  have  always  been  known 
for  their  steadfast  honor  and  integrtiy  in  all  the 
relations   of   life. 

Mr.  Whittington  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Mount 
Airy,  North  Carolina,  May  9,  1853.  His  great- 
grandfather, Meyer  Whittington,  was  born  in 
Yorkshire,  England.  Coming  to  America,  he  first 
located  in  Marylajid,  where  he  lived  a  few  years, 
and  then  became  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  in 
Guilford  County,  North  Carolina,  where  he  spent 
his  last  days.  He  reared  three  or  four  sons,  one 
of  whom,  Thomas,  lived  and  died  in  Guilford 
County. 

Ezekiel  Whittington,  grandfather  of  the  East 
Bend  banker,  was  born  in  Maryland,  but  grew  up 
in  Guilford  County.  After  reaching  manhood  he 
removed  to  Surry  County,  bought  a  farm  near 
Mount  Airy  and  was  prospered  in  his  activities 
there  and  lived  to  the  great  age  of  ninety-six.  He 
married  Elizabeth  Grissom,  who  lived  to  be  eighty- 


five.  Their  children  were  named  Ervin,  Thomas, 
John,  WilUam,  James  W.,  Nancy,  Elizabeth  and 
Sally. 

Mr.  Whittington 's  father  was  James  W.  Whit- 
tington, who  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Greensboro, 
North  Carolina,  in  1827.  He  grew  up  in  an  agri- 
cultural atmosphere,  made  the  best  of  his  opportu- 
nities to  acquire  an  education,  and  after  farming 
for  a  while  in  Surry  County  he  moved  with  his 
family  to  Carroll  County  in  the  mountainous  dis- 
trict of  Southwestern  Virginia.  There  he  bought 
land  and  was  both  a  farmer  and  stock  raiser.  In 
early  youth  he  was  converted,  joined  the  Methodist 
Episeopal  Church,  and  was  afterwards  licensed  as 
a  local  preacher.  He  was  a  man  of  great  power 
and  influence,  and  lived  in  Carroll  County,  Vir- 
ginia, until  his  death  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 
He  married  Mary  WUson,  who  was  born  in  David- 
son County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Joshua 
and  Annie  (Michael)  Wilson.  Her  death  occurred 
at  the  age  of  seventy-nine.  Her  four  children  were 
named  James  M.,  Thomas  C,  Irvin  L.  and 
Mollie  E. 

As  a  boy  James  M.  Whittington  attended  school 
near  Mount  Airy,  North  Carolina,  his  birthplace, 
and  afterwards  at  Hillsville,  county  seat  of  Carroll 
County,  Virginia.  His  finishing  studies  were 
taken  in  Woodlawn  Academy.  Mr.  Whittington 
has  had  a  varied  program  as  his  lifework.  For 
three  years  he  taught  school  in  Carroll  County. 
lU  health  compelled  him  to  abandon  that  vocation 
and  removing  to  East  Bend  in  Yadkin  County  he 
became  clerk  in  a  mercantile  establishment.  While 
thus  engaged  he  studied  pharmacy  and  then  oijened 
a  drug  business  of  his  own,  which  he  continued 
successfully  for  thirty  years.  In  191-1  he  became 
cashier  of  the  Yadkin  Valley  Bank,  wliich  has 
taken  his  time  and  labors  to  the  present  time. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-five  Mr.  Wliittington  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Benbow,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Evan 
and  Bettie  (Hall)  Benbow.  She  is  a  member  of 
a  prominent  family  of  North  Carolina  elsewhere 
mentioned.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wliittington  have  two 
children,  Annie  Elizabeth  and  James  B.,  both  of 
whom  are  married.  Annie  is  the  wife  of  Rev.  J. 
Kenneth  Pfohl  and  their  six  children  are  named 
M.  Elizabeth,  Mary  D.,  Ruth  W.,  J.  Kenneth  Jr., 
James  E.  and  Donald  L. 

.James  Henry  Boatwright.  Many  citizens  of 
Wilmington  count  it  a  rare  privilege  to  have 
known  the  late  J.  H.  Boatwright.  His  was  a  life 
of  business  integrity  such  as  might  serve  as  an 
example  to  young  men,  and  it  was  also  spent  in 
doing  good  for  others  and  in  giving  aai  unstinted 
measure  of  his  time  and  energies  to  tiiose  institu- 
tions and  organizations  which  represent  the  best 
in    a   community 's   life   and    growtli. 

A  son  of  Dr.  .John  H.  Boatwright  and  Mary 
Eliza  Lord  of  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  he  was 
born  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  in  1846.  His 
entire  boyhood  was  spent  in  Columbia.  Immedi- 
ately after  the  war,  however,  on  account  of  the 
death  of  Doctor  Boatwright  and  burning  of  the 
home,  the  family  came  to  Wilmington  to  be  with 
the  mother's  peo]ile.  He  was  a  boy  soldier  of  the 
Confederacy,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  being  a  boy  in 
the  Arsenal  Cadets  of  Columbia,  South  Carolina. 
Afterwards  for  many  years  he  was  active  in  Cape 
Fear  Chapter  of  the  United  Confederate  Veterans. 

On  coming  to  Wilmington  he  entered  the  serv- 
ice of  the  Wilmington  &  Manchester  Railroad, 
and  from  that  went  with  the  old  First  National 
Bank  as   discount   clerk.     In   1887  he  bought  an 


272 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


interest  in  tlie  firm  of  Gordon  &  Sniitli,  insurance, 
and  subsequently  the  name  was  changed  to  Boat- 
■vvright  «S-  Smith.  In  1892  the  partnership  was 
dissolved,  each  partner  establishing  a  business 
of  his  own  in  insurance.  Mr.  Boatwright  con- 
ducted a  large  and  extensive  business  under  his 
own  name,  and  in  1894  took  in  as  partner  his 
son,  Swift  M.  Boatwriglit,  making  the  finn,  J. 
H.  Boatwright  &  Sou.  This  old  and  reliable  insur- 
ance agency  is  now  conducted  by  his  son,  under 
the   old  firm   name. 

J.  H.  Boatwright  died  at  his  home  in  Wilming- 
tou  January  29,  1911.  The  character  which  he 
represented  to  the  community  is  well  expressed 
in  the  various  resolutions  drawn  up  at  the  time 
and  found  in  the  minutes  of  such  organizations 
as  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  North  Carolina 
Colonial  Dames  of  America,  the  Churcli  of  the 
Good  Shepherd,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation, the  Sunday  School  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd Church,  and  St.  James  Episcopal  Parish,  in 
which  he  served  for  twenty-six  years  as  a  ves- 
trj-man.  Long  prominent  in  St.  James  Parish, 
it  was  largely  through  his  influence  that  the  Good 
Shepherd  Mission  was  established  and  he  devoted 
liimself  so  unceasingly  to  the  upbuilding  of  that 
mission  that  he  saw  it  an  independent  parish. 
He  was  one  of  the  building  committee  when  the 
Church  of  the  Good  Shepherd  was  erected. 

In  1873  he  married  Miss  Mary  London  Miller,  of 
Wilmington.  They  were  the  parents  of  three 
children.  Swift  M.  Boatwright  is  referred  to  on 
other  pages.  Hal  F.  Boatwright,  deceased,  was 
a  student  of  Johns  Hopkins  University  at  Balti- 
more, passing  away  a  few  weeks  prior  to  his 
graduation.  Miss  Alice  Boatwright  still  resides 
at  the  old  home  in  Wilmington. 

Swift  Miller  Boatwright.  A  son  of  the  late 
J.  H.  Boatwright,  Swift  Miller  Boatwright  was 
born  in  Wilmington  February  10,  1875,  and  for 
more  than  twenty  years  has  been  actively  identi- 
fied with  the  large  insurance  business  founded 
and  built  up  by  his  father.  He  was  taken  into 
partnership  in  the  firm  of  J.  H.  Boatwright  &  Son 
in  1894,  and  since  the  death  of  his  honored  father 
on  January  25,  1911,  has  conducted  the  business 
alone,  under  the   old  firm   name. 

As  a  youth  he  attended  the  private  school  con- 
ducted by  Miss  Hart  and  Miss  Brown  and  the 
Rev.  Daniel  Morelle.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he 
left  school  to  enter  his  father 's  office  and  since 
then  has  liecome  one  of  the  foremost  insurance 
men  of  the  state.  Since  1900  he  has  served, as  sec- 
retary of  the  Wilmington  Board  of  Fire  Inssur- 
ance  Underwriters.  Socially  and  in  matters  of 
public  enterprise  he  is  also  prominent. 

He  is  a  director  in  the  Home  Savings  Bank, 
the  People's  Building  &  Loan  Association,  and 
the  Carolina  Building  &  Loan  Association.  He 
is  a  director  of  the  Wilmington  PuJilic  Library, 
a  member  of  the  Carolina  Yacht  Club,  of  the  Cape 
Fear  Golf  Club,  of  the  Masonic  Order  and  the 
Rotary  Club,  and  has  long  been  active  in  St. 
James  Episcopal  Qiurch,  serving  as  .I'unicr  war- 
den, vestryman  and  a  worker  in  the  Sunday  school. 

November  23,  1909,  he  married  Jeanie  Mur- 
phy Cronly,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Eliza  (Lan- 
don)  Cronly.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  chil- 
dren: Swift  M.,  Jr.,  Jeanie  M.,  Alice  Loudon  and 
Ann  Empie. 

Z.  Nelson  Anderson.  Noteworthy  among  the 
active   and   successful   business   men   who    are   so 


ably  conducting  the  mercantile  affairs  of  Davie 
County,  is  Z.  Nelson  Anderson,  who,  as  manager 
of  the  Moeksville  Wholesale  Grocery  Company, 
has  developed  a  large  and  constantly  increasing 
trade.  A  native  of  Davie  County,  he  was  born 
at  Calahaln,  which  was  also  the  birthplace  of  his 
father,  Albert  Alexander  Anderson,  and  the  place 
in  which  his  grandfather,  Richard  Anderson,  first 
lived  on  coming  to  North  Carolina  with  his  jsareuts, 
about  1800. 

Capt.  Charles  Anderson,  Mr.  Anderson's  great- 
grandfather, was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  came 
to  this  country  in  colonial  days.  He  was  captain 
of  a  company  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  serving 
under  Governor  Nelson,  for  whom  he  named  his 
oldest  son,  Nelson  Anderson,  born  in  1783.  Capt. 
Charles  Anderson  married  Betsey  Snead,  and  in 
1800,  with  his  wife,  five  sons  and  three  daughters, 
came  from  Virginia  to  North  Carolina,  settling 
in  what  is  now  Davie  County.  He  secured  title 
to  large  tracts  of  land  in  the  locality  of  Calahaln, 
and  much  of  it  is  at  the  present  time  owned  by 
his  descendants.  It  is  said  that  he  gave  an  Indian 
a  flint-lock  rifle  in  exchange  for  Calahaln  Moun- 
tain. He  and  his  wife  rounded  out  a  full  period 
of  years,  and  were  buried  in  the  family  burying 
ground,  in  Calahaln. 

Richard  Anderson,  the  next  in  line  of  descent, 
born  in  Buckingham  County,  Virginia,  in  1793, 
was  seven  years  old  when  he  came  with  his  parents 
to  Davie  County.  As  a  young  man  he  joined  the 
state  militia,  and  during  the  War  of  1812  was 
called  out,  but,  it  being  near  the  end  of  the  war, 
he  got  no  further  than  Salisbury.  Embarking  in 
agricultural  pursuits,  he  owned  and  operated  a 
plantation  in  Calahaln,  the  work  being  performed 
by  slaves.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Sarah  Ann  Neil.  She  was  born  near  Richmond, 
Virginia,  a  daughter  of  Billy  Neil,  who  located 
at  Calahaln  about  ISOO,  but  subsequently  returned 
to   his  old  home  in  Virginia. 

Albert  Alexander  Anderson  was  born,  Septem- 
ber 28,  1842,  in  Calahaln,  on  the  home  farm. 
He  completed  his  early  education  in  the  Olin  High 
School,  and  as  a  young  man  was  engaged  in 
teaching  school.  Enlisting,  April  28,  1861,  in 
Company  A,  Eleventh  Regiment,  North  Carolina 
Troops,  he  was  in  active  service  until  the  close 
of  the  conflict,  taking  part  in  many  important  en- 
gagements. During  his  service  as  a  soldier,  he 
was  twice  transferred,  first  to  the  Twenty-first 
Regiment,  later  becoming  a  member  of  the  First 
Battalion.  Sharpshooters.  At  the  close  of  the 
conflict,  in  company  with  his  lirothers,  Charles 
and  John,  he  was  engaged  in  mercantile  business 
at  Calahaln  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  or  more, 
the  firm  name  being  Anderson  Brothers.  He  also 
owned  a  farm,  which  he  operated  through  tenants. 
He  still  resides  in  Calahaln,  an  honored  and  highly 
esteemed  citizen.  He  married  Martha  Frances 
Poindexter,  who  was  born  October  23,  1849,  a 
daughter  of  Robert  and  Martha  Poindexter,  and 
to  them  five  children  were  born  and  reared,  as  fol- 
lows: Agnes,  Robert  P.,  Z.  Nelson,  Richard 
Ben.iamin  and  Wiley  Neil. 

After  his  graduation  from  the  Moeksville  High 
School.  Z.  Nelson  Anderson  learned  the  ways  of 
a  merchant  while  clerking  in  his  father's  store. 
Locating  in  Moeksville  in  1899,  he  was  for  ten 
vears  associated  in  business  as  a  general  merchant 
with  O.  L.  Williams.  Dispos-ng  then  of  his  in- 
terest in  the  firm,  Mr.  Anderson  accepted  his 
present  responsible  position  as  manager  of  the 
Moeksville  Wholesale  Grocery   Company,   and  has 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


273 


since  performed  the  duties  devolving  upon  him 
in  that  capacity  with  credit  to  himself,  and  to 
the  eminent  satisfaction  of  the  firm,  and  its 
patrons. 

On  February  18,  1897,  Mr.  Anderson  married 
Jennie  Anderson,  who  was  born  at  Calahaln,  Davie 
County,  July  31,  1875.  Her  father.  Dr.  John 
Anderson,  a  son  of  Richard  and  Sarah  Ann  (Neil) 
Anderson,  was  born  in  the  same  locality,  April 
1,  1837.  Dr.  John  Anderson  was  educated  in  Davie 
Academy,  and  at  the  New  York  City  Medical 
College".  After  his  graduation  from  that  institu- 
tion, he  was  for  two  years  an  interne  at  Bellevue 
Hospital.  Subsequently  locating  at  Calahaln,  he 
built  up  a  fine  practice.  Being  a  physician,  he 
was  exempt  from  military  duty  during  the  Civil 
war,  but  towards  its  close  he  was  called  to  Port 
Fisher.  He  continued  in  the  active  practice  of  his 
profession  until  his  death,  in  1886.  The  maiden 
name  of  the  wife  of  Doctor  Anderson  was  Julia 
KUen  Blackwell.  She  was  born  in  Davie  County, 
near  Holman  Cross  Roads,  in  1850,  being  a  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  and  Emily  M.  (Cheshire)  Blackwell. 
who  owned  and  operated,  with  slave  labor,  a 
plantation  lying  west  of  Davie  County,  where  both 
lived  and  died,  his  death  occurring  at  the  age  of 
seventy-one  years,  while  she  lived  to  be  eighty- 
seven  years  of  age.  Mrs.  Anderson  's  mother  died 
March  IS,  1915,  leaving  four  children,  Sarah 
Emma,  Jennie,  John  Richard,  and  John  Frederick. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Anderson  have  one  child,  a  daugh- 
ter, named  Mary  Nelson  Anderson.  Both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Nelson  are  valued  memliers  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  liberal  contributors  toward 
its  support.  Fraternally  Mr.  Anderson  belongs  to 
Mocksville  Lodge,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Order  of  Masons,  and  to  Mocksville  Lodge,  Junior 
Order  of  United  American  Mechanics. 

William  Evan  Benbow,  M.  D.,  was  a  true  and 
noble  votary  of  the  great  medical  profession.  His 
work  was  done  in  Yadkin  County,  where  he  looked 
after  the  interests  of  a  large  circle  of  patients  for 
many  years,  attended  to  their  material  welfare 
and  also  exhibited  that  kindness  and  sympathy 
which  are  often  as  helpful  as  medical  dosages. 
He  came  of  a  family  of  doctors.  He  succeeded  his 
father  in  practice,  and  a  son  has  succeeded  him. 

Doctor  Benbow  was  born  in  East  Bend  in  Yad- 
kin County  November  28,  1852.  He  was  a  son  of 
Dr.  Evan  and  Bettie  (Hall)  Benbow,  and  some 
more  detailed  reference  to  this  worthy  and  promi- 
nent family  is  found  on  other  pages  of  this  publi- 
cation. 

William  E.  Benbow  grew  up  in  East  Bend,  at- 
tended the  public  schools  there,  afterwards  the 
Guilford  College,  and  then  entered  Jefferson  Med- 
ical College  of  Philadelphia,  where  he  took  the 
regular  course  and  was  graduated  M.  D.  Return- 
ing to  his  old  home  locality  he  succeeded  his  father 
in  practice  at  East  Bend,  and  gave  himself  to  the 
service  of  his  people  for  fully  thirty  years.  The 
deatli  of  tills  physician  and  citizen  occurred  August 
24,  1910. 

Doctor  Benbow  married  Mollie  Jane  Poindexter, 
who  was  born  at  East  Bend  and  is  of  a  family 
of  very  interesting  and  romantic  connections  in 
the  different  generations.  She  was  descended  from 
John  Poindexter,  who  was  born  in  France  and 
was  a  French  Huguenot.  To  escape  religious  per- 
secution he  fled  to  England,  where  he  reared  a 
family.  The  son,  Thomas  Poindexter,  was  born 
in  England,  w.as  reared  and  educated  there  and 
fell  in  love  with  a  young  lady  to  whom  his  parents 

Vol.  IV— IS 


objected.  In  order  to  separate  them  his  parents 
induced  him  to  come  to  America  and  take  posses- 
sion of  a  tract  of  land  they  granted  him  in  Louisa 
County,  Virginia.  But  the  width  of  an  ocean  could 
not  separate  such  true  loves.  His  sweetheart  had 
promised  to  join  him  if  she  could  and  some  time 
later  Thomas  Poindexter  took  a  load  of  tobacco  to 
market  and  was  at  the  lauding  when  a  ship  came 
into  harbor  and  his  sweetheart  disembarked  as  a 
passenger.  He  paid  her  passage  with  the  load  of 
tobacco  and  they  were  at  once  married  and  lived 
happily  all  their  days  in  Louisa  County,  rearing  a 
large  family.  Their  son  John  acquired  a  good 
education  and  became  a  lawyer.  He,  too,  had  a 
romantic  experience.  The  object  of  his  early 
love  was  Susan  Hughes.  Her  father  was  a  wealthy 
jjlanter  and  not  only  forbade  her  marriage  to  the 
aspiring  lawyer  but  locked  her  in  her  chamber. 
Her  negro  mammy  assisted  her  to  escape  and  they 
were  married.  Later  John  Poindexter  was  con- 
verted and  became  an  eminent  Baptist  preacher 
and  one  of  the  first  of  that  denomination  in  that 
section  of  Virginia.  He  was  also  successful  as  a 
planter  and  both  he  and  his  wife  spent  all  their 
lives  in  Virginia.  Their  son  Thomas  removed  to 
North  Carolina,  bought  a  tract  of  land  several 
miles  in  extent  in  the  Yadkin  River  Valley  in 
Y'adkin  County  and  developed  its  broad  acreage 
with  the  aid  of  his  slaves.  He  married  Elizabeth 
Pledge,  daughter  of  an  Indian  chief.  Both  lived 
to  old  years  and  they  reared  sixteen  children, 
being  able  to  supply  each  one  with  a  farm. 

Robert  A.  Poindexter,  of  these  children,  was  the 
grandfather  of  Mrs.  Doctor  Benbow.  He  was  born 
in  Louisa  County,  Virginia,  and  his  inheritance 
was  part  of  his  father 's  estate  in  Y'adkin  County. 
He  made  that  his  plantation,  operating  it  with 
slaves,  and  spent  his  days  there.  He  was  twice 
married.  The  maiden  name  of  his  second  wife 
was  Charlotte  Martin,  a  descendant  of  Col.  Jack 
Martin,  whose  name  appears  frequently  in  the 
revolutionary  annals  of  North  Carolina.  They 
reared  eight  children,  while  by  a  former  marriage 
he  had  nine  other  children.  His  sons,  Thomas, 
William  and  John,  were  all  Confederate  soldiers, 
and  the  first  two  were  killed  in  battle  while  the 
latter  was  wounded. 

Robert  Clingman  Poindexter,  father  of  Mrs. 
Doctor  Benbow,  was  born  on  the  Poindexter  home- 
stead on  the  Yadkin  River  in  Y'adkin  County  and 
near  the  present  site  of  Dounoha,  which  is  across 
the  river  in  Forsyth  County.  He  became  a  mer- 
chant, had  a  store  at  Huntsville,  and  later  in  East 
Bend,  and  was  prominent  and  successful.  In  the 
early  days  before  railroads  he  bought  his  goods 
in  Philadelphia  and  New  York  and  had  them  trans- 
ported by  water  routes  as  far  as  Fayetteville,  and 
thence  they  were  carried  with  wagons  and  teams 
over  the  plank  road.  He  continued  active  in 
business  until  his  death  in  1865.  Robert  C. 
Poindexter  married  Martha  J.  Ward,  who  was 
born  near  Farmington  in  Davie  County,  North 
Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Wiley  and  Mary  (Smith) 
Ward.  They  reared  ten  children,  Mary  Frances, 
Henry  Dalton,  Samuel  W.,  Ellen  P.,  Dorothy  E., 
Mattie  G.,  Minerva  C,  Robert  M.,  Wiley  J.,  and 
Charles  A.  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Benbow  reared  nine 
children  named  Laura,  J.  Thomas,  Eugene  Clinton, 
Robert  Poindexter,  Charles  F.,  Mattie  W.,  Lester 
W.,  Mary  E.  M.  and  Edgar  V.  The  oldest,  Laura, 
married  Prof.  S.  J.  Honeycutt.  Eugene  C.  and 
Robert  P.  are  now  residents  of  California.  J. 
Thomas  was  graduated  from  Guilford  College,  took 
advanced  studies  in  the  University  of  North  Caro- 


274 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


lina,  and  finally  received  his  degree  in  medicine 
from  the  North  Carolina  Medical  College  at  Char- 
lotte. He  succeeded  his  father  in  practice  at  East 
Bend  and  is  thus  the  third  successive  generation 
of  the  family  to  follow  the  profession  in  this 
locality.  Charles  F.  graduated  from  Guilford  Col- 
lege with  the  degree  A.  B.  and  took  his  Master 
of  Arts  degree  from  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  and  is  now  principal  of  the  East  Bend 
public  schools. 

SAivruEL  James  Ervin.  The  successful  lawyer 
is  made  such  by  one  of  two  elements — great  tal- 
ent or  great  industry.  It  frequently  occurs  that 
those  possessing  the  ability  are  forced  through 
circumstances  to  display  the  latter  quality,  the 
two  combining  to  make  for  success  in  a  vocation 
than  which  probably  no  other  strikes  so  deeply 
to  the  roots  of  the  commonwealth.  In  his  youth 
Samuel  J.  Ervin  showed  good  talents,  but  his 
opportunities  to  advance  himself  were  few,  and 
it  was  only  by  overcoming  obstacles  and  surmount- 
ing diflScultieg  that  he  reached  his  cherished  goal 
as  a  successful  lawyer.  Mr.  Ervin  is  one  of  the 
oldest  members  of  the  bar  at  Morganton  and  has 
been  in   iiractice  there   almost  forty  years. 

He  was  born  in  Sumpter,  South  Carolina,  June 
21,  185.5,  son  of  .John  Witherspoon  and  Laura 
(Nelson)  Ervin.  His  father  was  a  man  of  very 
modest  means  but  of  high  intellectual  ability  and 
was  both  a  teacher  and  an  author.  Samuel  J. 
Ervin  attended  his  first  school  in  a  country  dis- 
trict where  his  father  was  a  teacher.  In  March, 
1874,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  came  to  Mor- 
ganton, North  Carolina,  and  the  next  four  years 
was  emjiloyed  as  assistant  postmaster.  His  spare 
hours  he  diligently  spent  in  the  study  of  law  at 
home,  and  in  1879  was  licensed  to  practice.  Since 
then  with  the  exception  of  eighteen  months  he 
has  been  steadily  in  the  practice  of  law  at  Mor- 
ganton. He  is  also  a  good  business  man  ajid  is 
a  director  and  attorney  for  a  number  of  local 
corporations.  Mr.  Ervin 's  chief  public  ser\iee 
was  rendered  while  he  was  chairman  of  the  graded 
schools  of  Morganton.  He  is  an  elder  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

Octoljer  6,  1886,  he  married  Laura  Powe,  of 
Morganton,  daughter  of  William  E.  and  Katie 
(Tate)  Powe.  Her  father  was  a  well  known 
farmer  in  this  section  of  the  state.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ervin  have  nine  children:  Laura,  Mrs.  James 
King  Hall,  of  Richmond,  Virginia;  Catherine; 
Edward  Powe;  Samuel  James,  .Jr.,  who  is  a  lieu- 
tenant of  infantry  now  with  the  American  Ex- 
peditionary forces  in  France ;  Hugh  Tate  and 
.Toseph  AV.,  both  students  in  the  University  of 
North  Carolina;  Eunice  Wood,  .Tohn  Witherspoon 
and  Jean  Conyers,  who  are  still  in  public  school. 

Captain  Joseph  B.  Fox,  of  Wilmington,  gained 
his  title  through  some  very  active  years  as  a  steam- 
boat captain  on  the  Cape  Fear,  is  prominent  on 
river  traffic  circles,  and  was  an  active  associate  of 
the  late  Captain  .T.  W.  Harper,  one  of  the  foremost 
steamboat  men  of  his  time,  whose  career  is  sketched 
on  other  pages.  Captain  Fox  has  recently  retired 
from  river  transportation  and  is  now  in  business 
at  Wilmington. 

He  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1886,  son  of 
Hugh  Fox,  a  native  of  Ireland.  He  was  reared 
and  educated  in  his  native  city  and  in  1907,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one,  came  south,  for  a  time  was 
locat«^d  at  Portsmouth,  Virginia,  and  in  1911  took 
up   steamboating   under   the   late   Captain  Harper 


on  the  lower  Cape  Fear  River  at  Wilmington,  which 
city  has  since  been  his  home. 

His  youth,  vigor  and  high  intelligence,  his 
adaptaViility  and  quickness  in  acquiring  the  essen- 
tial details  of  steamboating  and  water  traHic  won 
for  him  ready  favor  and  early  promotion  under 
Captain  Harper.  In  time  he  received  his  pilot's 
license,  later  his  master's  license,  and  was  master 
of  the  "Wilmington,"  a  splendid  passenger 
steamer  in  the  Southport  trade  owned  by  Captain 
Harper.  Since  the  death  of  Captain  Harper  Cap- 
tain Fox  has  practically  retired  from  the  river  and 
is  now  engaged  in  business  at  Wilmington  as  pro- 
prietor of  the  Royal  Bakery  on  Front  Street.  How- 
ever, he  continues  his  keen  interest  in  all  affairs 
connected  with  the  river  and  ocean  traffic  on  the 
Lower  Cape  Fear. 

Captain  Fox  married  Miss  Louise  Harper,  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  Captain  Harper.  They  have  three 
children:     Joe,  Jr.,  Louise  and  John  Harper  Fox. 

Captain  Fox  is  also  a  member  of  the  Wilming- 
ton-Carolina Beach  Steamship  Company,  an  in- 
corporation organized  in  February,  1918,  for  the 
ownership  and  operation  of  steamboats  chiefly  in 
connection  with  the  passenger  traffic  business  be- 
tween Wilmington  and  Carolina  Beach.  Two  of 
his  active  associates  in  this  business  and  enter- 
prise are  Mr.  A.  W.  Pate  and  Mr.  V.  A.  Under- 
wood. 

Archibai,!*  Arrington  Hicks.  Better  known 
than  many  of  her  sister  cities,  Oxford,  North  Caro- 
lina, can  claim  this  superiority  because  of  fine 
business  location,  a  rich  adjacent  territory  and  a 
thoroughly  awakened  public  spirit,  and  in  addition, 
because  it  is  the  home  of  men  who  have  particularly 
distinguished  themselves  through  public  efforts 
that  have  brought  rich  results.  In  this  list  no  man 
stands  higher  than  Archibald  Arrington  Hicks, 
formerly  a  member  of  the  State  Senate  during  a 
protracted  period  of  great  public  importance,  and 
at  present  one  of  the  foremost  members  of  the 
Oxford  bar. 

Archibald  Arrington  Hicks  was  born  at  Hicks' 
Place,  in  Granville  County,  North  Carolina,  Sep- 
tember 9.  1862.  His  parents  were  B.  W.  and 
Isabella  .lane  (Crews)  Hicks.  His  father  was  a 
farmer  lioth  before  the  war  between  the  states, 
and  he  took  part  in  the  same  as  a  soldier  in  the 
Confederate  army.  In  early  boyhood  the  youth 
attended  the  public  schools  and  afterward  had 
academic  advantages  at  Pleasant  Hill  and  Shiloh 
and  subsequently  took  a  course  in  Yadkin  College. 
Upon  his  return  to  Oxford  he  entered  upon  the 
study  of  law  in  the  office  of  his  brother  T.  T. 
Hicks,  a  successful  attorney,  and  completed  his 
law  course  there  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  on 
September  29,  1887,  and  entered  into  a  general 
practice   at   Oxford. 

Early  in  his  professional  career  it  became  im- 
pressed on  Mr.  Hicks  that  aside  from  all  personal 
advantages,  it  is  a  citizen's  duty  to  assist  in  move- 
ments for  the  public  good,  and  from  then  until 
the  present,  he  has  always  been  found  championing 
causes  in  which  he  has  believed  and  even,  figur- 
atively speaking,  has  fonsrht  for  the  maintenance  of 
principles.  So  broad-minded  and  public-spirited 
a  man,  so  willing  to  use  his  educational  acquire- 
ments and  professional  talents  and  with  his  sound 
conceptions  and  precise  ideals  of  efficiency  and 
economy  in  the  public  service,  could  not  fail  of 
recognition  by  his  conscientious  and  serious-minded 
fellow  citizens.  Hence,  on  many  occasions  he  has 
been  called  into  public  life  and  his  entire  record 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


275 


is  one  to  whieh  he  may  refer  with  justifiable 
pride. 

In  1892  he  was  first  elected  mayor  of  Oxford 
and  gave  the  city  so  admirable  an  administration 
that  ]iis  reelection  followed.  In  1898  he  was  elected 
to  tlie  State  Senate  from  the  Seventeenth  Sena- 
torial District  made  np  of  Granville  and  Person 
counties,  and  carried  into  the  Senate  chamber  his 
progressive  ideas  and  his  willingness  to  battle  for 
their  acceptance.  In  190.3  Senator  Hicks  was 
returned  to  the  Senate  and  was  one  of  the  hardest 
workers  and  most  useful  legislators  in  the  judici- 
ary committee,  and  his  public  acts  were  shown 
approval  by  his  re-election  in  1907  and  again  to 
serve  in  the  session  of  1911.  He  has  been  ex- 
ceedingly useful  also  in  local  affairs,  politically 
and  otherwise.  He  served  for  two  years  as  chair- 
man of  the  democratic  executive  committee.  He 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Oxford  and  has  been  its  attorney  ever 
since,  and  is  also  attorney  for  the  board  of  county 
commissioners  of  Granville  County,  and  general 
advisor. 

Senator  Hicks  was  married  August  8,  1894,  to 
Miss  Hettie  Minor,  who  is  a  daughter  of  Capt. 
Eichard  V.  and  Julia  Brent  (Allen)  Minor.  They 
have  four  childien:  Allin  Brent,  who  is  Presi- 
dent of  Sweetbrier  College;  Virginia;  Elizabeth 
Allen;  William  Minor,  and  Julia  Brent. 
Mrs.  Hicks  is  a  highly  accomplished  lady,  a  col- 
lege graduate  and  for  a  number  of  years  a  teacher 
of  music,  in  which  she  is  proficient.  She  and  her 
daughters  are  well  known  in  social  and  musical 
circles  in  this  section.  The  family  belongs  to  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  for  the  past 
eight  years  Senator  Hicks  has  been  a  Sunday 
School  superintendent  at  Oxford. 

Senator  Hicks  lias  long  been  identified  with  the 
Masonic  fraternity  and  belongs  to  Lodge  No. 
396,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons, 
of  whii-h  he  is  past  master,  and  took  his  com- 
mandery  degree  in  a  lodge  that  is  no  longer  main- 
tained here.  He  belongs  also  to  the  Odd  Fellows, 
in  which  organization  he  is  past  noble  grand  and 
chief  patriarch.  Senator  Hicks  has,  also,  many 
social  connections  and  professional  afSliations,  and 
is  particularly  interested  in  the  North  Carolina 
Bar  Association,  which  he  assisted  to  organize. 

E.  J.  Buchanan,  M.  D.  An  able  and  successful 
physician  and  surgeon,  E.  J.  Buchanan,  M.  D.,  of 
Lexington,  has  made  good  use  of  his  natural  and 
acquired  forces,  and  through  his  own  efforts  has 
obtained  a  distinguished  position  in  the  medical 
fraternity  of  Davidson  County,  with  which  he 
has  been  identified  by  membership  for  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  A  native  of  Rowan  County, 
he  was  born  on  a  farm  lying  fifteen  miles  south 
of  Salisbury,  not  far  from  the  liirthplace  of  his 
father,  John  Buchanan. 

James  Buchanan,  the  doctor's  paternal  grand- 
father, being  left  fatherless  and  motherless  in 
childhood,  was  placed  in  a  school  for  orphans,  in 
Charleston,  South  Carolina.  At  that  time,  there 
were  no  railroads  in  the  Carolinas,  and  people 
from  North  Carolina  took  their  produce  to  the 
South  Carolina  markets,  preferably  to  Cliarleston, 
with  teams,  and  bringing  back  on  the  return  trip 
a  full  line  of  household  supplies.  The  orphan  boy, 
.Tames  Buchanan,  tired  of  life  in  the  school,  and 
made  his  escape  through  the  fence,  first  pulling 
off  a  paling.  Meeting  a  Mr.  Ludwig,  from  Cabar- 
rus County,  North  Carolina,  the  boy  related  his 
troulile  to  him,   and  Mr.   Ludwig  put  him   in  the 


bottom  of  his  wagon,  covering  him  with  hay,  and 
took  him  home.  The  lad  worked  at  different  em- 
ployments, and  being  industrious  and  thrifty, 
saved  considerable  money.  In  early  manhood,  he 
liought  land  in  Rowan  County,  fifteen  miles  south 
of  Salisbury,  and  on  the  farm  which  he  improved, 
with  slave  labor,  he  spent  his  remaining  days. 
Patriotic,  he  served  as  drum  major  in  the  War 
of  1812,  and  the  drum  which  he  used  at  that  time 
is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  doctor's  brother, 
M.  L.  Buchanan,  of  Concord,  North  Carolina. 
James  Buchanan  married  for  his  first  wife  a  Miss 
Shaver,  wlio  died  in  early  life,  leaving  two  chil- 
dren, John,  father  of  the  doctor;  and  Mary,  who 
married  Wesley  Wyatt. 

John  Buchanan  was  born  April  8,  1828,  grew 
to  manhood  on  the  parental  homestead,  and,  with 
the  exception  of  the  two  years  that  he  served  in 
the  Confederate  army  during  the  Civil  war,  was 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  until  his  death, 
November  14,  1899.  In  addition  to  farming,  he 
was  also  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  having  a 
well-stocked  and  well-patronized  general  store  on 
his  farm.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Delinda  Wyatt.  She  was  born  February  5,  1829, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Salisbury,  Rowan  County,  a 
daughter  of  Noah  Wyatt,  and  died  on  the  home 
farm,  January  23,  1903.  Both  she  arul  her  hus- 
band were  members  of  the  Corinth  Baptist  Church, 
and  both  were  buried  in  the  churchyard.  They 
reared  six  children,  namely:  Mary,  M.  L.,  E.  J., 
Louisa,  E.  G.,  and  Henry  McDonald.  The  father 
was  a  republican  in  jiolitics,  and  was  his  party 's 
candidate  for  sheriff  of  the  county. 

Acquiring  his  preliminary  knowledge  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  E.  J.  Buchanan,  and  after  his  gradu- 
ation from  the  PalmervOle  High  School  taught 
school  for  a  time.  Then,  after  attending  Carolina 
College,  at  Mount  Pleasant,  for  a  while,  he  turned 
his  attention  to  the  study  of  medicine,  being  under 
the  tutorship  of  Dr.  Richard  Whitehead,  of  Salis- 
bury. Subsequently  entering  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Virginia,  he  made  rapid 
progress  in  his  studies,  at  the  end  of  the  year 
standing  well  in  the  competitive  examination,  on 
account  of  his  rank  in  the  class  being  made  quiz 
master  of  anatomy,  a  position  that  he  held  for  a 
year.  Going  from  there  to  Baltimore,  he  entered 
the  medical  department  of  the  University  of  Mary- 
land, from  whicli  he  was  graduated  with  the  class 
of  1892.  Appearing  immediately  after  his  gradu- 
ation before  the  examining  board  of  physicians  at 
Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  Doctor  Buchanan  out- 
ranked all  other  applicants,  thereby  winning  the 
Appleton  medal.  Returning  home,  he  practiced  a 
few  months  in  Rowan  County,  being  quite  success- 
ful. On  May  10,  1893,  the  doctor  located  in  Lex- 
ington, where  he  has  since  continued,  his  enviable 
reputation  as  a  physician  of  skill  having  gained 
him  an  extensive  patronage,  and  placed  him  among 
the  leading  members  of  his  profession. 

Doctor  Buchanan  was  married,  in  1895,  to  Mary 
E.  Reed,  who  was  born  in  Concord,  North  Caro- 
lina, a  daughter  of  Joel  and  Ellen  (Creswell) 
Reed.  Four  daughters  have  brightened  the  union 
of  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Buchanan,  namely:  Lucille, 
Mary  Reed,  Grace  Lee,  and  Helen  Creswell.  The 
two  older  daughters,  Lucille  and  Mary,  are  stu- 
dents at  Peace  Institute,  in  Raleigh. 

Doctor  Buchanan  is  a  member  of  the  Davidson 
County  Medical  Society ;  of  the  North  Carolina 
State  Medical  Society;  and  of  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association.  Public  spirited,  and  deeply  inter- 
ested in  educational  matters,  the  doctor  has  served 


276 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


on  the  Lexington  Board  of  Kdueation  since  its 
organization,  sixteen  years  ago,  continuing  in  office 
by  re-election  from  term  to  term.  In  1914  he  was 
elected  road  commissioner,  and  served  until  Octo- 
ber 1,  1917,  when  he  resigned  the  position.  At 
the  present  time,  in  1917,  he  is  the  local  examiner 
for  the  local  exemption  board  of  Davidson  County. 
He  is  president  of  several  furniture  factories  of 
Lexington  and  vice  president  of  the  Commercial 
and  Savings  Bank  of  that  place.  Fraternally 
Doctor  Buchanan  is  a  member  of  Lexington  Lodge, 
Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons;  and 
of  Lexington  Lodge,  Knights  of  Pythias.  Relig- 
iously he  and  liis  family  are  members  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church. 

Luther  Addison  Beaslet  has  practiced  lavp 
at  Kenansville  more  than  twenty  years.  He  has 
interested  himself  in  many  aifairs  outside  his 
large  general  practice,  and  was  one  of  the  organ- 
izers of  tlie  Atlantic  and  North  Carolina  Railway, 
of  which  he  is  now  general  counsel  and  a  direc- 
tor. 

Mr.  Beaslcy  was  born  at  Magnolia  in  Duplin 
County,  North  Carolina,  October  11,  1870,  a  son 
of  a  prominent  farmer,  Maj.  Austin  Beasley, 
and  his  wife  Nancy  C.  Beasley. 

He  acquired  a  libera]  education  at  first  in  the 
graded  schools  of  his  native  locality,  then  in  high 
school,  attended  Davidson  College  in  1890-91,  and 
in  1892  entered  Wake  Forest  College,  where  he 
studied  law  and  from  which  he  was  graduated 
Master  of  Arts  in  189.5.  On  leaving  college  he 
became  a  teacher  and  for  a  year  was  instructor 
of  Latin  in  Wilson  Academy  at  Wilson,  North 
Carolina.  Since  February,  1896,  Mr.  Beasley  has 
steadily  practiced  law  at  Kenansville.  He  is  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  Stevens  &  Beasley,  his  associate 
being  Mr.  H.  L.  Stevens  of  Warsaw. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Beasley  was  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Education  of  Kenansville,  is  a 
member  of  the  Missionary  Baptist  Church  and 
superintendent  of  its  Sunday  school,  is  a  char- 
ter member  of  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Associa- 
tion, and  is  past  master  of  Warren  Lodge  No. 
101,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons.  Mr. 
Beasley  was  the  author  of  a  most  creditable  work 
on  the  hi.story  of  Duplin  County.  November  15, 
1896,  ho  maj-ried  Bertha  Lee  Johnson,  of  War- 
saw, North  Carolina,  but  a  native  of  Albemarle 
County,  Virginia.  They  have  two  children:  Mil- 
dred Anderson,  now  a  student  in  Meredith  Col- 
lege;  and  Mary  Ellis. 

Hon.  David  A.  Jenkins  made  for  himself  a 
lasting  place  in  the  history  of  North  Carolina  as 
much  for  the  continuous  and  forceful  expression 
of  his  characteristic  attributes  of  honesty,  integ- 
rity and  steadfastness  of  conviction  as  for  the  high 
place  he  enjoyed  in  state  official  affairs  as  treas- 
urer of  North  Carolina  for  two  terms.  He  was 
state  treasurer  from  1868  to  1877,  and  his  well 
known  probity  and  strict  sense  of  justice  during 
those  years  gained  for  him  the  popular  name  ' '  Hon- 
est Dave  Jenkins. ' ' 

He  was  born  in  Gaston  County  April  5,  1822, 
oldest  child  of  Aaron  and  Mary  (.Jenkins)  Jen- 
kins. His  father  was  a  native  of  Rowan  County. 
The  maternal  grandfather  was  Joseph  Jenkins,  a 
native  of  this  state.  Mary  Jenkins  was  also  a 
granddaughter  of  Col.  Frederick  Hamright,  an  of- 
ficer in  the  American  army  during  the  Revolution 
and  a  hero  at  the  famous  battle  of  King's  Moun- 
tain. 

Mr.  Jenkins  was  reared  in  his  native  eountv  and 


gained  a  fair  education  from  the  old  field  schools. 
At  the  early  age  of  fourteen  he  began  teaching. 
Subsequently  he  chopped  wood,  which  he  sold  to 
the  proprietors  of  the  FuUenwider  furnace,  and 
received  in  return  goods  manufactured  at  this 
furnace,  afterward  selling  them.  He  did  farm 
work  and  split  rails  for  little  compensation,  and  by 
means  of  hard  toil  and  economy  became  prosperous 
and  highly  respected. 

He  was  elected  to  the  office  of  constable  and 
subsequently  to  that  of  magistrate,  serving  as 
magistrate  many  years.  Though  devoted  to  the 
southern  people,  their  customs  and  habits,  he  fore- 
saw the  inexpediency  of  secession,  which  meant 
war,  and  was  bitterly  opposed  to  it.  When  war 
came,  being  a  magistrate,  he  was  exempted  from 
active  field  duty.  Mr.  Jenkins  accepted  tlie  Re- 
construction Act  and  was  from  the  close  of  the  war 
identified  with  the  republican  party.  In  1866  both 
the  republicans  and  democrats  supported  and 
elected  him  to  the  legislature,  in  which  body  he 
served  faithfully  for  two  years. 

In  1868  he  became  the  republican  candidate  for 
treasurer  of  the  state  and  was  elected  and  re- 
elected in  1872,  serving  two  terms  of  four  years 
each.  In  1876  he  resigned  and  declined  a  renoniina- 
tion.  He  was  a  wise  and  cautious  official,  and 
being  a  man  of  keen  financial  judgment  and  ability 
his  administration  of  the  office  met  with  the  uni- 
versal approbation  and  supjiort  of  the  entire  state. 
It  is  said  that  while  treasurer  he  was  as  guarded 
of  the  people's  money  as  he  was  of  his  own  and 
would  never  permit  money  to  be  paid  out  of  the 
treasury  except  upon  strict  authority  or  warrant  of 
law.  It  was  because  of  these  official  manifestations 
of  his  strictness,  honesty  and  close  attenion  to  the 
interests  of  the  public  that  he  won  the  popular 
title  above  noted. 

During  his  last  term  as  treasurer  Mr.  Jenkins 
moved  his  family  to  Charlotte,  Init  subsequently  re- 
turned to  his  native  county  and  located  at  Gas- 
tonia,  where  he  built  a  handsome  residence  and 
retired  to  private  life.  In  1880  he  was  urged  by 
his  friends  to  become  the  republican  candidate  for 
governor.  His  wife  had  recently  died  and  he 
declined  to  enter  the  canvass.  On  receipt  of  his 
refusal  the  republican  convention  unanimously 
nominated  his  son  A.  D.  Jenkins  for  state  treasurer. 
The  son,  though  not  elected,  carried  his  own  county, 
which  was  largely  democratic,  and  reduced  the 
democratic  majority  of  the  state.  In  1881  Mr. 
Jenkins  supported  the  prohibition  party. 

He  died  at  Gastonia  September  10,  1886,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-four.  He  well  deserved  all  the 
tributes  S]>oken  of  him  then  and  since.  Faithful 
to  the  interests  of  the  people,  a  financier  of  repute, 
a  man  of  sterling  qualities  and  strong  force  of 
character,  he  was  ever  an  honest  servant  of  his 
constituents  in  the  halls  of  legislation  and  other 
official  positions.  His  death  truly  ended  a  long, 
active  and  exemplary  life.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Bapitist  Church. 

In  young  manhood  he  married  Miss  Lodema 
Holland,  daughter  of  Jesse  Holland.  She  was  re- 
lated to  the  Hanks  family,  to  which  Ala-aham 
Lincoln 's  mother.  Nancy  Hanks,  belonged.  To 
this  union  ten  children  were  born. 

L.  L.  Jenkins  possesses  and  to  a  remarkable 
degree  has  exemplified  the  financial  instinct,  the 
gift  for  handling  money,  a  gift  which,  combined 
with  an  integrity  of  character  that  has  been  a 
synonym  of  the  family  name  in  North  Carolina  for 
generations,  has  brought  him  some  of  the  highest 


■.RY 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


277 


ami  most  responsible  stations  in  North  Carolina 
Ijanking  affairs. 

Mr.  Jenkins  now  has  his  home  at  Asheville.  He 
is  president  of  the  American  National  Bank  of 
that  city.  When  Mr.  Jenkins  took  charge  of  the 
American  National  Bank  the  ability  and  tact  with 
which  he  handled  the  situation  established  for  him 
a  very  enviable  reputation  as  a  banker  of  excep- 
tional ability.  The  bank  is  now  one  of  the  sound- 
est and  most  progressive  institutions  in  the  state 
and  commands  the  complete  confidence  of  all  its 
connections.  It  has  a  capital  of  $100,000  and  sur- 
plus and  profits  of  $25,000. 

Mr.  Jenkins  is  widely  known  for  his  ability  as 
an  organizer.  One  incident  that  furnished  graphic 
evidence  of  this  faculty  may  properly  be  told. 
Some  years  ago  a  national  bank  in  a  neighboring 
city  was  closed  by  the  bank  examiner.  Mr.  Jen- 
kins without  having  any  knowledge  of  the  con- 
dition of  its  affairs  requested  the  comptroller  of 
the  currency  to  permit  him  to  examine  its  assets 
with  a  view  toward  its  reorganization.  Permis- 
sion being  granted,  after  spending  two  hours  with 
the  examiner  in  the  discussion  of  the  character 
of  the  papers  and  the  probable  impairment  of  the 
capital  stock,  Mr.  Jenkins  made  a  proposition  to 
the  comptroller  that  if  allowed  to  reopen  the  bank 
he  would  do  so  with  the  same  name  under  which 
it  had  been  previously  operated  and  place  a  suffi- 
cient amount  of  funds  in  the  institution  to  insure 
the  integrity  of  its  capital  and  would  personally 
guarantee  all  the  creditors  and  depositors  against 
any  loss  whatever.  Furthermore,  he  agreed  to 
assume  the  presidency  of  the  institution.  This  plan 
of  reorganization  being  acceptable  to  the  Govern- 
ment authorities  the  bank  was  opened  for  business 
on  May  22,  1914,  after  having  been  closed  for 
only  two  weeks.  Though  Mr.  .Jenkins  retired  from 
all  connections  with  the  bank  on  account  of  his 
other  responsible  duties,  the  bank  stands  today  as 
one  of  the  best  and  has  the  confidence  of  the 
people  as  never  before. 

Mr.  Jenkins  has  been  an  active  banker  in  North 
Carolina  for  thirty  years.  He  is  the  youngest  son 
of  the  late  David  A.  Jenkins.  Concerning  his  home 
and  family  a  separate  sketch  appears  on  preced- 
ing pages. 

Laban  Lineberger  Jenkins  was  born  on  a  farm 
in  Gaston  County,  North  Carolina,  December  3, 
1864.  His  birthjilace  was  only  a  few  miles  distant 
from  the  present  site  of  Gastonia.  He  was  lib- 
erally educated.  In  187.3  the  family  moved  to 
Charlotte,  and  during  1876-77  he  was  a  student  in 
tlie  Carolina  Military  Institute  of  that  city.  In 
1877  the  Jenkins  family  located  at  Gastonia,  which 
in  that  year  was  incorporated  as  a  town.  Here  he 
continued  his  education  in  local  schools  and  later 
entered  Wake  Forest  College,  where  he  took  the  full 
course  and  was  graduated  in  1883.  While  in  the 
military  institute  at  CHiarlotte  Mr.  Jenkins  acquired 
considerable  military  training  and  discipline,  and 
afterward  was  a  member  and  officer  in  companies 
of  the  state  guard.  In  1891,  during  the  encamp- 
ment at  Wrightsville  Sound,  he  commanded  the 
Gaston  Riflemen  at  the  head  of  the  Fourth  Regi- 
ment and  was  complimented  by  Colonel  Anthony 
personally  as  one  of  the  most  efficient  officers  in 
the  regiment.  In  Wake  Forest  College  Mr.  Jen- 
kins was  prominent  in  student  activities,  both  in 
literary  and  athletic  circles.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen he  was  elected  to  represent  his  society  as  first 
debater  at  the  joint  anniversary  celebration  held 
by  the  two  college  associations. 

After   leaving   Wake   Forest    Mr.    Jenkins    was 


assistant  iiostmaster  at  Charlotte  from  1883  to 
1885,  and  then  for  about  a  year  taught  school.  The 
death  of  his  father  in  1886  left  him  a  very  sub- 
stantial inheritance  and  for  about  a  year  he  was 
busied  with  the  settlement  of  the  estate  and  at 
the  same  time  was  a  cotton  buyer. 

He  entered  upon  his  career  as  a  banker  at  Gas- 
tonia in  1887  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Craig  & 
Jenkins.  This  firm  was  succeeded  in  1890  by  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Gastonia,  of  which  Mr. 
Jenkins  was  the  chief  organizer.  He  was  its  first 
cashier,  but  in  1894  removed  to  Wilmington,  where 
he  assisted  in  organizing  and  for  a  time  was 
■cashier  of  the  National  Bank  of  Wilmington.  He 
soon  returned  to  Gastonia  and  on  January  1,  1895, 
was  elected  president  of  the  First  National  Bank, 
at  the  head  of  which  he  has  remained  to  the  present 
time.  The  First  National  Bank  of  Gastonia  is  one 
of  the  largest  banks  of  the  state,  with  a  capital  of 
$150,000  and  surplus  and  profits  of  over  $225,000. 
Mr.  Jenkins  is  also  interested  as  a  stockholder  in 
a  number  of  other  financial  institutions  in  the  state 
and  is  a  director  of  the  Continental  Trust  Com- 
pany of  Washington,  D.  C. 

Mr.  Jenkins  has  used  his  means  and  influence  to 
promote  Nortli  Carolina  industries.  He  is  president 
of  the  Arlington  Cotton  Mills,  the  Flint  Manufac- 
turing Company,  the  Gray  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, is  vice  president  of  the  Trenton  Cotton  Mills 
and  the  Groves  Mills,  Incorporated,  and  is  a 
director  of  the  Parkdale  Mills  and  the  Arrow  Mills, 
all  located  at  Gastonia. 

Of  other  interests  that  have  closely  connected 
him  witli  the  life  and  affairs  of  North  Carolina 
a  sketch  written  some  years  ago  speaks  as  fol- 
lows :  ' '  Mr.  Jenkins  has  always  been  an  ardent 
ropuljlican;  has  served  as  chairman  of  the  Repub- 
lican Executive  Committee  of  Gaston  County  and 
a  member  of  the  District  Congressional  Committee; 
is  one  of  the  recognized  leaders  of  the  party  in  the 
section.  In  1892  he  was  elected  delegate  from  the 
eighth  district  of  North  Carolina  to  the  National 
Republican  Convention  at  Minneapolis.  He  there 
met  President  McKinley,  who  at  that  time  was 
chairman  of  the  convention,  and  prophesied  to  him 
directly  that  he  would  be  the  nominee  of  the  party 
for  the  presidency  in  1896.  The  fulfillment  of  this 
forecast  clearly  entitles  Mr.  Jenkins  to  considera- 
tion as  one  of  the  original  McKinley  men.  Under 
President  Harrison  Mr.  Jenkins  was  made  post- 
master at  Gastonia  and  occupied  the  office  from 
1889  to  1893;  President  McKinley  reappointed  him 
in  1898.  The  republicans  of  Gaston  County  nom- 
inated him  in  1892  as  their  candidate  for  tlie  Legis- 
lature, and  again  in  1898.  In  1916  the  party  of  the 
state  honored  him  by  nominating  him  for  the  high 
office  of  lieutenant  governor,  and  during  the  cam- 
paign he  surprised  his  party  friends  by  his  speeches, 
demonstrating  that  he  was  not  only  a  banker  but  an 
orator  of  marked  ability. 

"Mr.  Jenkins  was  for  a  number  of  years  a 
deacon  of  the  First  Baptist  Cliureh  of  Gastonia  and 
superintendent  of  one  of  the  largest  Sunday 
Schools  in  the  State,  always  zealous  in  the  work  of 
his  chureli  and  strong  in  his  convictions.  Though 
differing  in  his  political  doctrines  from  a  great 
number  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  his  courage, 
Iionesty  and  fairness  compel  their  confidence  and 
respect.  Gaston  county  is  said  to  have  within  its 
boundaries  more  cotton  mills  than  are  possessed  by 
any  other  county  not  only  in  North  Carolina  but 
throughout  the  South;  all  are  reported  as  doing 
a  successful  business,  and  the  prosperity  they 
enjoy  and   transmit  to  other  classes  in  the  com- 


278 


HISTOKY  OF  NOKTH  CAROLINA 


munity  are  in  a  measure  due  to  the  personal  efforts 
of  Mr.  Jenkins  or  to  the  encouragement  extended 
by  his  bank  and  its  patrons.  As  a  banker  he  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  best  posted  officers  in  the 
Carolinas.  He  never  studied  law  with  a  view  to 
practicing  the  profession,  but  one  of  the  foremost 
lawyers  of  the  state  has  designated  him  as  the  best 
informed  layman  in  his  acquaintance. ' ' 

It  is  an  unusual  mind  that  is  capable  of  sub- 
tending such  a  breadth  of  interests  in  business  and 
public  affairs.  While  he  was  fortunate  at  the  out- 
set in  the  gifts  which  family  position  and  inherit- 
ance bestowed  ujion  him,  in  the  course  of  thirty 
years  several  communities  of  the  state  with  good 
reason  consider  themselves  fortunate  that  a  man 
of  such  capacity  has  been  at  hand  to  assume  those 
larger  responsibilities  and  duties  which  only  the 
rarer  minds  and  intellect  and  character  are  quali- 
fied to  handle. 

D.wiD  James  Lewis.  In  point  of  continuous 
service  David  James  Lewis  is  one  of  the  oldest 
members  of  the  Columbus  County  l)ar,  having  been 
steadUy  engaged  in  practice  at  Whiteville  since 
1882.  His  success  has  been  proportionate  to  his 
years  of  work,  and  the  volume  of  practice  which 
has  been  accorded  him  and  his  reputation  and 
standing  in  professional  and  civic  circles  have 
grown  steadily. 

He  was  born  at  Lumberton  in  Eobinson  County, 
North  Carolina,  October  14,  IS-'iT.  His  parents, 
Richard  M.  and  Clarissa  (Rozier)  Lewis,  were  sub- 
stantial farming  people  of  Bladen  County.  The 
.son  was  educated  in  public  schools,  and  he  read  law 
in  offices  at  Lumberton  and  finisheil  his  education 
in  tlie  law  school  conducted  by  Dick  &  Dillard  at 
Greensboro. 

Since  his  admission  to  the  bar  in  February, 
1882,  he  has  had  his  office  in  Whiteville,  but  has 
tried  many  imjiortant  cases  in  different  sections 
of  the  state.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  North 
Carolina  Bar  Association  many  years. 

Always  active  in  local  affairs  and  doing  what  he 
can  to  forward  the  ])rogTess  of  his  home  community, 
Mr.  Lewis  served  fifteen  years  as  chairman  of  the 
High  School  Board  of  Whiteville,  and  in  1900  he 
was  supervisor  of  the  census.  He  is  affiliated  with 
the  Masonic  Order  and  is  a  steward  in  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church. 

On  .January  6,  1891,  he  married  Lucy  Jane 
Howell  of  Whiteville.  They  are  the  parents  of 
eight  children :  Anna  Beid,  who  married  William 
Holt  Richardson  of  Richmond,  Virginia;  Richard, 
who  began  practice  as  a  lawyer,  having  graduated 
in  1916  from  the  law  department  of  Wake  Forest 
College  and  is  now  second  lieutenant  in  tlie  United 
States  Army,  stationed  at  Camp  Wadsworth ;  Rone 
HoweU :  Julian  Douglas ;  Lucy  Elizabeth ;  Madge ; 
Briice  Gorden ;  and  Etta  Frances. 

Thomas  Merritt  Pittman.  Forty  years  a 
member  of  the  bar,  one  of  the  oldest  practitioners 
at  Henderson,  Thomas  Merritt  Pittman  has  ap- 
peared on  one  side  or  the  other  of  nearly  every 
important  case  tried  in  Vance  County.  His  work 
and  his  position  as  a  lawyer  are  easily  defined 
and  understood,  but  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  as- 
sume that  Mr.  Pittman  is  merely  a  successful  law- 
yer. His  professional  talents,  his  vigorous  citizen- 
ship, and  his  studious  and  literary  abilities  lie 
has  used  to  liroaden  his  influence  and  give  vitality 
to  many  important  movements  in  the  politics  and 
cultural  activities  of  the  state. 


Mr.  Pittman  was  born  in  Franklin  Coimty, 
North  Carolina,  November  24,  18.57,  a  son  of  Al- 
fred H.  and  Elizabeth  Alston  (Neathery)  Pitt- 
man. His  is  largely  a  self  wrought  career  and  his 
talents  have  lieen  refined  in  the  fires  of  adversity 
and  hardship.  At  an  early  age  he  had  to  make 
his  own  living  and  his  formal  schooling  was 
confined  to  common  schools  and  the  Belford 
Academy  in  his  county.  As  a  boy  he  worked  in 
tlie  Mecklenberg  Iron  Works  at  Charlotte  as  an 
apprentice.  He  was  also  employed  as  foreman 
in  the  Carolina  Agricultural  Works.  Despite  the 
necessity  which  kept  him  at  the  task  of  earning 
his  own  living,  he  utilized  so  effectively  his  spare 
moments  at  the  study  of  law  that  he  was  licensed 
to  practice  while  still  under  age.  His  career  as 
a  law\-er  began  in  1878  at  Qiarlotte,  but  since 
1885  he  lias  lived  at  Henderson.  In  1879  he  was 
apjiointed  examiner  in  equity  for  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  for  the  Western  District  of 
North  Carolina.  In  Vance  County  he  has  served 
as  attorney  for  the  Bank  of  Henderson,  as  county 
attorney,  and  from  1901  has  been  city  attorney  of 
Henderson,  except  for  two  years. 

For  many  years  one  of  Mr.  Pittman 's  chief  in- 
terests has  been  the  church  and  Sunday  School. 
An  important  early  influence  that  accounts  for 
this  was  doubtless  his  very  devout  and  religious 
mother.  He  has  been  a  leader  in  the  Baptist 
denomination  of  the  state,  has  served  as  vice 
president  of  the  State  Convention  of  North  Caro- 
lina, has  been  active  in  Sunday  School  work  and 
has  served  as  vice  president  of  the  American 
Baptist  Historical  Society.  He  has  held  the 
position  of  vice  president  for  the  Tar  River 
Baptist  Association  Food  Conservation  Commis- 
sion, chairman  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
Tar  River  Baptist  Association,  chairman  of  the 
board  of  deacons  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  and 
member  of  the  Building  Committee  of  the  church 
at  Henderson.  He  is  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Wake  Forest  Alumni  Society. 

Mr.  Pittman  has  been  chairman  of  the  Soldiers 
Business  Aid  Committee  of  Vance  County,  was  for 
three  terms  member  of  the  North  Carolina  His- 
torical Commission,  has  been  vice  president  of  the 
North  Carolina  State  Bar  Association,  chairman 
of  the  Judiciary  and  member  of  the  Legislative 
Committee  of  the  Carolina  Municipal  League,  has 
been  vice  president  and  member  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  State  Literary  and  Historical 
Association,  member  of  the  Vance  County  Demo- 
cratic Executive  Committee,  and  memlier  of  the 
Congressional  Executive  Committee  of  the  Fourth 
District. 

It  is  only  a  question  of  a  short  time  untU  North 
Carolina  will  fall  into  line  with  other  progressive 
states  in  adopting  the  Torrens  System  of  the  regis- 
tration of  land  titles.  When  that  time  comes, 
Mr.  Pittman  will  deserve  and  will  no  doubt  receive 
full  credit  for  the  splendid  work  he  has  done  in 
advocating  the  system  and  working  indefatigably 
for  its  introduction.  In  1909  he  was  appointed  a 
member  of  the  Legislative  Committee  to  investi- 
gate and  report  upon  the  Torrens  System.  A 
favorable  report  was  made  to  the  General  Assembly 
in  1911,  following  which  Senator  Cotton  sought  to 
procure  the  passage  of  an  act  to  establish  the 
system,  but  without  success.  From  that  time 
forward  Mr.  Pittman  has  borne  the  burdens  of 
the  effort  to  give  effective  legislative  form  to  the 
Torrens  plan.  In  June,  1911,  he  delivered  an  ad- 
dress  on   the    Torrens    System   before   the   North 


y9-^t^i--c^<-^j^ 


'^^ 


'^^^^4/:tL..^Zi7UJt^, 


A^.e 


-'■^-i 


?U: 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


279 


('arolina  Bar  Association  at  Lake  Toxaway.  This 
led  to  an  alignment  of  the  bar  on  the  side  of  the 
movement.  A  committee  with  Mr.  Pittman  as 
chairman  was  appointed  to  malie  a  thorough  in- 
vestigation of  the  subject  and  to  report  at  the 
next  meeting  a  draft  of  a  bill  to  be  recommended 
to  the  General  Assembly.  This  bill  was  prepared 
by  Mr.  Pittman  under  the  direction  of  the  com- 
mittee and  adopted  almost  unanimously  by  the 
association.  But  the  General  Assembly  of  1913 
saw  fit  to  mutilate  the  measure  and  the  act  that 
was  finally  adopted  was  anything  but  satisfactory. 
Subsequently  the  State  Council  of  the  Farmers 
I'nion,  after  a  conference  with  Chief  Justice  Clark, 
attorney  general,  now  governor,  Bickett,  its  own 
attorney,  Mr.  E.  R.  Preston,  and  Mr.  Pittman, 
requested  that  Mr.  Pittman  prepare  such  a  re- 
vision of  the  act  as  would  render  it  practicable. 
.Still  later  the  State  Bar  Association  reconsidered 
the  matter,  appointing  a  committee  headed  by  the 
Oliief  Justice  and  including  Mr.  Pittman,  to 
formulate  a  perfected  measure.  After  a  joint 
conference  between  that  committee  and  the  State 
Council  of  the  Farmers  Union,  Mr.  Pittman  was 
directed  to  undertake  the  formulation  of  tlie 
measure,  which  he  did  to  the  satisfaction  of  both 
organizations.  The  bill  with  some  changes  was 
adopted  by  the  Senate  with  one  dissenting  vote, 
hut  was  tabled  in  the  House.  At  this  writing 
the  matter  is  still  in  the  hands  of  the  same  com- 
mittee of  the  bar  association  to  be  pushed  at  the 
next  favorable  opportunity. 

Mr.  Pittman  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading 
students  of  local  and  state  history  in  North  Caro- 
lina, and  has  delivered  many  addresses  and  written 
numerous  papers  which  not  only  bear  tlie  stamp  of 
authoritative  research  but  a  literary  charm  that  en- 
hances their  value  as  permanent  contributions  to 
the  history  and  literature  of  the  state.  The  best 
known  of  his  productions  was  the  oration  on 
' '  Nathaniel  Macon  ' '  delivered  at  the  Guilford 
liattle  ground  on  July  4,  1902.  This  address  has 
lieen  printed  and  reprinted  six  or  seven  times. 
Perhaps  next  in  importance  to  tliat  was  the  address 
delivered  at  Riolimond,  Virginia,  in  1911,  before 
the  National  Municipal  League  on  the  "Problems 
of  Small  Cities,  Particularly  in  the  South. ' '  This 
is  an  important  contribution  to  the  literature  on 
a  comparatively  new  subject  in  American  econo- 
mic discussion,  and  his  address  was  widely  com- 
mented upon  throughout  the  country.  His  article 
on  the  life  of  Governor  Holden  in  "Biographical 
History  of  North  Carolina ' '  is  probably  the  most 
notable  puldication  from  his  pen.  Sketches  of 
John  Penn  in  "North  Carolina  Booklet"  and 
address  on  John  Porter  and  the  Gary  Rebellion 
before  summer  school  of  the  Agricultural  and  Me- 
chanical College  are  among  the  best  of  his  works. 
A  few  other  papers  and  addresses  have  been :  In- 
dustrial Life  in  Colonial  North  Carolina,  North 
Carolina  Booklet  .Tuly,  1907;  A  Voice  from  the 
Pew,  address  before  the  North  Carolina  Ministers' 
('onference  at  Shelliy,  North  Carolina,  December, 
1912;  History  of  Crime  and  Punishment  in  Nortli 
Carolina,  before  the  North  Carolina  State  Literary 
and  Historical  Association,  December,  1916.  His 
study  on  North  Carolina  1832-42  has  been  placed 
among  the  Julian  S.  Carr  prize  essays. 

Hon.  Fr.\nk  AV.  Hanes.  Identified  with  a  pro- 
fession that  always  demands  as  the  price  of  suc- 
cess a.  large  amount  of  veritable  talent,  and  a 
willingness  to  lalior  hard  and  long,  Hon.  Frank 
W.  Hanes,  a  well-known  attorney  of  Yadkinville, 


has  graciously  met  all  requirements  of  that  na- 
ture, and  is  now  filling  a  well-deserved  position 
among  the  successful  members  of  the  Yadkin 
County  bar.  A  native  of  North  Carolina,  he  was 
born  on  a  farm  in  Deep  Creek  Township,  Yadkin 
County,  which  was  also  the  birthplace  of  his  father, 
Alfred  M.  Hanes,  who  first  saw  the  light  of  this 
world  in  1840.  John  Hanes,  his  paternal  grand- 
father, was  a  jilanter  and  tanner  in  that  township, 
and  both  he  and  his  wife,  Rebecca  (Ghinii)  Hanes, 
spent  their  last  years  on  the  home  farm,  she  dying 
in  middle  life,  and  he  living  to  a  ripe  old  age. 

Brought  up  on  the  parental  homestead,  Alfred 
M.  Hanes  became  a  tiller  of  the  soil  from  choice, 
and  soon  after  attaining  his  majority  bought  land 
near  his  old  home,  and  immediately  began  its  im- 
provement. Full  of  energy  and  enterprise,  always 
ready  to  take  advantage  of  every  offered  opportu- 
nity for  enlarging  his  operations,  he  installed  a 
tannery  on  his  farm,  and  in  addition  to  tanning 
the  leather  that  he  manufactured  into  shoes  and 
harnesses,  he  kept  a  general  store,  and  as  his  farm 
was  nine  mUes  west  of  Yadkinville  he  was  well 
jiatronized  by  the  neighboring  farmers,  and  built 
up  a  large  trade  in  general  merchandise.  During 
the  Civil  war,  being  a  manufacturer,  he  was 
exempt  from  military  duty,  but  sei-ved  in  the 
Home  Guards.  A  man  of  strong  mental  and 
physical  powers,  he  continued  actively  engaged  in 
business  affairs  until  his  death,  March  27,  1909. 
He  married  Lucy  Jane  Foote,  who  was  born  on 
the  line  of  Iredell  and  Davie  counties,  a  daughter 
of  Henry  and  Polly  (Wright)  Foote.  She  sur- 
vived her  husband,  and  still  resides  on  the  home 
farm.  She  reared  five  children,  as  follows:  Viola, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years;  John  H. 
lived  but  fifteen  years;  Minnie,  who  married  Wil- 
liam Miller,  died  at  the  age  of  thirty  years,  leaving 
three  children;  Frank  W.,  with  whom  this  sketch 
is  chiefly  concerned;  and  Grace.  Grace  Hanes,  the 
youngest  child,  married  first  Doctor  Stanford,  who 
died  in  early  manhood,  leaving  her  with  one  son. 
She  married  for  her  second  husband  Claude  Tom- 
lin,  of  Iredell  County,  and  they  have  two  sons. 

Acquiring  his  elementary  education  in  the  rural 
schools  of  his  native  township,  Frank  W.  Hanes 
subsequently  attended  the  Cana  High  School,  and 
the  Yadkinville  Normal  School,  after  which  he 
took  a  special  course  at  Wake  Forest  College,  in 
1899  being  there  graduated  from  its  law  depart- 
ment. Mr.  Hanes  then  began  the  practice  of  his 
chosen  profession  in  Mitchell  County,  being  asso- 
ciated with  Judge  Bow  for  a  year,  and  there 
gaining  valuable  legal  knowledge  and  expjerience. 
Coming  from  there  to  Yadkinville,  Mr.  Hanes 
formed  a  partnership  with  John  T.  Beubow,  and 
the  firm  thus  established  has  since  built  up  a  large 
and  remunerative  legal  patronage,  and  in  addition 
have  been  extensively  engaged  in  the  buying  and 
selling  of  real  estate,  their  transactions  in  that 
line   covering   a  large   territory. 

Mr.  Hanes  was  united  in  marriage,  in  1909,  with 
DeEtte  Kapp.  She  was  born  at  Kapps  Mills, 
Surry  County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  John 
and  Alice  (Cockerham)  Kapp.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hanes  have  one  child,  a  son,  named  John  Alfred 
Hanes.  Religiously  Mr.  Hanes  is  identified  by 
membership  with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  while 
Mrs.  Hanes  is  a  worthy  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church. 

Since  casting  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Wil- 
liam McKinley,  Mr.  Hanes  has  been  an  ardent 
supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  republican 
party.     He  has  ever  evinced  an  active  and  intelli- 


280 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


gent  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  was  elected  to 
the  State  Legislature  in  1907,  and  honored  with 
a  re-election  to  the  same  body  in  19uy.  In  1916 
he  was  chosen  as  presidential  elector  on  the  re- 
publican ticket.  At  the  present  time,  in  1917, 
he  is  rendering  the  city  efficient  service  as  mayor. 
Praternally  Mr.  Hanes  is  a  member  of  Lone  Hick- 
ory Lodge,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of 
Masons. 

L.  E.  NoKPLEET,  M.  D.,  of  Tarboro,  who  has 
been  a  member  of  the  medical  profession  for  over 
a  quarter  of  a  century,  was  Ijoru  June  22,  lS6i. 
He  studied  under  F.  y.  Wilkinson  and  graduated 
in  medicine  from  Columbia  University,  New  York, 
in  1888.  For  a  year  he  had  charge  of  the  Sloaue 
Maternity  Hospital  of  New  York,  and  also  did 
service  in  the  Eoosevelt  Hosjjital  and  Vanderbilt 
Dispensary.  He  has  jiracticed  at  Tarboro  tor 
twenty-eight  years.  His  practice  is  now  practi- 
cally limited  to  office  work.  He  served  several 
terms  on  the  Sanitary  Board  of  Edgecombe 
County. 

April  27,  1897,  he  married  Mabel  Curtis,  daugh- 
ter of  M.  A.  and  Mary  S.  (Nash)  Curtis.  They 
have  four  children:  Ashley  Curtis,  Mabel,  Robert 
and  Mary  Nash. 

Doctor  Norfieet's  father,  Robert  Norfleet,  was 
descended  from  James  Norfleet,  who  left  the 
Nortli  of  England  and  settled  in  Edentou,  North 
Carolina,  where  he  died  in  1732.  His  grandson, 
Abraham,  was  senior  warden  for  St.  John's  at 
Edentou  for  many  years  up  to  the  Revolution. 
His  sister  Cora  was  a  member  of  the  Edenton 
Tea  Party.  His  son  Isaac  settled  near  Tarboro 
during  18U3  on  land  now  owned  by  Doctor  Nor- 
lleet  through  his  father. 

Doctor  Norfleet 's  mother,  Margaret  P.  (Wil- 
liams) Norfleet,  was  descended  from  Lawrence 
Toole,  a  Scotch  Irishman,  who  with  his  wife,  Sa- 
bra  Irwin,  a  sister  of  Lieut.  Col.  Henry  Irwin, 
killed  at  Brandywine,  came  from  Hampton,  Vir- 
ginia, and  was  an  incorporator  and  trustee  of 
the  Town  of  Tarboro,  where  he  died  a  year  after 
the  town  was  founded.  Colonel  Irwin  was  killed 
fighting  with  General  Nash,  who  was  an  ances- 
tor of  Mrs.  Norfleet,  and  100  years  later  their 
descendants  met  and  married. 

John  William  Harper.  As  one  of  the  original 
thirteen  states  of  the  American  Union,  North  Car- 
olina may  be  called  one  of  the  cradles  of  Ameri- 
canism. There  are  families  in  the  Old  North  State 
who  can  trace  direct  ancestry  back  to  days  before 
the  Revolutionary  war.  Many  of  these  families  set- 
tled in  the  fertile,  undulating  regions  of  the  east- 
ern part  of  the  state  and  many  others  chose  homes 
on  the  sandy  coast,  and  lived  by  fishing,  the  oppor- 
tunities for  which,  even  to  the  present  day,  are 
unrivaled.  This  low  coastline,  however,  is  indented 
with  many  dangerous  inlets  and  for  many  years  the 
United  States  Government  has  provided  protection 
to  mariners  through  the  services  of  brave  and  ex- 
perienced men,  accustomed  to  the  sea,  and  thereby 
has  made  secure  the  lives  and  property  of  voyagers 
along  this  attractive  Carolina  beach.  Perhaps  no 
more  competent  man  was  in  the  service  than  the 
late  Captain  John  William  Harper,  who  filled  the 
office  of  commissioner  of  navigation  and  pilotage 
of  the  Cape  Fear  River  and  harbors. 

John  Wdliam  Harper,  who  died  in  September, 
1917,  was  born  in  New  Hanover  County,  North  Car- 
olina, November  28,  18.56.  His  parents  were  Wil- 
liam Riley  and  Henrietta  (Lloyd)  Harper,  the  for- 


mer of  whom  was  born  in  Lenoir  County,  North 
Carolina,  and  the  latter  in  Onslow  County  in  the 
town  of  Richland.  The  father  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  The  youth  remained  on  the  same 
place  and  attended  private  schools  until  he  was 
sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he  turned  to  the  sea,  a 
maritime  life  presenting  more  attraction  to  him 
than  farming.  He  began  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ladder,  working  at  first  as  a  deck  hand  but  with  so 
much  enthusiasm  and  energy  that  he  quickly  learned 
sea  craft  and  by  the  time  he  was  nineteen  he  had 
become  a  licensed  master..  For  the  next  fifteen 
yeai's  as  master  of  numerous  vessels  he  voyaged 
along  the  Carolina  coast  and  at  one  time  owned  a 
vessel  of  his  own.  For  a  considerable  period  he 
was  master  of  the  well  remembered  steamer  Under- 
hill,  a  passenger  and  freight  vessel  plying  in  Wil- 
mington Sound.  He  was  one  of  the  prime  movers 
in  bringing  about  the  development  of  the  Carolina 
beach,  in  1886,  and  was  the  organizer  of  the  New 
Hanover  Transit  Company  for  this  specific  pur- 
pose. In  1892  he  established  the  Harper  Steamship 
Line,  which  covered  the  distance  of  twenty-five 
miles  between  Wilmington  and  Southport,  North 
Carolina,  and  commanded  the  steamshiij  Wilming- 
ton. 

Captain  Harper  was  married  first  to  Miss  Julia 
Foley,  who  was  born  at  Baltimore,  Maryland,  and 
they  had  three  children :  Louise,  who  is  the  wife 
of  J.  B.  Fox;  Fred,  who  is  first  lieutenant  on  a 
United  States  transport :  and  John  William.  The 
second  union  of  Captain  Harper  was  with  Miss  Ella 
Stroupe  of  Wihjiington,  who  was  born  at  Salem, 
North  Carolina,  and  to  this  marriage  three  children 
were  born:  Catherine,  Ella  (deceased)  and  James 
Stroupe. 

Perhaps  no  sea-faring  man  up  and  down  the 
coast  was  better  known  than  Captain  Harper,  and 
at  tlie  time  of  his  appointment  to  the  position  of 
captain  his  friends  and  the  Carolina  coast  people 
were  greatly  pleased.  No  one  who  has  sailed  these 
waters  can  question  the  absolute  necessity  of  hav- 
ing an  experienced  sailor  at  the  head  of  a  bureau 
of  navigation  and  pilotage  here.  The  wrecks  that 
formerly  strewed  the  coast  when  a  ' '  norther ' ' 
swept  the  angry  sea  up  the  inlets  and  covered  the 
treacherous  shoals  were  evidence  enough  that  the 
Government  should  call  to  the  front  such  a  brave, 
hardy,  resourceful  and  experienced  sailor  as  Cap- 
tain Harper.  Personally  Captain  Harper  was  bluff, 
hearty  and  genial  and  it  was  more  entertaining  to 
listen  to  his  stories  of  sea-faring  life  since,  as  a 
boy,  he  took  to  the  water,  than  to  read  any  sea 
romance  ever  written.  He  maintained  his  home  at 
Wilmington  and  was  numliered  witli  the  construc- 
tive citizens  of  this  city,  for  through  his  business 
enterprise  he  was  very  useful  commercially,  while 
as  a  private  citizen  he  co-operated  in  all  movements 
that  have  been  started  to  advance  the  best 
interests. 

Franklin  Wills  Hancock,  Jr.  One  of  the 
able  younger  members  of  the  Oxford  bar  is  Frank- 
lin Wills  Hancock,  who  has  been  in  active  practice 
in  this  city  since  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
His  talents  as  a  lawyer  have  been  well  tested 
within  this  time  and  his  handling  of  some  very 
interesting  and  complex  legal  problems,  has  been 
highly  approved  of  by  the  older  members  of  the 
profession  who  do  not  hesitate  to  predict  a  steady 
advance  to  leadership  in  his  profession. 

Franklin  Wills  Hancock  was  born  at  Oxford, 
North  Carolina,  November  1,  1894.  His  parents 
are    Dr.    Franklin    Wills    and    Lizzie    (Hobgood) 


OU,  H  CXuJ^ULA^ 


VCRK     . 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


281 


Hancock,  the  former  being  a  well  known  physician 
and  pharmacist  at  Oxford. 

In  the  excellent  public  schools  of  his  native 
city,  Mr.  Hancock  completed  his  high  school  course 
and  also  was  a  student  in  the  Warrenton  High 
School  before  entering  Hower  Military  Institute. 
Subsequently  he  took  both  an  academic  and  a  law 
course  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  on  August  28,  1916.  He 
immediately  opened  a  law  office  at  Oxford  and 
already  has  built  up  a  satisfactory  practice.  In 
addition  to  his  general  and  professional  prepara- 
tion, Mr.  Hancock  has  another  almost  necessary 
qualitication  for  early  success  at  the  bar,  aud  tliat 
is  a  pleasing  personality  aud  a  manner  that  in- 
spires confidence. 

Mr.  Hancock  was  married  at  Oxford,  May  12, 
1917,  to  Miss  Lucy  Osborne  Landis,  who  was  born 
at  Oxford  and  is  well  known  in  the  city 's  pleasant 
social  life. 

Mr.  Hancock  has  not  taken  any  very  active  part 
in  politics  but  his  good  citizenship  is  determined 
and  on  any  public  question  his  friends  know  that 
his  inlluence  will  be  for  the  right  and  his  support 
be  given  to  further  worthy  enterprises.  He  is 
identified  fraternally  with  the  Masons  and  the 
Junior  Order  of  United  American  Workmen  and 
he  belongs  also  to  the  Royal  Arcanum  and  still 
maintains  his  interests  in  his  old  college  fraternity, 
the  Kappa  Alpha.  He  was  reared  in  the  Baptist 
Church. 

Daeett  M.  Reece.  a  thorough  student  from 
his  college  days,  and  a  man  of  scholarly  habits, 
Darett  M.  Eeeee,  of  Yadkinville,  is  well  versed  in 
the  intricacies  of  law,  to  which  he  is  devoting  his 
attention,  and  through  his  professional  knowledge 
and  skill  has  gained  a  place  of  note  among  the 
successful  attorneys  of  Yadkin  County.  He  was 
born,  June  12,  1862,  in  Booneville  Township,  Yad- 
kin County,  the  place  in  which  the  births  of  his 
father,  Joel  D.  Reece,  and  of  his  grandfather,  Joel 
Reece.  occurred,  and  where  his  great-grandfather, 
Daniel  Reece,  spent  his  hast  years. 

Born  and  reared  in  Booneville  Township,  Joel 
Reece  grew  to  manhood  on  a  farm,  and  during  his 
entire  life  was  engaged  in  agricidtural  pursuits, 
operating  his  land  with  slave  help.  To  him  and 
his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Nannie  Green- 
wood, four  sons  were  born  and  reared,  Samuel, 
Lewis,  Daniel,  Joel  D.,  and  Thomas  W. 

Joel  D.  Reece  was  born  on  the  parental  home- 
stead in  Yadkin  County,  in  1832,  and  was  a  life- 
long farmer  of  Booneville  Township,  being  exceed- 
ingly prosperous.  He  inherited  a  part  of  his 
father's  farm,  and  having  met  with  success  in  his 
labors,  he  nought  adjoining  land,  becoming  quite 
an  extensive  landholder  )>efore  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age.  He 
married  Sarah  D.  Caudle,  who  was  born  in  what 
is  now  Surry  County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter 
of  Aaron  and  Melinda  (Groos)  Caudle.  Her 
father  was  of  German  ancestry,  and  during  his 
earlier  life  lived  and  farmed  in  Surry  County.  In 
1867,  he  moved  with  his  wife  and  five  of  their 
children,  .Jacob,  Abraham,  Nancy,  Mary,  and  Bet- 
tie,  to  Union  County,  Iowa.  Of  the  union  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Joel  D.  Reece  five  children  were  born, 
namely:  Cornelia  S.,  who  married  N.  C.  Dobbins; 
Darett  M.,  the  subject  of  this  brief  sketch ;  Mary 
M.,  wife  of  C.  S.  Dobbins;  Joel  W. ;  and  Lucy  J., 
who  married  L.  J.  Watkins.  The  mother  died  at 
the  age  of  about  seventy  years,  having  lived  a 
long  and  useful  life. 


After  leaving  the  district  schools,  Darett  M. 
Reeee  continued  his  studies  under  the  tutelage  of 
Prof.  R.  L.  Patten,  a  well  known  educator,  first 
in  the  Booneville  High  School,  and  later  at  Table 
Rock  and  Globe,  where  the  professor  was  an  in- 
structor. Thus  prepared,  Mr.  Reece  entered  the 
University  of  North  Carolina,  aud  after  spending 
a  year  iu  the  literary  department  continued  his 
studies  iu  the  law  department  for  thirteen  mouths, 
Dr.  John  Mauing  being  his  instructor.  In  1885 
Mr.  Reece  was  licensed  to  practice,  and  imme- 
diately located  in  Yadkinville,  where  his  legal  tal- 
ent and  ability  was  soon  recognized,  aud  where 
he  has  since  built  up  a  large  and  lucrative  prac- 
tice, and  has  gained  a  commanding  position  iu  his 
profession. 

Mr.  Reece  married,  in  1887,  Mary  S.  Robertson, 
who  was  born  in  Surry  County,  North  Carolina,  a 
daughter  of  Doctor  Robertson,  a  native  of  Vii-- 
ginia.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reece  have  three  children, 
namely:  James  Thaddeus,  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  is  now  serving  as  su- 
perintendent of  the  Yadkin  County  schools;  John 
D.,  a  traveling  salesman;  and  Stella,  who  married 
D.  B.  Anderson,  and  has  one  son.  Stiles  Thaddeus 
Anderson.  Mr.  Reece  is  a  faithful  member  of  the 
Baptist  Church,  and  the  family  have  been  reared 
in  the  same  religious  faith.  Politically  Mr.  Reece 
cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Grover  Cleveland, 
and  has  been  a  loyal  supporter  of  the  principles  of 
the  democratic  party  since.  He  has  been  his 
party's  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  and  was 
chosen  presidential  elector   iu   1912. 

Thom.^s  Puller  Soothgate.  Through  a  long 
period  of  years  the  name  Southgate  has  been  sug- 
gestive of  the  insui'ance  business  at  Durham,  aud 
the  work  has  been  successfully  carried  on  through 
three  generations. 

The  third  generation  is  represented  by  Thomas 
Fuller  Southgate,  who  was  born  at  Durham  July 
22,  1889,  a  son  of  James  Hayward  and  Kate 
(Fuller)  Southgate.  After  completing  his  edu- 
cation in  the  Pishburne  Military  School  at  Waynes- 
boro, Virginia,  and  in  the  Bingham  School  at 
Asheville,  North  Caroliua,  Mr.  Southgate  en- 
tered the  Fidelity  Bank,  where  he  had  some  val- 
uable experience  for  a  year,  following  which  he 
joined  the  firm  oi  James  Southgate  &  Son,  and 
in  this  old  established  insurance  agency  learned 
the  business  and  took  an  active  part.  Upon  the 
death  of  his  grandfather,  senior  member  of  the 
firm,  in  1914,  he  became  active  partner  with  his 
father,  and  that  association  still  continues.  Mr. 
Southgate  is  also  president  of  the  Durham  Laud 
and  Security  Company. 

He  is  affiliated  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias, 
Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  the  Ma- 
sonic Order,  is  a  member  of  the  Country  Club 
and  is  a  steward  of  Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  On  November  15,  1912,  he  married  Miss 
Lula  McDonald,  of  Raleigh,  North  Carolina, 
daughter  of  Charles  Clialmers  and  Lula  (Troy) 
McDonald.  Her  father  is  well  known  in  Raleigh 
as  a  stock  and  bond  dealer.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  South- 
gate  have  two  children,  Thomas  Fuller,  Jr.,  and 
Lula  McDonald. 

Arthur  Alexander  Bunn  was  admitted  to  the 
North  Carolina  bar  in  February,  1912,  six  months 
before  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  has 
justified  his  choice  of  profession  and  the  confidence 
and  anticipations  of  his  friends,  and  now  enjoys 
a  very  substantial  position  in  the  Henderson  bar. 


282 


HISTOKY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


He  was  born  in  Vani'e  County  near  Henderson 
August  11,  1891,  son  of  Robert  and  Kate  (Mars- 
ton)  Bunn.  His  father  is  a  contractor  and  builder. 
Mr.  Bunn  was  educated  in  the  Henderson  High 
School,  and  graduated  with  the  class  of  1912  from 
Wake  Forest  College,  in  both  the  literary  and  law 
departments.  Soon  after  his  admission  to  the  bar 
he  returned  to  Henderson  and  has  since  been  en- 
gaged in  building  up  a  general  practice.  He  is 
also  chairman  of  the  democratic  executive  commit- 
tee of  Vance  Comity,  and  a  memlier  in  good  stand- 
ing of  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association. 

June  27,  1917,  Mr.  Bunn  married  Miss  Mary 
Hilliard  Lamb  of  Henderson,  daughter  of  George 
C  and  Anna  (Hymau)  Lamb. 

RlCHABD  C.  PuBYEAR.  An  active  and  promi- 
nent member  of  the  Yadkin  County  bar,  Richard 
0.  Puryear,  of  Yadkinville,  is  a  mau  of  versatile 
talent  and  vigorous  mentality,  and  well  worthy  of 
the  high  distinction  he  has  attained  in  his  pro- 
fession. He  was  born  January  21,  1848,  in  Little 
Yadkin  Township,  Yadkin  County,  a  son  of  Hon. 
Richard  C.  Puryear. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  John  Puryear,  was 
born  in  Mecklenburg  County,  Virginia,  and  there 
spent  his  earlier  years.  Coming  with  his  wife  and 
child  to  North  Carolina  about  1811,  he  .settled  at, 
•or  near,  Brookstown,  in  what  is  now  Forsyth 
County,  and  died  soon  after  coming. 

Born  in  Mecklenburg  County,  Virginia,  in  1801, 
Hon.  Richard  C.  Puryear  was  but  ten  years  old 
when  he  came  with  his  parents  to  North  Carolina. 
He  acquired  a  good  education,  but  instead  of  adojd- 
ing  a  profession  he  turned  his  attention  to  agricul- 
ture, for  which  he  had  a  strong  piredilection,  first 
buying  a  tract  of  land  in  Yadkin  County  and  later 
buying  another  tract  in  Forbush.  With  700  acres 
of  land  in  his  two  plantations,  he  carried  on  gen- 
eral farming  with  slave  labor,  obtaining  satisfac- 
tory results.  A  man  of  strong  personality,  popu- 
lar and  influential,  he  became  prominent  in  public 
affairs,  representing  Surry  County  in  the  State 
Legislature  two  terms;  later  serving  two  terms  in 
Congress;  and  subsequently  being  a  member  of 
the  Provisional  Congress  of  the  Confederate 
States. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Hon.  Richard 
C.  Puryear  was  Elizabeth  Ann  Clingman.  Slie 
was  born  at  HuntsviUe,  Yadkin  County,  a  daughter 
of  Jacob  and  Jane  (Poindexter)  Clingman.  Her 
maternal  grandfather,  Capt.  Francis  Poindexte/, 
the  descendant  of  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Yadkin  County,  served  in  the  Revolutionary  war 
as  captain  of  a  company  of  brave  soldiers.  Captain 
Poinde.xter  married  Mrs.  Jane  (Patillo)  Lanier, 
whose  father,  Rev.  Henry  Patillo,  was  a  Presby- 
terian minister,  and  the  author  of  Patillo 's 
Geography.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Ann  (Clingman) 
Puryear  died  at  the  comparatively  early  age  of 
thirty-six  years,  in  1850,  leaving  six  children  that 
grew  to  years  of  maturity,  as  follows:  Jane  A., 
Sarah  E.,  Henry  S.,  Elizabeth  P.,  Richard  C,  and 
Thomas  L. 

Gleaning  his  first  knowledge  of  books  in  the 
rural  schools,  Richard  C.  Puryear  continued  lijs 
studies  at  Doctor  Wilson 's  school,  in  Alamance 
County,  later  attending  General  Lane's  school  in 
Concord.  Deciding  to  enter  the  legal  profession, 
Mr.  Puryear  began  the  study  of  law  under  the 
preeeptorship  of  Judge  Pearson,  in  Richmond 
Hill,  Yadkin  County,  and  in  1876,  at  the  January 
"term  of  the  Supreme  Court,  he  was  licensed  to 
practice.     He  immediately  opened  a  law  office  in 


Yadkinville,  and  met  with  such  satisfactory  results 
in  his  professional  labors  that  he  has  continued  in 
active  practice  there  ever  since,  his  clientele  being 
large  and  lucrative. 

Ever  interested  in  matters  pertaining  to  the 
pulilic  welfare,  Mr.  Puryear  served  most  accept- 
ably for  four  years  as  mayor  of  Yadkinville,  and 
as  solicitor  for  the  Inferior  Court  for  an  equal 
length  of  time.  In  1884  he  was  candidate  for 
elector  in  the  Seventh  Congressional  District  of 
North  Carolina.  Fraternally  Mr.  Puryear  is  a 
member  of  Farmington  Lodge  No.  265,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons;  and  of  David  Lodge 
No.  118,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 

.J.  SoLLiE  Patteksox.  Occupying  the  resijou- 
sihle  position  of  treasurer  of  Surry  County,  J. 
Sollie  Patterson  is  likewise  actively  interested  in 
tlie  business  affairs  of  Pilot  Mountain,  his  home 
city,  where  he  is  successfully  engaged  in  mercan- 
tile pursuits.  A  son  of  Schuyler  Patterson,  he 
was  born  in  Siloam  Township,  Surry  County,  .June 
16,   1881. 

William  Patterson,  his  paternal  grandfather, 
was  born  and  bred  in  Virginia,  where  at  one 
time  his  father  owned  and  occupied  land  now  in- 
cluded within  the  limits  of  the  Citj-  of  Lynch- 
burg. Coming  from  the  Old  Dominion  to  North 
Carolina  in  early  life,  he  lived  for  awhile  in 
Yadkin  County,  from  there  migrating  to  Surry 
County,  and  settling  in  Siloam  Township.  He 
was  an  iron  master  by  trade,  and  operated  forges 
in  different  pdaces,  also  being  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  to  some  extent,  his  last  year's 
being  spent  on  a  farm  in  Siloam   Township. 

Schuyler  Patterson  was  born  in  Yadkin  County, 
and  was  there  reared  and  educated.  For  a  num- 
ber of  years  he  worked  with  his  father  at  the 
forge,  but  preferring  to  be  a  tUler  of  the  soil 
he  bought  land  in  Siloam  Township,  and  for  many 
seasons  was  successfully  engaged  in  general  farm- 
ing. Retiring  from  active  jjursuits,  he  removed 
to  Pilot  Mountain,  where  he  is  now  residing,  an 
honored  and  respected  citizen.  He  married  iVau- 
nie  Hill,  who  was  born  in  Pilot  Mountain  Town- 
ship, Surry  County,  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Ellen  (Wluttaker)"Hill.  She  died  when  but  forty 
years  of  age,  leaving  five  children,  as  follows : 
Dora  Ella,  who  died  at  the  as^e  of  eighteen  years; 
.J.  Sollie,  the  special  subject  of  this  sketch;  Mary; 
Martha,  who  died  when  eighteen  years  old;  and 
Charles  W. 

Gleaning  his  early  education  in  the  rural  schools 
of  his  native  district,  J.  Sollie  Patterson  suuse- 
(picntlv  completed  the  course  of  study  in  the 
Siloam  Academy.  Beginning  life  for  himself  as 
a  school  teacher,  his  first  experience  w.as  in  Dis- 
trict No.  4,  SOoam  Township,  where  he  taught 
for  four  consecutive  years.  Turning  his  atten- 
tion then  to  agricultural  punsuits,  Mr.  Patterson 
carried  on  general  farming  quite  successfully  for 
some  time.  In  1905  he  embarked  in  the  mercan- 
tile business  at  Pilot  Mountain,  where'  he  has 
since  continued,  being  now  one  of  the  more  ac- 
tive   and    prosperous    merchants    of    the    city. 

In  1903  Mr.  Patterson  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Mabel  Fulk,  who  was  born  in  Pilot 
ilountain,  a  daughter  of  Henderson  and  Martha 
Fulk.  Four  children  have  blessed  their  union, 
namely:  Viola  May,  Glenn,  Lucile  and  James 
Sollie,  Jr.  Religiously  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pat- 
terson are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South.  A  republican  in  politics,  Mr.  Pat- 
terson   cast   his    first   presidential    vote    for    Theo- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


283 


<lore  Roosevelt.  Takiuu:  an  intelligeut  interest  in 
public,  affairs,  he  has  served  his  home  city  as  an 
alderman,  and  in  1914  was  elected  to  his  present 
official  position  as  treasurer  of  Surry  County. 
Fraternally  Mr.  Patterson  is  a  member  of  Pilot 
Mountain  Lodge  No.  499,  Ancient  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Order  of  Masons,  and  both  he  and  Mrs. 
Patterson  belong  to  the  Order  of  the  Eastern 
Star. 

Merl  John  Carson,  D.  O.  One  of  the  foremost 
representatives  of  the  School  of  Osteopathic  prac- 
tice in  the  State  of  North  Carolina  is  Doctor  Car- 
son of  Wilmington.  Doctor  Carson  is  secretary- 
treasurer  of  the  North  Carolina  Osteopathic  So- 
ciety, and  until  recently  was  president  and  is  now 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  board  of  examiners, 
known  as  the  North  Carolina  Board  of  Osteopathic 
Examination  and  Registration. 

While  Doctor  Carson  has  done  all  his  practice  as 
a  doctor  of  osteopathy  in  North  Carolina,  he  spent 
his  earlier  life  in  several  states.  He  was  born  at 
West  Willianisfield.  Ohio,  April  27,  188,3,  was  edu- 
cated in  public  schools,  and  completed  his  early 
training  in  the  Agricultui-al  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege of  Texas.  He  was  graduated  in  electrical 
engineering,  t)ut  soon  afterward  entered  the  South- 
ern School  of  Osteopathy  at  Franklin,  Kentucky, 
where  he  took  his  degree  in  1905. 

From  the  time  of  his  graduation  until  February, 
1914,  he  was  located  in  a  successful  practice  at 
Rocky  Mount,  North  Carolina,  and  then  moved  to 
Wilnimgton.  From  the  first  he  has  enjoyed  a  large 
l)ractice  in  this  city,  and  enjoys  the  highest  stand- 
ing both  as  a  professional  man  and  as  a  citizen. 

He  is  a  Knight  Templar  Mason  and  a  member 
of  the  Sipa  Grotto  of  Master  Masons,  Sudan 
Shrine,  Scottish  Rite  327,  is  past  chancellor 
of  Rocky  Mount  Lodge  of  Knights  of  Pythias, 
and  also  belongs  to  the  Carolina  Yacht  Club. 
On  February  2,  1905,  at  Franklin,  Kentucky,  he 
married  Miss  Mary  E.  Kohlhepp.  They  have  one 
son,  Merl  John,  Jr. 

Eugene  Holmes.  Among  the  well  known  and 
esteemed  residents  of  Liuwood,  Davidson  County, 
is  Eugene  Holmes,  who  has  been  actively  employed 
in  the  United  States  civil  service  as  rural  mail 
carrier  from  Liuwood  for  the  past  ten  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  has  gained  an  excellent  reputa- 
tion for  promptness  and  efficiency.  A  native  of 
Davidson  County,  he  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Heal- 
ing Sjiring  Township,  which  was  likewise  the  birth- 
place of  his  lather,  Cicero  Holmes,  and  of  his 
grandfather,  Moses  Holmes. 

His  great-grandfather,  Reuben  Holmes,  was,  it 
is  thought,  a  native  of  New  Jersey.  Coming  to 
JS'orth  Carolina  in  colonial  days,  he  settled  in  what 
was  then  Rowan  County,  but  is  now  Silver  Hill 
Township,  Davidson  County.  He  was  a  slave 
owner,  and  engaged  in  trading  and  farming.  He 
became  an  extensive  landholder,  and  donated  for 
a  family  burying  plot  in  Silver  Hill  Township,  near 
the  Holloway  Baptist  Church,  and  there  he  and 
liis  wife  are  buried.  He  married  a  Miss  Freeland, 
and  they  reared  four  sons,  ,Tesse,  Moses,  Reuben, 
and  Robert,  and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom 
married  Smiths  and  went  West. 

Born  on  the  parental  homestead  in  1783,  Moses 
Tlolmes  succeeded  by  inheritance  to  a  portion  of 
it,  and  operated  with  slave  labor.  He  was  quite 
prosperous,  and  having  bought  other  tracts  of  land 
spent  his  entire  life  of  sixty-six  years  in  Healing 
'Springs  Township.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was    Annie    Riley.      She    was    born    in    Randolph 


County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Nathaniel 
Riley,  a  farmer  and  a  preacher  in  the  Primitive 
Baptist  denomination,  who,  it  is  said,  was  of 
Irish  parentage,  the  name  having  originally  been 
0  'Reilly. 

Cicero  Holmes  was  born  in  1843,  and  as  a  youth 
received  good  educational  advantages,  attending 
first  the  public  schools,  and  later  entering  Old 
Trinity  College.  At  the  end  of  a  year,  he  gave 
up  his  studies  to  enter  the  Confederate  navy.  Dur- 
ing the  last  year  of  the  Civil  war,  he  was  cap- 
tured, and  from  that  time  until  the  end  of  the 
conflict,  a  period  of  six  months,  he  was  held  as 
a  prisoner  of  war  at  Point  Lookout.  Returning 
to  Healing  Spring  Township,  he  became  a  tiller 
of  the  soil,  and  later,  in  addition  to  farming  was 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  lumber  on  a  some- 
what extensive  scale,  having  purchased  a  steam 
saw  mill  in  order  to  facilitate  his  work.  He  died 
on  his  home  farm  at  the  age  of  three  score  and 
ten  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Annie  Smith,  was  born  in  Cotton  Grove  Township, 
Davidson  County,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Susan 
f Cross)  Smith,  and  grandd.aughter  of  David  and 
Betsey  fMcCarn)  Smith.  Her  great-grandfather, 
George  Smith,  one  of  the  original  settlers  of  Heal- 
ing Spring  Township,  bought  wild  land,  and 
erected  a  substantial  log  house,  which  is  still 
standing,  being  one  of  the  oldest  houses  in  the 
county.  He  belonged  to  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
and  in  his  house,  which  was  of  hewed  logs,  three 
stories  in  height,  the  lodge  of  which  he  was  a 
member  held  its  meetings.  The  house  is  standing 
yet.  Mrs.  Annie  (Smith)  Holmes  died  at  the  early 
age  of  forty-seven  years,  leaving  seven  children, 
Eugene,  Early,  Forest,  Wade,  Daisy,  Moses,  and 
Annie. 

Completing  his  early  studies  in  the  Lexington 
High  School,  Eugene  Holmes  began  working  with 
his  father  in  the  lumber  business,  and  later  en- 
gaged in  farming  on  a  part  of  the  ancestral  home- 
stead. He  snbsequently  bought  a  farm  in  Cotton 
Grove  Townsliip.  In  1907  he  entered  the  employ 
of  the  United  States  Government  as  a  rural  mail 
carrier  from  Liuwood,  and  has  since  retained  the 
position. 

Mr.  Holmes  married,  in  1899,  Mary  Cornelia 
Miller.  She  was  born  in  Cotton  Grove  Township, 
Davidson  County,  a  daughter  of  .John  (known  as 
"River  Jolm")  and  Rachel  (Warford)  Miller. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holmes  have  three  childi-en.  Eugene, 
,Tr.,  Moses,  and  C.  K.  Fraternally  Mr.  Holmes  is 
a  member  of  Lexington  Lodge  No.  473,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons;  and  of  Lexington 
Camp,   Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 

Willis  J.  Vestal,  M.  D.  A  well-knovni  and 
highly  successful  physician  and  surgeon  of  David- 
son County,  Willis  J.  Vestal,  M.  D.,  of  Lexington, 
has  attained,  by  merit,  a  high  reputation  for  skill 
and  ability  in  Ills  chosen  profession,  and  is  enjoy- 
ing a  lucrative  practice,  his  services  being  in  de- 
mand in  both  city  and  country.  A  son  of  IsE^ac 
Vestal,  he  was  born  on  a  plantation  in  Booneville 
Township,  Yadkin  County,  North  Carolina.  His 
grandfather,  Solomon  Vestal,  owned  a  plantation 
in  Booneville  Township,  and  was  there  engaged  in 
farming   until    his   death. 

Born  and  reared  in  Booneville  Township,  Yadkin 
County,  North  Carolina,  Isaac  Vestal  made  the 
best  of  his  educational  opportunities,  and  being 
a  good  student  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
civil  eneineering.  Being  elected  surveyor  of 
Yadkin   County,  he  surveyed  the  county  when  the 


284 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


boundary  lines  were  established.  He  possessed 
excellent  business  qualifications,  and  accumulated 
considerable  property,  becoming  owner  of  a  farm 
in  Booneville  Township,  and  also  one  in  Knob 
Township,  in  tlie  Yadliin  River  valley.  The  clos- 
ing years  of  his  life  were  spent  on  his  farm,  near 
Jonesville,  his  death  occurring  at  the  age  of 
seventy-nine  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Delilah  Holcomb,  was  born  in  Yadkin  County, 
a  daughter  of  Simon  and  Jane  Holcomb.  She 
died  before  he  did,  passing  away  at  the  age  of 
fifty-six  years.  Six  of  the  cliildren  born  of  their 
union,  grew  to  years  of  maturity,  as  follows: 
Miles  H.,  a  preacher  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South;  Willis  J.,  the  subject  of  this  brief 
sketch;  Mary,  wife  of  Thomas  C.  Phillips,  of 
Yadkin ville;  Lila;  Fannie,  wife  of  Richard  H. 
Brooke,  of  Greensboro,  North  Carolina;  and  Charles, 
who  served  for  a  number  of  years  in  the  United 
States  Regular  Army. 

Prejiared  for  college  in  the  Jonesville  High 
School,  under  the  preceptorship  of  Prof.  T.  S. 
Whittington,  Willis  J.  Vestal  entered  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  Baltimore,  Mary- 
land, where  he  was  graduated  with  the  class  of 
1883.  Immediately  locating  at  Tyro  Shops,  in 
Davidson  County,  he  there  met  with  well  merited 
success.  At  the  end  of  sixteen  years  in  that  place, 
Doctor  Vesta!  removed  to  Lexington,  where  he  has 
since  been  in  active  practice,  having  won  an  ex- 
tensive patronage. 

Doctor  Vestal  married,  in  1894,  May  Shemwell, 
a  daughter  of  Dr.  Obadiah  and  Sarah  (Thomp- 
son) Shemwell,  and  a  grandaughter  on  the  ma- 
ternal side  of  Joseph  Harmon  Thompson,  whose 
father,  Dr.  Frederick  Thompson,  was  a  pioneer 
physician  of  Davidson  County.  Joseph  H.  Thomp- 
son, grandfather  of  Mrs.  Vestal,  inherited  the 
parental  homestead,  and  carried  on  farming  with 
slave  help.  On  his  farm,  he  established  a  foundry 
and  a  machine  shop,  and  the  place  was  named 
' '  Tyro  Shops. ' '  He  was  a  man  of  great  busi- 
ness energy  and  tact,  and  accumulated  much 
wealth,  becoming  an  extensive  landholder. 

Doctor  and  Mrs.  Vestal  have  six  children,  namely : 
Etta  Elizabeth,  Willis  J.,  Jr.,  Odell,  Sarah  Frances, 
Alice  May,  and  Christine.  Etta  E.  is  the  wife 
of  Capt.  J.  A.  Leonard,  captain  of  Company  A, 
North  Carolina  National  Guard,  and  now  with  the 
regular  army.  Willis  J.,  Jr.,  a  graduate  of  the 
Lexington  High  School,  took  an  advanced  course 
at  the  Randolph  Macon  School,  in  Bedford,  Vir- 
ginia, and  at  a  business  college.  The  doctor  is  a 
member  of  the  Davidson  County  Medical  Society; 
of  the  North  Carolina  State  Society;  and  of  the 
American  Medical  Association. 

Robert  Gibson  Grady  has  been  a  member  of 
the  North  Carolina  bar  for  more  than  twenty 
years.  On  graduating  from  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  in  the  law  class  of  September, 
1894,  he  located  at  Burgaw,  where  he  practiced 
from  January,  1895,  until  December,  1900.  He 
had  a  profitable  clientage  in  that  section  of  the 
state,  but  in  order  to  have  greater  scope  for  his 
abilities  he  moved  to  Wilmington,  and  in  the  bar 
of  th.at  city  has  enjoyed  a  splendid  reputation 
and  practice   during  the   past   eighteen   years. 

He  was  born  on  his  father's  farm  in  Duplin 
County,  North  Carolina,  May  9,  1871,  a  son  of 
Stephen  Miller  and  Margaret  Ann  (Carr)  Grady. 
Early  in  life  and  until  he  was  twenty-three  he 
bent  every  energy  toward  securing  a  liberal  edu- 
cation.    His  education  was  acquired  in  the  coun- 


try schools,  in  the  Clements  High  School  at  Wal- 
lace in  his  native  county,  in  Goshen  Academy, 
Duplin  County,  and  in  the  law  department  of  the 
State  University.  He  is  a  director  of  the  Citi- 
zens Bank  and  the  Hanover  Building  &  Loan 
Association    of    Wilmington,    North    Carolina. 

Mr.  Grady  is  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina 
Bar  Association,  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
at  Wilmington,  and  Mrs.  Grady  is  the  daughter 
of  a  Presbyterian  minister.  Rev.  Benjamin  M. 
Cowan,  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth  (Gilbert)  Cowan, 
of   Tennessee. 

June  7,  1905,  Mr.  Grady  married  Bessie  Mae 
Cowan,  of  Collierville,  Tennessee.  Their  three 
children  are  named  Robert  Cowan,  Edward  Ste- 
phen  and   Elizabeth. 

C.vPT.  D.iNiEL  Jasper  Black.  Of  much  of  the 
life  and  incident  of  Cape  Fear  River  as  an  artery 
of  traflSe  and  transportation,  especially  within  the 
period  of  the  last  generation,  Capt.  Daniel  Jasper 
Black  is  an  authority  constituted  by  his  long  expe- 
rience of  thirty-five  years  as  a  riverman  and  cap- 
tain. Captain  Black  has  been  up  and  down  the 
riverways  of  Eastern  North  Carolina  into  every 
nook  and  corner  and  has  a  speaking  acquaintance 
with  every  type  of  craft,  every  feature  of  river 
topography  and  scenery  and  nearly  every  person- 
ality that  belongs  to  or  is  part  of  the  life  and 
activities  of  the  old  Cape  Fear. 

Captain  Black  is  not  alone  in  his  rejoicing  that 
Cape  Fear  River  is  again  coming  into  its  own  as 
a  factor  in  transportation.  The  prospects  for  its 
enlarged  development  and  use  in  the  near  future 
are  very  bright.  The  Government  has  expended 
large  sums  in  building  locks  and  clearing  the 
stream  of  obstructions,  and  as  a  result  of  the  pres- 
ent transportation  congestion  and  the  almost 
complete  breakdown  of  railroads,  the  volume  of 
water  borne  traffic  will  inevit.ably  increase  month 
by  month.  The  history  of  steamboating  on  the 
old  Cape  Fear  River  is  full  of  romance  and  inter- 
est, would  make  a  large  volume  in  itself,  and  one 
of  its  most  interesting  figures  would  certainly  be 
Capt.  Daniel  Jasper  Black. 

Captain  Black  is  a  member  of  a  very  prominent 
and  historic  family  of  North  Carolina.  He  was 
born  at  Black's  Mills  in  Moore  County,  on  the 
20th  of  April,  1866,  a  son  of  Murdoch  and  Antoin- 
ette (McLean)  Black.  The  Blacks  are  one  of  the 
fine  old  Scotch  Presbyterian  families  who  with 
their  descendants  have  lived  in  the  Cape  Fear 
country  since  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  war.  They 
and  others  like  them  have  given  to  this  section 
its  splendid  record  for  character  and  manhood. 
There  have  been  a  number  of  ministers  in  the 
family.  Rev.  William  Black  of  Cliarlotte  was  a 
cousin  of  Murdoch  Black  and  is  one  of  the  most 
noted  exemplars  of  the  name  in  religious  activities 
in  North  Carolina. 

The  ancestral  home  of  the  family  where  Captain 
Black,  his  father  Murdoch  and  many  others  of  the 
name  were  born  is  Black 's  Mills,  about  four  miles 
southwest  of  Carthage,  the  county  seat  of  Moore 
County  and  located  on  Little  River.  It  was  the 
extensive  manufacturing  and  planting  enterprises 
of  the  Black  family  that  gave  the  community  its 
distinctive  title.  Some  of  there  industries  were 
established  by  the  grandfather  of  Captain  Black, 
and  reaehed  the  prime  of  their  importance  and 
extent  during  the  active  career  of  Murdoch  Black. 
Among  these  industries  were  a  grist  mill,  lumber 
mill,  cotton  gin,  turpentine  stills,  and  several  minor 
shops,  while  there  was  a  large  plantation  on  which 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


285 


general  farming  was  conducted.  The  Black  lumber 
mills  for  a  number  of  years  furnished  all  the  ma- 
terial for  one  of  the  historic  industries  of  the 
state,  the  Tyson  &  Jones  Buggy  Company  at  Car- 
thage. 

Captain  Black  is  one  of  twelve  children,  seven 
of  whom  are  still  living.  One  of  his  brothers  is 
Capt.  J.  A.  Black,  chief  of  police  of  Cliarleston, 
South  Carolina.  Another  brother,  Ernest  Black,  is 
a  lieutenant  in  the  Regular  Army  of  the  United 
States  and  is  now  on  war  duty. 

Daniel  Jasper  Black  lived  at  the  old  homestead 
at  Black  's  Mills  until  he  was  twelve  years  of  age, 
■when  the  family  moved  to  Wilminaton.  At  the  age 
of  sixteen,  in  1882,  Captain  Black  liegan  his  busi- 
ness career,  and  has  continued  it  without  inter- 
mission to  the  present  tinie.  His  first  employment 
■was  on  the  steamer  John  Dawson  on  the  Cape  Fear 
River.  Wliile  still  a  very  young  man  he  built  a 
boat  named  the  Lisbon  and  ran  it  for  twelve  or 
fifteen  years  up  and  down  the  Cape  Fear  and  Black 
rivers.  He  has  handled  steamboats  on  practically 
all  the  river  ways  leading  into  the  Cape  Fear.  As 
a  steamboat  man  he  played  an  active  part  in  the 
boom  days  of  the  Cape  Fear  and  Black  rivers, 
especially  when  the  turpentine  industry  was  at  its 
height.  After  his  old  boat,  the  Lisbon,  was  gone 
he  and  associates  built  another  boat  of  the  same 
Dame,  and  they  continued  this  in  service  for  a 
number  of  years.  Subsequently  he  built  and  op- 
erated the  Frank  Sessoms.  For  the  past  few  years 
Captain  Black  has  been  associated  with  the  Plant- 
ers '  Steamboat  Company  of  Wilmington.  He  op- 
erates as  captain  the  boat  of  this  company  known 
as  the  A.  P.  Hurt,  In  service  between  Wilmington 
and  Fayetteville.  The  A.  P.  Hurt  is  a  first  class 
■craft,  and  besides  facilities  for  handling  genera] 
freight  traflSc  is  comfortably  equipped  for  and 
carries  cabin  passengers. 

Captain  Black's  home  is  at  Point  Caswell  on 
Black  River  in  Pender  County.  This  is  one  of 
the  several  historic  places  in  that  section.  Here  he 
owns  a  fine  farm  and  conducts  a  general  planta- 
tion. Captain  Black  married  Miss  Hyacinth  Peter- 
son of  Sampson  County.  Their  five  children  are 
named  Sarah  Shaw,  Daniel  .Tasper,  Jr.,  Antoin- 
ette, Thyra  Black  and  Ruth  Elinor. 

Hon.  Wilfred  Dent  Turner.  In  the  apportion- 
ments of  human  life,  few  attain  to  really  eminent 
positions.  It  is  a  curious  and  fascinating  study  to 
notice  how  opportunity  waits  upon  ability  and 
capacity,  so  that,  eventually,  all  reach  the  places 
for  which  they  are  best  qiialified.  In  the  domain 
of  the  law  there  is  no  royal  road  to  promotion.  Its 
acceptable  rewards  are  gained  only  by  diligent 
study  and  long  and  careful  attention  to  elementary 
principles,  and  are  achieved  only  by  those  who,  in 
the  arena  of  forensic  strife,  develop  characters  of 
integrity  and  moral  worth.  The  very  possession 
of  high  position  in  the  legal  profession  argues  for 
its  possessor  signal  ability,  sound  learning,  untir- 
ing industrv  and  uncompromising  integrity.  In 
this  connection  nespectful  mention  is  made  of  Hon. 
Wilfred  Dent  Turner,  one  of  the  foremost  members 
of  the  bar  of  Western  North  Carolina,  ex-lieuten- 
ant governor  of  the  state,  and  a  citizen  who  has 
served  his  home  community  of  Statesville,  Iredell 
Countv,  and  his  state  in  public  capacities,  as  well 
as  theirinterests  as  the  repository  of  big  banking 
and  business  responsibilities. 

Governor  Turner  (as  he  is  universally  known") 
was  born  at  Turnersburor.  Iredell  County,  North 
Carolina.  January  30,  1H^5,  and  is  a  son  of  Wil- 


fred and  Dorcas  (Tomlinson)  Turner.  His  father 
was  born  in  Maryland,  and  at  the  age  of  nine 
years,  in  the  year  1818,  came  with  his  parents  to 
North  Carolina.  His  parents  were  Samuel  and 
Annie  (Dent)  Turner,  who  came  from  Port  To- 
liacco,  Maryland,  and  settled  in  North  Carolina, 
twelve  miles  northeast  of  Statesville,  in  Iredell 
County,  the  location  becoming  later  known  as 
Turnersburg,  the  name  of  the  village  which  grew 
up  there.  It  is  a  part  of  what  is  known  as  the 
River  Hill  community.  Wilfred  Turner  died  in 
1893.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneer  cotton  manu- 
facturers of  North  Carolina,  his  work  as  a  cotton 
mill  builder  and  operator  being  almost  contempo- 
raneous with  that  of  Edward  M.  Holt.  His  first 
mOl  was  built  in  1848,  at  Turnersburg.  Mrs. 
Turner,  who  died  in  1900,  was  also  of  a  Maryland 
family  of  prominent  planters  and  agriculturists. 

Wilfred  Dent  Turner  attended  the  field  schools 
of  Iredell  County,  in  the  Turnersburg  neighbor- 
liood,  and  subsequently  went  to  Olin  Academy  for 
about  a  year  and  to  Mount  Airy  Academy  for  a 
like  period.  Later  he  matriculated  in  Trinity  Col- 
lege, Durham,  North  Carolina,  and  after  four  years 
there  graduated  with  the  class  of  1876.  He  began 
the  study  of  the  profession  which  he  was  to  make 
his  life  work  under  the  capable  preceptorship  of 
.Judge  R.  F.  Annfield,  of  Statesville,  and  after 
completing  his  studies  in  this  direction  was  licensed 
to  practice  in  1877,  beginning  his  law  work  at 
Statesville  in  that  year.  It  was  not  long  there- 
after that  he  entered  the  field  of  public  life  and 
politics,  where  his  worth  and  ability  were  soon 
recognized.  He  was  elected  and  represented  his 
senatorial  district  in  the  North  Carolina  State 
Senate  during  the  years  1887,  1889  and  1891,  and 
voluntarily  retired  in  the  last-mentioned  year.  Dur- 
ing this  time  lie  was  appointed  and  served  as  a 
member  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  State 
Normal  School,  at  Greensboro,  and  also  served  for 
two  years  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees 
of  the  North  Carolina  College  of  Agricultural  and 
Mechanical  Arts.  In  1900  he  was  elected  lieuten- 
ant governor  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  in 
the  election  in  which  Hon.  CJharles  B.  Aycock  was 
sent  to  the  gubernatorial  chair,  and  not  only  re- 
ceived the  vote  that  led  the  entire  ticket,  but  re- 
ceived also  the  greatest  ma.iority  ever  given  a 
candidate  for  the  office  of  lieutenant  governor. 
In  this  position  he  presided  over  the  deliberations 
of  the  Senate  in  the  sessions  of  1901  and  1903 
with  rare  skill  and  efficiency,  and  became  one  of 
the  state's  most  popular  officials  through  the  able 
and  impartial  manner  in  which  he  filled  this  highly 
important  position.  He  also  presided  over  a  part 
of  the  senatorial  session  «of  190.5.  One  of  the 
notable  events  of  his  administration  of  this  office 
was  the  impeachment  trial,  in  the  Senate,  of  .Jus- 
tices Furcats  and  Douglas,  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  North  Carolina,  on  charges  which  had  been 
brought  in  the  Lower  House.  The  impeachment 
proceedings  lasted  for  two  weeks,  eaeh  side  being 
represented  by  some  of  the  ablest  counsel  in  the 
state,  and  the  trial  being  very  heatedly  contested. 
The  position  of  presiding  officer,  or  iudge,  in  this 
case,  was  a  very  trying  one,  requiring  quick  de- 
cisions on  delicate  and  closelv-shaded  questions 
that  frequently  arose  during  the  progress  of  the 
trial.  _  involving-  precedence  and  the  varied  in- 
tricacies of  trial  by  impeachment.  Governor  Tur- 
ner's decisions  were  so  just  and  his  rulings  adhered 
so  closely  to  the  written  law,  that  none  of  them 
were  ever  reversed.  In  addition,  he  was  highly 
complimented   by  members   of   both   sides   of   the 


286 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


controversy  for  his  fairness  and  impartiality  in 
every  detail  of  the  jiroceedings. 

Since  his  retirement  from  the  oflSce  of  lieuten- 
ant governor,  Governor  Turner  has  been  constantly 
engaged  in  a  busy  practice  of  his  profession,  as 
well  as  participating  in  a  very  prominent  way  in 
the  business  and  industrial  development  of  States- 
ville  and  Iredell  County.  He  is  president  of  the 
Commercial  National  Bank,  for  which  he  is  also 
attorney,  and  with  several  associates  built  and  is 
now  president  of  the  Turner  Mills  Company,  owners 
and  operators  of  the  mills  at  East  Monbo,  in  Ire- 
dell County,  on  "the  Catawba  River,  operated  by 
water  power  at  a  dam  in  the  river  built  by  this 
company.  Tlie  capitalization  of  the  Turner  Mills 
Company  is  .i).'i2.5,00n,  and  up  to  the  time  of  the 
great  flood  in  Julv,  1916,  operated  14,640  spindles. 
The  flood  referred  to  entirely  destroyed  one  of  the 
mills  of  this  plant,  the  other,  and  larger  one, 
however,  remaining  in  good  condition  after  some 
■  repairs  to  damages  caused  by  the  ravages  of  the 
water  had  been  made.  Governor  Turner  is  also 
vice  president  of  the  Imperial  rurniture  Manu- 
facturing Company  of  Statesville,  an  important 
industry,  manufacturing  sideboards,  chiffoniers, 
dressers,  beds  and  chamber  suites.  He  is  attorney 
for  most  of  the  local  corporations.  His  religious 
faith  is  that  of  the  Methodist  Church. 

Governor  Turner  has  been  twice  married,  his 
first  wife  having  been  Miss  Ida  Lanier,  who  be- 
came the  mother  of  four  children:  Mabel  N.,  the 
wife  of  W.  A.  Colvert;  Miss  Laura  L.;  Edna  E., 
who  is  the  widow  of  the  late  George  E.  Nicholson; 
and  Wilfred  Jackson.  The  present  wife  of  Gov- 
ernor Turner  was  before  her  marriage  Miss  Julie 
H.  McCall,  born  in  South  Carolina,  and  they  are 
the  parents  of  two  children :  Dent  and  Miss  Dorcas. 

John  Wtl.son  Linds.\t  akd  Jacob  Arthtt? 
Lindsay.  Noteworthy  among  the  prosperous  and 
progressive  business  men  of  Davidson  County  are 
John  W.  and  Jacob  A.  Lindsay,  proprietors  of 
the  Lexington  Home  Furnishing  Companv,  one 
of  the  more  active  business  organizations  of  Lex- 
ington. Of  pioneer  ancestry  on  both  sides  of  the 
house,  both  were  born  in'  Davidson  Countv.  in 
Thomas\ine  Township,  being  sons  of  William 
Alnheus  Lindsay. 

Their  grandfather,  William  Lindsay,  had  three 
brothers  living  in  Davidson  County,  Wilson,  Madi- 
son, and  Andrew.  He  was  a  farmer,  and,'  as  far 
as  known,  a  lifedong  resident  of  Midway  Town- 
ship. His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Eliza 
Mock,  was  a  native  of  the  same  township,  and 
there  lived  and  died. 

Born  in  Midway  Tawnship,  Davidson  County, 
William  Alpheus  Lindsay  acquired  a  good  educa- 
tion and  as  a  young  man  taught  school  and  also 
did  a  good  deal  of  surveying  in  the  county.  He 
was  employed  as  clerk  in  a  store  in  Friendship, 
Guilford  County,  for  a  time,  and  while  there  mar- 
ried Lydia  E.  Hunt  a  daughter  of  John  D.  Hunt. 
After  marriage,  he  bought  land  in  Thomasville 
Township,  Davidson  County,  and  was  there  en- 
gaged in  tilling  the  soil  until  his  death,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-seven  years.  To  him  and  his  wife. 
eight  children  were  born,  namely:  Lena,  wife  of 
M.  F.  Mastin;  Mollie  died  at  the  age  of  twenty 
.years;  John  Wilson;  Eva,  wife  of  H.  O.  Sapp'; 
J.  Arthur;  Rallie,  wife  of  Thomas  Wakefield; 
and  Pearl,  wife  of  Thomas  Chadwick.  After  the 
death  of  the  mother  of  these  children,  the  father 
married  for  his  second  wife  Eliza  Mastin,  and 
they  reared  one  child,  Paul  Lindsay. 


John  Wilson  Lindsay  gleaned  his  early  book 
knowledge  in  the  country  schools,  and  later  at- 
tended Yadkin  College.  He  subsequently  taught 
school  three  years,  after  which  he  was  engaged  in 
farming  until  189.5,  when  he  was  appointed  deputy 
sheriff,  a  position  which  he  filled  efficiently  for 
six  years.  Locating  then  in  Lexington,  he  em- 
barked in  the  business  with  which  he  has  since 
been  actively  and  successfully  identified,  being  in 
partnership  with  his  brother,  J.  A.  Lindsay.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Lula  G.  Clinard. 
She  was  born  in  Abbotts  Creek  Township,  David- 
son County,  a  daughter  of  Wilson  and  Elizabeth 
Clinard.  Three  children  have  been  bom  of  their 
union,  namely:  Annie,  who  is  married,  and  has 
two  children,  Helen  and  John;  Myrtle,  wife  of  R. 
E.  McCartney,  has  one  child,  Elizabeth;  and  John 
C.  Mr.  Lindsay  is  a  member  of  Methodist  Prot- 
estant Church,  and  his  wife  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South.  Fraternally  Mr.  Lind- 
say belongs  to  Lexington  CouncU,  Junior  Order  of 
United  American  Mechanics;  and  to  the  Sons  of 
Liberty. 

Jacob  .\rthur  Lindsay  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  and  the  Salem  Boys'  School.  Be- 
ginning life  for  himself  as  a  farmer,  he  con- 
tinued a  tiller  of  the  soil  until  twenty-nine  years 
old,  when  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Southern 
Railroad  C'omjiany  as  fireman,  where  he  remained 
for  two  years.  Forming  then  a  copartnership  with 
his  brother  John,  he  established  his  present  re- 
munerative business  in  Lexington,  as  above  men- 
tioned. 

Mr.  Lindsay  married  Fannie  CoUett.  She  was 
l)orn,  bred  and  educated  in  Tlfomasville  Township, 
a  daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  (Greene)  Collett. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lindsay  have  four  children,  Arline, 
Mildred,  Grace  Elizabeth,  and  Frances.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lindsay  are  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Lindsay  is  a  member  of  Lexing- 
ton Lodge  No.  473,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Order  of  Masons;  of  Lexington  Lodge,  Knights 
of  Pythias;  and  of  Lexington  Lodge  No.  21, 
Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics.  He 
cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for  William  Mc- 
Kinley,  and  has  since  been  an  earnest  supporter  of 
the  principles  of  the  republican  party.  He  served 
two  years  as  county  commissioner,  and  was  can- 
didate, on  a  non-partisan  ticket,  for  mayor  of 
Lexington. 

James  Dixon  Murphy  has  been  a  prominent 
lawyer  at  Asheville  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury ajul  is  also  widely  known  because  of  his 
activities  in  church  and  various  movements  for 
social  improvement  and  education.  Mr.  Murphy 
has  had  no  higher  aim  in  his  profession  than  the 
attainment  of  such  success  as  would  enable  him 
to  be  of  the  greatest  and  broadest  value  through 
his  attainments  and  qualities  to  mankind  in  gen- 
eral. 

He  represents  a  prominent  old  family  of  Du- 
plin County,  North  Carolina,  wh^re  he  was  born 
July  24,  18.58,  son  of  Dr.  Hanson  Finlay  and 
Elizabeth  Ann  (Simpson)  Murphy.  His  father 
was  an  able  physician,  and  is  distinguished  as 
having  founded  the  Town  of  Pender,  North  Car- 
olina. James  Dixon  Murphy  spent  most  of  his 
boyhood  at  Wallace,  North  Carolina,  attended 
the  Clement  High  School  there,  and  in  1881  grad- 
uated from  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  He 
studied  law  in  the  law  department  of  the  State 
University  and  also  in  the  noted  Dick  &  Dillard 


'a<^ 


•^  -^ic.  »-f 


/ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


287 


Law  Scliool  at  Greensboro,  North  Carolina,  where 
lie  completed  his  work  in  1884.  Prom  that  time 
forward  until  1890  he  practiced  law  at  Green- 
ville, but  in  tlie  latter  year  removed  to  Ashe- 
ville,  where  he  has  since  been  busied  with  the 
liandling  of  a  large  general  practice.  Mr.  Mur- 
pliv  was  elected  a  representative  of  the  General 
Assembly  in  1905,  and  in  1908  was  apjiointed 
judge  of  the  Superior  Court. 

Since  1912  he  has  been  chairman  of  the  Board 
of  Education  of  Buncombe  County,  and  it  is  not 
too  much  to  assert  that  anything  connected  with 
schools,  with  public  enliglitemnent  and  moral  liet- 
terment  never  fails  to  arouse  the  interest  and  elicit 
the  sup])ort  of  Judj,'e  Murphy.  He  is  a  former 
president  of  the  Mountain  Retreat  Association, 
a  Presbyterian  institution,  is  president  of  the 
Chautauqua  Association  of  the  South  at  Macon, 
Georgia,  and  for  years  has  been  very  active  in 
church.  Young  Men 's  Christian  Association,  Chau- 
tauqua and  various  educatioual  movements  af- 
fecting tlie  mountaineers  of  the  state.  He  is  a 
member  in  tlie  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ashe- 
ville,  and  has  served  as  commissioner  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Cliurch  of  the 
United  States  and  moderator  of  Asheville  Pres- 
bytery. 

Judge  Murphy  is  a  member  of  the  North  Car- 
olina and  American  Bar  associations,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  American  Bar  Association 's  Com- 
mission   on    Uniform    Laws. 

April  7,  1887,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Bruce 
Moore,  of  Greenville,  North  Carolina.  They  have 
only  one  living  child,  Mareellus  Dixon,  fifteen 
years  of  age  and  still  a.  schoolboy.  Judge  and 
Mrs.  Murphy  lost  three  children,  two  in  infancy, 
and  one,  a  daughter,  Elizabeth,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one. 

Walter  Linton  Parsley  is  president  of  the  Hil- 
ton Lumber  Company  and  the  Plate  Ice  Company 
at  Wilmington  and  continues  a  lumber  manufac- 
turing business  established  by  his  father  more  than 
three-quarters  of  a  century  ago. 

His  father,  Oscar  Grant  Parsley,  was  born  in 
Onslow  County,  North  Carolina,  and  moved  to  Wil- 
mington about  1830  to  manage  the  lumber  interests 
of  Gov.  E.  B.  Dudley,  at  that  time  largely  inter- 
ested in  the  commercial  growth  of  Wilmington. 
Later  he  established  himself  in  this  branch  of  in- 
dustry, which  has  continued  in  regular  succession, 
from  father  to  .son,  since  that  time.  Oscar  G.  Par- 
sley married  Anna  M.  McKay,  a  native  of  Wil- 
mington. 

Walter  Linton  Parsley  was  born  in  Wilmington 
June  18,  1856,  was  educated  in  the  private  schools 
of  that  city  and  at  Horner  and  Graves  Military 
Academy  at  Hillsboro,  but  owing  to  his  father's 
disabilities  was  obliged  to  abandon  further  ad- 
vanced studies  when  seventeen  years  of  age,  asso- 
ciating himself  with  liis  father  and  learning  under 
■  him  the  details  of  the  lumber  business. 

He  married  Agnes  MacRae  of  Wilmington,  daugh- 
ter of  Donald  and  Julia  Norton  MacRae.  Her 
father  was  a  well  known  capitalist  and  business 
man,  a  native  of  Wilmington.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Par- 
sley have  three  children:  .Tulia  Norton,  wife  of 
Henry  B.  Peschau;  Anna,  wife  of  Dr.  L.  H.  Love, 
of  Pacific  Grove,  California;  and  Donald  MacRae. 

Andrew  Jack.son  Harris  has  been  identified 
with  the  North  Carolina  bar  over  thirty  years, 
is  one  of  the  leading  practitioners  of  Henderson, 


and  in  addition  to  the  honors  and  successes  he  has 
won  as  an  individual  he  takes  just  pride  in  the 
fact  that  two  of  his  stalwart  sons  are  now  enrolled 
in  the  service  of  the  National  army. 

Mr.  Harris  was  born  in  Granville  County,  North 
Carolina,  October  28,  1861,  a  son  of  Benjamin 
Franklin  and  Ann  Eliza  (Rogers)  Harris.  His 
father  was  a  merchant  and  farmer.  Mr.  Harris 
was  well  educated,  attending  Yadkin  College  and 
the  University  of  North  Carolina,  where  he  fin- 
ished his  work  with  the  class  of  1884.  He  studied 
law  in  the  noted  law  school  of  Dick  and  Dillard, 
and  since  his  admission  to  the  bar  in  October, 
1885,  has  practiced  continuously  at  Henderson, 
being  one  of  the  oldest  lawyers  of  that  city.  He 
serveil  one  term  as  mayor  and  has  accepted  many 
opportunities  to  be  of  service  to  liis  home  com- 
munity. He  is  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina 
Bar  Association,  is  a  thirty-second  degree  Scottish 
Rite  Mason  and  Shriner  and  is  aflSliated  with  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Kniglits 
of  Pythias. 

In  1889  Mr.  Harris  married  Miss  Lee  Mitchell, 
of  Granville  County.  She  became  the  mother  of 
five  children.  Andrew  .Jackson,  Jr.,  is  an  attorney 
by  profession.  He  joined  the  army  as  a  private 
in  the  Mexican  border  troubles  and  has  now  given 
up  his  practice  to  become  captain  of  Company  E 
of  the  Three  Hundred  Forty-first  Regiment  of 
Infantry.  George  M.  is  a  sergeant  in  Company 
C  of  the  One  Hundred  Twentieth  Infantry.  The 
three  younger  children  are:  Cary  F.,  a  student  of 
Wake  Forest  College;  Dorothy  L.  in  the  Salem 
Female  College;  and  Ann,  Mrs.  William  H.  Craw- 
ford of  Washington.  District  of  Columbia.  For 
his  second  wife  Mr.  Harris  married  in  March,  1907, 
Margaret  Reed  of  Baltimore,  Maryland.  There  are 
four  children  by  this  union:  Reed  Hopkins,  Mary, 
Margaret  and  Lawrence  Reed.  The  family  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

MtTRRAT  Allen.  Among  the  lawyers  of  Raleigh 
who  are  specializing  in  the  difficult  department  of 
railway  and  corporation  law.  Murray  Allen  has 
gained  a  recognized  position  of  prominence.  Since 
hisi  admission  to  the  bar,  in  IPO."!,  he  has  been 
connected  with  cases  of  constantly  increasing  im- 
portance, and  his  services  have  been  retained  by 
a  number  of  leading  corporations  of  this  part  of 
the  state.  He  is  a  native  son  of  Raleigh,  and  was 
born  .Tuly  1.  1880.  being  a  son  of  Cliarles  S.  and 
.\nnie   E.    (Miirray")    Allen. 

Educated  primarily  in  the  public  schools,  Mr. 
Allen  next  pursued  a  course  at  the  Raleigli  Male 
Academy,  an  institution  which  has  been  the  train- 
ing place  for  many  of  Raleigh's  most  prominent 
professional  men,  and  then  entered  Trinity  Col- 
lege, where  he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts,  in  1900.  His  law  studies  were 
prosecuted  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina, 
as  a  niembor  of  the  class  of  190?,.  and  immediately 
following  his  graduation  he  settled  down  to  prac- 
tice. At  first  following  a  general  professional 
business,  he  gradually  displayed  particular  talent 
in  the  field  of  railway  and  corporation  law,  and 
now  his  practice  is  largely  confined  to  this  depart- 
ment. At  this  time  he  is  district  counsel  for  the 
Seaboard  Air  Line  Railway  Company,  and  is  con- 
nected in  an  advisory  capacity  with  a  numlier  of 
Raleigh  's  chief  industries.  A  predilection  for  busi- 
ness has  led  Mr.  Allen  to  exert  his  energies  in  a 
number  of  enterprises  which  are  contributing  to 
Raleigh  's  business  growth,  and  among  his  connee- 


288 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


tions  may  be  mentioned  the  Commercial  Printing 
Company,  of  which  he  is  secretary  and  treasurer. 
He  belongs  to  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association 
and  the  American  Bar  Association,  and  is  socially 
identified  with  the  Country  Club  and  the  Sigma 
Nu  Fraternity.  His  political  allegiance  is  given 
to  the  democratic  party. 

On  June  6,  1907,  Mr.  Allen  was  married  to  Miss 
Lena  L.  Latta,  of  Raleigh,  and  they  have  one 
child:    Molly  Whitehead. 

Harrt  Howell.  One  of  the  highest  positions 
in  the  state  educational  service  is  the  city  super- 
inteudency  of  the  Asheville  public  schools.  Since 
1913  the  incumbent  of  that  office  has  been  Mr. 
Harry  Howell,  an  educator  who  has  well  won  a 
recognition  and  position  among  the  leaders  in 
school  affairs  in  this  state. 

Mr.  Howell  has  been  an  active  school  man  since 
he  graduated  from  the  University  of  North  Car- 
olina in  189.5  with  his  degree  Ph.  B.  He  had  ac- 
quired his  early  education  in  the  public  schools 
of  Goldshoro,  in  which  citv  he  was  born  August 
.3,  187.5,  a  son  of  Robert  Philip  and  Ella  (Doug- 
lass) Howell.  His  father  was  a  farmer  and  also 
a  prominent  banker  at  Goldsboro. 

After  learing  university  Mr.  Howell  did  a  work 
which  secured  him  his  reputation  as  a  progres- 
sive educator.  He  organized  the  public  school 
system  at  Washington,  North  Carolina,  and  re- 
mained in  charge  as  superintendent  of  the  puli- 
lic  schools  of  that  city  for  a  period  of  thirteen 
years.  Then  for  three  years,  from  1908  to  1911, 
he  was  superintendent  of  the  graded  schools  of 
High  Point,  and  following  two  years  with  a  puli- 
lishing  house  he  came  to  his  present  position  as 
superintendent  of  the  Asheville  City  schools.  Here 
he  has  the  supervision  of  a  large  staff  of  135 
teachers  and  6,000  scholars  enrolled.  Asheville 
lias  one  of  the  most  magnificent  school  buildings 
in  the  state,  used  for  high  school  purposes,  cost- 
ing  $250,000. 

Mr.  Howell  is  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina 
Teachers  Assemblj',  and  the  National  Educational 
Association. 

December  3,  1903,  he  married  Addie  Lee  Short, 
of  Washington,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of  Eu- 
gene M.  and  Bettie  (Hancock)  Short,  her  fa- 
ther a  lumber  manufacturer.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howell 
have  five  sons:  Harry,  Jr.,  Robert  Philip,  Prank 
Short,  Murray  Short  and  Logan  Douglass. 

Oscar  Pearsall  has  been  continuously  a  factor 
in  the  commercial  enterprise  of  Wilmington  for  up- 
wards of  half  a  century.  His  is  a  name  readily 
distinctive  of  success,  of  a  splendid  commercial 
integrity,  and  of  all  that  goes  with  true  and  en- 
lightened citizenship. 

Though  most  of  his  active  years  have  been  spent 
in  Wilmington,  Mr.  Pearsall  was  born  in  Duplin 
County.  North  Carolina,  April  9,  1849.  His  par- 
ents were  William  Dickson  and  Sarah  (Whitaker) 
Pearsall.  His  father  was  a  planter  and  at  one 
time  filled  the  office  of  clerk  and  master  in  equity. 
The  father  came  of  Scotch  descent  and  the  family 
can  be  traced  back  to  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
mother  came  from  an  old  New  England  family 
who  settled  in  Rhode  Island  in  colonial  days. 

The  county  seat  of  Duplin  County  is  Kenans- 
ville,  and  it  was  in  the  schools  of  that  town  that 
Oscar  Pearsall  acquired  his  early  education.  When 
twenty  years  of  age,  in  1869,  he  found  a  position 
as  clerk  in  a  Wilmington  grocery  house  and  re- 
mained steadily  at  his  job,  mastering  all  the  details 


of  the  grocery  business,  for  a  period  of  five  years. 
He  then  became  associated  with  Mr.  Hall  on  a  part- 
nership basis  in  the  grocery  jobbing  business,  and 
from  1875  until  1906  he  was  active  as  a  member 
of  the  old  and  well  known  house  of  Hall  &  Pearsall. 

In  1906  Mr.  Pearsall  withdrew  from  the  older 
firm  and  established  Pearsall  &  Company,  Incorpo- 
rated. He  is  president  of  the  company,  Fred  L. 
Pearsall  is  vice  president  and  treasurer,  and  Horace 
Pearsall  is  secretary.  WhOe  this  company  has 
always  handled  an  extensive  wholesale  grocery 
business,  one  of  the  most  important  features  of 
their  business  at  the  present  time  is  the  manufac- 
ture of  fertilizers.  They  have  a  plant  at  Fernside, 
with  a  capacity  for  20,000  tons  of  fertilizer  per 
annum. 

In  affairs  of  citizenship  Mr.  Pearsall  has  always 
been  a  willing  contributor  to  measures  of  com- 
munity advancement.  For  two  terms  he  served  as 
alderman.  He  was  formerly  an  elder  in  St.  An- 
drew's Presbyterian  Cliurch,  but  in  1914  trans- 
ferred his  membership  to  the  Pearsall  Memorial 
Church,  in  which  he  is  now  an  elder. 

On  May  21,  1872,  he  married  Miss  Rachel  Wliit- 
field  Herring,  a  native  of  Lenoir  County.  North 
Carolina.  Since  then  a  family  of  nine  children 
have  come  into  their  home  and  most  of  them  are 
now  grown  and  carrying  responsibilities  of  home 
making  and  independent  business  affairs.  The 
children  are :  Anne  Dickson ;  Fred  Leonidas,  vice 
president  and  treasurer  of  the  Pearsall  Company 
at  Wilmington:  Elizabeth,  Mrs.  H.  L.  Hunt,  of 
Wilmington;  Florence,  Mrs.  R.  M.  Sheppard,  of 
Wilmington ;  Horace,  secretary  of  the  Pearsall 
Company ;  Melzar,  manager  of  the  company  's  fer- 
tilizer plant;  Oscar,  Jr.,  also  associated  with  the 
plant ;  William  Victor,  who  is  a  graduate  chemist 
and  now  in  the  United  States  Na%-y;  and  Rachel, 
now  Mrs.  Dozier  Lotta. 

JosiAH  CRfDUP  Kittrell  began  his  active 
career  as  a  teacher,  read  law  in  the  intervals  of 
teaching,  for  a  time  carried  on  the  two  profes- 
sions simultaneously,  and  in  later  years  his  pro- 
gram has  been  crowded  with  the  demands  of  his 
profession,  and  of  numerous  engagements  in  busi- 
ness and  public  affairs  at  Henderson,  his  home 
city. 

Mr.  Kittrell  was  born  at  Kittrell  in  Vance 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  son  of  George  W.  and 
Lucy  (Crudup)  Kittrell.  His  father  was  one 
of  the  substantial  farmer  citizens  of  Vance 
County.  Josiah  C.  acquired  a  liberal  education. 
He  was  prepared  for  college  under  a  private 
tutor  and  then  entered  Wake  Forest  College, 
where  he  graduated  in  1893.  He  received  numer- 
ous honors  in  the  student  body,  was  class  prophet, 
and  won  other  class  honors,  being  distinguished  by 
his  abilities  as  an  orator  and  debater.  For  four 
years  he  was  superintendent  of  schools  at  Hert- 
ford and  another  four  years  superintendent  of 
schools  at  Edenton.  Alt.ogether  for  ten  years  Mr. ' 
Kittrell  was  superintendent  of  the  Vance  County 
Public  Schools,  and  has  kept  in  close  touch  with 
the  local  educational  facilities  ever  since.  He  has 
served  as  member,  vice  chairman  and  secretary  of 
the  City  School  Board  and  also  as  attorney  for 
the  County  Board  of  Education. 

Mr.  Kittrell  pursued  his  law  studies  privately 
and  at  Wake  Forest  Law  School  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1901.  Since  1904  he  has  had 
his  home  at  Henderson  and  practiced  law  for 
a  time  while  engaged  in  his  duties  as  superin- 
tendent of  schools.     He  is  former  citv  attorney. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


289 


IS  attorney  and  director  of  several  corporations. 
He  is  also  a  director  and  former  secretary  of  the 
local  Chamber  of  Commerce.  Fraternally  he  is  a 
Royal  Arch  Mason  and  a  Modern  Woodman  and  is 
very  active  in  the  Baptist  Church.  He  was  chair- 
man of  the  Building  Committee  when  the  Hender- 
son Church  erected  a  beautiful  edifice  at  a  cost 
of  $75,000.  He  now  teaches  the  Baraca  Class  in 
Sunday  School. 

June  15,  1898,  he  married  Nel  Skinner  of  Hert- 
ford, North  Carolina.  They  have  a  son  and  a 
daughter.  The  son,  Thomas  Skinner  Kittrell,  is 
now  a  junior  in  the  University.  The  daughter, 
Lucy  George  Kittrell,  is  a  student  in  the  Hender- 
son High  School. 

Thomas  E.  Harding,  M.  D.  An  able  and  suc- 
cessful physician  and  surgeon  of  Yadkin  County, 
Thomas  R.  Harding,  M.  D.,  is  meeting  with  ex- 
cellent results  in  the  exercise  of  his  profession, 
his  reputation  for  skill  in  the  diagnosis  and  treat- 
ment of  disease  having  won  for  him  an  extensive 
and  remunerative  practice,  not  only  in  Yadkinville, 
where  he  is  located,  but  in  the  surrounding  coun- 
try. A  native  of  Yadkin  County,  he  was  born 
on  a  farm  in  Forbush  Township,  and  is  a  descend- 
ant in  the  fourth  generation  of  an  early  pioneer 
settler,  William  Harding,  the  line  of  descent  being 
continued  through  Renny,  William,  and  Thomas  IS. 

William  Harding  was  born  in  Virginia,  in  1745, 
and  was  there  brought  up  and  educated.  Several 
years  after  his  marriage,  he  came  with  teams  to 
North  Carolina,  and  settled  with  his  family  in 
what  is  now  Surry  County.  Buying  a  tract  of 
timbered  laud,  he  began  the  pioneer  task  of 
clearing  a  farm,  which  he  subsequently  managed, 
with  slave  help,  until  his  death.  Both  he  and 
Ids  wife  lived  until  well  along  in  years,  and  at 
their  deaths  were  laid  to  rest  in  the  Patterson 
graveyard. 

Benny  Harding,  a  native  of  Virginia,  was  born 
in  1774,  and  as  a  child  was  brought  by  his  par- 
ents to  Surry  County,  North  Carolina.  He  grew 
to  manhood  on  the  parental  homestead,  and  when 
he  came  into  possession,  by  inheritance,  of  a 
portion  of  the  home  estate,  and  several  slaves, 
lie  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits,  and  with  his 
wife,  formerly  a  Miss  Patterson,  continued  a  resi- 
dent of  Liberty  Township  until  his  death. 

Born  in  Liberty  Township,  Surry  County,  in 
1808,  William  Harding  attended  the  district 
schools  in  his  boyhood  days,  and  on  the  home 
farm  was  well  drilled  in  the  art  and  science  of 
agriculture.  Inheriting  land  and  slaves,  he  turned 
his  attention  to  the  tilling  of  the  soil,  and  in 
his  efforts  met  with  genuine  success.  Subsequently 
investing  his  surplus  money  in  other  land,  he 
bought  a  farm  in  Forbush  Township,  Y^adkin 
County,  and  there  lived  until  his  death,  in  1868, 
a  prosperous  farmer,  and  a  highly  respected  citi- 
zen. He  married  Jane  Speer,  who  was  born  in 
Lilierty  Township,  a  daughter  pf  Samuel  and 
Ruth  (Cain)  Speer,  and  a  grandniece  of  Daniel 
Boone.  She  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years. 
To  her  and  her  husband,  ten  children  were  born 
and  reared. 

Thomas  E.  Harding  acquired  his  rudimentary 
education  in  the  rural  schools  of  his  native  town- 
ship, and  later  attended  the  Huntsville  High 
School.  Ambitious  to  enter  upon  a  professional 
career,  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr. 
L.  G.  Hunt,  and  subsequently  entered  the  Balti- 
more College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  M.  D. 


in  1885.  Locating  in  Hunstville,  Y'adkin  County, 
Doctor  Harding  remained  there  for  three  years, 
gaining  professional  knowledge  and  experience  of 
value.  Coming  from  there  to  Yadkinville,  the 
doctor  has  been  in  active  practice  here  since,  hav- 
ing built  up  an  extensive  patronage. 

Doctor  Harding  married,  in  1892,  Eliza  M. 
Kelly,  who  was  born  in  Yailkinville,  a  daughter 
of  L.  D.  and  Mary  (White)  Kelly.  Of  the  union 
of  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Harding,  eight  children  have 
been  born,  namely:  William  R.,  Mary  V.,  Effie 
Lee,  Thomas  L.,  Daniel  Boone,  Benjamin  H., 
Josieline,  and  Helen.  William  R.,  who  took  a 
course  in  electric  engineering  at  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  where  he  was  graduated  with 
the  degree  of  A.  B.,  is  now  in  camp  at  Fortress 
Monroe  as  electric  engineer.  Mary  and  EflSe  Lee 
are  students  in  Salem  College.  Doctor  Harding 
is  a  member  of  both  the  Yadkin  County  Medical 
Society  and  the  North  Carolina  State  Medical  As- 
sociation. Fraternally  he  belongs  to  Yadkin  Lodge 
No.  162,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of 
Masons;  and  to  David  Lodge  No.  118,  Independ- 
ent Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 

James  Enoch  Rector.  The  career  of  James 
Enoch  Rector  has  been  a  successful  one  from 
the  standpoint  of  a  man  who  started  life  with 
little  but  honorable  intentions  and  great  indus- 
try and  has  also  been  beneficial  and  important 
to  the  people  of  his  home  community  in  Madison 
County,  where  he  lived  from  the  time  he  was  ten 
years  of  age  until  1914,  moving  .then  to  Ashe- 
ville,  where  his  home  and  offices  as  a  lawyer  now 
are. 

Mr.  Rector  was  born  in  Hamblen  County,  Ten- 
nessee, December  21,  1882,  a  son  of  Andrew  J. 
and  Mary  E.  (Perkins)  Rector.  His  father  was 
successively  a  farmer,  mine  operator  and  a  mer- 
chant. In  1892  the  Rectors  moved  to  Madison 
County,  North  Carolina,  where  James  E.  re- 
ceived most  of  his  public  schooling.  He  also  at- 
tended Dorland  Institute  and  a  noted  academic 
institution  of  Eastern  Tennessee  known  as  Tus- 
culum  College,  which  has  turned  a  large  number 
of  capable  and  high  minded  young  men  into  the 
larger  ajul  broader  activities  of  life.  Mr.  Rec- 
tor studied  law  with  another  Tennesseean,  J.  J. 
Britt,  former  congressman  and  republican  leader 
of  Nortli  Carolina.  Mr.  Rector  was  admitted  to 
tlie  bar  in  February,  1909,  and  has  since  practiced 
both  in  Asheville  and  in  Madison  County. 

In  191.'!  he  was  elected  Madison  County's  rep- 
resentative to  the  Legislature  and  did  some  nota- 
ble work  while  at  the  state  capital.  For  one  thing 
he  introduced  and  had  passed  a  bill  providing  an 
appropriation  of  $o00,000  for  the  development  of 
good  roads  in  Madison  County.  At  that  time 
this  county  did  not  have  a  single  automobile  and 
there  was  not  a  road  in  the  county  over  which  a 
car  could  have  been  operated.  Now  a  part  of  the 
famous  Dixie  Highway  leads  through  Madison 
County  and  through  Mr.  Rector 's  influence  the 
state  authorized  the  use  of  convicts  for  highway 
work  and  fifteen  miles  of  fine  roadway  were  built. 
Mr.  Rector  was  also  prominent  in  securing  a  com- 
pulsory school  bill  for  Madison  County,  provid- 
ing for  a  longer  term  for  the  public  schools  than 
is  made  obligatory  by  the  general  state  law. 

Mr.  Rector  is  a  member  of  the  Asheville  and 
State  Bar  associations,  and  of  tlie  Junior  Order 
of  United  American  Mechanics.  He  is  also  a 
member  of  the  Asheville  Reserve  Infantry. 

Julv  .10,  1913,  he  married  Miss  Nellie  Hardj',  of 


290 


HISTORY  OF  XORTII  CAROLINA 


Chase  City,  Virginia,  daughter  of  Edward  Miles 
and  Martha  Ann  (Reekcs)  Hardy.  Her  father 
was  owner  of  a  Virginia  plantation. 

James  Howard.  One  of  the  very  interesting 
chapters  in  the  history  of  any  city  is  concerned 
with  its  theatrical  and  artistic  activities,  its  recrea- 
tions. This  history  at  Wilmington  during  the  past 
dozen  years  centers  largely  around  the  persons  of 
James  Howard  and  Percy  W.  Wells  of  the  firm  of 
Howard  &  Wells,  probably  the  best  known  theatrical 
men  in  the  South,  and  who  now  control  the  entire 
theatrical  situation  in  Wilmington. 

James  Howard,  the  senior  member  of  the  firm, 
came  from  ' '  Up  North, ' '  having  been  born  at 
MayvUle,  New  York,  in  1867.  When  he  was  twelve 
years  of  age  his  father  died,  and  about  that  time 
he  seriously  undertook  what  every  boy  at  some 
time  or  other  plans  to  do,  starting  in  the  show 
business.  His  first  connection  was  with  the  old 
Whitney  wagon  show,  and  for  several  years  he 
was  on  the  list  of  star  performers  with  a  number 
of  famous  circuses.  About  1900  he  became  asso- 
ciated with  Mr.  Percy  W.  Wells,  who  had  also  made 
a  name  as  an  individual  performer  and  also  had 
been  successful  in  conducting  feature  performances 
with  carnivals. 

In  1906,  after  closing  a  prosperous  season  with 
the  J.  Frank  Hatch  Carnival  Com.pany  at  Man- 
chester, Virginia,  these  gentlemen  came  to  Wil- 
mington, North  Carolina,  and  pitched  a  tent  on 
the  site  of  what  is  now  the  handsome  Bijou  The- 
ater. They  called  it  the  Bijou  then  (only  the 
natives  of  that  day  pronounced  it  By-Jo).  Their 
undertaking  is  especially  historic  because  it  was 
the  first  motion  picture  theater  to  be  established  in 
the  State  of  North  Carolina  and  the  second  one  in 
the  South,  a  similar  enterprise  having  been  started 
in  Atlanta  about  the  same  time.  With  a  thick 
blanket  of  sawdust  on  the  bare  ground  for  a  floor, 
a  large  coal  heater  for  heating,  and  a  half  dozen 
small  incandescents  strung  from  tlie  center  pole 
of  the  tent,  an  antiquated  phonograph  screech- 
ing out  in  front,  Wilmingtonians  flocked  b.v  hun- 
dreds to  witness  the  marvel  of  the  age — pictures 
that  moved  like  human  beings.  The  method  by 
which  they  were  made  was  veiled  in  deepest  mys- 
tery— no  one  imagined  human  beings  posing  for 
them.  The  operator  at  the  Bijou  was  compelled 
to  spiel  the  story  as  the  picture  flashed  on  the 
screen — the  audience  had  not  yet  been  trained  to 
grasp  the  spasmodic  action  which  flashed  and  was 
gone. 

For  five  .years  the  Bijou  did  business  in  the  tent, 
until  a  snowstorm  destroyed  it.  Then  the  lot  was 
purchased  and  the  present  commodious  theater 
erected,  which  is  still  the  leading  institution  of  the 
city,  beloved  15y  the  masses  of  every  creed  and 
color.  No  less  than  a  dozen  opposition  theaters 
have  been  launched  in  Wilmington  during  the  past 
ten  years,  with  little  or  no  financial  success,  the 
Grand  and  Victoria,  built  about  four  years  ago 
by  Mr.  J.  M.  Selky  at  an  outlay  of  more  than 
$125,000,  having  been  the  only  ones  to  survive.  In 
1916  Howard  &  Wells  took  over  both  of  these 
theaters  from  Mr.  Selky  and  a  few  months  later 
acquired  the  Academy  of  Music.  In  the  summer 
of  1916  they  had  purchased  one  of  the  most  val- 
uable lots  in  the  city,  on  Front  Street  opposite  the 
postofiBce,  upon  which  they  erected  the  handsome 
Eoyal  Theater,  the  total  investment  representing 
$100,000.  I'pon  the  acquisition  of  the  Academy 
of  Music  they  came  into  possession  of  the  last  of 


the  opposition  theaters.  The  total  capacity  of  the 
theaters  at  Wilmington  is  4,300  seats. 

There  are  two  companies,  the  Bijou  Amusement 
Company,  of  which  Mr.  Howard  is  president  and 
Mr.  Wells  secret.ary  and  treasurer,' and  the  Howard 
&  Wells  Company,  of  which  Mr.  Wells  is  president 
and  Mr.  Howard  secretary  and  treasurer.  Both  are 
active,  progressive  and  public  spirited  citizens  of 
Wilmington  and  are  boosters  for  every  good  move- 
ment in  that  city. 

The  success  of  these  men,  notable  among  theat- 
rical ventures  over  the  whole  country,  is  attributa- 
ble to  their  constant  and  personal  attention,  the 
injection  into  their  business  of  a  personality  that 
has  made  friends  and  held  them  and  their  never 
failing  courtesy  and  kindness,  especially  to  the 
children  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Howard  was  married  in  Wilmington  Septem- 
ber 15,  1909,  to  Mrs.  Jennie  M.  Garrell  of  Wil- 
mington. 

Mr.  Percy  W.  Wells,  the  .junior  member  of  the 
firm,  has  been  especially  active  in  motion  picture 
organization  affairs  throughout  tlie  country  and  has 
served  as  president  of  the  North  Carolina  Motion 
Picture  Exhibitors '  League  for  the  past  four  con- 
secutive terms.  He  is  also  president  of  the  Vir- 
ginia-Carolina Vaudeville  Managers'  Association, 
composed  of  all  the  leading  vaudeville  theaters  in 
the  two  Carolinas  and  Virginia.  He  is  a  controll- 
ing stockholder  in  the  Virginia-Carolina  Managers ' 
Circuit,  a  vaudeville  booking  agency  with  head 
offices  in  Atlanta.  By  his  progressive  management 
of  the  managers '  organization  in  the  state  he  has 
become  nationally  well  known  and  his  counsel  is 
often  sought  by  ofiicers  and  leaders  of  the  great 
National  Exhibitors'  Organization. 

R.  S.  McC'oiN  has  been  a  lawyer  and  resident  of 
Henderson  about  twenty  years.  All  things  consid- 
ered his  range  of  activities  and  interests  is  a  notable 
one.  He  has  proved  an  able  lawyer,  a  thorough 
business  man,  a  leader  in  democratic  politics,  and  is 
now  giving  his  district  and  state  eflScient  repre- 
sentation  in  the   Senate. 

He  was  born  in  Forsyth  County  June  29, 
1872,  son  of  George  N.  and  Elizabeth  N.  McCoin. 
His  literarv  education  was  acquired  at  Pinnacle, 
Salem  Boys'  School,  and  Guilford  College.  He 
read  law  at  the  Dick  &  Dillard  Law  School  in 
Greensboro.  From  the  time  he  ojiened  his  office 
in  Henderson  Imsiness  has  come  to  him  in  grati- 
fying volume,  and  he  has  already  reached  that 
place  in  his  profession  where  he  has  practically 
a  choice  of  his  business.  Mr.  McCoin  is  a  char- 
ter member  of  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Associa- 
tion. In  a  business  way  he  is  president  of  the 
Gold  Leaf  Publishing  Company,  the  Henderson 
Brick  and  Supply  Company  and  the  Henderson 
Furniture  Company;  is  vi<'e  president  of  the 
Mixon  Jewelry  Company,  and  is  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Henderson  Loan  and  Real  Es- 
tate Companv.  He  is  also  charter  member  and 
a  director  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the  City 
of   Henderson. 

Politics  has  furnished  him  not  only  a  diver- 
sion but  an  opportunity  for  exceedingly  useful 
service.  He  was  chairman  of  the  County  Demo- 
cratic Committee  from  1900  to  1906,  presidential 
elector  in  1908,  served  as  city  alderman  and 
mayor  pro  tem  of  Henderson  in  1911-12,  was 
on  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Eastern  Hospital 
1903  to  1908,  and  a  director  of  the  Central  Hos- 
pital  in    1909-10. 


t^t^>^^^^<2^^^    /y'ir-t^-CJGyO^C/f 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


291 


His  reeord  as  a  member  of  the  State  Senate 
of  1917,  ivhere  he  represented  the  Sixteenth 
Senatorial  District,  comprising  Vance  and  War- 
ren counties,  was  one  Of  unusual  activity  and 
interested  and  energetic  cooperation  with  every 
measure  and  movement  for  the  state 's  general 
welfare.  He  is  author  of  the  compromise  bill 
adopted  settling  the  policy  of  the  state  in  regard 
to  electing  the  County  Board  of  Education.  He 
introduced  and  had  passed  in  the  Senate  the 
present  state-wide  road  law,  also  the  state-wide 
automobile  law.  His  particular  interest  was 
aroused  by  every  piece  of  legislation  affecting 
and  promoting  good  schools,  good  roads,  and 
with  reference  to  these  two  speeifie  subjects  he 
came  to  be  regarded  as  the  most  vigilant  man  in 
the  Senate  during  that  session.  His  qualifications 
as  a  lawyer  and  business  man  enabled  him  to 
render  valuable  service  on  the  committees  of 
judiciary,  finance,  education,  good  roads  and  in- 
surance, and  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
insane  hospitals. 

Mr.  McCoiu  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic 
Order,  the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  is  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  June  14,  1900,  he 
married    Miss    Emma   M.    Freeborn. 

Hon.  Lee  Slater  Ovebman.  Standing  prom- 
inent among  the  able  and  representative  men  who 
have  figured  conspicuously  in  the  legal,  civil  and 
political  life  of  North  Carolina  is  Hon.  Lee  S. 
Overman,  of  Salisbury,  who  has  rendered  untold 
service  to  the  state  and  the  nation,  not  only  as 
a  United  States  senator,  but  as  a  man  of  tried 
and  trusted  integrity,  and  a  citizen  whose  ability 
and  inliorn  patriotism  has  made  him  a  leader  in 
the  administration  of  public  affairs.  A  son  of 
William  Overman,  he  was  born  and  reared  in 
Salisbury,  Rowan  County,  being  descended  from 
one  of  the  oldest  families  of  North  Carolina,  the 
first  deed  recorded  in  Pasquotank  County  having 
been  made  out  to  an  Overman. 

William  Overman  was  born  May  10,  1812,  in 
Pasquotank  County,  this  state,  where  his  father, 
Thomas  Overman,  was  a  life-long  resident.  Cross- 
ing the  state  to  Rowan  County  in  183.5,  he  located 
in  Salisbury  and  from  that  time  until  his  death, 
August  2.5,  1890,  was  actively  and  prominently 
identified  with  the  mercantile,  manufacturing  and 
agriculjtiiral  progi-ess  of  his  'community.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mary  E.  Slater.  She 
was  born  in  Rowan  County,  .Tune  4,  1827,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Fielding  Slater,  who  prior  to  his  death  at 
the  early  age  of  thirty-eight  years  served  as  high 
sheriff  of  the  county.  She  was  a  great-grand- 
daughter of  Maj.  James  Smith  who  figured  prom- 
inently in  the  Revolution  and  lost  his  life  fighting 
for  liberty  and  inde]iendence.  Mrs.  Overman  sur- 
vived her  husband,  dying  November  9,  189.3.  She 
was  a  faithful  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Cliureh,  as  was  her  liusband,  who  served  for  many 
years  as  chairman  of  its  board  of  stewards. 

Having  acquired  a  good  knowledge  of  the  higher 
branches  of  study  under  private  tutors,  Lee  Over- 
man entered  Trinity  College,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1879  with  the  degrees  of  A.  B.  and 
A.  M.  Subsequently  his  alma  mater  paid  him  an 
especial  honor  by  conferring  upon  him  the  degree 
of  LL.  D.  Looking  forward  to  a  professional 
career,  Mr.  Overman  read  law  with  .T.  M.  Mc- 
Corkle,  of  Salisbury,  and  later  with  Richard  H. 
Battle,  a  noted  attorney  of  Raleigh.  Thus  well 
prepared  to  enter  the  legal  profession,  he  was 
granted  a  license  to  practice  law  by  the  Supreme 


Court  in  1878,  and  immediately  opened  an  oflice 
in  Salisbury. 

Interested  in  public  matters  from  early  man- 
hood, Mr.  Overman,  by  extensive  and  intelligent 
reading,  kept  abreast  with  the  times,  and  in  1876 
made  his  entrance  in  the  political  arena  as  a 
participant  in  the  campaign  preceding  the  election 
of  Governor  Vance.  In  1877  he  was  appointed 
executive  clerk  by  Governor  Vance,  and  was  after- 
wards his  private  secretary  until  the  governor  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate.  Mr.  Overman 
subsequently  served  for  a  time  as  the  private  sec- 
retary of  Governor  Jarvis.  In  1880  he  resumed 
his  practice  of  law  in  Salisbury,  and  as  his  ability 
became  known  his  clientage  became  correspond- 
ingly large.  In  1883  he  was  again  called  to  a 
position  of  public  responsibility  by  an  election 
to  the  State  Legislature,  an  office  which  he  held 
by  re-elections  for  six  yeai's.  Mr.  Overman  was 
again  chosen,  both  in  1893  and  in  1899,  to  rep- 
resent his  county  in  the  State  Legislature.  While 
there,  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  delibera- 
tions of  that  body,  and  as  a  member  of  various 
important  committees  performed  service  of  much 
value  to  the  general  public,  in  1894  having  been 
speaker  of  the  House. 

In  1895  Mr.  Overman  was  the  democratic  can- 
didate for  United  States  senator,  but  his  party 
lieing  in  the  minority  his  opponent.  Judge  Pritch- 
ard,  secured  the  election.  In  1900  Mr.  Overman 
was  made  president  of  the  Democratic  State  Con- 
vention, and  in  the  same  year  was  chosen  presi- 
dential elector.  In  1903  he  had  the  distinction 
of  being  elected  United  States  senator,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  his  competitors  for  the  high 
position  were  two  of  the  most  able  and  popular 
men  of  the  entire  state,  Hon.  Locke  Craige  and 
Cyrus  B.  Watson.  He  was  re-elected  in  1909,  and 
again  in  1914,  when  he  was  chosen  by  popular 
vote,  lieing  the  first  senator  thus  elected  in  North 
Carolina. 

Senator  Overman  has  served  his  constituents 
with  rare  ability  and  efficiency.  He  has  held 
membership  in  sixteen  coirunittees,  among  the  more 
important  having  been  the  committees  on  rules, 
apjiropriations,  and  forest  reservations.  It  was 
through  his  influence  that  an  appropriation  was 
obtained  to  defray  the  ex]iense  of  sending  to  for- 
eign countries  commercial  agents  to  investigate 
conditions  abroad,  and  to  secure  new  markets  for 
American   productions. 

Senator  Overman  married,  in  1880,  Margaret  P. 
Merrimon.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Hon.  Augustus 
G.  and  Margaret  (Baird)  Merrimon;  a  grand- 
daughter of  Rev.  Branch  H.  and  Mary  (Paxton) 
Merrimon;  and  is  of  Revolutionary  stock,  being  a 
lineal  descendant  of  Gen.  Charles  McDowell,  an 
officer  in  the  Revolutionary  army.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Overman  have  one  daughter,  namely:  Margaret, 
who  married  Edwin  O.  Gregory,  and  has  four 
sons,  Lee  Overman,  a  student  in  the  University  of 
North  Carolina;  John  T. ;  Edwin  Clark;  and 
Augustus  Merrimon.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Over- 
man are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  which  he  has  served  as  an  active 
member  of  the  official  board  for  many  years. 

THOirAS  Jefferson  Rickman.  Of  the  bet- 
ter known  and  more  successful  members  of  the 
Asheville  bar  few  have  had  a.  broader  experience 
in  the  law,  business  and  public  affairs  than 
Thomas  Jefferson  Rickman,  who  took  his  first 
enses    twenty-five   years   ago. 

Mr.  Rickman  was  born   at  Mills  River  in  Hen- 


292 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


derson  Couuty,  North  Carolina,  and  as  a  boy  he 
attended  a  tine  institution  of  learning  known  as 
Mills  River  Academy  under  the  tuition  of  Dr. 
Richard  H.  Lewis.  He  was  a  student  in  the 
famous  old  law  school  conducted  by  Dick  &  Dil- 
lard,  and  in  1882  was  admitted  to  tlie  bar.  For 
many  years  Mr.  Rickman  had  a  large  general 
[iractice  at  Hendersonville  and  uiaiiy  public  hon- 
ors were  bestowed  upon  him  while  there.  Dur- 
ing President  Cleveland  's  administration  he  served 
as  special  revenue  collector.  He  was  mayor  two 
terms,  four  years,  for  a  number  of  years  was 
alderman,  was  county  tax  collector  six  years  and 
served  as  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Education  of 
Hendersonville.  He  has  himself  taught  school  aufl 
has  always  taken  much  interest  in  educational 
improvement  and   administration. 

Since  moving  to  Asheville  in  1900  Mr.  Rick- 
man has  continued  to  handle  a  general  practice 
as  a  lawyer.  He  is  also  a  director  of  the  Ashe- 
ville Milling  Company,  is  attorney  for  the  Asne- 
ville  Grocery  Company,  is  treasurer  and  director 
and  gives  much  of  his  time  to  the  Asheville  Young- 
Men  's  Christian  Association,  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Buncombe  Couuty  and  the  North  Carolina 
State  Bar  associations.  His  church  is  tlie  Baj)- 
tist. 

In  November,  1880,  Mr.  Rickman  married  Eliza- 
beth C.  Johnson,  of  Henderson  County.  Her 
grandfather  was  Hugh  Johnson,  one  of  the  his- 
toric characters  of  that  section  of  North  Caro- 
lina. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rickman  have  four  chil- 
dren: Augusta,  wife  of  Thomas  M.  Mitchell,  a 
merchant  at  Brevard,  North  Carolina;  Howell  R., 
ill  the  wholesale  grocery  business;  John  Huliert, 
who  is  a  musician  on  the  U.  S.  Battleship  Okla- 
homa ;  and  Evelyn,  living  at  home  witli  her  jiar- 
euts  and  a  teacher  of  music. 

Thomas  Leonidas  Cromartie,  of  Wilmington, 
is  one  of  the  younger  representatives  of  the  noted 
Cromartie  family  of  Bladen  County,  and  is  some- 
what of  an  exception  to  the  prevailing  rule  in 
the  Cromartie  family  and  has  followed  a  commer- 
cial rather  than  an  agricultural  or  professional 
career.  Mr.  Cromartie  inherits  the  good  name  and 
other  substantial  characteristics  of  the  Cromarties, 
had  the  early  guidance  and  direction  of  a  wonder- 
fully good  and  intelligent  mother,  but  since  attain- 
ing years  of  discretion  has  relied  chiefly  upon  his 
own  ability  and  energy  to  put  him  aliead  in  the 
world.  He  is  now  one  of  the  active  merchants  of 
Wilmington,  and  is  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
A.  D.  Brown  Company. 

Mr.  Cromartie  was  born  at  Garland  in  Sampson 
County,  North  Carolina,  March  14,  1885,  a  son  of 
Henry  A.  and  Bettie  (Hobbs)  Cromartie.  Other 
jiages  contain  an  interesting  account  of  the  Cro- 
martie family  in  that  region.  It  is  sufficient  to 
state  here  that  Thomas  L.  is  descended  through 
several  generations  from  William  Cromartie,  who 
was  born  in  Scotland  ii\  IT.*!!,  came  to  Bladen 
County  and  established  jihe  Cromartie  estate  on 
South  River  in  176-5,  -:tsa  lived  a  long  and  useful 
career,  including  ser^'ice  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 
The  sons  of  William  Cromartie  were  all  given  lands 
in  that  neighborhood  along  the  South  River,  and 
their  descendants  have  continued  to  occupy  those 
homes,  which  have  never  been  out  of  the  family 
possession  for  more  than  150  years.  One  of  the 
sons  of  William  Cromartie  was  Alexander  Cro- 
martie, who  was  born  in  1772  and  he  in  turn  was 
the  father  of  Patrick  L.  Cromartie,  who  married 
Eleanor    Faison.    and   one    of   their   children    was 


Henry  A.  Cromartie.  Henry  A.  Cromartie  was 
born  in  the  Cromartie  community  in  1855,  and  died 
at  his  home  in  Garland  in  1900. 

Mrs.  Bettie  (Hobbs)"  Cromartie,  mother  of 
Thomas  L.,  is  still  living  at  Garland.  She  was 
born  at  the  Hobbs  home  near  Clinton,  the  county 
seat  of  Sampson  County,  and  was  educated  in  the 
Baptist  Institute  at  Raleigh.  She  is  the  mother  of 
six  children:  Thomas  Leonidas,  Mrs.  Eloise  De 
Vane,  Mrs.  Gertrude  Kilpatrick,  George  Graham, 
Henry  LeRoy  and  Eleanor  Lois.  As  Thomas  L.i 
the  oldest  child,  was  only  fifteen  when  his  father 
died,  it  will  be  seen  that  all  the  children  were  quite 
young  and  their  care  and  rearing  became  a  heavy 
responsibility  nobly  and  effectively  borne  by  the 
widowed  mother.  She  possesses  a  rare  intelligence 
as  well  as  a  great  capacity,  and  deserves  all  the 
praise  and  admiration  she  has  received  from  her 
children  for  the  work  she  did  in  rearing  and  edu- 
cating them  and  seeing  them  successfully  started 
in  the  world. 

Thomas  L.  Cromartie  grew  up  at  his  home  town 
of  Garland.  While  there  he  attended  the  noted 
jirivate  school  conducted  by  Mrs.  Bettie  V.  Wright 
at  Ingold.  In  his  early  youth  he  left  North  Car- 
olina and  went  to  Chicago,  where  he  remained 
tliree  years,  working  with  a  business  house  and  at 
the  same  time  taking  the  full  course  of  the  Kent 
School  of  Law  in  that  city.  Though  well  qualified 
for  the  law,  he  has  never  taken  up  practice.  He 
returned  from  Chicago  to  Wilmington,  where  he 
had  previously  spent  some  time,  and  here  estab- 
lished and  conducted  a  traffic  bureau  for  the  com- 
mercial houses  of  the  city.  On  January  14,  1914, 
he  became  accountant  in  the  retail  store  of  A.  D. 
Brown  &  Company.  He  held  that  position  until 
October,  1917,  when  the  founder  and  owner  of  the 
business,  Mr.  A.  D.  Brown,  died.  The  A.  D.  Brown 
store  at  Wilmington  has  long  been  a  landmark  in 
the  commercial  district.  Mr.  Brown  established 
it  in  1867,  and  only  a  short  time  before  his  death 
he  had  planned  to  celebrate  the  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  the  store.  He  had  built  up  a  splendid  business 
upon  the  solid  rock  of  honor  and  integrity,  and 
liad  made  its  service  reflect  his  own  personal  char- 
acter. 

This  fine  old  mercantile  establishment  after  the 
death  of  its  founder  was  taken  over  and  reorgan- 
ized as  a  corporation  under  the  name  A.  T>.  Brown 
Company,  and  as  such  continues  not  only  the  busi- 
ness but  the  good  will  and  standards  set  by  its 
founder.  The  active  officers  are  Mr.  Cromartie, 
Mr.  T.  W.  Harrison  and  Mr.  Anson  Alligood.  The 
A.  D.  Brown  Company  is  a  modern  retail  dry  goods 
store  of  the  highest  class  and  for  years  has  enjoyed 
a  select  patronage.  It  is  located  in  the  heart  of 
the  retail  district  on  Front  Street.  Mr.  Cromartie 
is  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  company,  with 
Mr.  Harrison  president  and  Mr.  Alligood  vice  presi- 
dent. The  two  latter  are  thorough  salesmen  and 
experienced  store  managers. 

Mr.  Cromartie  married  at  Wilmington  Miss 
Mallie  Davenport  Houston,  daughter  of  Mr.  B.  H. 
Houston,  of  Wilmington.  She  is  related  to  the 
Davenport  family  in  North  Carolina.  The  Hous- 
tons  are  an  historic  fainOy  of  North  Carolina  and 
the  South,  having  produced  such  illustrious  char- 
acters as  Gen.  Sam  Houston,  founder  of  the  Texas 
Republic,  and  in  later  generation  Dr.  David  Frank- 
lin Houston,  formerly  prominent  as  an  educator 
and  now  secretary  of  agriculture  in  President 
Wilson's  Cabinet. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cromartie  have  two  living  children, 
Henry  Houston  and  Mary  Lillian  Cromartie.     The 


HISTOKY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


293 


tragedy  of  their  married  life  was  the  automobile 
accident  in  which  they  lost  their  little  daughter 
Harriet  Berrie  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  months. 

George  A.  Thompson.  For  many  years  exten- 
sively and  prosperously  engaged  in  .  mercantile 
pursuits,  George  A.  Thompson,  one  of  the  fore- 
most citizens  of  Thomasville,  Davidson  County, 
has  won  an  honorable  record  in  the  liusiness, 
social  and  political  life  of  the  city,  and  is  now 
living  retired  at  his  pleasant  home,  enjoying  to 
the  utmost  the  fruits  of  his  many  years  of  per- 
sistent and  successful  toil.  He  is  a  native  son 
of  North  Carolina,  his  birth  having  occurred,  in 
March,  1848,  in  Onslow   County. 

His  father,  the  late  John  Thompson,  was  as 
far  as  known  a  life-long  resident  of  Onslow 
County.  An  extensive  landholder,  he  carried  on 
general  farming  on  a  very  large  scale,  owning 
at  one  time  upwards  of  1,000  slaves.  He  was  a 
man  of  strong  pliysiqne,  'strong  in  mind  and 
body,  and  lived  to  the  venerable  age  of  eighty- 
eight  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Lovisie  Brown,  died  in  early  womanhood,  leaving 
five  children.  Sue,  George  A.,  Walter,  Charles, 
and  Oscar. 

Although  he  received  a  college  education,  hav- 
ing been  graduated  from  Old  Trinity,  George  A. 
Thompson,  whose  tastes  and  inclinations  led  him 
to  decide  upon  a  commercial  life  ratlier  than  a 
professional  career,  established  himself  as  a  mer- 
chant in  Onslow  County.  A  few  months  later  he 
transferred  his  business  operations  to  Randolph 
County,  opening  a  general  store  at  Trinity,  where 
he  continued  until  1881.  In  that  year  Mr. 
Thompson  located  in  Thomasville,  which  was  then 
a  small,  straggling  village,  giving  but  scant  prom- 
ise of  its  present  thriving  and  prosperous  condi- 
tion. A  young  man  at  that  time,  full  of  vim 
and  energy,  he  opened  a  general  store,  and  in  its 
management  met  with  encouraging  results  from 
the  first.  By  dint  of  industry  and  close  apjiliea- 
tion  to  the  affairs  of  his  establishment,  he  accumu- 
lated a  good  property,  and  is  now  living  retired 
from  business  activities,  as  previously  men- 
tioned. 

Mr.  Thompson  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  whose  name  before  marriage  was  Corina 
Kearns,  died  at  an  early  age,  leaving  four  chil- 
dren, Claude,  Eliza,  Mary,  and  Xellie.  On  Decem- 
ber 2,  1881,  Mr.  Thompson  married  for  his  second 
wife  Margaret  Thomas,  a  daughter  of  Robert 
Warrick  and  Margaret  (Hampton)  Thomas.  Of 
this  union  five  children  have  been  born,  namely: 
Thomas  Hampton,  Allen,  John  Thomas,  Sallie 
Hampton,  and  Laura. 

Religiously  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson  are  con- 
sistent members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  and  have  reared  their  children  in 
the  same  faith.  Prominent  in  democratic  ranks, 
Mr.  Thompson  has  rendered  his  fellow-citizens  ex- 
cellent service  as  an  alderman,  and  as  mayor  of 
the  city,  in  the  latter  position,  which  he  filled  for 
twelve  years,  materially  assisting  in  the  advance- 
ment of  the  public  welfare.  Fraternally  Mr. 
Thompson  is  a  member  of  Thomasville  Lodge  No. 
214,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons. 

Robert  Warrick  THOJr.\.s,  M.  D.  Conspicuous 
among  the  pioneer  physicians  of  Davidson  County 
was  the  late  Robert  Warrick  Thomas,  M.  D.,  who 
located  in  Thomasville  three  score  and  ten  years 
ago,  and  during  his  many  years  of  active  practice 
met  with  distinguished  success,  his  broad  knowl- 


edge, varied  experience,  and  jirofessional  skill 
winning  him  an  honored  position  among  the  lead- 
ing physicians  of  Central  North  Carolina.  He  was 
born,  February  28,  1823,  in  Thomasville,  a  son  of 
John  Warrick  Thomas,  the  founder  of  this  now 
attractive  city. 

As  a  lad  Robert  W.  Thomas  had  but  little  op- 
portunity to  attend  school,  but  by  study  at  home, 
and  extensive  reading  of  the  right  kind  acquired 
a  good  education.  Not  content  to  be  a  farmer 
like  so  many  of  his  ancestors,  he  began  the  study 
of  medicine,  and  when  prepared  entered  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  from  whicli  he  was  graduated 
with  the  class  of  1848.  The  young  doctor  imme- 
■liately  began  the  practice  of  his  chosen  profession 
in  Thomasville,  which  at  that  early  day,  long 
l)efore  there  were  any  railways  in  this  part  of  the 
state,  contained  but  three  families.  Nothing 
daunted,  he  worked  faithfully  and  skillfully,  and 
before  many  years  had  elapsed  had  built  up  a 
large  and  constantly  increasing  practice  that  ex- 
tended into  Randolph  and  Forsyth  counties.  Many 
of  his  trij^s,  which  were  long  and  tiresome,  he 
made  on  horseback,  carrying  his  medicine  and 
surgical  instruments  in  his  saddle  bags.  Doctor 
Thomas  was  a  man  of  strong  personality,  genial 
and  affable  in  manner,  and  had  a  large  circle  of 
friends  in  Davidson  and  adjoining  counties.  He 
lived  to  be  quite  old,  dying  in  1!102,  in  the  eightieth 
year  of  his  age. 

Doctor  Thomas  was  twice  married.  He  married 
first  Margaret  Hampton,  who  was  born  in  David- 
son County,  North  Carolina,  in  1830.  Her  father, 
Thomas  Hampton,  a  native  of  England,  came,  at 
the  age  of  seventeen  years,  to  America  with  his 
brother  Robert.  Subsequently  locating  in  David- 
son County,  this  state,  he  settled  on  the  Yadkin 
River,  and  in  the  course  of  time  became  an  exten- 
sive land  owner,  and  with  the  assistance  of  his 
many  slaves  carried  on  general  farming.  He  was 
active  in  public  affairs,  contributing  his  full  share 
toward  public  impirovements,  and  among  other 
things  established  the  Hampton  Ferry.  He  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  Thomas  Hampton 
married  Sarah  Mock.  She  was  born,  in  1758,  in 
Midway  Township,  in  what  is  now  Davidson 
County,  where  her  parents,  Samuel  and  Sarah 
fClinard)  Mock,  were  pioneer  settlers.  Margaret 
Hampton  Thomas  died  in  1893,  leaving  one  daugh- 
ter, Margaret,  wife  of  George  A.  Thompson,  of 
Thomasville.  The  Doctor  married  for  his  second 
wife  Sarah  Hampton,  a  sister  of  his  first  wife. 
She  died  in  1911,  leaving  one  son,  Charles  R. 
Thomas,  a  druggist  in  Thomasville.  Fraternally 
Doctor  Thomas  was  a  prominent  member  of 
Thomasville  Lodge  No.  214,  Ancient  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Order  of  Masons,  which  he  served  for  thirty 
years  as  worshipful  master. 

Fr.ink  O  'Kelly  Moring.  From  the  pinnacle 
of  his  more  than  three  score  and  ten  years  Frank 
0  'Kelly  Moring  can  survey  a  career  which  has 
involved  not  only  private  business  success  but  also 
that  service  and  influence  which  mean  most  to  a 
community  or  state.  •? 

He  was  a  boy  soldier  in  the  Confederate  army, 
and  since  then  for  half  a  century  has  been  one 
of  Raleigh's  leading  business  men. 

He  was  born  at  Moringsville,  a  community 
named  in  honor  of  his  family,  who  were  prominent 
planters  and  merchants  in  that  vicinity,  on  De- 
cember 1,  1845,  a  son  of  Alfred  and  Elizabeth 
(O 'Kelly)  Moring.  He  was  educated  in  private 
schools  and  in,  a  preparatory  school,  but  the  out- 


294 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


break  of  the  war  interfered  with  his  studies,  and 
in  1863,  tlieu  a  boy  of  eighteen,  he  went  into  the 
Confederate  Army  as  a  private  in  Company  I,  of 
the  Sixth  North  Carolina  Infantry.  From  that 
time  until  the  close  of  hostilities  he  bore  arms  in 
defense  of  the  South  and  did  every  duty  well  to 
which  he  was  called. 

Following  the  war  he  took  up  farming  but  in 
1866  came  to  Raleigh  where  he  engaged  in  the 
wholesale  grocery  and  cotton  business.  In  1891 
he  entered  the  Cotton  Milling  industry,  establish- 
ing the  Caralcigh  Cotton  Mills,  of  which  he  is 
still  a  director.  He  is  also  a  director  of  the 
Raleigh  Banking  and  Trust  Company,  and  of  the 
Caraleigh  Phosjihate  and  Fertilizer  Company,  and 
its  subsidiary  companies  located  in  Wilson,  North 
Carolina,  and  Norfolk,  Virginia. 

Mr.  Moriug  served  as  alderman  of  Raleigh  when 
the  important  improvements  and  changes  were 
made  in  the  city  waterworks  system  and  in  the 
paving  of  the  streets.  He  is  a  deacon  of  the 
Christian  Church  of  which  his  maternal  grand- 
father the  Rev.  James  O  'Kelly  was  founder. 

In  1876  Mr.  Moring  married  Pattie  Aline  Up- 
church  of  Raleigh  and  of  this  union  there  are  five 
children:  Mrs.  C.  B.  Williams,  Mrs.  W.  D.  Briggs, 
Mrs.  Robert  S.  Page  of  Raleigh,  Mrs.  Ross  Mac- 
Kinnon of  Toronto,  Canada,  and  Mrs.  Horace 
Daniel  of  Norfolk,  Virginia. 

James  W.  Tankebslet,  M.  D.,  F.  A.  C.  S. 
Talent,  inclination,  physical  and  mental  equipment, 
all  combined  to  point  the  way  of  Doctor  Tanker- 
sley  to  specialization  and  unusual  success  in  the 
field  of  surgery.  With  twelve  years  of  active  prac- 
tice behind  him,  he  is  today  recognized  as  one  of 
the  state 's  leading  younger  surgeons. 

He  was  born  at  Lynchburg,  Campliell  County, 
Virginia,  in  1882,  son  of  A.  and  Margaret  (Bahan) 
Tankersley,  the  latter  deceased  and  the  former  a 
wholesale  merchant  at  Taylorsville,  North  Carolina. 
Doctor  Tankersley  was  only  a  child  when  his  par- 
ents moved  to  North  Carolina.  The  Tankersley 
family  is  of  pure  English  origin,  and  originally 
lived  in  the  town  of  that  name  in  England.  Their 
home  for  several  generations  was  in  Bedford  and 
adjacent  counties  in  Virginia. 

Doctor  Tankersley  spent  his  early  life  in  Char- 
lotte and  Salisbury  and  attended  school  in  both 
cities.  For  two  years  he  was  a  student  in  the 
University  of  North  Carolina,  a.  member  of  the 
Sigma  Nu  Fraternity  and  2-  N.  E.,  and  from  that 
entered  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  at  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  graduated  Doctor  of  Medicine 
with  the  class  of  1906.  As  a  student  in  medical 
school  he  took  more  interest  in  surgery  than  in  any 
other  branch  of  the  profession,  and  it  was  in  that 
work  that  his  attainments  gained  him  the  special 
commendation  of  his  instructors.  Even  before  be- 
ginning actual  practice  he  had  formed  the  resolute 
purpose  to  become  a  good  surgeon.  After  graduat- 
ing he  located  at  Greensboro,  North  Carolina, 
where  for  a  year  he  was  interne  in  St.  Leo  's  Hos- 
pital. He  then  engaged  in  private  practice  asso- 
fiated  with  Dr.  J.  A.  Williams,  widely  known  as 
one  of  North  Carolina 's  leading  surgeons,  and  also 
with  Dr.  J.  W.  Long,  another  prominent  surgeon. 
With  those  older  men  he  carefully  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  practical  exjierienee,  and  achieved  an  envi- 
able success  in  Greensboro. 

Doctor  Tankersley  moved  to  Wilmington  in  Jan- 
uary, 1917,  to  take  charge  of  Harper's  Sanitarium 
at  the  corner  of  Front  and  Castle  streets.  This 
sanitariimi  had  not  been  in  operation  for  over  a 
year  and   a  half,  but   under  Doctor   Tankersley 's 


supervision  it  was  thoroughly  overhauled,  re- 
equipped  and  modernized  and  is  now  known  as  the 
Tankersley-Harper  Sanitarium.  With  its  staff  of 
competent  nurses  and  with  a  training  school  for 
nurses.  Doctor  Tankersley  has  here  an  ideal  place 
,  for  handling  his  surgical  subjects.  His  practice  is 
now  limited  entirely  to  surgery  and  consultation, 
although  the  hospital  is  open  to  the  medical  pro- 
fession for  general  medical  cases  of  other  physi- 
cians. 

Doctor  Tankersley  is  a  member  of  the  County, 
State  and  Southern  Medical  societies  and  the 
American  Medical  Association  and  was  recently 
elected  a  fellow  of  the  American  College  of  Sur- 
geons. He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Medical  Corps 
of  the  National  Guard  of  North  Carolina,  holding 
the  rank  of  captain.  When  the  guard  was  called 
to  the  colors  in  1916  he  responded  and  was  camp 
surgeon  at  Camp  Glenn.  He  accompanied  Com- 
pany A  of  the  Engineers  to  El  Paso,  Texas,  and  re- 
mained there  until  the  division  base  hospital  was 
established. 

Doctor  Tankersley  married  in  1911  Miss  Bonnie 
Bishop,  of  Greensboro,  but  a  native,  like  her  hus- 
band, of  Virginia.  They  have  one  son,  Edward 
William  Tankersley. 

Martin  Luther  Edwards.  Rutherford  County 
hardly  knows  a  better  lawyer,  one  more  hard 
working,  diligent  and  careful  in  handling  the 
interests  of  his  clients,  and  one  who  has  realized 
to  a  greater  degree  the  opportunities  and  privi- 
leges of  his  profession,  than  Martin  Luther  Ed- 
wards  of    Rutherfordton. 

Mr.  Edwards  was  born  in  Rutherford  County 
June  2,  1877,  son  of  Thomas  Pinckney  and  Pris- 
cilla  Elizabeth  (Koon)  Edwards.  His  father  is 
a  very  scholarly  man,  for  thirty-five  years  taught 
school  in  McDowell  and  Rutherford  counties,  but 
is  now  rounding  out  his  career  in  the  quiet  of 
agrieidtural  pursuits.  The  son  was  well  edu- 
cated, first  in  the  public  schools,  graduated  A.  B. 
in  1899  from  Rutherford  College,  and  the  suc- 
ceeding three  years  he  spent  as  a  teacher  in  his 
native  county."  With  this  knowledge  and  experi- 
ence he  entered  the  law  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  where  he  pursued  his 
studies  2 ',2  years  until  February,  1902.  Quali- 
fied and  admitted  to  the  bar,  he  at  once  took  up 
the  work  of  his  profession  at  Rutherfordton,  and 
in  a  few  brief  years  had  all  the  practice  that  he 
could  well  look  after.  Mr.  Edwards  is  a  di- 
rector of  the  Citizens  Building  and  Loan  Asso- 
ciation, is  attorney  for  the  Bank  of  Old  Fort,  for 
the  People's  Bank  of  Union  Mills,  for  the  Bank 
of  Ellenboro  and  is  local  attorney  for  the  South- 
ern Railway. 

His  name  is  also  well  known  in  jmblic  affairs. 
He  served  as  city  attorney  six  years  and  was 
mayor  of  Rutherfordton  four  years  until  he  re- 
signed. He  is  chairman  of  the  local  Red  Cross 
organization  and  is  active  as  attorney  for  the 
exemption  board.  Mr.  Edwards  is  a  trustee  of 
the  Round  Hill  Academy  in  Rutherford  County, 
has  been  elected  a  deacon  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  and  fraternally  is  atfiliated  with  the 
Masonic  Order,  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  lioth  of  the  lodge  and  encampment,  and 
is  a  mejnber  of  the  Eastern  Star,  the  Improved 
Order  of  Red  Men,  Woodmen  of  the  World  and 
Junior   Order   of   United   American   Mechanics. 

December  27,  1905,  he  married  Georgia  Evelina 
Jones,  of  Cleveland  County,  North  Carolina,  daugh- 
ter  of   William   D.   and   Mar}'    (Magness)    Jones. 


^^.^A^:^:^..^,^^,  ^^.  ^^ 


PUBLIC  LId^-'--'^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


295 


Her  father  was  a  farmer  ami  millwright.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Edwards  have  four  sons,  Thomas  Jones, 
Robert   Hicks,  William   de   Walt   and   Forest   Mag- 


HoN.  Zeb  Vance  Walser.  One  of  the  most 
talented  and  cultured  members  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina bar,  Hon.  Zeb  Vance  Walser,  of  Lexington, 
has  brought  to  the  practice  of  his  profession  a 
zeal,  a  well  trained  mind,  and  the  habits  of  in- 
dustry that  invariably  command  success,  and  in 
the  prosecution  of  his  chosen  calling  he  has  gained 
unmistakable  prestige.  A  native  of  Davidson 
County,  North  Carolina,  he  was  born,  June  17, 
1863,  in  Yadkin  College  Township,  which  was  like- 
wise the  birthplace  of  his  father.  Burgess  Gaither 
Walser,  and  of  his  grandfather,  Henry  Walser. 

Henry  Walser  was  a  citizen  of  much  prominence 
and  influence,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  public  affairs.  For  forty  years 
he  served  in  the  State  Legislature,  representing 
Davidson  County  in  the  lower  house  a  part  of 
the  time,  and  a  part  of  the  time  begin  a  member 
of  the  State  Senate.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Elizabeth  Warner,  was  a  life-long  resident  of 
Yadkin  College  Township,  where  her  death  oc- 
curred at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years,  and  her 
husband's  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  They 
reared  a  family  consisting  of  several  daughters, 
and  the  three  sons.  Burgess  Gaither,  Henry  Clay, 
and   Frederick  Taylor. 

Burgess  Gaither  Walser  was  educated  at  old 
Trinity  College,  but  instead  of  entering  upon  a 
professional  career  he  chose  the  pleasant  and  peace- 
ful pursuit  of  agriculture.  During  the  Civil  war 
he  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Confederate  army. 
He  subsequently  superintended  the  care  of  his 
farm,  occupying  it  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
three  score  and  ten  years.  In  his  earlier  life 
he  was  a  whig,  but  after  the  formation  of  the 
republican  party  was  one  of  its  ardent  supporters. 
He  married  Frances  E.  Byerly,  who  was  born  in 
Davidson  County,  this  state,  a  daughter  of  Francis 
Byerly,  and  granddaughter  of  Peter  Byerly.  She, 
too,  died  when  seventy  years  of  age.  Three  sons 
were  born  to  them,  as  follows:  Zeb  Vance,  Joseph 
G.,  and  Zenobian  I. 

Having  obtained  his  preliminary  education  in 
the  jiublic  schools,  Zeb  Vance  Walser  entered 
Yadkin  College,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in 
1879,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  with  the  degree 
of  A.  B.  In  1880  he  entered  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  where  he  studied  for  four  years, 
completing  the  literary  course  in  1884.  Going 
then  to  Ann  Arbor,  Mr.  Walser  entered  the  law  de- 
partment of  the  University  of  Michigan,  and  on 
July  1,  1886,  was  there  graduated  with  the  de- 
gree of  LL.  B.,  and  directly  after  receiving  his 
diploma  was  licensed  to  practice  law  in  Michigan. 

Returning  home,  Mr.  Walser  appeared  before  the 
Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina  for  examination, 
and  having  produced  his  diploma  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan,  and  his  license  to  practice 
law  in  that  state,  the  judges  immediately  granted 
him  a  license  without  examination,  an  almost  un- 
precedented proceeding,  stating  as  a  reason  for 
their  action  that  the  diploma  was  signed  by  Judge 
Cooley,  and  the  license  to  practice  by  both  .Judge 
Cooley  and  .Judge  Henry  Wade  Rogers,  the  latter 
named  having  since  that  date  served  as  dean  of 
the  Yale  Law  School,  and  later  having  been  ap- 
pointed judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  by 
President.  Wilson.  Immediately  locating  in  Lex- 
ington, Mr.  Walser  has  since  built  up  an  extensive 


and  remunerative  practice,  at  the  present  time, 
in  1917,  being  associated  with  his  brother,  Z.  I. 
Walser. 

A  stanch  republican  in  polities,  Mr.  Walser  has 
long  been  active  in  party  ranks,  and  soon  after 
settling  as  an  attorney  in  Lexington  was  the  re- 
publican nominee  for  the  State  Legislature,  and 
defeated  by  a  very  small  number  of  votes.  Again 
running  for  representative  in  1888,  he  was  elected 
by  a  large  majority,  and  in  the  House  was  the 
choice  of  his  party  for  the  speakership,  but  was 
defeated  by  his  democratic  opponent,  Hon.  Au- 
gustus Leazer.  In  1890  Mr.  Walser  was  elected 
state  senator,  winning  the  race  in  one  of  the 
hardest-fought  contests  in  his  senatorial  district. 
In  1892  he  was  Harrison  elector  for  the  state,  and 
two  years  later  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives by  a  majority  of  upwards  of  700  votes, 
and  at  this  time  was  the  winning  candidate  for 
speaker  of  the  House,  a  position  that  he  filled  most 
efficiently  and  acceptably,  being  popular  with  both 
parties,  and  at  the  close  of  the  session  being  pre- 
sented by  the  members  of  the  House,  all  of  whom 
appreciated  his  impartiality  as  presiding  ofiicer, 
with  a  gold  watch.  For  fourteen  years  he  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Republican  Executive  Com- 
mittee, and  was  chairman  of  the  County  Executive 
Committee  of  Davidson  County  for  nearly  as  long 
a  time.  In  1912  Mr.  Walser  was  chairman  of  the 
State  Convention,  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  Re- 
publican National  Convention  that  met  that  year 
in  Chicago.  He  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  Roose- 
velt, and  led  the  North  Carolina  delegation  when 
it  left  the  convention. 

Mr.  Walser  married,  January  31,  1894,  Frances 
Estelle  Adderton.  She  was  born  in  Lexington,  a 
daughter  of  R.  Stokes  and  Martha  (Wilson)  Ad- 
derton. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walser  are  the  parents  of 
five  children,  namely:  Patty  A.,  Zeb  Vance,  Jr.; 
Donald  A.,  Frances  Harcourt,  and  Richard  Gaither. 
Religiously  Mr.  Walser  and  his  wife  are  valued 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Fraternally 
Mr.  Walser  is  a  member  of  Lexington  Lodge  No. 
473,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 

Ronald  Bonar  Crowder.  Whether  as  a  mer- 
chant, officer  in  various  business  organizations, 
banker,  private  citizens,  the  activities  of  Ronald 
Bonar  Crowder  have  for  many  years  been  a  source 
of  enterprise  and  uplift  in  his  home  city  of  Hen- 
derson, where  he  is  rightly  esteemed  one  of  the 
foremost  men. 

Mr.  Crowder  was  born  in  Warren  County,  North 
Carolina,  March  23,  1879,  a  son  of  Stephen  Leon- 
ard and  Mamie  (Gilliland)  Crowder.  His  father 
was  an  accountant  and  at  one  time  a.  state  bank 
examiner.  The  son  was  educated  in  public  schools, 
attending  the  Graham  High  School,  and  began  his 
career  well  down  the  scale  of  industrial  import- 
ance. He  learned  telegraphy  and  spent  four  years 
as  an  operator  with  the  Sea  Board  Air  Line. 
After  that  for  eight  years  he  was  a  cotton  buyer, 
and  from  that  became  manager  of  the  Savings 
Department  of  the  Citizens  Bank  of  Henderson. 
He  was  in  the  bank  two  years  and  through  his 
experience  and  with  several  influential  associates 
he  organized  in  1912  the  Farmers  and  Merchants 
Bank,  which  started  with  a  capital  of  $1.5,000. 
In  January,  1917,  the  capitalization  was  raised 
to  $100,000,  and  it  now  has   $18,000   of   surplus. 

Mr.  Crowder  is  also  treasurer  of  the  Home 
Builders  Manufacturing  Company  and  is  a  director 
in  a  number  of  corporations.  He  is  secretary  of 
the    Sarah    Elizabeth    Hos]iital    and    treasurer    of 


296 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


the  Golden  Belt  Fair  Assoeiatiou,  is  treasurer  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  active  in  every 
move  in  his  home  town  and  county.  He  is  super- 
intendent of  the  Sunday  School  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  of  Holy  Innocents.  For  four  years  he 
served  as  an  alderman  of  Henderson.  Fraternally 
Mr.  Crowder  is  a  Knight  Templar  Mason,  a  mem- 
lier  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
the  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men,  the  Modern. 
Woodmen  of  America  and  the  Knights  of  Pythias. 
On  December  26,  1906,  he  mai-ried  Miss  Ethel 
Dorsey,  daughter  of  MeMlle  and  Nannie  (Cooper) 
Dorsey  of  Henderson.  They  have  two  children, 
Ethel  Seabrook  and  Nannie  Alice. 

Capt.  Edgar  Dickison  Williams,  one  of  the 
best  known  and  universally  esteemed  vessel-men 
connected  with  the  history  of  the  North  Carolina 
coast,  and  since  1893  harbormaster  at  Wilmington, 
has  followed  the  sea  for  more  than  a  half  a  cen- 
tury. Coming  of  a  seafaring  family,  he  was  ap- 
prenticed to  the  vocation  when  he  was  but  twelve 
years  of  age,  and  during  the  long  period  of  his 
service  has  acted  in  many  capacities,  in  all  of  which 
he  has  discharged  his  duties  with  the  utmost  fidel- 
ity, at  all  times  giving  of  the  best  of  himself  in 
behalf  of  the  interests  which  he  has  represented. 
His  career  is  one  worthy  of  emulation  by  the 
youths  who  are  starting  life  in  any  occupation. 

Captain  Williams  was  born  February  .3,  1849, 
at  Southport,  North  Carolina,  a  son  of  Capt. 
Edgar  and  Susan  Osgood  (Potter)  Williams.  His 
father  was  a  master  of  vessels  in  the  coastwise 
trade,  and  with  but  six  months  of  attendance  at 
school  young  Edgar  was  apprenticed  to  the  sea 
when  only  twelve.  By  1863  he  had  so  far  advanced 
that  he  was  given  his  master's  papers,  and  from 
that  time  to  the  present  he  has  continued  to  be  In 
and  out  of  Southport  Harbor.  During  a  large 
part  of  his  service  Captain  Williams  was  a  master 
of  tow  boats,  but  in  1893  was  given  the  appoint- 
ment as  harbormaster,  a  position  which  he  has 
held  to  the  present  time.  He  is  also  surveyor  for 
American  shipping,  the  duties  of  which  oiBce  in- 
clude the  carrying  out  of  measures  for  ascertaining 
the  quantity,  condition  and  value  of  merchandise 
brought  into  the  port.  He  was  also  the  organizer 
of  the  Diamond  Steamboat  and  Wrecking  Com- 
pany, of  which  he  is  president,  a  concern  which  has 
grown  and  developed  to  large  proportions  imder 
his  capable  and  experienced  direction.  He  belongs 
to  the  Masters  Association,  the  Mates  and  Pilots 
Association  and  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows. Politically,  he  is  a  democrat.  Captain  Wil- 
liams' character  is  one  admirably  adapted  to  his 
chosen  pursuit.  Of  uncompromising  honesty  and 
fearless  courage,  he  is  a  rigid  disciplinarian,  yet 
his  sympathies  are  broad.  During  the  long  period 
of  his  experience  he  has  frequently  had  to  encounter 
men  whose  inflamed  passions  impelled  them  to 
deeds  of  violence  to  enforce  the  demands  of  those 
who  denied  others  the  right  to  fix  their  own  valua- 
tion upon  their  own  labor.  To  such  malcontents  he 
has  always  shown  a  firm  front.  Those  who  have 
been  willing  to  work  he  has  always  been  ready  to 
protect,  and  the  turbulent  spirit  of  their  perse- 
cutors has  been  awed  and  controlled  by  his  simple 
word,  backed  by  the  expression  of  a  purpose  which 
the  disorderly  element  has  known  would  be  carried 
out  to  the  letter. 

On  March  25,  1875,  Captain  Williams  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Ida  Jane  Fleet,  of  Wilmington,  and 
three  children  were  born  to  this  union:  James 
Sprunt,  who  is  manager  of  the  Diamond  Steamboat 


and  Wrecking  Company;  Bessie  Elene,  who  is  the 
wife  of  Harry  S.  McGirt ;  and  Edgar  Fleet,  a  mem- 
ber and  ensign  of  the  United  States  Navy  in 
charge  of  a  division  of  submarine  chasers  stationed 
at  New  London,  Connecticut. 

Harry  Stedman  McGirt,  secretary  and  treasurer 
of  the  Diamond  Steamboat  and  Wrecking  Company 
of  Wilmington,  was  born  in  this  city  January  18, 
1879,  and  is  a  son  of  Archibald  G.  and  Mary  E. 
(Buford)  McGirt.  He  received  his  education  in 
the  public  schools,  and  his  first  employment  was 
with  a  hardware  concern,  where  he  was  retained  in 
the  capacity  of  clerk.  In  1910  he  became  con- 
nected with  the  Diamond  Steamboat  and  Wrecking 
Company  in  his  jiresent  positions.  '  He  is  a 
Thirty-second  degree  and  Shriner  Mason,  and  be- 
longs also  to  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows and  the  Junior  Order  of  United  American 
Mechanics.  In  the  Fifth  Avenue  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  he  has  been  active  in  the  various  move- 
ments, being  district  steward,  vice  president  of  the 
Ijoard  of  stewards,  a  member  of  tlie  finance  com- 
mittee, and  secretary  of  the  Epworth  League. 

On  October  24,  1006,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
w-ith  Miss  Bessie  Elene  Williams  of  Wilmington, 
daughter  of  Capt.  Edgar  D.  Williams,  and  to  this 
union  there  has  been  born  one  daughter,  Elene 
Williams. 

George  Harriss  in  1916  was  elected  recorder 
of  New  Hanover  County  and  re-elected  in  March, 
1917,  for  two  years.  He  has  long  been  identified 
with  civic  and  business  life  of  Wilmington,  and 
tlie  enterprise  with  which  he  directed  his  private 
affairs  was  an  excellent  basis  of  .judgment  for 
the  quality  of  his  public  service. 

He  was  born  at  Wilmington  June  26,  1863,  a 
son  of  George  Harriss.  As  a  boy  he  attended  the 
Cape  Fear  Academy,  and  soon  left  school  to  join 
his  fatlier  in  the  shipping  and  brokerage  busi- 
ness. In  1887,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  he  was 
sent  to  Pliiladelphia  to  conduct  a  branch  office 
of  the  company,  and  remained  there  until  1897. 
Returning  to  Wilmington  he  again  became  an 
active  associate  with  his  father,  and  is  one  of  the 
older  group  of  local  business  men. 

In  1902  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  city 
council  but  soon  resigned.  In  the  same  year  he 
was  elected  a  magistrate,  justice  of  the  peace, 
wliich  office  he  retained,  and  has  filled  the  posi- 
tion for  ten  years.  He  was  also  United  States 
commissioner.  Mr.  Harriss  is  affiliated  with  the 
Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  the 
Fraternal  Order  of  Eagres,  the  Masonic  Lodge, 
including  the  Grotto  of  Master  M.asons,  the  Jun- 
ior Order  of  United  American  Mechanics,  the 
Woodmen  of  the  World,  Clierokee  Tribe  of  Red 
Men,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Carolina  Yacht 
Club. 

June  26,  1888,  he  married  Miss  Eugenia  Wil- 
liams, of  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina.  They  have 
three  children :  .Tames  Williams,  Eugenia,  now 
Mrs.  Howard  Harlan,  Jr.,  of  Wilmington,  and 
Andrew   Jennings. 

Deritot  Shemwell.  When  in  1909  Mr.  Shem- 
well  with  associates  organized  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Lexington  and  was  elected  its  head  he  had 
the  distinction  of  being  the  youngest  national 
bank  president  in  the  United  States.  He  is  still 
the  executive  head  of  the  bank,  and  is  a  man  of 
widespread  business  interests  and  one  of  the  chief 
factors  in  the  upbuilding  and  progress  of  his 
home  city. 


'?^  .\^  ."^b^^ 


T^!' 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


297 


Mr.  Sheunvell  was  born  at  Lexington,  North 
Carolina,  son  of  Baxter  and  Laura  (Bernheun) 
Shemwell.  He  represents  several  of  the  prominent 
pioneer  families  of  North  Carolina.  His  great- 
grandfather William  Shemwell  was  a  pioneer  in 
Jackson  Hill  Township  of  Davidson  County.  His 
paternal  grandparents  were  Dr.  Obediah  M.  and 
Sally  (Thompson)  Shemwell.  Another  great- 
grandfather, Hiram  Thompson,  was  a  pioneer  in 
Tyro  Township  of  Davidson  County  and  with  his 
son-in-law,  O.  M.  Shemwell,  established  the  foundry 
and  machine  shops  at  Tyro.  Up  to  that  time  farm- 
ers had  used  the  old  Bull  tongue  in  the  plowing 
and  breaking  operations,  and  that  foundry  had 
the  distinction  of  making  the  first  turning  plow 
ever  made  and  used  in  North  Carolina.  Mr.  Der- 
mot  Shemwell  through  his  mother  is  a  grandson  of 
Charles  H.  Bernheim,  who  was  born  in  Germany, 
and  at  the  age  of  one  year  was  brought  to  America 
by  his  parents.  The  great-grandfather  Bernheim 
was  a  son  of  wealthy  parents  of  the  Catholic  faith, 
the  father  being  a  physician  and  court  physician 
to  the  emperor.  Great-grandfather  Bernheim  be- 
came converted  and  joined  the  Lutheran  Cliurch 
and  thus  forfeited  all  claim  to  his  father 's  estate, 
and  for  that  reason  came  to  America  to  start  life 
anew. 

Mr.  Dermot  Shemwell  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  Lexington  and  was  a  student  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina.  He  left  university  at 
the  age  of  nineteen  to  begin  his  business  career  as 
a  traveling  salesman  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
he  entered  the  real  estate  business.  His  work  as 
a  real  estate  man  has  brought  him  influential  con- 
nections all  over  the  South.  It  seems  a  field  in 
which  his  talents  have  had  full  scope,  and  he  was 
successful  from  the  very  start.  Mr.  Shemwell 
carried  out  the  first  suburban  lot  sale  ever  held 
at  Lexington.  In  1910  he  formed  a  partnership 
with  his  brother-in-law,  J.  E.  Foy,  under  the  firm 
name  Foy  &  Shemwell.  This  is  one  of  the  largest 
real  estate  firms  in  North  Carolina.  They  main- 
tain branch  offices  at  Thomasville  and  Denton, 
North  Carolina ;  at  Chester,  South  Carolina ;  and  at 
Eufaula  and  Dothau  in  Alabama.  On  their  weekly 
payroll  are  sixty-seven  employes.  Besides  their 
extensive  real  estate  transaetions  the  firm  deals 
in  automobiles,  horses  and  mules,  wagons  and  car- 
riages. They  are  extensive  owners  of  city  prop- 
erty and  have  upwards  of  5,000  acres  of  farm 
lands.  The  firm  also  handles  insurance  represent- 
ing all  the  western  half  of  the  State  of  North 
Carolina. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  Mr.  Shemwell  mar- 
ried Miss  Mary  Foy,  who  was  born  at  Eufaula, 
Alabama,  daughter  of  James  E.  and  Gertrude 
(Cochran)  Foy.  They  have  three  children,  Ger- 
trude, Mary  and  Dermot,  Jr.  Mr.  Shemwell  is  a 
member  of  the  Iward  of  stewards  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  He  is  captain  of  a  Home  Guard 
organization,  enrolled  in  pursuance  of  a  call  from 
Governor  Bickett  in  1917.  Mr.  Shemwell  is  af- 
filiated with  Lexington  Lodge  No.  47.3,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  with  Lexington 
Lodge,  of  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of 
Elks. 

Robert  G.  Kittrell  of  Henderson  was  in  former 
years  very  prominent  as  an  educator,  and  has  been 
equally  successful  since  taking  up  the  law. 

He  was  born  in  Vance  County,  son  of  George 
■William  and  Lucy  (Crudup)  Kittrell.  He  received 
his    early    education    in    local    private    and    public 


schools,  in  the  Hertford  Academy,  and  in  1899 
graduated  Ph.  B.  from  the  University  of  North 
Carolina. 

In  his  work  as  an  educator  he  filled  the  follow- 
ing positions:  Principal  of  academies  at  Windsor 
and  Edenton;  instructor  at  the  Bingham  School; 
superintendent  of  public  schools  of  Oxford;  super- 
intendent of  public  instruction  of  Granville 
County;  superintendent  of  public  instruction  of 
Edgecombe  County;  superintendent  of  the  city 
schools  of  Tarboro,  and  is  now  superintendent  of 
the  Henderson  School. 

In  the  meantime  he  was  making  diligent  prepara- 
tion for  the  profession  of  law,  studying  privately 
and  in  the  University  of  North-  Carolina.  Since 
his  admission  to  the  bar  he  has  carried  some  of 
the  chief  responsibilities  of  local  practice  at  Hen- 
derson. He  has  also  been  honored  by  election  as 
representative  from  Vance  County  to  the  General 
Assembly.  Mr.  Kittrell  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows  and  the  Junior  Order  United  American 
Mechanics. 

James  Edgar  Fot,  whose  business  experience 
has  been  gained  in  several  states,  is  a  banker  of 
thorough  training  and  qualifications,  and  was  one 
of  the  organizers  and  has  since  been  cashier  of 
the  First  National  Bank  of  Lexington.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  the  prominent  real  estate  firm 
Foy  &  Shemwell. 

Mr.  Foy  was  born  at  Eufaula,  Barbour  County, 
Alabama,  August  14,  1880,  son  of  James  Edgar 
and  Viola  Gertrude  (Cochran)  Foy.  His  paternal 
grandparents  were  William  H.  and  Mary  (Wilson) 
Foy  and  the  maternal  grandparents  were  George 
and  Mary  Cornelia  (Crymes)  Cochran.  The  Foys 
and  Wilsons  were  old  and  prominent  families  of 
Edgefield  County,  South  Carolina. 

James  E.  Foy  acquired  his  early  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Eufaula,  and  was  a  student  in 
the  Alabama  Polytechnic  Institute  at  Auburn.  He 
left  school  to  take  a  place  in  the  store  of  his 
uncles,  general  merchants  and  dealers  in  cotton 
at  Abbeville,  Alabama.  He  was  with  them  two 
years  and  then  entered  the  Eastman  Business  Col- 
lege at  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  where  he  grad- 
uated after  a  full  commercial  course  in  1901.  He 
was  at  that  time  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  on 
returning  from  the  North  entered  the  Commercial 
National  Bank  of  Eufaula  and  by  work  in  every 
department  learned  all  the  details  of  the  banking 
business.  In  1908  he  resigned  his  position  at 
Eufaula  and  coming  to  Lexington  was  associated 
with  Dermot  Shemwell  and  others  in  organizing 
the  First  National  Bank.  He  was  elected  cashier, 
and  has  filled  that  post  steadily  to  the  present 
time. 

In  1910  Mr.  Foy  formed  a  partnership  with  his 
brother-in-law,  Dermot  Shemwell,  under  the  name 
Foy  &  Shemwell.  They  have  built  up  one  of  the 
chief  concerns  of  its  kind  in  Western  North  Caro- 
lina. They  handle  real  estate,  insurance,  auto- 
mobiles and  livestock  and  their  liusiness  is  con- 
ducted through  a  number  of  branch  houses,  in- 
cluding one  at  Denton,  North  Carolina,  one  at 
Chester,  South  Carolina,  and  one  each  at  Eufaula 
and  Dothan,  Alabama.  The  piartners  are  owners 
of  upwards  of  5,000  aeres  of  farm  land  besides 
much  city  property. 

June  12,  1906,  Mr.  Foy  married  Miss  Lela  Mar- 
tin Bullock,  She  was  born  in  Eufaula,  Alabama, 
daughter   of  Edward   C.   and   Eva    (Martin)    Bui- 


298 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


lock.  Mrs.  Foy  died  February  15,  1917,  leaving 
three  children :  James  Edgar,  Courtenay  Bullock 
and  Elizabeth  Martin.  Mr.  Foy  is  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 
His  college  fraternity  is  the  Sigma  Nu  and  he  is 
also  aflSliated  with  Lexington  Lodge  of  the  Be- 
nevolent and  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  Lexington 
Council  Junior  Order  United  American  Mechanics 
and  with  the  Patriotic  Sons  of  America. 

Thomas  F.  Bagley.  From  the  toil  and  concen- 
tration of  an  active  business  career,  involving  ex- 
tensive commercial  interests,  including  banking  at 
Wilmington,  Thomas  F.  Bagley  has  withdrawn  in 
later  years  and  devoted  himself  principally  to  the 
development  of  a  suburban  home  and  his  farm  at 
Seagate,  which  in  many  ways  is  the  last  word  in 
intensive  agricultural  and  horticultural  produc- 
tion. 

Mr.  Bagley  is  a  native  of  North  Carolina  and 
connected  with  some  of  its  old  and  prominent 
families.  He  was  born  at  Smithfield  in  Johnston 
County  November  21,  1851,  son  of  Thomas  and 
Trcsinda  (Pike)  Bagley.  Three  years  after  his 
birth  his  father,  who  for  several  years  had  been 
clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Johnston  County, 
died.  Thomas  Bagley  was  a  son  of  Theophilus 
Bagley,  who  was  a  cousin  of  the  maternal  grand- 
father of  Secretary  of  Navy  Josephus  Daniels. 
Thus  going  back  several  generations  Thomas  F. 
Bagley  and  Secretary  Daniels  have  a  common  an- 
cestry. Tresinda  Pike,  mother  of  Mr.  Bagley,  was 
of  the  same  family  which  produced  the  famous 
Albert  Pike,  notable  for  his  services  to  the  Con- 
federacy and  for  his  achievements  as  a  Mason. 
For  years  before  his  death  Albert  Pike  was  sov- 
ereign grand  commander  of  the  Thirty-third  Degree 
Scottish  Rite. 

After  the  death  of  his  father  Thomas  F.  Bagley 
was  reared  at  the  home  of  his  grandfather  Theo- 
philus Bagley  at  the  Bagley  plantation,  postoffice 
of  Bagley,  twelve  miles  from  Smithfield,  in  Johnston 
County.  Mr.  Bagley  attended  school  at  different 
places  and  in  1872,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  came 
to  Wilmington,  a  city  and  its  environs  which  has 
ever  since  Vieen  his  home. 

His  dignified  position  in  business  affairs  has 
been  strictl.y  a  matter  of  self  achievement.  In 
earlier  years  he  was  content  to  perform  the  humble 
role  of  a  bookkeeper.  After  that  he  embarked  with 
a  modest  capital  in  the  wholesale  wood,  coal  and 
cement  business,  and  built  one  of  the  largest  con- 
cerns of  its  kind.  He  remained  active  in  those  lines 
until  failing  health  caused  him  to  sell  out.  For 
several  years  he  sought  health  by  travel,  and  when 
once  more  restored  to  strength  he  established  the 
Wilmington  Stamp  Works,  with  a  job  printing  busi- 
ness in  connection.  A  little  later  he  was  instru- 
mental in  establishing  the  Tidewater  Trust  Com- 
pany, of  which  he  was  president,  and  which  finally 
was  merged  with  the  Citizens  Bank,  which  he  con- 
tinued to  serve  as  president  for  two  or  three  years. 

It  was  at  this  point  in  his  career  that  on  account 
of  another  failure  in  health  he  retired  from  active 
business  affairs.  He  soon  afterward  bought  land 
for  a  suburban  home  at  Seagate  on  Bradley 's 
Creek  on  Greenville  Sound,  about  seven  miles  east 
of  Wilmington  on  the  interurban  railroad.  This 
place  he  began  improving  by  the  construction  of 
a  modern  residence  and  other  suitable  buildings, 
and  by  developing  a  number  of  acres  to  a  high 
state  of  cultivation.  Mr.  Bagley  was  practically 
the  pioneer  of  what  is  now  the  thrifty  little  Village 
of  Seagate.    When  he  went  there  onlv  two  or  three 


small,  ]ioor  buildings  comprised  the  hamlet.  He 
acquired  a  large  amount  of  property  in  that 
vicinity  and  still  remains  the  largest  individual 
]iroperty  holder,  having  about  seventy-five  building 
lots  besides  his  suburban  home.  The  interurban 
railway  passes  in  front  of  his  house.  His  lands 
slope  gently  to  Bradley 's  CVeek,  a  salt  water  stream 
emptying  into  Greenville  Sound. 

The  Bagley  farm  comprises  about  220  acres, 
much  of  which  is  highly  cultivated.  It  might  well 
serve  as  an  example  of  the  possibilities  of  intensive 
farming  in  this  section  of  the  state.  Its  orchards 
include  peach,  apple,  pear,  plum  and  other  varieties 
of  fruit  trees  and  many  jiecan  trees.  Some  of  the 
land  is  devoted  to  trucking,  chiefly  for  home  con- 
sumption. The  truck  crops  are  lettuce,  tomatoes, 
cabbage,  potatoes,  beans,  peas,  collards,  etc.  The 
Wilmington  Corn  Show  has  awarded  several  prizes 
to  the  Bagley  exhibits  of  canned  and  preserved 
fruits  and  vegetables.  In  recent  months  the  entire 
nation  has  been  aroused  by  an  educational  cam- 
)iaign  to  reach  the  individual  communities  and  the 
individual  consumers  of  the  market  so  as  to  allow 
the  regular  stream  of  pro<luction  and  supply  to 
flow  unimpeded  to  the  armies  and  the  suffering 
]pojiulations  of  Eurojie.  As  a  practical  response 
to  this  movement  few  farms  could  show  a  better 
record  than  that  of  the  Bagley  farm.  An  interest- 
ing proof  of  this  can  be  found  in  the  record  of  the 
season  of  1917  when  1,178  jars  of  fruit  and  veg- 
etaldcs  were  preserved,  including  the  following: 
Fig,  peach,  apple  and  watermelon  preserves;  peach, 
apple  and  grape  jelly,  tomato  preserves,  tomato 
chow-chow,  cabbage  chow-chow,  cucumber  pickles, 
spiced  grapes,  canned  beets,  canned  pears,  canned 
apples,  canned  peaches,  plum  jam,  canned  beans, 
field  peas,  garden  peas,  huckleberries,  apple  vine- 
gar, vegetable  soup,  etc.  With  such  an  abundance 
in  store,  it  follows  that  the  Bagley  family  has  made 
a  minimum  demand  upon  the  public  markets. 

The  Bagley  home  is  a  spacious,  modern,  two-story 
structure  on  an  elevation  that  furnishes  a  fine  view 
of  the  surrounding  country.  Approaching  the  resi- 
dence is  a  beautiful  avenue  of  Texas  umbrella  trees, 
with  pecan  trees  interplanted.  The  well  tilled 
fields,  orchards  and  gardens  would  gratify  the  eyes 
of  those  accustomed  to  the  closely  cultivated  and 
adorned  gardens  that  represent  centuries  of  labor 
and  care  in  the  older  countries  of  Europe.  It  is  an 
ideal  country  home,  combining  the  advantages  of 
city  life  because  of  the  short  ride  on  the  interurban 
or  by  automobile  on  the  hard  roads  that  are  the 
pride  of  New  Hanover  County.  Another  important 
feature  of  the  Bagley  place  is  its  artesian  well, 
said  to  be  the  finest  in  this  section.  It  furnishes 
a  flow  of  eleven  gallons  per  minute,  and  by  means 
of  an  hydraulic  ram  this  water  is  supplied  under 
pressure  throughout  the  residence  and  other  build- 
ings and  over  the  grounds.  Even  with  this  brief 
description  it  is  possible  to  understand  why  the 
' '  Bagley  Place  at  Seagate, "  as  it  is  familiarly 
known,  is  a  home  of  great  charm,  rest  and  com- 
fort. 

While  Mr.  Bagley  still  retains  a  home  in  the  city 
he  has  of  late  years  spent  most  of  his  time,  at  his 
Seagate  place.  He  is  a  member  of  Wilmington 
Lodge  No.  319  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 
Mr.  Bagley  married  Miss  Annie  J.  Johnson,  a 
native  of  Wilmington.  They  have  one  daughter, 
Ara,  wife  of  Mr.  E.  Norfleet.  A  son,  Thomas 
Payne  Bagley,  died  in  1908,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
seven.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Davidson  College 
and  had  made  a  very  successful  start  in  his  business 
career. 


THOilAS  F.  BAGLEY 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


299 


E.  Fuller  Burton,  a.  native  of  Virginia  but 
a  resident  of  North  Carolina  since  early  youth, 
was  for  many  years  identified  with  the  railway 
service  at  Marion,  but  is  now  most  widely  known 
all  over  that  section  of  the  country  as  a  banker 
and  is  a  man  whose  finaneial  ability  and  judg- 
ment are  accepted  with  the  confidence  they  deserve. 

Mr.  Burton  was  born  in  Mecklenburg  County, 
Virginia,  near  Chase  City,  March  4,  1866,  son 
of  Rev.  Robert  and  Eleanor  (Jeffress)  liurton. 
His  father  for  many  years  carried  the  luirdens 
and  responsibilities  of  a  minister  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  The  son  was  educated  in  the  Red  Oak 
(irove  High  School  in  Virginia  and  completed  his 
training  in  the  high  school  at  Ridgeway,  North 
Carolina.  He  located  at  Statesville  in  1885,  when 
he  became  chief  clerk  and  operator  in  railroad 
office,  continuing  until  1893.  He  was  then  ap- 
pointed joint  agent  for  the  two  railroads  at  New- 
ton. In  1900  he  came  to  Marion,  occupying  the 
same  position  until  1907,  when  he  was  elected 
cashier  of  the  Merchants  and  Farmers  Bank,  to 
the  management  of  which  institution  he  now  gives 
practically  all  his  time.  He  is  also  vice  presi- 
dent of  the  McDowell  Building  and  Loan  Asso- 
ciation, and  was  one  of  its  organizers.  Mr.  Bur- 
ton is  a  Knight  of  Pythias  and  is  an  elder  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church. 

October'  21,  1891,  he  married  Miss  Crissie  Wins- 
low,  of  Statesville,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of 
Capt.  James  D.  and  Julia  (Castex)  Winslow.  Her 
father  was  a  wholesale  grain  merchant  and  also 
an  insurance  adjuster.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burton  have 
a  talented  daughter,  Julia  Castex  Burton,  who 
was  educated  in  the  Peace  Institute  at  Raleigh, 
a  pupil  of  Dr.  James  P.  Brawley,  and  is  a  thor- 
oughly trained  musician. 

Wn-LiAM  Augustus  Bristol.  Of  the  men  of 
Iredell  County  whose  energies  are  devoted  to  the 
profession  of  law,  few  bring  to  bear  upon  their 
calling  better  natural  talents  or  higher  gifts  of 
scholarship  than  does  William  Augustus  Bristol, 
one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  younger  genera- 
tion practicing  at  the  Statesville  bar.  Far  from 
starting  upon  his  life  work  in  the  untried  en- 
thusiasm of  extreme  youth,  the  choice  of  this  ener- 
getic practitioner  was  that  of  a  mature  mind, 
trained  to  thoughfulness  by  years  of  experience 
in  other  fields  of  endeavor  and  to  full  realization 
of  the  responsibilities  and  possibilities  which  con- 
fronted him. 

Mr.  Bristol  is  by  birth,  nurture  and  training  a 
representative  of  the  Old  North  State.  He  was 
born  February  2,  1879,  at  Morganton,  Burke 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  son  of  Lambert  Augustus 
and  Mary  Am  CTodd)  Bristol,  the  latter  of  whom 
is  deceased,  while  the  former  is  still  residing  at 
Morganton.  The  Bristol  family  of  which  he  is  a 
member  was  founded  in  America  by  Henry  Bur- 
hope  Bristol,  who  came  to  this  country  from  Eng- 
land in  1654.  and  was  the  great-great-great-grand- 
father  of  William  A.  Bristol.  The  family  orig- 
inated in  Bristol,  England,  and  the  family  of 
Henry  Bnrhope  Bristol  was  one  of  forty  that 
founded  the  Town  of  Cheshire,  in  New  Haven 
County,  Connecticut,  where  succeeding  generations 
have  resided  ever  since,  and  where  the  name  of 
Bristol  is  well  represented  at  this  day.  The  son 
of  Henry  Bristol  was  .Tonathan  Bristol,  and  the 
latter 's  son.  Gideon  Bristol,  was  the  father  of 
Benedict  Bristol,  the  grandfather  of  William  A. 
Benedict  Bristol  came  from  New  Haven  County, 
Connecticut,  to  North  Carolina  some  time  between 


the  years  1800  and  1812  and  settled  in  Burke 
County,  about  six  miles  from  Morganton.  He  was 
a  large  landholder  and  slave  owner,  originally 
owning  one  square  mile  of  land.  He  became  a 
I)rospcrous  planter  and  a  man  of  large  affairs, 
and  his  plantation  home  was  noted  for  its  hos- 
pitality and  entertainments  during  ante-belliuu 
days.  Benedic-t  Bristol  married  a  Miss  Elizabeth 
McCall,  whose  mother  was  a  Miss  Smith  of  Patrick 
County,  Virginia. 

Lainbert  Augustus  Bristol  was  born  in  Burke 
County,  North  Carolina,  and  was  the  youngest  of 
his  father's  sons,  by  the  latter 's  second  marriage. 
When  the  Civil  war  came  on  he  ardently  desired 
to  go  to  the  front  as  a  Confederate  soldier,  and 
when  parental  permission  was  denied  ran  away 
from  home  and  succeeded  in  accomplishing  his  de- 
sire. He  was  but  fourteen  years  of  age  at  this 
time,  but  was  accepted  as  a  drummer  boy,  and  the 
regiment  with  which  he  was  connected  was  attached 
to  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  He  saw  serv- 
ice in  many  engagements  and  then  took  part  in 
the  great  Battle  of  Gettysburg,  but  not  long  after 
that  big  engagement  his  mother,  because  of  his 
extreme  youth,  secured  his  release  and  compelled 
him  to  return  to  his  home.  His  release  necessitated 
a  special  order  by  Governor  Vance.  A  short  time 
after  his  return  home  the  Confederate  government 
called  the  seventeen-year-old  boys  and  he  was 
elected  captain  of  the  Junior  Reserve  Corps,  of 
Burke  and  Caldwell  counties,  in  which  capacity  he 
served  faithfully  and  efficiently  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  He  was  probably  the  youngest  captain 
ever  in  military  service. 

Although  he  had  scarcely  attended  school  him- 
self, after  the  close  of  the  war  Captain  Bristol 
secured  a  position  as  a  school  teacher  in  his  native 
County  of  Burke.  When  still  a  young  man  he  was 
married  to  Mary  Ann  Todd,  who  is  now  deceased, 
tlie  daughter  of  Rev.  William  Todd,  a  Methodist 
minister  and  a  representative  of  one  of  the  old 
families  of  Mecklenburg  County.  Her  mother  was 
Sophia  (Moore)  Todd,  the  Moores  being  another 
of  the  old  and  prominent  families  of  Western 
North  Carolina. 

During  the  early  '70s  Captain  Bristol  engaged  in 
the  mercantile  business  at  Morganton  for  several 
years,  and  was  successful  and  accumulated  a  small 
"fortune,  to  which  he  added  by  good  investments. 
In  political  life,  upon  the  organization  of  the  old 
liberal  party,  he  left  the  democratic  party  and 
became  a  liberal.  When  that  organization  was 
dissolved  he  transferred  his  allegiance  to  the  re- 
pulilican  party,  with  which  he  has  been  affiliated 
ever  since.  Under  the  administration  of  President 
Benjamin  Harrison  he  was  postmaster  at  Morgan- 
ton,  and  after  serving  very  acceptably  as  mayor  of 
Morganton  for  four  or  five  consecutive  terms  was 
made  a  candidate  for  the  North  Carolina  Legisla- 
ture during  the  time  of  the  constitutional  amend- 
ments, but  met  with  defeat,  as  he  was  with  the 
party  that  was  hopelessly  in  the  minority.  In 
1900  Captain  Bristol  was  nominated  by  his  party 
for  the  office  of  clerk  of  the  county  court  of  Burke 
County,  was  successfully  placed  in  that  office,  and 
has  served  faithfully  and  efficiently  to  the  present 
time,  through  succeeding  elections,  his  record  of 
sixteen  years  of  clean,  able  and  conscientious  duty 
being  a  remarkable  one.  Captain  Bristol  is  one 
of  the  prominent  characters  of  his  day  and  locality, 
and  holds  a  recognized  place  in  the  esteem  and 
affection  of  all  who  have  come  into  contact  with 
liim. 


300 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


William  Augustus  Bristol  is  the  second  sou  of 
Ills  parents.  His  early  education  was  secured  in 
the  jiublic  school  at  Morganton,  and  in  1898,  when 
nineteen  years  of  age,  came  to  Statesville,  Iredell 
County,  and  eml)arked  in  the  steam  laundry  busi- 
ness. This  work  not  proving  congenial,  he  next 
went  on  tlie  road  and  represented  various  houses 
as  a  traveling  salesman,  a  vocation  in  which  he 
met  with  well-merited  success.  During  his  leisure 
moments  while  on  the  road,  he  began  the  study  of 
law,  and  followed  up  these  studies  by  attending 
the  law  dejiartment  of  the  University  of  Virginia 
Summer  School.  Later  he  went  to  the  summer 
school  of  law  at  Wake  Forest  College,  in  North 
Carolina,  and  was  licensed  to  practice  law  in  Sep- 
tember, 1909,  locating  at  Statesville  on  October 
30  of  that  year.  From  the  start  his  advancement 
has  been  rapid  and  continuous,  and  he  has  steadily 
risen  to  a  recognized  position  as  one  of  the  ablest 
among  the  younger  members  of  the  state  bar.  He 
has  splendid  qualifications  for  his  chosen  calling, 
and  his  success  in  a  number  of  complicated  and 
highly  important  cases  has  demonstrated  his 
versatility,  his  resource,  his  thorough  mastery  of 
the  principles  of  his  calling,  and  the  natural  talent 
that  a  lawyer  must  possess  if  he  hopes  to  rise  to 
a  high  place  in  his  calling.  Among  his  fellow- 
practitioners  he  is  held  in  high  esteem,  being 
known  as  one  who  respects  the  highest  ethics  of 
his  honored  vocation.  In  politics,  like  his  father, 
Mr.  Bristol  is  a  stanch  and  unwavering  republican 
and  is  one  of  the  active  and  vigorous  forces  keep- 
ing his  party  in  a  position  to  be  reckoned  with  in 
North  Carolina.  Personally,  he  is  already  high  in 
the  councils  of  his  party,  having  been  chairman 
of  the  Iredell  County  Republican  Executive  Com- 
mittee for  several  years.  Mr.  Bristol  is  a  Pres- 
byterian, and  is  fraternally  affiliated  with  the  Ma- 
sons, the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  the  Junior  Order 
United  American  Mechanics. 

Mr.  Bristol  married  Miss  Mabel  Finger 
Laughenour  of  StatesWlle,  daughter  of  the  late 
Doctor  Laughenour,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
distinguished  physicians  and  surgeons  of  Western 
North  Carolina.  They  have  one  son :  William  Au- 
gustus Bristol.  Jr.,  and  one  daughter,  Sarah  Eliza- 
beth. 

Benjamin  Robinson  Graham,  M.  D.  All  the 
work  and  experiences  of  Doctor  'Graham  since  he 
began  the  practice  of  medicine  twenty  years  ago 
mark  him  as  a  man  of  special  ability  in  his  pro- 
fession, and  with  a  specially  happy  equipment  of 
personal  qualifications  that  serve "  to  supplement 
his  power  as  a  physician  and  popularize  him  as  a 
citizen.  Doctor  Graham  practiced  many  years  at 
Wallace,  his  native  town,  but  since  191.5  ha.s  had 
the  larger  sphere  of  the  City  of  Wilmington. 

He  was  born  at  Wallace  in  Duplin  County  in 
1868,  son  of  Dr.  Daniel  McLean  and  Elizabeth 
Ann  (Murphy)  Graham,  of  well  known  families 
on  both  sides.  Both  the  Murphys  and  Grahams  are 
Scotch.  The  Murphys  were  pioneers  in  the  Black 
Biver  section,  in  what  is  now  Pender  but  was 
originally  a  part  of  New  Hanover  County.  The 
family  was  founded  here  by  Cornelius  Murphy, 
grandfather  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Ann  Graham.  Her 
father  was  Hanson  Murphy. 

In  the  paternal  line  Doctor  Graham  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  brilliant  Graham  family  of  North  Car- 
olina, long  distinguished  by  their  genuine  scholar- 
ship and  superior  intellectual  attainments.  Doctor 
Graham  is  a  cousin  of  Dr.  Edward  K.  Graham,  the 
able  president  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 


Both  acknowledge  the  same  grandfather,  Archi- 
bald Graham.  Alexander  Graham,  for  many  years 
head  of  the  public  school  system  of  Charlotte,  is 
an  uncle  of  Dr.  Benjamin  R.  Graham. 

Dr.  Daniel  McLean  Graham,  who  died  in  1898, 
was  born  in  Cumberland  County,  North  Carolina,  in 
1833,  had  his  primary  education  in  the  schools'  of 
that  county  and  Harnett  County  and  was  prepared 
for  college  in  Donaldson  Military  Academy  at 
Fayetteville.  He  entered  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  from  which  he  graduated  in  the  early 
'50s.  He  began  the  study  of  medicine  at  Fayette- 
ville with  Dr.  Benjamin  Robinson  as  his  preceptor, 
but  in  1858  took  his  degree  from  the  Jefferson 
Medical  College  at  Philadelphia.  Afterwards,  dur- 
ing the  war,  he  was  an  assistant  surgeon  in  the 
Confederate  army,  and  with  the  restoration  of 
peace  between  the  North  and  South  he  resumed 
private  practice  in  the  Moore's  Creek  section  of 
what  is  now  Pender  County,  then  New  Hanover 
County.  He  married  there  and  subsequently  lo- 
cated at  Wallace  in  the  southern  part  of  Duplin 
County.  This  was  his  home  during  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  He  practiced  medicine  forty  years. 
Most  of  his  work  was  done  in  a  country  community, 
and  throughout  that  district,  a  large  one,  no  char- 
acter was  more  greatly  beloved  and  esteemed  for 
the  qualities  of  his  heart  and  mind  as  well  as  for 
his  professional  attainments  than  Dr.  Daniel  Gra- 
ham. He  had  other  interests  outside  his  profes- 
sion, and  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  man  to  start 
a  commercial  truck  garden  in  Eastern  North  Car- 
olina. His  name  thus  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
list  of  what  has  since  developed  as  an  important 
industry  in  this  part  of  the  state. 

Benjamin  Robinson  Graham  was  educated  in 
Clements  Academy  at  Wallace  and  took  medical 
courses  in  the  University  of  Virginia,  where  he 
graduated  in  1895.  He  also  spent  one  year  in  hos- 
pital work  at  Richmond,  and  in  1897  returned  to 
his  native  town  of  Wallace,  where  he  quickly 
gained  the  confidence  of  tlie  home  people  in  his 
ability,  and  he  succeeded  to  the  large  practice 
developed  by  his  father  at  the  latter 's  death.  He 
remained  engaged  in  his  duties  at  Wallace  until 
September,  1915,  when  he  moved  to  Wilmington. 
In  this  much  larger  center  the  promise  of  his  earlier 
years  has  been  brilliantly  justified.  Doctor  Gra- 
ham is  known  as  a  hard  worker,  is  constantly  busy 
in  looking  after  his  extensive  general  practice,  and 
is  a  physician  of  most  genial  and  happy  presence. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  County  and  State  Medical 
societies  and  the  American  Medical  Association. 

Doctor  Graham  married  Miss  Edith  Bolles,  of 
Wilmington,  daughter  of  the  late  Maj.  Charles  P. 
Bolles,  whose  long  and  distinguished  career  is  told 
on  other  pages  of  this  publication.  Doctor  and 
Mrs.  Graham  have  eight  children,  Marie,  Elizabeth, 
Frederick,  Charles,  Edith,  Mary,  Flora  and  Mar- 
garet. 

John  Wallace  Wixborne  is  a  lawyer  and  dur- 
ing an  experience  of  twelve  years  has  shown  un- 
usual ability  in  handling  interests  entrusted  to 
his  charge,  and  is  prominent  both  in  the  business, 
professional  and  civic  and  patriotic  affairs  of  Ma- 
rion, his  home  city. 

Mr.  Winborne  was  born  in  Chowan  Countv, 
North  Carolina,  July  12,  1884,  son  of  Dr.  Robert 
H.  and  Annie  fParker)  Winborne.  He  grew  uj) 
in  the  home  of  that  well  known  physician  of 
that  county,  was  educated  parth'  at  home,  pre- 
pared for  college  in  Horner's  Military  School, 
and   in   1906   graduated   A.   B.   from   the   Univer- 


fuel;         ■•RYj 

ASTOR,  LENOX  I 

TILDEN    lOUNDATlON'j 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


301 


sity  of  North  Carolina,  and  in  August,  1906,  wan 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  North  Carolina  Su- 
preme Court.  For  about  a  year  he  taught  at 
Bingham  Military  School  and  in  June,  1907,  be- 
gan practice  at  Marion.  He  formed  a  partner- 
.ship  wtili  J.  W.  Pless  under  the  name  Pless  & 
Winborne. 

Mr.  Winborne  has  answered  the  call  to  assume 
many  responsibilities  in  connection  with  war  ac- 
tivities. He  is  chairman  of  the  local  organiza- 
tion of  the  Eed  Cross,  is  chairman  of  the  County 
Council  of  Defense,  chairman  of  the  Food  Ad- 
ministration for  McDowell  County,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Local  Board  of  Exemption.  He  is 
also  first  lieutenant  in  Company  Nineteenth  of 
the  North  Carolina  Reserve  Militia  or  Home 
Guards. 

Mr.  Winborne  served  four  years  as  chairman  of 
the  Democratic  Committee  for  McDowell  County 
aud  has  served  as  a  member  of  the  city  council 
six  years.  He  is  a  director  of  the  Cross  Cotton 
Mill,  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina  Bar  As- 
sociation, and  a  warden  in  St.  John's  Episcopal 
Church.  March  30,  1910,  he  married  Charlie  May 
Blantou.  They  have  two  children,  Charlotte  Blan- 
ton  and  John  Wallace,  Jr.,  born  December  20, 
191G. 

Jacob  H.  Rozzelle,  M.  D.  Bending  all  of  his 
energy  to  making  a  success  of  his  chosen  profes- 
sion, Jacob  H.  Eozzelle,  a  rising  .young  physician 
of  Salisbury,  is  fast  winning  for  himself  a  prom- 
inent and  honorable  name  in  the  medical  circles  of 
Rowan  County.  A  son  of  William  Durant  Rozzelle, 
he  was  born  on  a  farm  lying  near  the  south  line 
of  Iredell  County,  North  Carolina,  of  German 
ancestry, 

Thomas  Rozzelle,  the  doctor 's  grandfather,  was 
born  in  Germany,  and  came  to  America  with  his 
parents,  who  settled  in  the  soutliwest  corner  of 
Virginia,  near  the  states  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee 
and  North  Carolina.  On  attaining  man 's  estate 
he  came  to  North  Carolina  to  settle,  and  having 
bought  a  tract  of  land  near  Lineolnton  was  there 
engaged  in  farming  with  slave  labor  until  the 
death  of  his  wife  when  he  went  to  Texas  to  spend 
his  remaining  days  with  a  son.  He  married  a  Miss 
Hill,  who,  according  to  the  state  records,  was  the 
first  woman  in  North  Carolina  to  be  operated  on 
for  cancer  of  the  breast,  the  operation  having  been 
performed  by  a  Dr.  Rozzelle. 

Born  in  North  Carolina,  near  Lineolnton,  Wil- 
liam Durant  Rozzelle  was  reared  on  the  home  farm. 
Becoming  a  tiller  of  the  soil  from  choice,  he  sub- 
sequently bought  land  in  Iredell  County,  near 
Davidson  College,  and  was  there  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  the  remainder  of  his  active  life. 
He  spent  his  last  years  retired,  in  Charlotte,  dying 
at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years.  He  married  Mrs. 
Lettie  Louise  (Cathey)  Potts,  who  was  born  in 
Duesse  Township,  Mecklenburg  County,  North 
Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Vina  (Corne- 
lius) Cathey,  and  widow  of  Capt.  Monroe  Potts. 
She  survived  her  husband,  and  is  now  living  in 
Salisbury.  By  her  first  marriage  she  had  one  son, 
Monroe  Potts,  and  by  her  second  marriage  she 
has  six  children,  as  follows:  Charles  H.;  Marvin 
L.;  Daisy,  wife  of  Brevard  Knox;  Maggie,  wife 
of  Walter  H.  Wilson ;  Jacob  H.,  the  subject  of  this 
brief  sketch ;  and  Lily,  wife  of  Herman  Kenneble. 

Jacob  H.  Rozzelle  was  fitted  for  college  at  the 
Cornelius  High  School,  and  afterwards  took  a  two 
years'  course  at  Davidson  College.  He  then  en- 
gaged in  farming  for  three  years,  after  which  he 


entered  the  North  Carolina  Medical  College,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  M.  D. 
in  1912.  Immediately  locating  in  Rowan  County, 
Doctor  Rozzelle  practiced  medicine  at  China  Grove 
for  a  year,  aud  then  came  to  Salisbury,  where  he 
built  up  a  highly  satisfactory  practice,  his  profes- 
sional skill  and  abUity  having  been  widely  recog- 
nized. He  volunteered  in  Medical  Reserve  Corps 
aud  received  his  commission  Julj'  6,  1917,  as 
first  lieutenant.  Ordered  to  Camp  Greenleaf,  Chick- 
amauga  Park,  Georgia,  January  10,  1918,  for 
active  duty,  after  five  weeks'  military  instructions 
he  was  ordered  to  New  York  City  for  course  of 
instruction  at  Vanderbilt  Clinic  and  New  York 
Post  Graduate  Hospital  in  Urology  and  Derma- 
tology, for  two  months  before  reporting  at  embarka- 
tion port  for  Europe. 

Doctor  Rozzelle  is  a  member  of  both  the  Rowan 
County  and  the  North  Carolina  State  Medical  So- 
cieties. Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of  Rowan 
Lodge  No.  100,  Knights  of  Pythias;  of  Rosewood 
Camp  No.  1454,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America; 
of  Cliestnut  Camp  No.  625,  Woodmen  of  the 
World;  and  of  Salisbury  Council  No.  26,  Junior 
Order  of  United  American  Mechanics.  Religiously 
Doctor  Rozzelle  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

Robert  E.  Hollingsworth,  M.  D.  For  many 
years  the  name  Hollingsworth  in  Surry  County  has 
been  synonynuis  with  the  medical  profession.  A 
number  of  the  family  have  obtained  high  positions 
and  have  rendered  conspicuous  services  in  this  pro- 
fession, and  one  of  the  present  generation  in  active 
practice  is  Dr.  Robert  E.  Hollingsworth  of  Mount 
Airy.     Mount  Airy  is  his  birthplace. 

The  remote  ancestry  of  the  family  goes  back 
to  an  Englishman  who  came  to  AJmerica  with 
William  Penn.  From  Pennsylvania  some  of  the 
family  moved  to  Maryland,  from  there  to  King 
and  Queen  County,  Virginia,  and  still  later  to 
Duplin  County,  North  Carolina. 

Joseph  Hollingsworth,  great-grandfather  of  Dr. 
Robert  E.,  moved  from  Duplin  to  Stokes  County 
and  had  a  plantation  which  he  operated  with  the 
aid  of  his  slaves.  He  lived  there  until  his  death. 
He  married  a  Miss  Mathews,  and  they  reared  a 
large  family. 

James  Hollingsworth,  grandfather  of  Robert  E., 
was  born  in  what  is  now  Stokes  County  and  after 
reaching  manhood  he  bought  land  on  Tom  's  Creek 
in  Surry  County.  He  was  a  planter  and  farmer 
and  slave  owner,  and  lived  in  that  community  until 
his  death  at  the  age  of  sixty-one.  He  married 
Elizabeth  Golding,  who  was  born  in  Stokes  County, 
where  her  people  were  pioneers.  Her  death  oc- 
curred at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  Her  five  sons 
were  named  Joseph,  Edwin,  William  R. ;  John  and 
Isaac,  and  the  five  daughters  were  Mary,  Eliza, 
Sally,  Martha  and  Nannie.  Three  of  these  sons, 
Joseph,  Edwin  and  William,  took  up  the  profession 
of  medicine  aud  their  services  dignified  the  calling. 

William  R.  Hollingsworth,  who  was  born  on  a 
]jlantatiou  in  Westfield  Township  of  Surry  County 
January  14,  1836,  received  his  early  training  in 
the  rural  schools  and  in  the  Jonesville  High  School, 
and  from  high  school  he  entered  upon  the  study 
of  medicine  with  his  brother.  Dr.  Joseph  Hollings- 
worth. He  subsequently  entered  the  Jefferson 
Medical  College  at  Philadelphia  and  continued  his 
studies  until  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  He  then 
returned  home  and  accepted  a  commission  as 
surgeon  by  Governor  Ellis.  During  much  of  the 
war  he  was  on  duty  in  Surry  and  Stokes  counties. 


302 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


WLen  the  war  was  over  he  resumed  his  studies 
in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  was  graduated 
M.  D.  in  1867,  and  at  once  began  practice  at  Mount 
Airy,  where  he  was  an  honored  and  successful 
physician  until  his  death  in  1901,  his  son,  Robert 
E.,  having  in  the  meantime  begun  practice,  so  that 
there  is  no  break  in  this  branch  of  the  family's 
medical  services  for  fully  fifty  years. 

Dr.  William  Hollingsworth  was  married  August 
15,  1865,  to  Susan  Eleanor  Davis.  She  was  born 
at  Red  Shoals  in  Stokes  County  August  18,  1842, 
and  is  still  living  at  Mount  Airy.  Her  grandfa- 
ther, James  Davis,  Sr.,  was  a  farmer  and  probably 
a  life  long  resident  of  Stokes  County.  His  planta- 
tion was  on  the  Dan  River.  He  married  Margaret 
Dunlap,  and  both  of  them  attained  advanced  years. 
Their  remains  now  rest  in  the  cemetery  on  the 
home  farm.  Their  two  sons  were  named  James  and 
William,  who  inherited  the  plantation.  James 
Davis,  Jr.,  father  of  Mrs.  William  Hollingsworth, 
erected  a  hewed  log  house  on  his  part  of  the 
estate  and  for  a  number  of  years  his  family  oc- 
cupied that  domicile  without  change.  It  had  a 
brick  chimney  and  a  huge  fireplace,  and  his  wife 
cooked  her  meals  by  the  open  fire.  Slaves  tended 
the  fields  and  also  carded,  spun  and  wove  the  floss 
with  which  the  entire  family  were  dressed.  James 
Davis,  Sr.,  died  at  the  age  of  eighty  year?  and 
his  wife  at  sixty-one.  They  had  eleven  daughters 
and  two  sons,  named  Margaret,  Mary,  Eliza,  Eliza- 
beth, Jesse,  Martha,  Nancy,  James,  Rebecca,  Emily, 
Sarah,  Luretta  and  Susan.  Of  this  large  family 
Mrs.  William  Hollingsworth  is  the  only  survivor. 
She  was  the  mother  of  six  children:  Kate,  James, 
Sadie,  Robert  E.,  Frank  and  Margaret.  Kate 
married  S.  Porter  Graves,  member  of  a  prominent 
family  elsewhere  mentioned.  Sadie  married  Ed- 
ward Ashley.  Margaret  is  the  wife  of  N.  Glen 
Williams. 

Dr.  Robert  E.  Hollingsworth  grew  up  at  Mount 
Airy,  attended  the  local  schools  and  Guilford  Col- 
lege, and  finished  his  literary  education  in  the 
University  of  North  Carolina.  Following  the 
example  of  his  father  he  took  up  the  study  of 
medicine,  at  first  under  his  father 's  direction  and 
subsequently  attended  lectures  at  the  University 
College  of  Medicine,  now  the  Virginia  College  of 
Medicine  at  Richmond.  He  was  graduated  there 
in  1898  and  at  once  began  practice  at  Mount  Airy 
and  serves  many  of  the  families  who  were  his 
father's  patients  forty  or  fifty  years  ago.  Doctor 
Hollingsworth  now  as  always  makes  his  home  with 
his  mother.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Surry  County 
and  the  North  Carolina  State  Medical  soeietie.s. 
He  has  been  successful  in  a  business  way  and  is  a 
stockholder  in  various  corporations. 

Thomas  Fanning  Wood.  A  few  brief  years 
have  sufficed  to  give  Thomas  Panning  Wood  an 
enviable  place  of  prominence  in  the  business  affairs 
at  Wilmington.  In  1909  he  engaged  in  the  ship 
chandlery  business,  becoming  a  general  contractor 
for  the  fitting  out  and  supplying  of  vessels  in  the 
Port  of  Wilmington.  His  business  grew  until  it 
was  incorporated  in  1914  as  Thomas  F.  Wood,  and 
Mr.   Wood   is  president   and  treasurer. 

He  was  born  at  Wilmington  July  9,  1887.  His 
parents  are  Dr.  Thomas  Fanning  and  Mary  Ken- 
nedy fSprunt)  Wood.  His  father  was  an  old  and 
well  known  pdiysician  of  Wilmington.  The  son 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  attended  the 
University  of  North  Carolina  in  1906-07.  Soon 
after  leaving  college  he  took  up  his  present  line  of 
work,  and  besides   the  business  which   is  incorpo- 


rated in  his  name  he  is  also  a  director  in  the  Com- 
mercial Loan  Bank  of  Wilmington.  Mr.  Wood 
takes  an  active  interest  in  the  welfare  of  persons 
engaged  in  the  shipping  industry  and  is  secretary 
and  treasurer  of  the  Seamen  's  Friend  Society.  By 
appointment  from  the  governor  Mr.  Wood  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Navigation 
and  Piloting  for  Cape  Fear  River  and  Bar.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Carolina  Yacht  Club  and  belongs  to 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  On  December  25, 
1912,  he  married  Miss  Margaret  MacDonald  Smith, 
of  WUmington.  They  have  one  son,  Thomas  Fan- 
ning, Jr.,  born  Jiily  17,  1915. 

Erasmu.s  Alston  Daniel,  Jr.  Engaged  in  suc- 
cessful general  practice  as  a  lawyer  at  Washing- 
ton, Mr.  Daniel  is  one  of  the  able  and  popular 
young  attorneys  of  his  native  state  and  his  sue- 
i-ess  and  prestige  are  such  as  to  justify  most  fully 
his  choice  of  a  profession. 

Mr.  Daniel  was  born  in  Halifax  County,  North 
Carolina,  January  24,  1881,  a  son  of  Erasmus 
Alston  and  Temperance  Winifred  (Nicholson) 
Daniel.  He  spent  his  early  life  on  his  father's 
farm,  attended  the  Warrenton  High  School,  and 
took  both  the  law  and  academic  courses  of  the 
T'niversity  of  North  Carolina,  where  he  graduated 
in  1904  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  August 
of  the  same  year.  After  qualifying  for  his  pro- 
fession Mr.  Daniel  located  at  Washington,  and 
has  been  steadily  building  up  a  reputation  and 
a  large  business  and  general  practice  in  that  city. 
Since  1908  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Democra- 
tic State  Committee  and  is  an  attorney  in  good 
standing  in  the  North  Carolina  State  Bar  Asso- 
ciation. 

November  11,  1908,  he  married  Norfleet  Bryant, 
of  Washington,  North  Carolina.  They  have  three 
children,  Erasmus  A.,  Jr.  Norfleet  Owens  and  Blake 
Nicholson. 

Charles  E.  Godwin.  Courteous,  conscientious, 
and  painstaking,  Charles  E.  Godwin,  of  Lexington, 
clerk  of  the  Superior  Court,  has  proved  himself  a 
very  efficient  public  official,  the  affairs  of  his 
office  being  well  and  wisely  administered.  He 
was  born  on  a  farm  in  Johnston  County,  North 
Carolina,  in  Sebna  Township,  which  was  the  place 
of  birth  of  his  father,  Perry  Godwin.  His  grand- 
father, Simon  Godwin,  was  a  farmer,  and  was  a 
life-long  resident  of  Johnston  County. 

Finding  the  occupation  to  which  "he  was  reared 
both  pleasant  and  profitable,  Perry  Godwin  bought 
a  tract  of  land  lying  eighteen  miles  from  Burtons- 
ville,  Johnston  County,  and  with  the  help  of  slaves 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  At  Burtonsville 
the  la.st  battle  of  the  Civil  War  was  fought,  and 
that  entire  section  of  the  country  was  overrun 
by  both  armies.  His  grain  and  stock  were  seized, 
his  fences  destroyed,  and  at  the  close  of  the  con- 
flict he  was  forced  to  begin  the  battle  of  life 
anew,  the  only  asset  he  had  left  being  his 
land.  Nothing  daunted,  however,  he  resumed  his 
former  occupation,  and  his  efforts  were  crowned 
with  success.  In  1872  he  removed  with  his  family 
to  Moore  County,  North  Carolina,  and  there,  among 
the  long-leaved  pines,  he  was  engaged  in  the  tur- 
pentine business  a  few  years.  Returning  to 
Johnston  County,  he  located  in  Clayton,  where  he 
remained  until  his  death,  at  the  venerable  age  of 
eighty-two  years.  He  was  active  in  public  affairs, 
and  for  two  or  three  terms  served  as  mayor  of  the 
city. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Perrv  Godwin 


I 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


303 


was  Mollie  Hare.  She  was  born  in  Johnston 
County,  Worth  Carolina,  and  died,  at  the  age  of 
httj'-tour  years,  in  Sanford,  Lee  County,  beven 
cnildren  were  born  of  their  union,  as  follows: 
John  \V.,  iiviug  lu  Cjpress,  Florida;  Conderry,  a 
resident  of  SwaJin  Station,  Lee  County;  Charles 
E.;  Cherry,  wife  of  \V.  A.  Barnes,  of  Clayton; 
Bettie  died  at  the  age  of  twenty  years;  Sidney  G., 
an  unmarried  daughter,  and  Simon,  deceased. 

Charles  E.  Godwin  was  educated  in  his  native 
county,  attending  first  the  rural  schools,  and  later 
the  Selnia  High  School.  As  a  boy  of  fourteen 
years,  he  began  working  in  the  turpentine  business, 
and  a  year  later  was  operating  a  still  in  Moore 
County.  He  continued  thus  occupied  until  1883, 
when  he  removed  to  Dodge  County,  Georgia,  where 
he  continued  in  the  same  profitable  occupation  for 
eight  years.  Ketuniing  to  North  Carolina  in  1889, 
Mr.  Godwin  embarked  in  the  mercantile  business 
at  ThomasvUle,  putting  in  a  large  stock  of  general 
merchandise  and  groceries.  When  the  ThomasviUe 
Loan  and  Trust  Company,  now  the  First  National 
Bank  of  ThomasvUle,  was  organized,  Mr.  Godwin 
was  made  cashier.  That  responsible  position  he 
retained  until  19U6,  when  he  was  elected  clerk  of 
the  Superior  Court  of  Davidson  County.  He  has 
served  as  clerk  of  the  court  ever  since,  his  many 
re-elections  to  the  oUice  proving  his  popularity 
with  the  people.  In  1915  he  removed  to  his  ijreseut 
attractive  home  in  Lexington,  where  he  is  held  in 
high  regard  as  a  man  and  a  citizen. 

In  1886,  Mr.  Godwin  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Ellen  Merry.  She  was  born  in  Alachua 
County,  Florida,  a  daughter  of  Horace  and  Grace 
Merry.  Politically  Mr.  Godwin  has  been  an 
earnest  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  dem- 
ocratic party  since  casting  his  first  presidential 
vote  in  favor  of  Grover  Cleveland.  He  is  a 
demitted  member  of  the  Masonic  Fraternity;  an 
active  member  of  Lexington  Lodge,  Knights  of 
Pythias;  of  the  Patriotic  Sons  of  America;  of  the 
Royal  Arcanum,  and  Benevolent  and  Protective 
Order  of  Elks. 

John  Henry  Emory  has  been  active  in  the 
knitting  and  hosiery  mill  industries  of  Durham 
for  a  number  of  years  and  has  organized  and 
managed  several  of  the  larger  and  more  important 
enterprises    of    that    kind. 

His  success  is  the  product  of  experience  and  self 
training  since  he  started  life  without  capital  and 
with  no  special  influence  to  aid  him.  He  was  born 
in  Wake  County,  North  Carolina,  July  19,  1886, 
on  the  farm  of  )iis  parents  Henry  Clay  and  Frona 
(Leighton)  Emory.  Nearly  all  his  education  was 
acquired  at  home,  and  from  the  age  of  ten  he 
began  work  which  practically  paid  his  way.  For 
a  number  of  years  until  191o  Mr.  Emory  was  con- 
nected with  the  Durham  Hosiery  Mills,  part  of 
the  time  as  a  mechanic.  In  1913  he  resigned  to 
embark  in  the  shoe  business,  but  in  191.5  organized 
the  Banner  Hosiery  Mills,  of  which  he  became 
secretary  and  treasurer.  He  also  organized  the 
Bowling-Emory  Knitting  Mill,  but  sold  out  his 
interests  in  that  establishment  in  September,  1916. 
He  also  organized  Mill  No.  2  at  Youngsville,  North 
Carolina. 

Mr.  Emory  on  Ajji-il  17,  1910,  married  Ethel 
Thomas  of  Durham,  North  Carolina.  They  have 
three  children,  Lois  TuUoch,  John  Henry,  Jr.,  and 
Virginia  Hill. 

William  Stamps  Howard,  a  member  of  the 
Tarljoro    bar    for    twenty    years,    has    also    been 


j)rominent  in  business  and  industrial  aff:iirs  in 
that    city. 

He  was  born  at  Tarboro  November  18,  1875, 
son  of  George  and  Anna  (Stamjjsj  Howard.  His 
fatlier  was  a  well  known  attorney  in  this  section 
of  North  Carolina.  The  son  was  educated  in  the 
Horner 's  Military  School  and  in  1897  graduated 
from  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  In  1898 
lie  took  up  the  practice  of  law  but  soon  became 
identified  with  the  organization  of  the  Kunnymead 
Mills  Nos.  1  and  2  at  Tarboro  and  No.  3  at 
Wilson,  and  has  been  an  active  factor  in  these 
industries  ever  since.  Mr.  Howard  served  as 
state  senator  in  190708  and  was  county  attorney 
of  Edgecombe  County  from  1903  to  1907.  He 
is  an  official  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
at  Tarboro. 

November  1-1,  1901,  he  married  Miss  Mary 
McPherson  Ferebee,  of  Oxford,  North  Carolina. 
They  have  four  children.  William  Stamps,  Jr., 
Nelson  Ferebee,  Eomaine  Smith  and  Mary  Ferebee. 

Claude  Leonard  Pridgen,  M.  D.  From  the 
time  he  graduated  in  medicine  until  about  two 
years  ago  when  he  located  at  Wilmington,  Doctor 
Pridgen  devoted  himsel-  almost  unreservedly  to  the 
cause  of  the  public  health  movement  in  North 
Carolina,  and  rendered  a  service  of  great  benefit 
to  the  community  and  state,  even  though  the 
material  rewards  were  not  those  that  come  to 
the   successful  private   practitioner. 

Born  at  Kinston,  North  Carolina,  April  14, 
1877,  a  son  of  James  Alexander  and  Mary  Ann 
(Wright)  Pridgen,  his  father  a  merchant.  Doctor 
Pridgen  was  liberally  educated  for  his  chosen 
work.  Through  private  schools.  Wake  Forest  Col- 
lege, from  which  he  graduated  iu  1892,  and  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  where  he  completed  the  course  in  1899, 
he  went  steadily  ahead  to  higher  attainments  in 
his  special  field,  and  in  1901  was  graduated  from 
the  Jefferson  Medical  College  in  Philadelphia,  and 
in  1907  went  abroad  for  post-graduate  experience 
in  Edinburgh,  Scotland.  While  for  a  number  of 
years  he  lias  looked  after  a  general  practice, 
his  work  is  more  and  more  being  sjiecialized  in 
diseases   of   the   stomach   and   intestines. 

He  first  opened  his  office  in  his  native  Town 
of  Kinston,  and  while  there  served  as  superin- 
tendent of  health  of  Lenoir  County  for  ten  years, 
and  was  also  president  of  the  Lenoir  County 
Medical   Society. 

In  July,  1910,  Doctor  Pridgen  became  asso- 
ciated under  the  State  Board  of  Health  with  the 
Rockefeller  Hookworm  Commission  and  gave  all 
liis  time  to  investigations  and  methods  of  eradi- 
cading  this  disease  until  1914.  In  that  year  he 
removed  to  Wilmington,  and  has  since  applied 
himself  to  a  growing  and  private  practice.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Hanover  County  and  State 
Medical  Societies,  and  is  now  serving  with  the 
rank  of  major  in  the  Medical  Corps  of  the  North 
Carolina  National  Guard.  He  is  also  prominent 
in  Masonry,  having  attained  the  thirty-second  de- 
gree of  the  Scottish  Rite,  belongs  to  the  Mystic 
Shrine,  and  also  to  the  Social  Order  of  Master 
Masons,  known  as  the  Grotto  M.  O.  V.  P.  E.  R. 
He  was  elected  grand  master  of  the  Masonic 
Lodge  for  1917.  He  is  a  member  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Wilmington,  and  is  a  teacher 
in  the  Sunday  School.  Even  with  the  demands 
made  upon  him  as  a  private  practitioner  he  finds 
time  to  take  the  lead  in  movements  for  organ- 
izing more  effectively  to  care  for  those  whose 
private  means  do  not  afford  them  the  best  profes- 


304 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


sional  services,  and  rcceiitlj'  he  called  a  mass 
meeting  of  citizens  in  Wilmington  for  tlie  purpose 
of  establishing  the  Bal>y  Hospital.  He  was  made 
chairman  of  the  Board  upon  organizatior.  Doctor 
Pridgen  is  a  member  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the 
Cape   Fear  Country  Club. 

On  July  28,  1910,  he  married  Miss  Ila  Adele 
Eoundtree,  of  Wilmington.  They  have  one  son, 
Claude    Leonard,    Jr.,    born    September    20,    1913. 

Hon.  John  Dillaed  Bellamt.  Within  the  pres- 
ent generation  there  has  not  arisen  in  the  Old 
North  State  a  greater  or  more  brilliant  lawyer,  a 
finer  citizen  or  a  more  eminent  statesman  than 
Hon.  John  Dillard  Bellamy,  of  Wilmington.  Bear- 
ing the  name  of  a  family  that  has  been  honored  for 
its  achievements  in  America  for  many  generations, 
he  has  added  luster  and  brilliance  to  the  family 
escutcheon  and  his  personal  accomplishments  are 
indelibly  written  on  the  pages  of  his  state's  his- 
tory. 

John  Dillard  Bellamy  was  born  at  Wilmington, 
North  Carolina,  March  24,  1854,  a  son  of  Dr.  John 
Dillard  and  Eliza  M.  (Harriss)  Bellamy.  Bellamy 
is  an  ancient  surname  prominent  in  England  as 
early  as  the  twelfth  century,  when  the  family  had 
for  its  coat-of-arms  the  following:  Sable  on  a 
fesse  or,  cotised  argent,  three  crescents  azure. 
Crest:  An  arm  couped  habited  sable,  cuffed  argent 
holding  in  the  hand  proper  a  sceptre,  on  the  top  a 
crescent  argent.  The  liistory  of  the  Bellamy  fam- 
ily in  America  goes  back  to  the  year  1670,  when 
John  Bellamy,  with  Sir  John  Yeamans  and  other 
associates,  settled  the  Charleston  Colony  in  South 
Carolina.  John  Bellamy,  a  native  of  London,  was 
a  youth  at  the  time  of  the  fitting  out  of  the 
Plymouth  Colony,  and  manifested  great  interest  in 
this  pilgrimage.  After  the  occupation  of  the  Bar- 
badoes  Island  by  the  British,  in  1625,  his  venture- 
some spirit  prompted  him  to  join  the  Barbadoes 
Colony,  and  it  was  here  that  he  met  Sir  John  Yea- 
mans  "and  became  one  of  the  grantees  or  charterers 
of  the  Yeamans  Colony,  which,  in  1665,  effected  a 
settlement  of  English  families  from  Barbadoes  at 
Charleston,  South  Carolina.  According  to  a  map 
made  in  1711,  John  Bellamy's  plantation  was  be- 
tween the  Ashley  and  Cooper  rivers,  and  there  he 
came  to  live  about  the  year  1670.  He  died  pos- 
sessed of  great  wealth.  His  son,  John  Bellamy, 
settled  on  the  Santee  River  in  South  Carolina,  and 
was  a  large  planter.  He  had  a  son,  also  named 
John  Bellamy,  who  was  born  in  Saint  George's 
Parish  in  1750.  This  last  named  John  Bellamy 
became  the  father  of  Dr.  John  Dillard  Bellamy, 
mentioned  above. 

John  Bellamy,  born  April  12,  1750,  was  a  man 
of  considerable"  wealth  in  slaves,  real  estate  and 
vessel  property.  Physically  of  large,  athletic 
build,  he  was  a  leader"  of  men.  Nothing  mean  or 
petty  found  lodgment  in  his  nature,  and  he  was 
famed  for  his  lavish  hospitality.  He  craved  the 
friendships  that  it  was  his  royal  nature  to  bestow, 
and  among  his  closest  friends  was  the  late  John 
Dillard  of  Rockingham  County,  North  Carolina, 
for  whom  he  named  his  son.  John  Dillard  was 
the  ancestor  of  the  late  Judge  Dillard,  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  North  Carolina.  He  was  a  fre- 
quent visitor  at  the  home  of  John  Bellamy  and 
joined  him  in  his  hunting  excursions  and  in  a 
"cruise  on  one  of  his  sloops. 

Abram  Bellamy,  a  brother  of  John  Bellamy,  was 
with  General  Jackson  in  the  war  with  Spain,  as  a 
civil  engineer,  and  moved  to  Florida  about  1819, 
before  that  state  was  admitted  to  the  Union,  there 


settling  at  and  laying  out  the  City  of  Jacksonville. 
He  took  with  liim  his  son,  .John  Bellamy,  wlio  be- 
came a  man  of  great  wealth,  and  the  progenitor 
of  numerous  descendants  who  have  achieved  dis- 
tinction, including  the  Baileys,  Turnbulls,  Lamars, 
Eppes,  Parkhills  and  Mays,  and  of  Maj.  Burton 
Bellamy,  in  his  life  time  the  largest  planter  in 
Florida. 

Dr.  John  D.  Bellamy  was  born  in  All  Saints 
Parish,  South  Carolina,  September  18,  1817,  and 
married  at  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  Miss  Eliza 
M.  Harriss,  daughter  of  Dr.  William  James  Har- 
riss, a  prominent  physician,  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  North  Carolina,  who,  when  he  died  in 
1839,  was  mayor  of  Wilmington.  Educated  at  the 
College  of  South  Carolina,  and  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  Doctor  Bellamy  was 
a  physician  of  great  professional  prominence.  He 
came  to  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  in  1835. 
Politically  he  was  a  democrat,  of  the  John  C. 
Calhoun  school,  and  an  ardent  secessionist.  While 
he  always  refused  public  office,  frequently  ten- 
dered him,  yet  he  was  for  twenty-five  years  chair- 
man of  the  democratic  party  in  his  county  and 
saw  it  increase  from  only  two  literate  whites  in 
the  Borough  of  Wilmington  in  1837  to  an  over- 
whelming majority  in  1850  to  1860.  At  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Civil  war  he  was  one  of  the  wealth- 
iest men  of  North  Carolina,  a  director  in  several 
railroads  and  banks,  and  owning,  in  North  and 
South  Carolina  together,  on  his  several  plantations, 
it  was  said,  nearly  1,100  slaves.  It  was  his  pride 
and  claim  that  he  never  sold  or  separated  married 
slaves,  but  much  of  his  increase  in  slave  property 
was  due  to  the  purchase  of  others  who  had  wedded 
among  his  own  slaves.  He  had  regularly  employed, 
on  an  annual  salary,  a  Methodist  minister  to 
preach  to  them  on  the  Sabbath  and  to  perform 
their  marriage  and  burial  services.  His  home  at 
Wilmington  still  stands,  being  owned  by  the  fam- 
ily, and  is  one  of  the  finest  examples  of  southern 
colonial  architecture  extant,  having  immense  Cor- 
inthian columns  surrounding  it.  It  became  the 
headquarters  successively  of  Gen.  Alfred  Terry, 
Gen.  Schofield  and  Gen.  Joseph  B.  Hawley,  when 
Wilmington  was  captured  by  the  Federal  troops 
in  1865,  near  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  and  from 
the  portico  of  this  home  Chief  Justice  Chase,  then 
having  presidential  aspirations,  made  the  first 
speech  of  reconciliation  in  the  South  after  the  war, 
contending  that  the  Southern  States  were  never 
out  of  the  Union  and  that  they  were  entitled  to 
their  electoral  votes.  The  residence  was  withheld 
from  the  family  for  a  number  of  years  by  the 
United  States  Government,  until  President  John- 
son granted  a  special  pardon  to  Doctor  Bellamy, 
and  restored  him  to  his  property  rights. 

John  Dillard  Bellamy,  of  this  review,  lawyer, 
capitalist,  manufacturer  and  an  influential  factor 
in  state  and  national  politics,  is  regarded  as  one 
of  the  most  able  men  in  the  South,  conservative 
and  cautious,  but  also  far-sighted,  enterprising  and 
progressive.  He  was  privileged  to  acquire  a  liberal 
education  at  Cape  Fear  Military  Academy,  con- 
ducted at  Wilmington  by  Gen.  Raleigh  E.  Colston ; 
Davidson  College,  where  he  received  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Art ;  and  at  a  number  of  other  schools, 
including  the  academic  and  law  departments  of 
the  University  of  Virginia,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws 
\n  1875.  For  more  than  forty  years  Mr.  Bellamy 
has  had  an  active  and  brilliant  career  before  the 
bar  of  North  Carolina,  both  as  a  general  practi- 


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HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


305 


tioner  ami  as  an  attorney  and  counsellor  for 
many  of  the  largest  corporations  in  the  South.  He 
served  for  many  years  as  one  of  the  counsels  for 
the  Atlantic  Coast  Line  Railroad  Company,  and 
in  1912  resigned  to  accept  the  appointment  of  dis- 
trict counsel  for  the  Seaboard  Air  Line  Railway. 
He  is  also  counsellor  for  the  Western  Union  Tele- 
graph Company,  the  Southern  Bell  Telephone  Com- 
pany, and  many  other  corporations  requiring  expert 
legal  advice.  Mr.  Bellamy  established  and  was 
the  principal  owner  of  the  Wilmington  Street  Rail- 
way up  to  the  time  of  its  electrification.  He 
is  president  of  the  North  Carolina  Terminal  Com- 
pany, president  and  sole  owner  with  J.  Walter 
Williamson,  his  son-in-law,  of  the  BellwiU  Cotton 
Mills,  the  largest  stockholder  of  the  Delgado  Cot- 
ton Mills,  and  a  director  in  various  other  in- 
dustrial enterprises  and  banks.  He  was  grand 
master  of  the  State  of  Nortli  Carolina  of  the  In- 
dependent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  in  1892,  and  rep- 
resentative to  the  sovereign  grand  lodge  of  that 
order  for  the  two  following  years. 

In  public  life  Mr.  Bellamy  has  rendered  valua- 
ble service  to  the  state  and  nation  for  years  as  a 
member  of  the  democratic  state  executive  commit- 
tee, as  chairman  of  the  county  executive  commit- 
tee, as  state  senator,  and  as  a  member  of  the 
United  State  House  of  Representatives.  His  first 
public  office  was  that  of  city  attorney  of  Wilming- 
ton, and  subse()uently  he  became  county  attorney 
for  Brunswick  County.  In  1891  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Senate  and  sent  to  the  North  Caro- 
lina Legislature,  and  in  this  connection  we  may  not 
inappropriately  C|U0te  from  an  editorial  estimate 
which  appeared  in  the  Raleigh  Observer:  "Senator 
Bellamy  has  made  a  more  favoralde  reputation  for 
ability  and  learning  than  any  other  member  of 
this  body. ' ' 

In  1892  Mr.  Bellamy  was  chosen  as  a  delegate- 
at-large  to  the  national  democratic  convention  held 
at  Chicago,  and  again,  in  1908,  was  a  delegate  to 
the  convention  of  his  party  held  at  Denver.  His 
entry  into  national  politics  began  in  1898,  when  he 
was  nominated  as  democratic  candidate  for  the 
Fifty-sixth  Congress.  At  that  time  his  district  was 
the  largest  in  the  state  and  included  the  cities 
of  Wilmington  and  Charlotte.  It  was  termed  the 
"shoe-string"  district.  Mr.  Bellamy's  opponent 
was  Hon.  Oliver  H.  Dockery,  the  foremost  repub- 
lican in  the  state.  Wlien  the  spirited  campaign 
was  over  and  the  votes  counted  it  was  found  that 
Mr.  Bellamy  had  carried  the  district  by  a  majority 
of  6,000,  reversing  a  5,000  republican  majority  in 
the  previous  election.  His  opponent  saw  fit  to  eon- 
test  his  right  to  incumbency  on  the  plea  that  a 
local  political  riot,  which  occurred  three  days  after 
the  election,  was  the  cause  of  the  result.  He  did 
not  claim  that  Mr.  Bellamy  had  any  part  directly 
or  indirectly  in  the  trouble,  but  insisted  that  his 
seat  in  Congress  should  be  withheld  as  a  rebuke 
to  the  state  and  local  democracy.  The  position 
of  Mr.  Bellamy  was  upheld  l">y  such  distinguished 
men  as  the  late  Hon.  John  Hay ;  Thomas  Nelson 
Page,  now  ambassador  to  Italy;  and  former  Attor- 
ney-C4eneral  John  W.  Griggs.  Mr.  Page  vigorously 
defended  Mr.  Bellamy  in  the  columns  of  the  Wash- 
ington Post,  coiiimending  him  as  a  patriot,  gentle- 
man and  scholar.  Although  the  matter  attracted 
much  attention  in  a  public  print,  a  Congres- 
sional Committee,  upon  investigation,  found  the 
basis  of  complaint  to  be  unworthy  of  a  report. 
As  a  tribute  to  the  personal  worth  of  Mr.  Bellamy 
he  was  again  elected,  in  1901,  this  time  to  the 
Fifty-Seventh  Congress,  by  a  greater  majority  than 

Vol.  IV— 20 


the  amazing  vote  polled  in  1899.  He  has  been 
frequently  urged  by  the  most  prominent  men  in 
all  parts  of  the  state  to  liecome  a  candidate  for 
the  office  of  governor  of  North  Carolina. 

Socially  Mr.  Bellamy  is  a  member  of  tlie  Theta 
Delta  Chi  fraternity,  the  Cape  Fear  Club,  the  Cape 
Fear  Country  Club,  and  also  holds  membership  in 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  State 
Historical  Association  and  the  North  Carolina  Bar 
Association.  His  religious  faith  is  that  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  Mr.  Bellamy  being  a  firm 
believer  in  the  doctrines  of  John  Calvin. 

Mr.  Bellamy  was  married  at  Hibernia,  near 
Townesville  in  Granville  County,  North  Carolina, 
Decemlicr  6,  1876,  to  Miss  Emma  May  Hargrove, 
daughter  of  Col.  John  and  Mary  (Grist)  Hargrove. 
To  this  union  there  have  been  born  five  children,  as 
follows :  Eliza  M.,  who  was  educated  at  Mrs.  Le- 
febvre  's  School,  Baltimore,  Maryland,  married 
James  Walter  Williamson,  and  is  the  mother  of 
one  child,  Emma  Bellamy;  William  McKay,  edu- 
cated at  the  University  of  North  Carolina  and 
the  University  of  Virginia,  and  now  a  practicing 
attorney  of  Wilmington,  having  married  Miss  Anne 
Thornton  Spence  of  Atlanta,  Georgia;  Emmett 
Hargrove,  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  Bachelor  of  Art,  1912,  also  attended 
Davidson  College,  Harvard  and  Columbia  universi- 
ties, graduating  with  the  degree  of  LL.  B.  in  tlie 
latter  institution  in  1916  and  is  now  a  lieutenant 
in  the  Eightieth  Field  Artillery  of  the  United 
States  Army,  now  in  France;  Mary  Hargrove,  edu- 
cated at  the  National  Cathedral  School  at  Wash- 
ington, District  of  Cohunbia,  and  the  Finch  School, 
New  York  City;  and  Marguerite  Grist,  educated 
at  the  school  of  Miss  Hart  at  Wilmington,  Nortli 
Carolina,  and  a  graduate  of  the  Finch  School,  New 
York  City,  obtaining  her  degree  in  1918. 

Mr.  Bellamy  is  possessed  of  much  more  than 
ordinary  literary  talent,  and  is  the  author  of  a 
number  of  historical  essays,  among  them  being: 
' '  Tlie  Life  and  Services  of  General  Robert  Howe, 
of  the  American  Revolution"  and  "The  Life  of 
General  Alexander  Lillington. ' '  In  his  reading, 
outside  of  the  law,  he  prefers  the  classics  and 
French  and  German  authors.  He  believes  that  the 
best  interests  of  the  state  and  nation  may  be  pro- 
moted by  strict  adherence  to  Jeffersonian  democ- 
racy, and  by  permitting  women  to  vote  and  share 
in  the  responsibilities  of  government. 

The  life  of  John  Dillard  Bellamy  has  been  one 
of  active  labor.  He  has  been  a  useful  man  to  his 
generation.  Regarding  his  success  in  life  he 
enunciates  a  strict  adherence  to  these  principles: 
Promptness  and  punctuality ;  never  put  off  until 
tomorrow  what  can  be  done  today;  fidelity  to  your 
friends  and  to  your  clients;  work  without  ceasing 
and  always  be  ready  for  trial. 

George  Pierce  Pell,  lawyer  ajid  jurist,  ami 
known  everywhere  to  the  legal  profession  by  his 
work  as  an  author  and  editor,  is  member  of  a 
family  that  has  given  several  distinguished  names 
to  the  professions. 

His  parents  were  William  Edward  and  Virginia 
Carolina  (Ramsay)  Pell.  His  father  was  a  prom- 
inent minister  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  during 
the  '-lOs  located  at  Raleigh  and  became  editor  of 
the  Conference  organ  known  as  the  Episcopal 
Methodist,  now  the  Raleigh  Christian  Advocate. 
During  the  war  he  was  a  member  of  Governor 
Vance's  private  war  council,  and  at  the  same  time 
was  editor  of  the  CKiufederate  and  later  of  the 
Conservative.      In    August,   1865,   he   founded   the 


306 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Raleigh  Sentinel,  ivliicli  in  1869  he  sold  to  Josiah 
Turner,  and  which  later  became  the  News  and 
Observer.  His  health  failing,  he  retired  and  died 
November  11,  1870.  His  widow  survived  him 
until  July  2,  1908,  and  supported  herself  and  her 
children  for  sonie  j'ears  as  a  teacher  of  music. 

One  of  the  older  sons  of  Eev.  William  B.  Pell 
is  Robert  Paine  Pell,  who  was  born  in  1860,  grad- 
uated from  the  University  of  North  Carolina  in 
1881,  and  has  since  been  active  as  a  teacher  or  in 
the  Presbyterian  ministry ;  was  for  a  number  of 
years  president  of  the  Presbyterian  College  for 
Women  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  and  is  now 
president  of  Converse  College  at  Spartanburg, 
South  Carolina. 

Still  another  member  of  the  family,  and  a 
brother  of  George  Pierce  Pell,  is  Edward  Leigh 
Pell,  who  was  born  at  Raleigh  in  1861,  spent  ten 
years  in  the  ministry  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Richmond, 
Virginia,  and  author  of  a  number  of  religious  and 
liiblical  works  which  have  had  a  very  extensive 
circulation  and   sale. 

George  Pierce  Pell,  the  youngest  of  his  father 's 
family,  was  born  at  Raleigh,  June  19,  1870. 
Owing  to  the  fact  that  his  mother  was  a  teacher 
of  music  in  several  colleges  for  women  he  received 
].iart  of  his  early  education  in  those  schools, 
attending  the  Davenport  Female  College,  the 
Thomasville  Female  College  and  the  Greensboro 
College.  He  also  attended  citv  schools,  and  in  the 
years  1884,  1885,  1886  and  1889  was  a  student  in 
Trinity  College.  He  studied  law  at  the  Columbian 
I'niversity  in  Washington,  D.  C,  and  at  George- 
town TTniversity,  D.  C,  from  which  latter  institu- 
tion he  received  his  LL.  B.  degree  in  1896. 

The  years  1890,  1891  and  189.3  he  spent  in 
newspaper  work,  at  first  with  Josephus  Daniels, 
as  city  editor  of  the  Daily  Chronicle  at  Rnleigh, 
then  on  the  Daily  Sentinel  at  Winston-Salem,  and 
with  the  Yadkin  Valley  News  at  Mount  Airy. 

Mr.  Pell  began  practice  in  Winston-Salem,  North 
Carolina,  in  1898,  but  later  removed  to  Ashe 
County  where  he  was  associated  with  Capt.  Joseph 
Todd;  was  in  practice  there  five  years  and  then 
moved  back  to  Winston-Salem.  He  was  secretary 
of  the  North  Carolina  Code  Commission  which 
puldished  the  Revisal  of  1905.  In  1908  he  edited 
and  piublished  what  is  known  as  "Pell's  Revisal" 
a  complete  annotated  edition  of  tlie  state  code 
in  three  volumes.  He  later  wrote  "Pell's  Forms 
of  Pleading  and  Practice,"  "Pell's  Banking  and 
Negotiable  Instruments  Law,"  "Pell's  Lien 
Laws ' '  and  ' '  Pell 's  Monographs  on  the  Laws  of 
North    Carolina." 

On  April  3,  1910,  he  was  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor as  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  the  Elev- 
enth Judicial  District  to  fill  the  unexpired  term 
of  .Tudge  E.  B.  Jones.  He  was  not  a  candidate 
for  nomination  for  the  regular  term,  but  retired 
to  the  practice.  He  is  a  member  of  the  North 
Carolina  Corporation  Commission,  his  term  expir- 
ing in  January,  1919.  During  1891-93  he  served 
as  reading  clerk  of  the  North  Carolina  Senate. 
From  1901  to  1903  he  was  a  director  of  the  State 
Railway,  the  North  Carolina  Railroad. 

On  May  25,  1892,  Mr.  Pell  married  Mary  Vic- 
toria de  Shazo  of  Henry  County,  Virginia.  Her 
grandfather  came  from  France  with  Lafayette. 
They  are  the  parents  of  three  childrn :  Mary  Vir- 
ginia, now  Mrs.  Wallace  Bruce  Lea,  whose  husband 
is  a  tobacco  buyer  at  Danville,  Virginia;  Wil- 
liam Edward,  who  graduated  from  the  University 
of  North  Carolina  in  1916,  and  Josephus  Daniels, 


now  a  student  at  the  State  College  of  Agriculture 
and  Engineering. 

M.  Herbert  Stone.  Scholarly  in  his  attain- 
ments, possessing  business  ability  and  judgment, 
and  an  excellent  knowledge  of  law,  M.  Herbert 
Stone,  a  rising  young  attorney  of  Thomasville,  is 
a  fine  representative  of  the  native-born  citizens  of 
Da\'idson  County,  his  birth  having  occurred  in 
Thomasville.  He  comes  of  pioneer  stock,  being  a 
descendant  in  the  fifth  generation  of  Solomon 
Stone,  who  settled  in  North  Carolina  prior  to  the 
Revolutionary  war,  the  line  of  descent  lieing  con- 
tinued through  .Jehu  Bloomtield,  Roswell  K.,  to 
M.  Herbert. 

Solomon  Stone,  a  native  of  Maryland,  was  of 
German  descent,  the  immigrant  ancestor  of  his 
finnily  having  been  born  in  Germany,  where  the 
name  was  spelled  "Stein."  Coming  to  North 
Carolina  in  colonial  days,  he  was  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  Rowan  County,  where  he  redeemed  a 
farm  from  the  forest. 

Born  in  Rowan  County,  Jehu  Stone  remained 
with  his  jiarents  until  becoming  of  age.  Locating 
then  in  what  is  now  Thomasville  Township,  Dav- 
idson County,  he  bought  land  lying  four  miles 
northwest  of  the  present  site  of  Thomasville,  and 
immediately  began  the  development  of  a  home- 
stead. Soon  after  his  arrival  in  that  vicinity,  he 
was  appointed  deputy  sheriff,  and  subsequently 
served  in  that  capacity  the  greater  part  of  his 
active  life. 

A  native  of  Thomasville  Township,  Bloomfield 
Stone  acquired  his  early  education  in  the  district 
schools.  An  ambitious  student,  he  obtained  by  in- 
telligent and  extensive  reading  a  good  knowledge 
of  law,  but  was  never  licensed  to  practice.  He 
came  into  possession  of  a  tract  of  land  Vjy  inheri- 
tance, and  later  his  wife  bought  an  adjoining 
tract;  there  with  slave  labor  he  improved  a  good 
farm,  on  which  he  spent  his  remaining  days.  Thg 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Phranie  Leonard. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  Peter  Leonard,  and  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Valentine  Leonard,  who  came  from 
Germany  to  the  United  States  in  colonial  days, 
and  after  serving  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
war  settled  in  what  is  now  Davidson  County,  this 
state,  becoming  a  pioneer  of  Lexington  Township. 
Peter  Leonard  and  his  wife  were  both  buried  in 
the  Pilgrim  Church  Cemetery.  Bloomfield  Stone 
was  reared  a  Quaker,  and  his  wife  in  the  German 
Reformed  Church.  Both,  however,  were  buried  in 
the  Pine  Woods  Quaker  Burying  Ground. 

Roswell  K.  Stone  was  born,  in  June,  1849,  in 
Thomasville  Township,  on  the  parental  homestead, 
a  part  of  which  he  inherited.  After  assuming  its 
possession,  he  continued  the  improvements  jire- 
viously  inaugiirated,  among  others  erecting  a  sub- 
stantial set  of  buildings,  and  was  there  engaged 
in  general  farming  until  1876.  Moving  in  that 
year  to  Thomasville,  he  began  work  in  a  shoe  fac- 
tory, of  which  he  was  later  made  superintendent. 
Subsequently  resigning  that  position,  he  returned 
to  his  farm,  which  he  still  claims  as  his  residence. 
He  married  Sarah  J.  Burton,  a  daughter  of  Solo- 
mon and  Mary  Ann  (Gordy)  Burton,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Basil  Burton,  a  prominent  farmer, 
who  for  many  years  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  High 
Point.  Solomon  Burton  owned  and  occmued  a 
farm  in  Thomasville  Township,  where  he  died  at 
the  age  of  four  score  and  four  years,  while  his 
w-ife,  who  survived  him,  attained  the  venerable 
age  of  eighty.-seven  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roswell 
K.   Stone  reared  six  children,  as  follows:     Adol- 


5^,5^7^V^^/ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


307 


phus  L.,  il.  Horlun-t,  Augiista  II.,  Effie  B.,  Elsie 
B.,  and  Fleeta. 

M.  Herbert  Stone  was  educated  in  Thomasville, 
attending  the  public  schools  and  the  college.  Be- 
ginning his  active  career  soon  atter  becoming  of 
age,  he  was  for  three  years  employed  as  a  travel- 
ing salesman,  after  which  he  taught  school  four 
terms.  Mr.  Stone,  ready  then  to  settle  in  life,  era- 
barked  in  mercantile  pursuits  in  Thomasville, 
where  he  has  remained  since,  having  built  up  a 
large  and  highly  remunerative  business.  In  the 
meantime,  Mr.  Stone  has  devoted  his  leisure  hours 
to  the  reading  of  law,  and  having  completed  a 
course  in  the  American  School  of  Law  at  Chicago 
was  admitted  to  practice  in  1917,  since  which 
time  he  has  served  as  solicitor  for  the  Record- 
er 's   Court   at   Thomasville. 

Mr.  Stone  married,  in  1899,  Annie  M.  Burton, 
a  daughter  of  Cyrus  W.  and  Elizabeth  (Gray) 
Burton,  and  grand-daughter  of  Wesley  Burton. 
She  comes  of  pioneer  stock  on  both  sides  of  the 
house,  the  Gordys  and  Burtons  having  been  early 
settlers  of  Davidson  County,  and  the  Grays  of 
Eandolph  County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stone  have  one 
daughter,  Audrey  Stone,  a  young  woman  of  bril- 
liant intellect,  who  was  graduated  from  the  graded 
schools  of  Thomasville  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
"years,  and  after  spending  a  year  at  the  Ch-eens- 
boro  College  for  Women,  is  now,  at  the  age  of 
sixteen  years,  a  junior  at  Saint  Mary's  College, 
in  Raleigh,  and  president  of  her  class. 

Interested  and  active  in  public  affairs,  Mr. 
Stone  has  served  as  a  member  of  the  Town  Council ; 
as  secretary  to  Mayor  C.  G.  Hill;  and  for  two 
years  was  a  member,  and  the  secretary,  of  the 
Thomasville  Water  Committee.  Fraternally  he  is 
a  member  of  Thomasville  Lodge  No.  214,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons;  and  of 
Thomasville  Council,  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stone 
are  consistent  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,   South. 

John  F.  MoF.\dyen.  One  of  the  oldest  and 
most  historic  families  in  Cumberland  County  is 
represented  by  John  F.  McFadyen,  a  prominent 
planter  whose  home  is  on  the  Yadkin  Road,  four- 
teen miles  northwest  of  Fayetteville  and  near  the 
famous  Longstreet  Church,  which  was  founded  in 
1758,  and  which  had  some  of  the  McFadyen  family 
as  its  first  communicants. 

Tlie  founder  of  the  family  in  that  locality  was 
his  grandfather,  Archibald  McFadyen,  who  was 
born  in  Scotland.  In  young  manhood  he  immi- 
grated to  America  a  number  of  years  before  the 
Eevolution,  settling  near  what  is  now  Manchester 
in  the  northwest  part  of  Cumberland  County.  His 
home  was  three  miles  west  of  the  present  Town  of 
Manchester.  He  was  part  of  a  general  migration 
of  Scotch  Presbyterian  fiimilies  to  this  Cape  Fear 
section  of  Nortli  Carolina.  No  other  class  of  peo- 
ple has  BO  strongly  influenced  and  done  so  much 
to  make  history  in  this  part  of  North  Carolina. 
For  a  century  and  a  half  nearly  all  the  leading 
and  most  substantial  citizens  have  represented  this 
Scotch  Presbyterian  stock.  Archibald  McFadyen 
was  a  communicant  of  old  Longstreet  Church, 
which  together  with  Bluff  and  Barbecue  churches 
was  founded  in  17.'i8.  a  centennial  anniversary 
being  celebrated  in  18.58.  It  is  probable  that  Archi- 
bald McFadyen  was  one  of  the  ruling  elders  of 
the  church.  At  anv  rate  the  history  of  the  family 
is  intimatelv  associated  with  the  church,  and  the 
McFadyens  have  lived  in  that  vicinity  since  prior 


to  tlie  Revolutionary  war.  Dougald  McFadyen 
and  his  son,  John  F.,  have  both  served  the  church 
as  its  ruling  elders. 

Archibald  McFadyen  lived  to  be  very  old.  He 
was  married  twice.  Dougald  McFadyen,  father 
of  John  F.,  was  the  youngest  child  of  the  second 
marriage  and  was  six  years  old  when  his  father 
died.  This  accounts  for  such  a  long  stretch  of 
vears  covering  only  three  generations.  Dougald 
McFadyen  was  born  in  1822  and  died  in  1892.  His 
liome  adjoined  the  place  where  his  son,  John,  now 
lives,  three  miles  from  Longstreet  Church.  He 
married  Annie  Lindsay,  who  is  still  living.  She 
was  horn  on  the  ocean  coming  from  Scotland, 
daugliter  of  John  Lindsay,  who  reached  this  coun- 
try  in   18.38. 

John  F.  McFadyen  was  born  at  his  father's 
place  in  the  northwest  part  of  Cumberland  County 
in  1861.  He  was  reared  in  that  locality,  and  his 
present  home  adjoins  the  old  homestead  which  is 
still  occupied  Viy  his  aged  mother.  The  McFadyen 
place  is  a  short  distance  off  the  Yadkin  Road,  three 
miles  from  Long.street  Church,  and  6%  miles  west 
of  Manchester.  Mr.  McFadyen  is  active  head  of 
a  general  farming  business.  He  has  accumulated 
about  1,240  acres  of  land,  and  a  portion  of  it 
has  been  turned  over  to  his  sons. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  McFadyens  to  be 
substantial  men  of  means,  land  owners,  and  good 
solid  citizens  of  genuine  worth'  and  character. 
Those  characteristics  have  been  eminently  identi- 
fied by  John  F.  McFadyen.  His  success,  however, 
was  achieved  from  youth  and  young  manhood  by 
nnicli  toil  and  hardship.  His  father  had  gone 
Idind,  and  being  the  oldest  of  the  family  .lohn  F. 
assumed  the  responsibilities  of  taking  care  of  a 
liousehold  of  twelve  persons,  including  his  parents. 
Moreover  his  early  years  were  spent  in  the  period 
following  the  war,  a  period  notable  for  hard  times, 
scarcity  of  money,  lack  of  industries  and  almost 
starvation  prices  for  farm  products.  Under  such 
conditions  .Tohn  F.  McFadyen  had  need  for  all  his 
Scotch  persistence  and  courage.  During  a  part 
of  his  early  manhood  he  was  engaged  in  the  tur- 
pentine business,  but  on  the  whole  his  chief  work 
and  the  most  profitable  occupation  with  him  has 
been  farming.  He  is  also  a  highly  esteemed  citi- 
zen of  Cumberland  County.  In  1914  he  was  hon- 
ored with  the  office  of  county  commissioner  and 
was  re-elected  in  1916.  It  is  an  office  through  which 
he  gives  highly  competent  and  faithful  service  to 
his  county. 

Mr.  McFadyen  married  for  his  first  wife  Miss" 
Zula  Howard,  who  became  the  mother  of  his  chil- 
dren and  who  died  when-  the  youngest  was  only 
four  months  old.  She  was  born  and  partly  reared 
in  Sampson  County  and  when  a  young  girl  went 
with  her  parents  to  the  Longstreet  Church  com- 
uiimity  in  Cumberland  County.  She  was  the  mother 
of  ten  children :  .Tames  Scott  and  Dougald  William, 
both  of  whom  are  now  in  the  ITnited  States  .\rmv; 
.Tanie  Parker,  Annie  Black,  Fannie  Lois,  Effie 
Kate.  .Tohn  F..  .Ir.,  Duncan  Graham.  Zula  Gertrude 
nnd  Bennie  Elizabeth.  For  his  present  wife  Mr. 
McFadven  married  Miss  Mary  Parker,  who  was 
born  in  South  Carolina,  but  was  reared  in  Hoke 
Coiintv,  North  Carolina,  near  the  Longstreet  com- 
munity. 

Michael  Hoke  .Tit.stice,  for  nearly  seventeen 
years  judo-e  of  the  Superior  Court  of  North  Car- 
olina, with  residence  at  Rutherfordton.  is  one  of 
the  few  men  still  on  the  bench  and  in  the  bar 
who    were    admitted    and    began    practice    in    the 


308 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


early  years  following  the  throes  of  the  war.  He 
has  rounded  out  a  full  half  century  of  service 
and  work  as  a  lawyer  and  jurist.  During  that 
time  he  has  been  one  of  the  men  signally  prom- 
inent  in   the  public  life  of  his  native   state. 

Judge  Justice  was  born  in  Rutherford  County, 
Xorth  Carolina,  February  13,  1844,  a  son  of  Rev. 
T.  B.  and  Harriet  (Bailey)  Justice.  When  he 
was  ten  years  old  he  entered  Rutherfordton  Acad- 
emy, where  he  prepared  for  college  during  iive 
years  of  attendance,  and  then  entered  Golden 
Grove   Seminary,   under   Professor   Logan. 

Judge  Justice  left  school  to  enroll  as  a  sol- 
dier in  the  Confederacy,  enlisting  in  tlie  Sixty- 
Second  North  Carolina  Infantry.  He  was  as- 
signed to  duty  as  ordnance  otEcer  of  his  regiment, 
later  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  of  the  company, 
and  finally  to  adjutant  of  the  regiment.  He  was 
in  the  war  almost  from  the  beginning  to  the 
close  and  his  regiment  was  disbanded  after  John- 
ston surrendered  to  Gen.  William  J.  Palmer  at 
Rutherfordton. 

The  close  of  his  career  as  a  soldier  found  him 
still  a  youth  of  only  twenty-one.  He  studied  law 
with  Judge  John  L.  Bailey  at  Asheville,  and  in 
January,  1868,  was  enrolled  as  a  member  of  the 
North  Carolina  bar.  Since  that  date  his  home 
and  practice  has  continuously  been  at  Rutherford- 
ton. He  has  been  prominent  in  the  democratic 
party,  has  served  as  member  of  the  Congressional 
Executive  Committee  and  the  Judicial  District 
Committee.  He  was  presidential  elector  of  his 
district  in  1884.  Judge  Justice  served  in  the 
State  Legislature  in  1876-77,  and  was  the  first 
democrat  to  rejiresent  his  district  after  the  war. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  in  1897,  which 
was  another  critical  period  in  the  history  of  Nortli 
Carolina.  In  that  body  he  was  one  of  six  demo- 
crats. He  was  again  in  the  session  of  1899, 
which  perfected  the  control  of  state  affairs  by 
the  dominant  white  party.  Judge  Justice  was 
elected  to  the  Senate  in  1901,  and  on  July  1st  of 
that  year  Governor  Aycock  drew  him  from  the 
active  realm  of  politics  and  appointed  him  judge 
of  the  Superior  Court.  In  1902  he  was  regu- 
larly elected  for  the  eight  year  term  and  was  re 
elecfed  in  1910. 

Among  other  interests  Judge  Justice  has  a  farm 
near  Rutherfordton.  He  stands  high  in  the  Ma- 
sonic Order  and  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church. 

By  his  first  wife,  who  died  in  189."!,  .Judge  Jus- 
tice had  five  children,  Edwin  J.,  who  was  a  suc- 
cessful attorney  and  was  special  assistant  to  the 
United  States  Attorney  General,  died  July  25, 
1917;  Butler  Alexander,  also  an  attorney,  died  in 
May,  1917 :  Martha  McRee,  who  is  superintendent 
of  the  Rutherford  Hospital;  Gaston  B.  a  physi- 
cian at  Marion,  North  Carolina :  and  Michael 
Hoke,  Jr.,  in  the  insurance  business  at  Nor 
folk,  Virginia. 

In  1895  Judge  Justice  married  Lula  B.  Tanner, 
of  Cliarlotte,  North  Carolina.  They  have  a  daugh- 
ter, Louisa  Evans,  who  is  a  graduate  of  Converse 
College  at  Spartanburg,  South  Carolina,  and  is 
a   teacher  in  tne  high  school  at  Rutherfordton. 

AxEx.\NDER  Franklin  Snodt  has  lived  on  one 
farm  in  Surry  County  all  his  life.  His  is  the  en- 
viable lot  and  portion  of  the  patriarch  of  old,  who 
enjoyed  his  declining  years  in  the  abundance  and 
plenty  created  by  his  own  labors,  and  surrounded 
by  children  and  grandchildren,  an  honored  and 
revered   figure. 


Mr.  Snody  was  born  on  this  farm  in  Surry  Coun- 
ty March  2.3,  1846.  His  grandfather  was  William 
Snody,  and  it  is  thought  that  he  was  born  in  Ire- 
land of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  Some  of  the 
descendants  of  the  family  now  spell  the  name 
Snoddy.  William  Snody  lived  for  some  years  in 
Pittsylvania  County,  Virginia,  but  from  there 
moved  to  North  Carolina  and  located  in  Surry 
County,  where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  days.  He 
married   Belinda  Burgess. 

William  Snody,  Jr.,  father  of  Alexander  F., 
was  born  in  Pittsylvania  County,  Virginia,  Jan- 
uary 18,  1818,  and  was  seven  years  of  age  when 
brought  to  Surry  County.  He  grew  up  here  in. 
the  midst  of  pioneer  scenes.  On  attaining  his  ma- 
jority he  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  Westfield 
TTownship.  A  small  clearing  and  a  log  house  con- 
stituted the  improvements.  In  that  log  house 
Alexander  Franklin  Snody  first  saw  the  light  of 
day.  His  father  gave  his  time  to  general  farming 
and  his  industrious  career  was  terminated  by  his 
death  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  He  married  Julia 
A.  Hall,  who  was  born  in  Virginia,  a  daughter  of 
Solomon  and  Morning  (Ingram)  Hall,  both  natives 
of  Virginia  and  pioneer  settlers  in  Surry  County, 
North  Carolina.  Mrs.  Julia  Snody  died  at  the 
age  of  sixty-three.  Her  five  children  were  named 
Allen,  Martha,  Alexander  Franklbi,  Jane  and 
Mary  Alice.  Allen  enlisted  in  1862  in  the  Second 
Regiment  of  North  Garloina  troops,  went  to  the 
front  with  his  command,  and  died  while  still  in 
service   in  February,   1863. 

Alexander  F.  Snody  acquired  his  early  education 
in  the  neighboring  schools,  and  the  schools  were 
taught  in  log  cabins  and  practically  all  the  fami- 
lies of  Surry  County  during  his  youth  lived  in 
log  structures.  His  mother  was  a  typical  pioneer 
housewife,  carding  and  spinning  and  weaving  and 
dressing  her  family  in  homespun  clothing  fash- 
ioned by  her  own  hands.  She  also  did  the  cooking 
by  the  open  fire])lace.  For  many  years  the  sur- 
plus products  of  Surry  County  were  transported 
over  rough  roads  with  wagons  and  teams  to  High 
Point,  the  nearest  railroad  station.  In  such  con- 
ditions habits  of  industry  and  thrift  were  deeply 
impressed  upon  the  formative  character  of  Alex- 
ander F.  Snody.  As  the  only  surviving  son  he 
eventually  bought  the  interests  of  the  other  heirs 
in  the  homestead  and  has  thus  had  the  pleasure  of 
liring  on  and  developing  the  land  which  was  set- 
tled by  his  parents  and  which  he  has  made  fruit- 
ful and  productive  during  an  occupancy  and  active 
career  of  fully  half  a  century.  At  the  same  time 
he  has  added  to  his  landed  estate  by  the  purchase 
of  other  adjoining  tracts  of  land,  and  now  owns 
four  separate  farms,  each  one  supplied  with  good 
buildings    and   other   improvements. 

Mr.  Snody  married  Harriet  Cook,  who  was  born 
in  Surry  County,  a  daughter  of  Newell  and  Rebecca 
(Jessup)  Cook.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Snody  have  reared 
four  children:  Reed,  Mark,  Powell  and  Pearl.  Reed 
married  Jennie  Hill  and  their  three  chOdren  are 
named  Marvin,  Herbert  and  Jessie.  Mark  mar- 
ried Jennie  Cook.  Powell  married  Allie  Arrington. 
Pearl  is  the  wife  of  Lester  E.  Vauglian.  Her  two 
children   are   Stella   and   Frank. 

Mr.  Snody  has  always  taken  a  deep  interest  in 
local  affairs,  has  done  his  duty  at  the  polls,  and 
in  1892  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  of  his 
precinct  and  was  continued  in  that  oflice  by  re- 
election for  twenty  years. 

WiLLi.\M  James  Berry.  When  about  eighteen 
years  of  age  William  J.  Berry  was  jilaced  on  the 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


:J09 


pay  roll  of  the  Cotton  Mill  at  Durham.  From 
the  first  he  realized  that  he  was  iii  a  congenial 
field.  All  his  ambition  and  abilities  were  aroused 
to  the  most  rapid  development  and  utilization  of 
his  talents  and  opportunities.  Purely  as  a  result 
of  hard  work,  growing  experience  and  broadening 
outlook  Mr.  Berry  has  earned  a  place  among  the 
independent  mamufacturers  of  North  Carolina, 
and  is  still  only  a  little  past  thirty  years  of  age. 
He  was  born  in  Orange  County,  North  Carolina, 
November  14,  1886,  a  son  of  John  Thomas  and 
Bettie  Elizabeth  (Gates)  Berry.  His  father  luid 
a  farm  in  that  section  of  the  state  and  also  op- 
erated a  grist  mill.  William  J.  Berry  received 
most  of  his  early  training  in  the  public  schools 
of  Durham  County.  Then  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
he  found  employment  in  a  minor  capacity  with  a 
wholesale  grocery  house  at  Durham,  but  eighteen 
months  later  in  1004  accepted  an  opening  in  a 
minor  capacity  with  the  Durham  Hosiery  Mills. 
He  applied  himself  to  learning  every  detail  of  the 
business,  and  has  worked  through  and  in  every 
grade  and  capacity.  In  1913  he  was  able  with 
his  own  means  and  other  capital  to  buy  a  few 
machines  and  construct  a  plant  which  is  now 
known  as  the  North  State  Knitting  Mills,  In- 
corporated, a  growing  and  flourishing  enterprise 
that  comprises  the  group  of  cotton  mills  of  K 
Durham.  Mr.  Berry  is  vice  president,  secretary 
and  general  manager  of  the  business. 

Fraternally  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic 
Order,  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of 
Elks,  the  Junior  Order  ITuited  American  Mechan- 
ics, the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America  and  is  a 
steward  of  Branson  Methodist  Episcopal  Churcli 
South.  On  December  23,  1908,  he  married  Miss 
Lalla  Rook  Stone  of  Durham.  They  are  the 
parents  of  four  children:  Mary  Euth,  Chester, 
William  James,  Jr.,  and  Ida  May. 

Stephen  CVmbreleng  Beagaw.  Few  citizens 
of  North  Carolina  have  better  earned  the  real  dis- 
tinctions of  professional  success,  business  enter- 
prise and  public  leadership  than  Stephen  Cambre- 
leng  Bragaw  of  Washington,  Beaufort  County. 
The  keynote  to  this  success  is  found  in  a  careful 
estimate  of  his  career  made  some  years  ago  in 
the  following  words:  "Stephen  Bragaw  has  al- 
ways shown  by  his  every  act,  public  and  private, 
a  careful  preparation  for  its  undertaking  and  thor- 
oughness in  its  completion.  Although  a  young 
man  he  is  recognized  as  being  one  of  the  best 
lawyers  in  his  section  of  the  state  and  as  an  advo- 
cate he  has  no  superior.  Calm  and  collected  in 
his  manner,  his  logical  presentation  of  his  subjects, 
chaste  and  ornate  language  and  compelling  elo- 
quence are  sources  of  pleasure  and  profit  and  the 
admiration  of  all  who  hear  him.  He  believes  in 
thoroughness  of  preparation,  and  he  believes  fur- 
ther that  a  lack  of  preparation  is  the  most  fre- 
quent cause  of  failure — whether  complete  or 
partial.  His  motto  has  always  been  to  have  a 
definite  purpose  in  life,  to  prepare  himself  for  the 
fulfillment  of  that  pur)iose  and  to  adhere  to  it  at 
all  times  and  in  all  idaces. " 

It  is  said  that  Mr.  Bragaw  definitely  deter- 
mined upon  a  vocation  as  a  lawyer  when  he  was 
only  ten  years  of  age.  He  pursued  that  purpose 
through  various  changing  circumstances  and 
against  many  oifers  that  might  have  attracted  a 
less  positive  character  from  the  original  purpose. 

Mr.  Bragaw  was  born  at  Washington,  Beaufort 
County,  North  Carolina,  February  22,  1868,  second 
son  in  a  family  of  eight  children  whose  parents 


were  John  Goldsnuth  and  Anne  Cambreleng  (Hoyt) 
Bragaw.  In  the  paternal  line  he  is  of  French 
Huguenot  descent,  one  of  his  ancestors  having 
settled  on  Long  Island  in  1726.  The  Bragaws 
were  Eevolutionary  soldiers.  John  Goldsmith 
Bragaw,  who  was  born  on  Long  Island,  came  to 
North  Carolina  in  1857  and  subseciuently  became 
Ijrominent  in  connection  with  the  transportation 
companies  in  and  around  Washington.  He  showed 
liimself  a  man  of  broad  public  spirit  and  while 
never  engaged  in  practical  politics  was  intensely 
interested  in  all  public  questions.  His  wife,  whom 
lie  married  in  1864,  was  a  daughter  of  Henry  C. 
Hoyt  and  granddaughter  of  Eli  Hoyt,  one  of  the 
largest  merchants  of  Eastern  Carolina  before  the 
war.  Her  great-grandmother  was  Ann  Caldon,  a 
native  of  Scotland,  who  settled  with  her  father 
on  the  Pamlico  River  and  married  John  Patten 
of  Beaufort  County.  John  Patten  was  captain 
of  a  Beaufort  County  company  in  1771  and  dis- 
tinguislied  himself  at  the  Battle  of  Alamance.  Dur- 
ing the  Revolution  he  was  appointed  lieutenant- 
colonel  and  afterwards  colonel  of  the  Second  Con- 
tinental Regiment  and  from  1777  to  1779  was  in 
the  principal  battles  fought  by  Washington  in 
the  North,  and  in  May,  1780,  si*i-rendcred  with  his 
regiment  at  the  fall  of  Charleston.  Two  of  Cap- 
tain Patten 's  descendants  were  Churchill  Caldon 
Cambreleng  and  Stephen  Cambreleng,  the  latter  of 
whom  became  an  eminent  lawyer  in  New  York 
City  and  the  former  served  as  a  congressman  from 
New  York  and  in  1840  was  appointed  minister  to 
Russia. 

Mr.  Stephen  Bragaw  's  mother  has  been  described 
as  a  woman  of  great  personal  beauty  and  of  equal 
sweetness  and  strength  of  character.  Though  for 
years  an  invalid,  she  directed  personally  the  af- 
fairs of  a  large  liousehold  and  exercised  upon  her 
children  an  influence  calculated  to  stimulate  and 
excite  in  them  all  that  goes  to  the  upbuilding  ^nd 
complete  development  of  intellectual,  moral  and 
s]iiritual  life. 

Stephen  C.  Bragaw 's  early  childhood  was  spent 
in  a  connnunity  which  had  been  devastated  by  the 
war  and  in  which  its  wealthiest  citizens  had  been 
reduced  to  comparative  poverty.  At  an  early  age 
lie  manifested  strong  inclination  for  studious  pur- 
suits as  well  as  for  the  healthy  outdoor  sports  of 
boyhood.  He  was  educated  in  private  schools  of 
his  home  town,  for  one  year  attended  Trinity 
School  at  Chocowinity,  North  Carolina.  As  his 
family  did  not  possess  the  means  to  send  him  to 
college,  he  secured  an  appointment  as  a  cadet  in 
the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis,  but  deferred  to 
the  wishes  of  his  mother  and  declined  a  naval 
career.  Along  with  other  duties  he  prepared  him- 
self for  college  by  night  study,  and  with  his  own 
savings  and  what  he  was  able  to  borrow  he  re- 
mained at  the  university  three  years.  Lack  of 
funds  compelled  him  to  abandon  the  course.  While 
in  the  university  he  became  known  as  an  all  around 
student,  active  in  athletics  and  social  afTairs,  and 
was  captain  of  the  football  team  which  played 
the  first  game  of  intercollegiate  football  of  the 
University  of  North  Carolina.  He  was  also  a 
member  of  the  Delta  Kappa  Epsilon  fraternity. 

After  leaving  university  he  taught  school  at 
Pollocksville  in  .Tones  County,  and  from  1889  to 
the  summer  of  1891  was  a  teacher  in  the  New- 
liern  Collegiate  Institute.  During  the  summer  va- 
cation of  1891  he  accomplished  the  remarkable  task 
of  completing  the  full  law  course  at  Chapel  Hill 
ill  two  months  and  ten  days.  The  Supreme  Court 
gave  him  a  license  to  practice  in  September,  1891. 


310 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


With  a  cash  capital  of  oaly  $25  Mr.  Bragaw 
began  practice  at  Newbern,  and  in  189o  was 
elected  city  attorney.  In  1894,  remoiing  to  St. 
Louis,  he  became  president  of  the  Gilbert  Elliott 
Collection  Company,  but  disposed  of  that  interest 
and  returned  to  North  Carolina  in  189.5,  locating 
as  a  permanent  home  at  Washington. 

In  the  law,  business  and  public  affairs  Mr. 
Bragaw  has  been  one  of  the  prominent  men  of 
Washington  over  twenty  .years.  In  1897-98  he 
was  mayor  of  the  city,  and  from  1900  to  1906 
filled  the  office  of  city  attorney.  In  1902-03  he 
was  county  superintendent  of  schools,  and  his  serv- 
ice there  deserves  some  particular  mention  because 
of  the  effective  work  he  did  in  raising  the  stand- 
ards of  the  local  schools  and  establishing  a  condi- 
tion from  which  the  community  still  derives  large 
advantages.  The  efficient  system  graded  schools 
at  Washington  is  largely  due  to  his  influence  as 
county  superintendent  and  still  later  as  trustee  of 
the  town  schools. 

In  1904  Mr.  Bragaw  was  elected  state  senator 
for  the  Second  Senatorial  District.  In  1911  he  was 
appointed  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  North 
Carolina  for  the  First  Judicial  District,  and  in 
1912  was  nominated  unanimously  by  the  demo- 
cratic convention  for  that  office.  The  rep\iblican 
party  placed  no  candidate  in  opposition  and  he 
took"  his  seat  on  the  bench  as  an  elected  judge 
with  the  complete  confidence  of  all  classes  and 
parties,  and  that  confidence  was  justified  by  the 
impartial  and  dignified  administration  which  fol- 
lowed. After  nearly  three  years  on  the  bench  he 
resigned,  his  resignation  becoming  effective  on 
.Tanuary  1,  1914.  Judge  Bragaw  is  now  associated 
in  the  practice  of  law  with  John  H.  Small,  con- 
gres.sman  of  the  First  District,  A.  D.  MacLean  and 
N.  B.  Rodman,  Jr. 

Judge  Bragaw  has  shown  exceptional  ability  in 
handling  business  affairs,  has  been  identified  with 
the  formation  of  many  business  and  industrial  en- 
terprises in  his  home  town,  and  has  acquired  per- 
haps as  large  a  commercial  practice  as  any  man  of 
his  years  in  the  state.  He  has  been  a  leader  in 
the  democratic  party  while  in  public  office  and 
through  many  campaigns.  He  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Masonic  fraternity  since  early  manhood, 
and  has  filled  many  chairs  in  the  different  branches 
of  that  order.  He  has  also  been  active  in  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  both  in  his  home 
parish  and  as  a  member  of  the  Diocesan  Council. 
Judge  Bragaw  served  as  a  trustee  of  the  T^niver- 
sity  of  North  Carolina  from  190.5  to  191.3.  He  was 
the  first  president  of  the  North  Carolina  Society 
of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Order  of  Cincinnati.  He  belongs  to 
the  North  Carolina  and  American  Bar  Association. 
The  interest  he  manifested  as  a  boy  in  good  litera- 
ture has  been  developed  and  matured  through  all 
his  subsequent  years  and  even  with  the  heavy  bur- 
den of  official  and  professional  responsibilities. 
From  the  study  of  lives  of  eminent  men  he  has 
derived  constant  pleasure  and  the  greatest  advan- 
tage. In  189.3,  soon  after  he  began  his  practice 
at  Newbern,  Judge  Bragaw  married  Maude  Hay- 
ward  Amyette  of  Newbern.  She  is  one  of  North 
Carolina's  most  charming  women. 

.Judge  Bragaw  is  the  author  of  the  poem  entitled 
"We're  Coming,"  which  follows  this  sketch,  and 
which  was  read  in  1918  during  an  address  at 
Washington,  North  Carolina,  to  a  body  of  young 
men  of  Beaufort  Countj  on  the  eve  of  their  de- 
parture in  response  to  their  country's  call  to  battle 


for  the  safety  of  democracy  and  the  preservation 
of  civilization.  This  poem  received  instant  and 
nation-wide  recognition,  was  published  in  London 
and  Paris  papers,  and  was  designated  by  Lloyd's 
Weekly  of  London  as  "America's  Battle  Hymn." 

We're  Coming 

We  are  coming,  Mother  England,  we  are  coming 

millions  strong; 
Hands  across  the  sea  are  reaching,  gripped  to  rid 

the  world  of  wrong. 
We  are  coming,  stricken  Belgium,  there  with  you 

to  face  the  foe. 
Pledged   to   make   the   haughty    Prussian    pay    in 

full  for  all  your  woe. 

We   are   coming,   France,   our  sister,   France,   the 

glorious  and  fair; 
By  your  side  we  "U  soon  be  fighting  in  the  trenches, 

in  the  air; 
.\nd  the  Hun  shall  feel  the  power  of  the  men  from 

o'er  the  sea; 
We  are  coming  and  are  swearing  that  this  whole 

world  shall  be  free. 

We  are  coming,  fair  Italia,  land  from  which  Co- 
lumbus came; 

We,  Columbia 's  sons,  are  coming,  coming  in  Co- 
lumbia 's  name, 

Now  to  raise  the  flag  of  freedom  where  a  Caesar 
wore  the  crown, 

Knowing  that  when  once  we  raise  it,  naught  on 
earth  shall  tear  it  down. 

We   are  coming,   German  Kaiser,   call  your  hosts 

from  hill  and  plain; 
Mass  your  men   and  mass  your  cannon,  but  your 

work  will  be  in  vain. 
We  are  coming,  German  Kaiser,  and  our  coming 

sounds  the  knell 
Of  your  boasted  German  Kultur  that  has  made  of 

earth   a  hell. 

We   are   coming,   men   of  Europe,  we   are  coming 

millions   strong. 
There  to  stay  and  ne  'er  to  falter,  though  the  fight 

be  hard   and  long. 
' '  To  the  end ' '  shall  be  our  slogan,  for  the  world 

it  Shall  be  free. 
And  the  evil  power  of  despots  crushed  at  last  on 

land  and  sea. 

Hohenzollerns,  Hapsburgs,  harken  to  the  fast  ap- 
proaching beat 

Of  the  footsteps  of  a  nation  that  has  never  known 
defeat; 

Clad  in  armor  of  the  righteous,  earing  naught  for 
German  might. 

We  are  coming,  we  are  coming  there  to  win  or  die 
for  right. 

Judge  Stephen  C.  Br.\g-4^w. 

Washington,  N.  C. 

WrLLi.\ir  Caldwt:ll  McRorie  is  a  lawyrr  by 
profession,  a  member  of  the  Eutherfordton  bar, 
and  during  fifteen  years  of  faithful  work  has 
proved  his  ability  and  skill  in  many  hard  fought 
and  important  legal  engagements. 

He  was  born  in  T'nion  County,  North  Carolina, 
December  22.  1874.  son  of  Cyrus  A.  and  Sylvania 
(■Helms'*  McRorie.  Like  many  other  successful 
North  Carolina  lawyers,  his  early  life  was  spent 
on  a  farm,  with  advantages  supplied  by  the  coun- 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


311 


try  schools.  He  also  attended  high  school  at  Uu- 
ioiiville  and  before  getting  his  bearings  in  the 
matter  of  a  future  career  he  spent  aljout  nine 
years  as  a  teacher  and  as  a  farmer.  He  finally 
entered  the  law  department  of  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
September,  190o.  Since  then  he  has  been  in  gen- 
eral practice  at  Rutherfordton.  Mr.  McRorie  is 
a  member  of  the  State  Bar  Association,  is  a  trus- 
tee of  the  graded  schools  of  Rutherfordton,  and 
is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  Order  and  the 
Knights  of  Pythias. 

December  31,  1897,  he  married  Cassie  Wilma 
Hagler,  of  Union  County.  They  have  seven  chil- 
dren, Bertha  Odessa,  William  Carlisle,  Robert 
Grant,  Cyrus  Brown,  Margaret  Elizabeth,  Wilma 
Virginia    and    George    Spencer. 

Festus  E.  Sigman.  Especially  worthy  of  hon- 
orable mention  in  a  work  of  this  character  is 
Festus  E.  Sigman,  registrar  of  deeds  for  David- 
son County,  an  able  and  iniiuential  citizen  of 
Lexington,  and  a  conspicuous  factor  ill  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  higher  interests  of  town  and 
county.  A  native  of  Catawba  County,  North  Car- 
olina, he  was  born  in  Cline  Township,  coming 
from  pioneer  and  revolutionary  stock.  He  is  a 
lineal  descendant  of  John  Sigman,  one  of  the  orig- 
inal settlers  of  Catawba  County,  the  line  of  descent 
being  thus  traced:  John,  Polser,  George,  George, 
Nelson  E.,  and  Festus  C. 

John  Sigman,  a  native  of  Germany,  immigrated 
to  America  in  colonial  days,  and  after  spending 
a  few  months  in  Pennsylvania  came  to  North 
Carolina,  settling  as  a  pioneer  in  Catawba  County. 
Prominent  in  public  affairs,  he  was  made  com- 
mander of  a  company  of  militia,  and  assisted  the 
colonists  in  their  brave  struggle  for  independence. 
He  fought  at  Kings  Mountain  and  at  Ramseurs 
HUl.  Subsequently  crossing  the  Catawba  River, 
he  took  part,  under  command  of  General  Greene, 
in  the  Battle  of  Guilford  Courthouse.  He  reared 
two  sons,  Barnett  Sigman  and  Polser  Sigman. 
The  latter  also  reared  two  sons,  Henry  Sigman, 
and  George  Sigman.  George  Sigman  was  the 
father  of  three  sons,  George  Sigman,  William,  and 
David.  George  Sigman,  grandfather  of  Festus  E., 
died  in  1851,  in  the  forty-seventh  year  of  his  age. 
He  reared  three  sons,  Julius,  Davault,  and  Nelson 
E.,  and  three  daughters,  Susan,  Frances  and 
Lovina. 

Nelson  E.  Sigman  was  born  in  August,  1847,  in 
dine  Township,  Catawba  County,  which  was  like- 
wise the  birthplace  of  his  father,  grandfather,  and 
great-grnndfather  on  the  paternal  side.  In  18(51 
while  yet  a  beardless  youth,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany F,  Thirty-eighth  Regiment,  North  Carolina 
Volunteers,  and  was  with  his  command  the  greater 
part  of  the  time  until  the  close  of  the  conflict. 
Remaining  through  the  foUo^ring  winter  in  camp 
at  Raleigh,  he  went  in  March,  1862,  with  his  regi- 
ment to  Weldon,  North  Carolina,  thence  to  Hali- 
fax, and  from  there  proceeding  to  Richmond, 
Virginia,  where  he  took  part  in  the  "Seven  Days"' 
fight  before  that  city.  On  June  26,  1862,  he  was 
wounded  in  the  engagement  at  Mechanicsville, 
and  was  absent  from  his  regiment  until  September 
20th,  when  he  rejoined  it  at  Winchester,  where  he 
participated  in  several  engagements  of  minor  im- 
portance. About  the  first  of  December,  1862, 
barefooted,  and  not  very  heavily  clothed,  he 
crossed  the  Blue  Ridge,  the  weather  being  cold  and 
snowy.  On  December  12  and  13,  1862,  he  fought 
in    the    battle    at    Fredericksburg,    Virginia.      In 


May,  1863,  he  was  stricken  with  typhoid  fever, 
and  after  an  absence  of  several  weeks  from  his 
regiment  joined  it  at  Culpeper  Court  House,  and 
with  it  took  part  in  many  engagements,  including 
the  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  where  he  was  in 
two  charges.  Going  from  there  to  Spottsylvania 
Court  House,  he  was  at  the  front  in  the  engage- 
ment called  the  Bloody  Angle,  and  assisted  in 
recapturing  some  of  the  works.  It  was  there,  in 
one  of  the  battles,  in  which  he  fought  that  the 
trunk  of  a  tree  eighteen  inches  in  diameter  was 
cut  off  by  minie  balls,  and  is  now  preserved  in 
a  museum  at  Washington,  District  of  Columbia. 
Later  he  took  part  in  the  engagements  at  Cold 
Harbor  and  Turkey  Ridge,  and  in  three  of  the 
battles  in  front  of  Petersburg.  There,  on  June 
22,  1864,  he  was  severely  wounded,  and  incapaci- 
tated for  further  duty,  either  in  field  or  camp. 
He  served  while  in  the  army  in  Stonewall  Jack- 
son 's  Corps,  A.  P.  HiU  's  Division,  and  Pender  'a 
Brigade,  until  the  death  of  General  Jackson. 

After  the  close  of  the  war.  Nelson  E.  Sigman 
returned  to  Catawba  County,  and  resumed  his 
agricultural  labors  in  Cline  Township.  He  in- 
herited land,  and  being  quite  successful  in  its 
management  he  added  to  his  estate  by  purchase, 
and  on  the  farm  which  he  so  finely  improved  is 
still  living,  and  though  he  has  passed  the  allotted 
three  score  and  ten  years  of  man 's  life  is  hale 
and  hearty.  He  married  Martha  Rackett,  who 
was  born  in  Catawba  County,  a  daughter  of 
William  and  Martha  Rackett.  Seven  children 
blessed  their  union,  Festus  E.,  Elizabeth,  Vernon, 
Laura,  Martin,  Loy,  and  Detlev. 

Leaving  the  district  school,  Festus  E.  Sigman 
continued  his  studies  at  Concordia  College,  and 
later  attended  the  University  of  Kentucky.  At 
the  age  of  nineteen  years  he  began  teaching  school 
in  his  home  district,  and  for  six  years  taught  a 
part  of  each  year.  Subsequently  Mr.  Sigman 
became  associated  with  the  Thomasville  Spoke 
Company,  and  still  later  with  the  Thomasville 
Hardware  Company,  two  prosperous  concerns  in 
which  he  still  retains  an  interest,  although  he 
devotes  his  time  and  attention  to  the  duties  of 
his  position  as  registrar  of  deeds,  to  which  he  was 
elected  in  1916. 

Mr.  Sigman  married,  in  1911,  Mamie  Cox.  She 
was  born  at  Liberty,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter 
of  Rev.  D.  C.  and  Majy  Cox.  Her  father  is  a 
well-known  preacher  in  the  German  Reformed 
Church.  Mr.  Sigman  is  a  Lutheran  in  his  religi- 
ous belief,  and  his  wife  is  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Friends.  Mr.  Sigman  has  filled  vari- 
ous public  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility, 
having  served  for  four  years  as  a  member  of  the 
Thomasville  Board  of  Town  Commissioners;  for 
two  years  having  been  clerk  of  the  Recorder's 
Court;  and  having  rendered  acceptable  service 
as  town  treasurer.  Fraternally  he  belongs  to 
Thomasville  Lodge  No.  214,  Ancient  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons;  and  to  Thomasville  Lodge,  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 

WiLLiAiNt  Thomas  Cole  was  born  in  Chatham 
County,  North  Carolina,  Sei)tember  22,  1858.  Two 
and  a  half  years  later  in  April,  1861,  his  father 
Solomon  N.  Cole,  who  up  to  that  time  had  been 
engaged  in  the  quiet  vocations  of  mechanic  and 
farmer,  left  home  to  enter  the  Confederate  army 
as  a  private.  He  proved  the  last  full  measure 
of  devotion  to  the  cause,  and  gave  up  his  life  for 
the  South  at  Petersburg,  Virginia,  in  August,  1864. 

William  T.  Cole  was  six  years  of  age  when  his 


312 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


father  died,  and  that  calamity  of  war  left  the  fam- 
ily ill  greatly  reduced  circumstances  and  cut  off 
many  ojiportunities  and  advantages  which  other- 
wise might  have  been  bestowed  upon  his  early 
youth.  He  grew  up  with  his  widowed  mother  Mrs. 
Sarah  E.  (Whitledge)  Cole,  attended  private 
school,  made  the  best  of  his  advantages,  and  after- 
ward by  his  own  earnings  he  paid  for  several  terms 
of  instruction  in  Rutherford  College.  In  1868, 
when  ten  years  of  age  he  went  to  work  in  a  cotton 
mill  and  continued  that  employment  until  he  was 
eighteen.  Following  that  he  had  three  years  of 
experience  in  a  country  store,  and  tlien  tor  three 
years  held  the  post  of  increased  responsibility  as 
general  manager  of  the  Holmaii  Cotton  Manu- 
facturing Company  at  Holman  's  Mills.  It  was 
at  this  point  in  his  career,  when  already  a  grown 
man,  he  left  business  to  gain  a  better  education 
and  spent  three  years  in  Rutherford  College.  After 
that  he  was  for  seven  years  a  general  merchant 
in  Durham,  and  Durham  County,  then  for  six  years 
was  with  the  Commonwealth  Yarn  Mills,  and  that 
was  followed  by  another  period  of  merchandising. 

In  1906  Mr.  Cole  bought  a  small  knitting  fac- 
tory, and  in  1907  incorpiorated  the  Chatham 
Knitting  Mills  Company,  of  which  he  has  since 
been  secretary,  treasurer  and  general  manager. 
This  has  grown  to  be  one  of  the  important  indus- 
tries of  the  Durham  District,  and  employs  150 
operators.  Mr.  Cole  is  also  director  of  the  Louise 
Knitting  Mills  Company,  at  East  Durham,  and 
was   one    of   the   organizers   of    that   business. 

In  the  intervals  of  a  busy  career  he  has  found 
time  to  serve  the  public  welfare  and  for  four 
years  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  aldermen  at 
Durham.  He  is  active  as  a  steward  and  trustee 
of  the  Branson  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South,  and  is  affiliated   with  the  Royal  Arcanum. 

June  11,  1888,  Mr.  Cole  married  Jimmie  Ann 
Estes,  daughter  of  James  C.  Estes  of  Burke 
County,  North  Carolina.  Six  children  have  been 
born  into  their  home.  Minnie  Helen  is  now  Mrs. 
Lockhill  McDonald  of  Durham;  Lessia  A.,  de- 
ceased; Marvin  Baird  is  serving  in  the  United 
States  Navy  Hospital  Corps;  Nellie  Eugenia  is  a 
talented  musician  and  teacher;  James  Baxter  is 
bookkeeper  in  his  father  's  business  and  a  member 
of  the  Home  Guards;  Mary  Louise  is  a  student  in 
Trinity  College. 

.loHN  Bry,\n  Wright,  M.  D.,  specialist  in  eye, 
ear,  nose  and  throat,  is  a  member  of  what  is 
generally  regarded  as  the  foremost  firm  of  spe- 
cialists in  this  branch  of  medicine  and  surgery  in 
North  Ciarolina,  the  firm  of  Lewis,  Battle  & 
Wright  at  Raleigh. 

There  are  few  families  whose  membership  have 
represented  and  fulfilled  larger  and  broader  lines 
of  useful  service  than  the  Wrights  of  Sampson 
County.  Some  special  reference  to  the  different 
members  of  the  family  now  living  is  made  on 
other  pages  of  this  publication.  Dr.  Wright,  a 
son  of  John  C.  and  Bettie  V.  (Herring)  Wright, 
was  born  September  4,  1874,  at  the  ancestral 
Wright  home  at  Coharie  in  Sampson  County.  Tlie 
Wrights  have  owned  and  lived  upon  continuously 
the  old  Wright  lands  at  the  junction  of  the  Big 
and  Little  Coharie  rivers  since  English  colonial 
times,  the  gi'ants  of  those  lands  coming  to  the 
family  direct  from  the  Crown. 

Doctor  Wright  acquired  his  preparatory  educa- 
tion in  college  under  his  mother  in  the  noted  school 
conducted  by  her  at  the  old  home  at  Coharie,  and 
a  number  of  successful  men  and  women  aside  from 


her  own  children  are  indebted  to  her  for  their 
early  educational  oppiortunities  and  influences. 

Doctor  Wright  began  his  medical  education  in 
the  University  of  North  Carolina,  where  he  spent 
two  years,  and  from  there  entered  the  University 
College  at  Richmond,  where  he  was  graduated  lu 
1899.  His  first  work  as  a  practitioner  was  done 
at  Granite  Falls  in  Caldwell  County  in  Western 
North  Carolina.  He  remained  there  seven  years, 
and  his  work  covered  a  wide  field  of  territory 
around  Granite  Falls.  His  next  location  was  at 
Lincolntou  in  Lincoln  County,  where  he  remained 
in  piractice  for  nine  years.  During  the  latter  part 
of  that  period  he  began  specializing  in  diseases 
of  the  eye,  ear,  nose  and  throat,  and  in  Novem- 
ber, 1915,  removed  to  Raleigh  and  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Doctors  Lewis,  Battle  &  Wright, 
specialists.  They  are  all  men  of  general  distinc- 
tion and  of  the  highest  rank  in  their  profession. 

The  work  of  Doctor  Wright  serves  to  further 
distinguish  a  family  of  children,  nine  in  num- 
ber, all  of  whom  are  noted  for  their  intellectu- 
ality, scholarsliip  and  broad  success  in  affairs. 
Beginning  in  1906  Doctor  Wright  has  never  failed 
a  single  year  to  take  post-graduate  work,  attend- 
ing schools,  clinics  and  confei-ences  in  New  York, 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh.  Much  of 
his  preparation  for  his  specialty  was  made  under 
tlie  noted  Dr.  Chevalier  Jackson,  formerly  of  Pitts- 
burgh and  now  professor  of  laryngology  at  the 
Jefferson  Medical  College  at  Philadelphia.  Doc- 
tor Jackson  is  the  father  of  bronchoscopy  and  is 
America  's  most  eminent  authority  on  the  bronchial 
tubes. 

Doctor  Wright  married  Miss  Violet  Rhodes  of 
Gaston  County,  North  Carolina.  Their  five  chil- 
dren are  named  John  Bryan,  Jr.,  Margaret  Eliza- 
Ijeth,  Violet,  Bettie  V.  and  James  Rhodes  Wright. 

THOir.^s  Jordan  Latham.  The  life  of  Thomas 
Jordan  Latham  of  Washington  has  been  dis- 
tinguished by  long  years,  by  service  as  a  Confed- 
erate soldier,  by  the  ability  with  which  he  reha- 
bilitated his  fortunes  after  the  war,  and  by  his 
success  in   banking. 

He  was  born  at  Pantego,  Beaufort  County, 
North  Carolina,  a  son  of  Thomas  Jordan  and 
Nancy  (Cordon)  Latham.  His  original  Ameri- 
can ancestor  sailed  from  Port  Latham,  Scotland, 
in  1717.  His  sons  were  named  Phineas,  James, 
Rotheas  and  John  Latham.  Of  these  James  lived 
in  Pitt  County,  North  Carolina,  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee  of  Safety  during  the  Revo- 
hition.  Rotheas  Latham,  another  son  of  the  orig- 
inal immigrant,  was  delegate  to  Congress  in  1774- 
76,  and  in  1780-81  was  colonel  of  the  Hyde  County 
Troops.  His  death  occurred  in  1784.  His  wife 
was  Mrs.  Sarah  Martin,  daughter  of  John  Jor- 
dan. She  died  in  1794  and  both  are  buried  at 
Woodstock  in  Beaitfort  County,  North  Carolina. 
The  Lathams  during  their  residence  in  Scotland 
had  a  coat  of  arms,  the  motto  on  one  of  these 
being  ' '  Expertus  Fideni  Seciinda  alite. ' '  An- 
other motto  on  a  different  coat  of  arms  belong- 
ing to  the  family  is  ' '  Sans  Clianger. ' ' 

Daniel  Latham,  Sr.,  a  son  of  the  Rotheus  above 
mentioned,  had  sons  Thomas  J.  Latham,  Sr.,  and 
Daniel  Latham.  Thomas  J.  Latham  Sr.,  was  the 
father  of  Thomas  J.  of  this  article  and  was  born 
in  1797  and  died  in  1862.  He  married  February 
4,  1821,  Nancy  Cordon,  who  was  born  in  1803 
and  died  in  1837.  Thomas  J.  Latham,  Sr.,  was 
well  educated  and  was  a  minister  of  the  Disci- 
ples Cliureh,  preaching  to  several  country  churches, 


PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


■  -TOR,  LENOX 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


3i;< 


but  also  owned  a  farm  and  a  numljer  of  slaves,  a 
white  man  overseer  looking  after  his  land  and 
chattels.  He  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  for 
several  years  a  member  of  the  board  of  justices 
who  held  county  courts.  He  was  also  examiner 
of  public  schools  in  his  district  and  for  several 
years  taught  a  school  for  young  men  at  his  resi 
clence.  This  school  was  quite  a  noted  institution 
for  some  years  and  was  attended  oy  young  men 
from  different  sections  of  the  county.  One  of  his 
characteristics  was  a  somewhat  excessive  gener- 
osity and  willingness  to  endorse  other  men's  pa- 
per and  he  finally  had  to  sell  his  property  or  most 
of  it  except  his  farm  to  pay  these  security  obliga- 
tions. After  that  he  conducted  his  farm  by  him- 
self, assiste<l  by  hired  laborers  and  his  sons.  He 
finally  removed"  to  Washington,  the  county  seat, 
about  18-jO  and  was  engaged  in  tax  listing  and 
other  county  work.  He  was  also  postmaster  at 
Washington,  and  at  Pantego  had  filled  similar 
office  for  many  years.  His  wife,  who  died  when 
Thomas  J.,  Jr.,  was  less  than  two  years  of  age, 
was  a  highly  educated  lady  and  a  devout  Chris- 
tian. 

Thomas  Jordan  Latham  never  had  the  privi- 
lege of  a  college  education.  He  attended  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  county  and  also  the 
school  conducted  by  his  father  and  his  ambition 
for  an  education  led  him  to  continue  study  after 
a  day's  hard  work  on  a  farm.  When  sixteen 
years  of  age  he  qualified  and  taught  his  first  term 
of  district  school.  When  about  seventeen  he  be- 
came clerk  and  bookkeeper  in  a  local  store  and 
during  his  eighteenth  year  he  was  elected  clerk 
and  bookkeeper  of  the  old  Bank  of  Washing- 
ton. In  those  duties  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
found  him  engaged. 

Wlien  war  was  declared  between  the  states  in 
1861  Mr.  Latham  enlisted  in  the  first  company 
from  Beaufort  County,  known  as  the  Washing- 
ton Grays,  commanded  by  Capt.  Thomas  Spar 
row,  who  was  afterwards  made  a  major.  After 
daily  drill  and  practice  for  several  weeks  the 
Company  on  May  20,  1861,  left  Washington  and 
went  iiito  camp  at  Portsmouth  on  the  North 
Caj-olina  coast.  There  they  continued  regular 
training,  and  on  August  29,  1861,  took  part  in 
the  battle  of  Fort  Hatteras  at  Hatteras  Inlet 
on  the  North  Carolina  coast.  This  fort  was  bom- 
barded for  over  six  hours  by  a  fleet  of  Federal 
warships.  The  fort  was  of  sand  construction 
covered  with  turf,  and  its  gims  were  greatly  in- 
ferior in  range  to  those  of  the  bombarding  fleet. 
As  a  result  of  long  continueil  fire  and  great  de- 
struction caused  by  the  constant  bursting  of  the 
shells,  the  fort  and  its  garrison  finally  sur- 
rendered. Mr.  Latham  and  his  comrades  were 
carried  by  the  warship  Minnesota  to  Fort  Colum- 
bus in  New  York  Hai-bor,  and  lie  was  put  in  pris- 
on in  Castle  Williams  for  about  two  months,  and 
then  transferred  to  Fort  Warren  in  Boston  Har- 
bor. H?  was  there  nearly  two  months,  at 
the  end  of  which  time  the  married  and  sick  were 
paroled.  Mr.  Latham  was  sent  home  and  after 
being  examined  by  the  army  board  of  physicians 
was  released  from  service  on  account  of  bad 
health  engendered  by  prison  life  and  advised  not 
to  enter  the  army  again.  However,  Mr.  Latham 
refused  this  advice  and  became  identified  with 
the  quartermaster's  department  at  Greensboro, 
North  Carolina,  as  bonded  agent  with  the  rank  of 
captain  and  continued  in  that  way  to  serve  the 
Confederacy  until  the  end  of  the  war. 

During  the   war  his  home   Town  of  Washington 


had  been  almost  totally  destroyed  as  a  result  of 
fire  and  pillage  by  the  Federal  troops,  and  there 
being  no  liusiness  opportunity  in  that  quarter  he 
aeeejited  the  cashiership  of  a  banking  and  com- 
mission house  at  Newborn,  North  Carolina.  Mr. 
Latham  was  a  resident  of  Newbern  for  about 
fifteen  years  and  left  there  to  become  bookkeeper 
and  cashier  of  a  large  cotton  commission  house 
at  Norfolk,  Virginia.  While  at  Newbern  and 
while  cashier  of  the  bank  he  was  also  treasurer  of 
Craven  County  for  a  term  of  two  years.  He  also 
had  a  commission  as  notary  public  for  a  number 
of  years.  In  1892  Mr.  Latham  was  elected  cashier 
of  the  New  Bank  of  Washington,  which  was  then 
being  organized,  and  he  removed  from  Norfolk  to 
his  old  home  community  and  was  actively  identi- 
fied with  the  bank  for  about  twenty-three  years. 
Thus  most  of  his  active  business  experience  has 
been  as  banker  and  covers  a  period  of  over  half 
a    century. 

In  politics  Mr.  Latham  is  a  democrat  and  never 
voted  any  other  ticket.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one 
he  joineil  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows 
at  Washington,  and  during  the  war  was  a  member 
of  the  Lodge  at  C4reensboro,  North  Carolina.  He 
then  became  affiliated  with  the  lodge  at  Newbern. 
He  filled  all  the  elective  offices  in  the  subordinate 
lodge  and  was  gi'and  marshal  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  North  Carolina  one  term  during  his 
residence  at  Newbern,  and  also  grand  senior 
warden  at  the  same  time  of  the  Grand  Encamp- 
ment of  Odd  Fellowship.  For  several  years  he 
was  a  district  deputy  grand  master  for  Craven 
and  several  contiguous  counties.  Mr.  Latham  is 
a  member  of  the  Washington  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. When  about  thirteen  years  of  age  he  be- 
came identified  with  the  Disciple  Church  by  bap- 
tism and  while  living  in  Newbern  was  a  member 
of  the  Middle  Street  First  Baptist  Church  and 
on  removing  to  Norfolk  put  his  membership  with 
the  Freemason  Street  Baptist  Church.  Among  his 
pastors  while  in  that  city  were  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas, 
Rev.  Dr.  Lansing  Burrows,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Wharton. 
On  returning  to  Washington  in  1892  Mr.  Latham 
united  with  the  First  Baptist  Church.  Soon  atter 
that  the  old  church  on  Market  Street  was  re- 
modeled and  greatly  improved  in  appearance  and 
comfort  l)Oth  inside  and  out.  The  church  had 
been  removed  to  Market  Street  about  1835  from 
its   former    location    on    Bonner    Street. 

At  Chapel  Hill,  North  Carolina,  January  31, 
1865,  Mr.  Latham  married  Kathleen  Cawthorn 
Steveuson.  Her  father,  James  Chapman  Steven- 
son, was  a  merchant,  distiller  of  turpentine  and 
rosin  and  owner  of  a  number  of  sailing  vessels 
running  to  the  West  Indies.  He  was  one  of  the 
leading  citizens  of  Newbern,  a  prominent  mem- 
ber, deacon  and  layman  in  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  and  a  useful  citizen  and  Christian  gentle- 
man. He  reared  a  large  family  of  chihlren,  his 
daughters  lieiiig  noted  for  their  general  intel- 
ligence and  musical  ability.  His  sons  became 
eminent  as  lawyers  and  in  Inisiness  and  some  of 
his  grandcliildren  are  equally  noted.  One  of  these 
is  Hannis  Taylor,  former  minister  to  Spain  in 
Cleveland 's  aclministration,  and  now  one  of  the 
leading  lawyers  and  publicists,  of  Washington 
D.  C,  being  author  of  several  valuable  law  books. 
His  brother  Richard  V.  Taylor  is  president  and 
manager  of  the  Mobi.e  and  Ohio  Railway,  and 
lives   at   Mobile. 

Mr.  Latham  is  the  father  of  four  children : 
Thomas  .Jordan  Latham,  Jr.,  Elizabeth  Stevenson 
Latham,    James    Cawthorn     Latham    and    Hannis 


314 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Taylor  Latham.  Thomas  J.,  Jr.,  married  iu  1894 
Marian  Kebeeca  Sclmioele,  of  Pniladeljjhia.  Eliza- 
beth S.  -nas  married  in  190U  to  Kev.  Andrew  L. 
Betts,  a  Baptist  minister  wlio  died  iu  1911'. 
James  C.  Latham  married  in  1899  Annie  il. 
Blancbard.  Hanuis  T.  Latham  married  iu  19U/ 
Susan  Loreua  Harding. 

Anthony  Lutheb  Payne  has  been  one  of  the 
leading  business  men  of  Rural  Hall  in  Forsyth 
County  for  many  years.  He  now  conducts  a  large 
general  store,  and  is  also  vice  president  of  tne 
Farmers  and  Merchants  Bank  of  Rural  Hall.  He 
was  formerly  a  member  of  the  firm  of  J.  L.  Mateer 
Company,  manufacturers  of  veneer,  and  is  now 
connected  with  the  Pamlico  Veneer  &  Lumber 
Company    of   Pamlico,    South   Carolina. 

Mr.  Payne  was  born  on  a  plantation  in  old 
Richmond  Township  of  Porsyth  County,  June  22, 
1869.  His  people  have  lived  in  this  section  of 
North  Carolina  for  several  generations.  His 
grandfather,  Robert  Payne,  was  probably  born 
in  Stokes  County,  and  spent  his  life  -as  a  planter, 
owning  a  large  place  in  Stokes  County.  The 
father,  Washington  Payne,  was  born  at  Sandy 
Ridge  in  Stokes  County,  grew  up  on  a  farm, 
inherited  land  from  his  father  and  bought  other 
tracts,  and  until  the  war,  operated  this  plantation 
with  the  aid  of  his  slaves.  He  continued  to  live 
on  the  farm  until  his  death  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
six.  Washington  Payne  married  Elizabeth 
Bitting,  who  was  born  at  Rural  Hall  in  Forsyth 
County.  There  were  only  two  sons,  and  the  older, 
Lucas  Alexander,  died  when  twenty-one  years  of 
age. 

Anthony  L.  Payne  was  about  fifteen  years  of 
age  when  his  father  died.  This  threw  upon  him 
at  that  tender  age  unusual  responsibilities,  and 
for  the  next  two  years  he  had  the  management  of 
the  home  farm  with  only  such  aid  as  his  mother 
could  give  him.  He  then  removed  with  his  mcCther 
to  the  VUlage  of  Rural  Hall.  In  the  meantime  he 
had  attended  the  local  schools  near  his  old  home, 
and  from  Rural  Hall  he  entered  the  high  school 
at  Germanton.  Since  completing  his  education  he 
has  been  actively  identified  with  business  affairs 
at  Rural  Hall.  For  two  years  he  was  in  partner- 
ship with  Robert  and  J.  A.  Wolf  in  a  general 
store  at  Rural  Hall,  but  then  sold  out.  In  1899 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  J.  C.  Lawrence, 
under  the  name  Lawrence  &  Payne.  Besides  their 
stock  of  general  merchandise  they  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  tobacco  flues.  Some  years  ago 
Mr.  Payne  bought  the  interest  of  Mr.  Lawrence 
and  has  since  been  sole  proprietor  of  the  business. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  married  Miss  Ida 
Jane  Godberry,  a  native  of  Yadkin  County,  North 
Carolina.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Payne  have  five  children, 
Ruth  Marie,  Ancus  L.,  Aubrey  C,  Milton  and 
Cameron,  while  one  son,  Herman  A.,  died  at  the 
age  of  twelve  years.  The  daughter  Ruth  is  a 
graduate  of  the  Salem  Academy  College  and  is 
now  the  wife  of  Charles  R.  Helsabeck.  They 
have  one  son,  Charles  R.,  Jr.  Ancus  L.  completed 
part  of  his  higher  education  in  the  University 
of  North  Carolina  and  is  now  a  student  in  the 
Virginia  Medical  College  at  Richmond.  Aubrey 
has  also  had  the  advantages  of  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  and  is  now  associated  with  his 
father  in  the  store  at  Rural  Hall. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Payne  are  active  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  he  is 
superintendent  of  its  Sunday  school.  He  is 
affiliated  with  Bethania  Lodge  No.  86,  Knights  of 


Pythias,  with  Rural  HaU  Council  of  the  Junior 
Order  of  United  American  Mechanics,  and  iu  mat- 
ters of  local  interest  he  has  been  especially  active 
in  the  advancement  and  improvement  of  the  schools. 
He  has  served  as  chairman  of  the  school  board,  and 
was  a  leader  in  the  movement  to  levy  a  tax  to 
support  a  high  school  at  Rural  HaU. 

H.  Val  Badgett.  Conspicuous  among  the  ris- 
ing young  business  men  of  Davidson  County  is 
Harris  Valentine  Badgett,  famUiarly  known  in 
business  and  social  circles  as  ' '  Val  Badgett, ' '  who 
is  living  in  Newsom,  where  he  has  built  up  a  large 
and  profitable  trade  as  a  dealer  in  lumber  and 
ties.  A  sou  of  James  Madison  Badgett,  he  was 
born,  September  28,  1887,  in  Jackson  Hill  Town- 
ship, Da\idson  County,  coming  on  the  paternal 
side  of  French  ancestry,  his  great-grandfather, 
James  Badgett,  a  native  of  Granville  County,  this 
state,  having  been,  it  is  supposed,  of  French 
parentage. 

James  Madison  Badgett,  a  son  of  William  Har- 
ris and  Elizabeth  (Cameron)  Badgett,  was  born 
in  Jackson  Hill  Township,  Davidson  County,  April 
30,  1851,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm.  On  attaining 
his  majority  he  received  as  a  present  from  his 
father  a  horse,  saddle  and  bridle.  He  soon  dis- 
posed of  those,  and  engaged  in  mercantile  jjursuits 
at  Jackson  Hill,  where  for  a  time  he  was  asso- 
ciated with  Stokes  Adderton  as  junior  member  of 
the  firm  of  Adderton  &  Badgett.  Finding  the 
business  quite  profitable,  he  there  continued  as  a 
merchant  until  his  death,  in  1896,  when  but  forty- 
four  years  old. 

James  Madison  Badgett  married  Cora  Mauney, 
a  native  of  Stanley  County,  North  Carolina.  Her 
father,  Hon.  Valentine  Mauney,  who  carried  on 
farming  in  Stanley  County  with  the  help  of  slaves, 
owned  at  one  time,  with  his  brother  Ephraini,  the 
mine  at  ' '  Gold  Hill. ' '  He  was  influential  in  pub- 
lic affairs,  representing  his  county  in  the  State 
Legislature,  and  for  many  years  serving  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  ofiicial  board  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South.  Mr.  Mauney  married  Wini- 
fred Davis,  who  was  born  in  Anson  County,  North 
Carolina,  being  a  daughter  of  James  and  JRowena 
(Lee)  Davis,  and  a  descendant  of  the  Lee  famUy, 
so  long  prominent  iu  Virginia.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Mauney  reared  seven  children,  namely:  John  W., 
Virginia,  Cora  M.,  James  M.,  Minnie,  C.  Junius, 
and  David  B.  After  the  death  of  her  first  hus- 
band, Mrs.  Cora  (Mauney)  Badgett  married  again, 
and  is  now  living  at  Riverview,  an  estate  over- 
looking the  Yadkin  River  Valley,  near  Newsom. 

H.  Val  Badgett  obtained  his  rudimentary  educa- 
tion in  the  rural  schools,  later  attending  the  Oak 
Ridge  Institute.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  years  he 
began  the  battle  of  life  for  himself  as  clerk  in  a 
hotel  at  Concord.  Going  frcm  there  to  Cooleemee, 
Davie  County,  he  clerked  in  a  general  store  for  a 
few  months,  and  on  his  return  to  Davidson  County 
worked  on  a  farm  until  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
Locating  then  at  Jackson  Hill,  Mr.  Badgett  was 
there  actively  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  until 
1911,  when  he  transferred  his  residence  and  busi- 
ness to  Newsom.  Selling  out  his  store  and  stock 
iu  1916,  he  embarked  in  the  lumber  and  tie  busi- 
ness, with  which  he  has  been  actively  and  pros- 
perously identified  ever  since,  having  built  up  a 
fine  trade  in  this  and  neighboring  localities.  Far- 
sighted  and  enterjirising,  Mr.  Badgett,  in  July, 
1916,  put  on  Lake  Baden  a  boat  for  transportation 
and  passenger  service,  and  its  patronage  has  far 
exceeded  his  expectations,  forming  as  it  does  con- 


HISTORY  OF  NOETH  CAROLINA 


315 


venieiit  conimunieatiou  between  Newsom  and  near- 
by places. 

Mr.  Badgett  married,  iu  June,  1909,  Miss  Car- 
rie Smith.  She  was  born  in  Albemarle  County, 
Virginia,  a  daughter  of  J.  Sidney  and  Cornelia 
(Forrest)  Smith.  Her  father,  an  ex-sheriff  of 
Albemarle  County,  is  now  successfully  engaged  in 
mercantile  business,  being  a  dealer  iu  cotton  seed 
and  ties.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Badgett  have  two  chil- 
dren, James  Madison  and  Mary  Bose.  Eeligiously 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Badgett  are  identified  by  member- 
ship with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 
Politicall}'  Mr.  Badgett  cast  his  first  presidential 
vote  for  William  J.  Bryan,  and  has  since  been  an 
ardent  adherent  of  the  democratic  party.  Fra- 
ternally he  belongs  to  Farmers  Lodge  No.  404, 
Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons. 

FnRM.\N  N.  BRniGERS.  A  man  whose  wide  and 
important  business  interests  make  him  a  potent 
factor  in  North  Carolina's  commercial  affairs  is 
Furman  N.  Bridgers,  who  is  secretary,  treasurer 
and  manager  of  that  large  corporation,  the  Far- 
mers Cotton  Oil  Company,  and  officially  connected 
with  numerous  other  successful  enterprises. 

Piirmau  N.  Bridgers  was  liorn  in  Wake  County, 
North  Carolina,  May  20,  1878.  His  parents  are 
James  Paschal  and  Barbara  (Rowland)  Bridgers. 
His  father  is  a  substantial  citizen  of  Wake  County 
and  is  engaged  in  farming. 

In  tlie  local  schools  and  tlien  in  the  high  school 
and  Buies  Creek  Academy  Furman  N.  Bridgers 
acquired  a  sound  education  along  both  literary  and 
business  lines,  and  after  completing  his  course 
was  for  a  time  an  assistant  teacher  in  a  business 
college.  In  May,  1899,  he  engaged  with  a  sawmill 
company  at  McCullers,  Wake  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, first  as  bookkeeper,  and  later  for  about  eigh- 
teen months  was  bookkeeper  for  a  building  and 
contracting  company.  From  1904  to  1905  he  was 
a  manager  of  the  commissary  dejiartment  and 
bookkeeper  for  the  Caraleigh  Phosphate  Fertilizer 
Works  at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  and  was  elected 
secretary  of  that  company  as  his  business  acumen 
became  known.  In  the  latter  year  business  changes 
came  about  and  through  purchase  and  merging 
Mr.  Bridgfers  became  one  of  the  active  officials 
and  since  then  has  served  in  the  combined  offices 
of  manager,  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Far- 
mers Cotton  Oil  Company.  Mr.  Bridgers  is  also 
president  of  the  Lillington  Oil  Company,  and  in 
1916  became  vice  president  of  the  Caraleigh  Phos- 
phate &  Fertilizer  Works.  Additionally  he  is  vice 
president  of  the  Morris  Plan  Bank  and  is  a 
director  of  the  Branch  Banking  Company  and  a 
member  of  its  finance  committee.  He  has  been 
a  vitalizing  force  in  the  Wilson  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, of  which  he  is  an  ex-president,  and  is  vice 
I)resident  of  the  Atlantic  Building  &  Loan  Asso- 
ciation. Also  may  be  mentioned  the  fact  that  he 
is  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
North  Carolina  Cotton  Seed  Crushers'  Association, 
of  which  he  is  an  ex-president,  and  a  member  of 
the  executive  committee  of  the  Inter  State  Cotton 
Seed  Crushers'  Association.  These  varied  and 
important  interests  make  Mr.  Bridgers  a  very 
busy  man,  but  he  has  systematized  his  work,  and 
as  his  vision  is  keen  and  his  business  judgment 
dependable  he  bears  the  strain  well. 

Mr.  Bridgers  was  married  April  21,  1905,  to 
Miss  Sue  Fleming,  who  was  born  at  Vaughn, 
North  Carolina,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Thomas  B. 
Fleming.     Mr.   and  Mrs.  Bridgers  have  five  chil- 


dren, namely:  Furman  Anderson,  Thomas  Flem- 
ing, Margaret  Chamberlain,  William  Ashley  and 
Everett  Rowland.  Mr.  Bridgers  and  family  be- 
long to  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  in  which  he  is  a  steward.  Mr.  Bridgers 
is  able  to  give  his  children  many  advantages  both 
social  and  educational  and  they  are  growing  into 
representative  real  Americans. 

Mr.  Bridgers  has  long  been  prominent  in  Ma- 
sonry and  at  present  is  eminent  commander  of 
his  commaudery  and  is  a  Shriner  and  Ceremonial 
Master  of  Sudan  Temple  at  Newbern,  North 
Carolina.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Wilson  Coun- 
try Club  and  is  influential  in  many  circles. 

Joseph  Bonn  Ramsey.  The  increasing  incli- 
nation of  men  learned  in  the  science  of  law  to 
engage  in  occupations  outside  of  their  inmiediate 
sphere  of  activity  is  resulting  in  numerous  ad- 
vantages. This  is  the  natural  result  of  a  knowl- 
edge of  a  learned  profession  which  equips  its 
devotees  for  success  in  more  lines  of  business 
tlian  any  other  wage-earning  medium,  causing  it 
to  be  justly  regarded  as  a  means,  rather  than  an 
end,  and  as  an  adjunct  rather  than  an  entirety. 
The  result  is  necessarily  an  elevation  of  com- 
mercial and  financial  standards,  an  avoidance  of 
complications,  and  a  general  simplifying  of  con- 
ditions through  a  knowledge  of  underlying  prin- 
ciples and  penalties.  An  illustration  of  this 
modern  pliase  of  law  is  found  in  the  person  of 
Joseph  Bunn  Ramsey,  who  has  had  a  successful 
career  as  an  attorn  y  and  who  has  been  equally 
successful  in  business  and  financial  ventures,  be- 
ing at  this  time  president  of  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Rocky  Mount  and  of  the  Standard  In- 
surance   and    Realty    Corporation. 

Joseph  Bunn  Ramsey  was  born  at  Rockv  Mount, 
Nash  County,  North  Carolina,  June  24,"  1882,  a 
son  of  Fletcher  Yearel  and  Lucy  (Bunn)  Ram- 
sey. His  father  is  vice  president  of  the  James 
W.  Ramsey  Company,  of  Baltimore,  Maryland, 
which  lie  represents  in  the  field  as  a  traveling 
salesman,  and  is  a  well  known  business  man  in 
Maryland  and  North  Carolina.  After  attending 
tlie  University  School  at  Rocky  Mount,  Joseph  B. 
Ramsey  entered  the  University  of  North  Carolina, 
wliere  he  completed  his  academic  course  with  the 
class  of  1903,  and  in  1904  received  his  law  de- 
gree. Returning  to  Rocky  Mount  at  that  time, 
he  at  once  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession, in  the  ranks  of  wliich  he  has  attained 
to  an  honored  place.  He  has  attracted  to  him- 
self, through  his  fine  talents,  energy  and  fidelity, 
a  large  and  appreciative  clientele,  and  his  prac- 
tice, general  in  its  nature,  takes  him  into  all  the 
courts.  He  has  quite  a  corporation  [iractiee,  and 
is  attorney  for  the  New  Home  Building  and  Loan 
Association.  He  has  also  numerous  business  con- 
nections, and  is  a  director  of  the  wholesale  house 
of  AIcocke-Henry  Company,  Inc.  When  he  first 
settled  permanently  at  Rocky  Mount  it  was  Mr. 
Ramsey's  intention  to  devote  himself  unreservedly 
to  his 'profession  but  his  interests  in  other  direc- 
tions became  so  important  that  he  was  gradually 
drawn  away  to  some  extent  and  finally,  recog- 
nizing his  opportunities,  gave  his  talents  full 
sway  in  the  matter  of  forming  business  connec- 
tions. In  this  way  he  Ijecame  identified  with  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Rocky  Mount,  a  sound 
and  stable  financial  institution^  with  a  capital  of 
$50,000,  surplus  of  $50,000,  and  deposits  of 
$900,000,  of  which  he  is  now  president.  The  high 
esteem    in    which    he    is    held    in    banking    circles 


316 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  is  serving  as  vice 
president  of  the  North  Carolina  Bankers '  Asso- 
ciation. He  belongs  to  the  Ameriean  B,.r  As- 
sociation, the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association  and 
to  the  Wilson  Country  Club,  is  past  chancellor 
of  the  local  lodge  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  and 
holds  membership  in  the  Benevolent  and  Protec- 
tive Order  of  Elks.  A  democrat  in  his  political 
views,  Mr.  Ramsey  has  been  the  incumbent  of 
several  important  civic  offices,  ha^ng  lieen  city 
recorder  for  a  term  or  two,  alderman  for  two 
years,  and  mayor  for  three  years.  In  each  of 
these  positions  he  served  with  credit  to  himself 
and   with   honor   to   the   coriimunity. 

On  June  1,  1911,  Mr.  Ramsey  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Ella  Wiggins  McCraw,  of 
Wilson,  North  Carolina,  daughter  of  James  P. 
and  Nannie  (Youngj  MeCraw,  the  former  of 
whom  is  a  successful  merchant.  To  this  union 
there  has  come  one  son,  Joseph  Bunil,  Jr.,  who 
was  born  January  26,  1917.  The  Ramsey  home 
is  at  Rocky  Mount,  and  all  of  Mr.  Ramsey's  in- 
terests are  here.  He  has  700  acres  in  farming 
lands  and  when  it  is  jKJssible  for  him  to  lay  aside 
his  duties  in  the  city  for  a  time  he  goes  into  the 
country  and  engages  for  brief  spells  in  super- 
intending the  work  done  by  tenants  on  these 
properties. 

Robert  Burns  Davis,  Jr.,  a  resident  of  Rocky 
Mount,  is  cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank, 
one  of  the  most  substantial  and  reliable  finan- 
cial institutions  of  Edgecombe  County,  has  numer- 
ous connections  with  commercial  concerns,  and  is 
the  proprietor  of  200  acres  of  fine  farming  land. 
It  is  diflBcult  to  conceive  of  a  more  solid  com- 
bination for  the  attainment  of  financial  security 
than  a  bank  founded  upon  the  prosperity  of  re- 
liable business  houses  and  the  landed  values  of 
sucli  a  rich  agricultural  county  as  Edgecombe. 
Mr.  Davis'  status  as  a  farmer,  business  man, 
financier  and  citizen  is  typical  of  the  material 
upon  which  the  bank  rests  and  which  has  made 
the  institution  of  which  he  is  the  cashier  illus- 
trative of  the  best  type  of  bank  in  a  community 
of  this  kind — something  founded  upon  a  rock, 
which  the  peculations  and  the  panics  of  the  me- 
tropolis cannot  affect. 

Robert  Burns  Davis,  Jr.,  was  born  September 
24,  1872,  at  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  a  son 
or  Robert  Burns  and  Cornelia  (Nixon)  Davis. 
His  father,  who  now  resides  at  Wilmington,  has 
been  a  prosperous  agriculturist  and  leaf  tobacco 
dealer  all  his  life  and  is  a  citizen  who  is  honored 
and  esteemed  in  the  city  of  his  residence.  The 
education  of  Robert  B.  Davis,  the  younger,  was 
secured  in  private  schools,  and  when  lie  entered 
business  life  he  first  took  up  clerical  work.  Dur- 
ing a  period  of  sixteen  years  he  was  a  member 
of  the  auditing  department  of  the  Atlantic  Coast 
Line  Railroad,  and  it  was  as  traveling  auditor 
for  this  company  that  he  came  to  Rocky  Mount 
in  1896.  Here  he  became  agent  for  the  same 
company,  and  remained  in  that  capacity  for  eight 
years.  During  this  time  he  had  noted  the  oppor- 
tunities to  be  advantageously  taken  care  of  in 
this  region  and  the  increasing  value  of  realty 
as  new  inclustries  made  their  homes  here  and  as 
the  population  rapidly  grew.  He  began  making 
small  judicious  investments,  gradually  increasing 
his  ventures  as  his  capital  would  permit,  and 
finally,  in  1904,  gave  up  the  railway  agency  to 
give  his  entire  time  and  attention  to  the  real 
estate    and    insurance   business.      In    this    field    he 


has  since  built  up  an  excellent  business,  being 
the  representative  of  many  of  the  large  insurance 
companies,  and  having  been  the  medium  through 
which  some  large  realty  transactions  have  been 
consummated.  In  1909  Mr.  Davis  entered  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Rocky  Mount  in  the 
capacity  of  cashier.  He  had  already  gained  some- 
thing more  than  an  ordinary  rejiutation  as  a 
sound  and  reliable  business  man,  and  in  his  new 
capacity  dispilayed  those  traits  of  character  cal- 
culated to  liriiig  confidence  to  the  minds  of  the 
depositors  of  tlie  institution.  The  bank  is  capi- 
talized at  $.50,000,  has  a  surplus  of  $40,000,  and 
its  deposits  now  amount  to  $700,000.  Mr.  Davis 
is  also  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Tobacco 
Planters'  Warehouse  Company  secretary  of  the 
Tar  River  Brick  Company,  president  of  the  New 
Home  Building  ami  Loan  Association,  and  a-direc- 
tor  in  tlie  Morris  Plan  Bank  Company.  He  has 
long  been  identified  with  all  movements  making 
for  progress  and  betterment  along  all  lines,  and 
is  a  former  president  of  the  Rocky  Mount  Cliam- 
ber  of  Commerce.  In  his  agricultural  work  he 
is  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  200  acres  of  good 
land  in  Edgecombe  County,  where  he  has  a  fine 
set  of  modern  buildings  and  uses  the  latest 
methods  and  improved  machinery.  He  is  well 
and  favorably  known  in  fraternal  circles,  be- 
longing to  the  local  lodges  of  the  Masons,  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Ben- 
evolent and  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  anil  has 
other  connections  of  a  club  and  social  nature 
which   indicate   his   widespread   popularity. 

Mr.  Davis  was  married  October  14,  1909,  to 
Miss  Annie  Lee  Bunn,  of  Rocky  Mount,  daughter 
of  the  Hon.  B.  H.  Bunn,  an  ex-member  of  Con- 
gress. 

David  Jasper  Hill,  M.  D.  For  over  twenty 
years  Doctor  HUl  has  practiced  medicine  at  Lexing- 
ton in  Davidson  County.  His  has  been  an  unflag- 
ging routine  of  professional  duty,  a  conscientious 
performance  of  all  the  obligations  laid  upon  the 
medical  profession,  and  a  man  of  thorough  skill 
and  attainments  he  has  measured  up  to  the  high 
ideals  of  service  expected  from  the  followers  of  his 
calling. 

Doctor  HOI  is  a  member  of  one  of  the  old  and 
prominent  pioneer  families  of  North  Carolina. 
He  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Forsyth  County  in  the 
Village  of  Germanton,  a  son  of  John  Gideon  and 
Susan  F.  (Poindexter)  Hill.  His  great-great- 
grandfather was  William  Hill.  The  great-grand- 
father was  MaJ.  Robert  Hill  who  served  from 
North '  Carolina  with  conspicuous  gallantry  in  the 
war  of  the  Revolution.  Doctor  Hill 's  grandparents 
were  Joel  and  Mildred  (Golding)  Hill.  Mildred 
Golding  was  a  daughter  of  John  Golding.  The 
mother  of  Doctor  Hill,  Susan  E.  Poindexter,  was  a 
daughter  of  Col.  William  and  Eliza  (Nelson) 
Poindexter,  and  a  granddaughter  of  David  and 
Frances  (Johnson)  Poindexter.  Eliza  Nelson, 
wife  of  Col.  William  Poindexter,  was  a  daughter 
of  Isaac  and  Susan  (Scales)  Nelson.  Both  the 
Nelson  and  Scales  families  were  among  the 
pioneers  of  North  Carolina,  and  all  the  names 
noted  in  this  brief  ancestral  record  has  had  numer- 
ous associations  with  the  life  and  affairs  of  the 
state.  Other  members  of  the  Hill  and  Poindexter 
families  are  noted  elsewhere  in  this  publication. 

David  Jasper  Hill  attended  rural  schools  when 
a  boy,  later  the  Winston  High  School,  and  is  a 
graduate  of  the  Baltimore  Business  College.  At 
first  he  took  up  a  business  career,  being  bookkeeper 


HISTORY  OK  NORTH  CAROLINA 


317 


for  a  mercantile  establishment,  but  soon  turned 
his  attention  to  the  study  of  medicine,  entering 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  at  Balti- 
more, from  which  he  graduated  M.  D.  in  189:!. 
For  two  years  he  practiced  at  Germanton,  his 
native  village,  but  since  1895  has  been  located  at 
Lexington  in  Davidson  County,  and  has  enjoyed 
a  large  share  of  the  professional  business  through- 
out that  part  of  the  state.  Until  1910  he  was 
associated  in  practice  with  his  brother  Joel. 

Joel  Hill  was  graduated  from  old  Trinity 
College  with  the  degree  A.  B.,  and  then  attended 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  at  Balti- 
more, beginning  practice  at  Lexington,  where  he 
was  a  man  of  prominence  in  his  profession  until 
his  death  in  1910.  He  married  Ida  Eagsdalc,  wlio 
died  in  1911,  leaving  seven  children  named  Louise, 
Fred  S.,  Joel  R.,  Francis  L.,  Emily  F.,  Theodore 
David,  and  Mary  Mildred. 

Dr.  David  J.  Hill  is  a  member  of  the  Davidson 
County  and  North  Carolina  State  Medical 
societies,  the  Southern  Medical  Association  and 
the  Southern  Railway  Surgeons  Association.  He 
is  also  aflaiiated  with  Lexington  Lodge  No.  47:'. 
Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  Lexington 
Chapter  No.  35,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and  Lexing- 
ton Lodge  No.  71,  Klnights  of  Pythias. 

John  Lemon  Bailey  has  been  one  of  the  all 
important  factors  in  the  business  and  civic  affairs 
of  Elm  City  for  a  period  of  forty  years  or  more. 
His  name  is  prominently  associated  also  with  tlie 
industrial  development  of  that  part  of  Wilson 
County  and  in  public  life  he  has  sustained  his 
responsibilities   with  notable  credit  and  honor. 

Mr.  Bailey  was  l5orn  in  that  portion  of  old 
Edgecomb  County  now  Wilson  County  June  23, 
1850,  a  son  of  Birt  and  Mahala  (Braswell)  Bailey. 
His  father  was  a  planter,  and  though  reared  while 
the  war  was  in  progress  John  L.  was  given  good 
training  in  private  schools.  From  the  age  of 
fifteen  to  twenty-eight  he  clerked  in  a  general 
store  in  Elm  City,  and  since  1873  his  business  head- 
quarters have  been  at  the  same  location  there.  He 
lias  developed  a  large  store  and  it  is  housed  in  a 
large  brick  two-story  building  60  x  90  feet.  He 
is  also  a  member  of  Bailey-Draughn  Company, 
conducting  a  large  dry  goods  and  meu  's  furnish- 
ing goods  store  at  Rocky  Mount,  North  Carolina. 
Mr.  Bailey  in  1898  organized  the  Elm  City  Bank, 
and  has  since  been  president  of  that  institution. 
He  is  also  president  of  the  Weston  Supply  Com- 
pany, is  a  director  of  the  Planters  Warehouse 
Company  at  Rocky  Mount,  and  is  owner  of  2,501) 
acres  of  farming  land,  most  of  which  has  been 
developed  and  cultivated  under  his  direct  super- 
vision. 

When  only  twenty-one  years  of  age  Mr.  Bailey 
received  his  first  ofSeial  honor  when  he  was  elected 
to  the  ofRce  of  justice  of  the  peace.  He  has 
served  Elm  City  as  alderman  and  mayor  and  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
North  Carolina,  serving  during  the  session  of 
1883  and  was  again  similarly  honored  during  the 
sessions  of  1913-17. 

Mr.  Bailey  married  February  14,  1881,  on  the 
old  farm  where  he  was  born,  Miss  Emma  Bras- 
well,  of  Edgecomb  County.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  five  children.  Karl  Braswell,  a  graduate 
of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  and  a  suc- 
cessful attorney  practicing  law  at  Elm  City. 
Roger  Moore  is  a  graduate  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  and  is 
associated  with  his  father  in  business.     Marie  is 


the  wife  of  Sutton  G.  Flowers,  of  Zebulon,  North 
Carolina.  John  L.  Jr.,  is  a  graduate  of  the  Agri- 
cultural and  Mechanical  College  and  is  also  in 
business  with  his  father.  Emma  Braswell  is  now 
a  student  at  the  Greensboro,  North  Carolina,  Col- 
lege for  Women. 

Samuel  Woodson  Ven  \ble  has  spent  his  active 
career  in  the  tobacco  business,  has  been  a  resident 
of  North  Carolina  since  1894,  and  is  head  of  a 
well  known  and  active  organization  in  the  tobacco 
trade   at   Durham. 

Mr.  Venable  was  born  in  Prince  Edward  County, 
Virginia,  April  16,  1866,  a  son  of  Paul  Carring- 
ton  and  Agnes  (Gray)  Venable.'  His  parents  lived 
at  Danville,  Virginia,  where  his  father  for  many 
years  was  a.  tobacco  dealer.  The  son  was  edu- 
cated in  private  schools  and  in  an  Eiiiscopal  High 
School  at  Alexandria,  Virginia,  finishing  his  work 
in  the  University  of  Virginia.  At  the  age  of  nine- 
teen he  entered  the  leaf  tobacco  business  at  Dan- 
ville, Virginia,  and  was  a  man  of  wide  experience 
and  large  acquaintance  in  the  industry  when  he 
came  to  Wilson,  North  Carolina,  in  1894.  In  1908 
he  removed  to  Durham,  where  he  organized  the 
Venable  Tobacco  Company,  of  which  he  has  since 
been  president  and  general  manager.  He  is  also 
a  director  of  the  Durham  Loan  and  Trust  Com- 
pany. Mr.  Venable  is  a  member  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  of  Durham  and  of  the  Durham  Coun- 
try Club. 

December  18,  1888.  he  married  Miss  Jean  St. 
Clair  Armistead  of  Hampton,  Virginia.  Her  par- 
ents were  Samuel  Watts  and  Mary  Shields  (How- 
ard) Armistead,  her  father  beina'  an  attorney  at 
law.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Venable  had  four  children: 
Paul  Carrington,  Jean  St.  Clair,  Mary  Howard 
and  Samuel  Armistead.  Paul  Carrington  is  now 
a  second  lieutenant  in  the  United  States  forces 
fighting  the  battles  of  democracy  in  France. 
Samuel  Armstead  thoudi  not  of  aare  has  volun- 
teered and  is  now  in  training  at  Camp  McClellan, 
Alabama,  in  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Amnumi- 
tion  Train.  The  daughter  Jean  is  the  wife  of 
Shubrick  Hayward  of  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

WitLiAjr  Theodore  Morgan.  The  learning, 
experience,  skill  and  fine  ideals  of  William  Theo- 
dore Morgan  have  adorned  his  practice  as  a  law- 
yer  at   Marion    for   nearly   twenty   years. 

Mr.  Morgan  was  born  in  Rutherford  County, 
North  Carolina,  January  30,  1871,  son  of  Albert 
Forney  and  Sophie  (Hemphill)  Morgan.  He  was 
reared  on  his  father's  farm,  was  educated  in  the 
nublic  schools  of  Rutherford  County,  and  acquired 
his  higher  education  at  Jud.son  College  in  Hen- 
dersouville,  in  Fairview  Institute  and  Rutherford 
College.  He  studied  law  in  the  law  school  con- 
ducted by  Judge  Alfonzo  C.  Avery  of  Morganton. 
Mr.  Morgan  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Septem- 
ber, 1896,  and  after  one  year  at  practice  at  Mor- 
ganton came  to  Marion  in  1898.  In  addition  to 
liis  general  practice  he  is  attorney  for  the  Mer- 
chants and  Farmers  Bank  and  for  various  other 
local  business  interests.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
North  Carolina  Bar  Association,  the  Knights  of 
Pythias  and  a  deacon  in  the  Baptist  Church. 

November  12,  1913,  Mr.  Morgan  married  Marr 
Clare  Alford,  a  native  of  Florida.  They  have 
two   children,  Edwin  Alford   and  Mary  Louise. 

GiLViN  T.  Roth.  A  highly  esteemed  and 
respected  citizen  of  Elkin,  Surry  County,  Gilvin 
T.  Roth  has  taken  an  active  part  in  public  affairs, 


318 


HISTOKY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


and  for  forty  years  has  been  associated  with  one 
of  the  leading  industries  of  the  place,  his  record 
of  service  in  the  woolen  mill  established  by  Gwynn 
and  Cliatham  bespeaking  in  an  emphatic  manner 
his  efficiency  and  trustworthiness.  He  was  born 
at  Freemansburg,  Pennsylvania,  where,  in  1833, 
occurred  the  birth  of  his  father.  Christian  Both. 
His  grandfather,  George  Roth,  spent  his  entire 
life  in  the  vicinity  of  Freemansburg.  He  came 
from  Eevoiutionary  stock,  and  was  of  German 
ancestry.  He  married  Mary  Bile,  who  was  like- 
wise of  German  descent. 

Learning  the  trade  of  a  machinist  when  young. 
Christian  Roth  followed  it  in  his  native  state  until 
1863.  Then,  shortly  after  the  death  of  his  father, 
he  removed  with  his  family  to  Wooster,  Ohio,  and 
there,  six  months  later,  he  died,  being  but  thirty- 
two  years  old.  He  married  Mary  Shinier,  who  was 
born  in  Freemansburg,  Pennsylvania,  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Mary  (Schwitzer)  Shinier.  Being 
left  a  widow,  in  a  strange  place,  with  four  small 
children,  Gilvin  T.,  Emily,  Mary  and  John  T.,  she 
returned  with  her  family  to  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
thereafter  a  resident  of  Allentown  until  1880, 
when  she  moved  to  Elkin,  North  Carolina,  and  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-eight. 

Completing  the  course  of  study  in  the  public 
schools  of  Freemansburg,  Gilvin  T.  Roth  attended 
Lehigh  University  for  a  while.  Having  a  decided 
aptitude  for  mechanical  pursuits,  he  then  learned 
the  trade  of  a  machinist,  at  which  he  became  an 
expert.  In  1878  Mr.  Roth  came  to  Elkin,  North 
Carolina,  to  accept  a  position  in  the  woolen  mills 
of  Gwynn  and  Chatham,  and  has  continued  with 
that  firm  and  its  successors  until  the  present  time, 
holding  positions  of  importance   and  prominence. 

Mr.  Roth  married,  in  1896,  Rosa  L.  Mosser, 
who  was  l)orn  in  Allentown,  Pennsylvania,  a 
daughter  of  William  F.  and  Louisa  (Seiberling) 
Mosser.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roth  are  the  parents  of 
three  children,  Louisa,  William  and  Thoma.s.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roth  were  reared  in  the  Lutheran 
faith,  but  there  being  no  church  of  that  denomina- 
tion in  Elkin  they  attend  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Fraternally  Mr.  Roth  is  a  member  of 
Elkin  Lodge  No.  96,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons;  and  of  Elkin  Lodge  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias.  Taking  great  interest  in  public  matters, 
Mr.  Roth  was  an  active  member  of  the  first  board 
of  Elkin  Town  Commissioners,  and  has  served  in 
the  same  capacity  several  terms  since.  He  is  at 
the  present  time  chairman  of  the  local  school 
board. 

C.\PT.  J.  MAR.SHALL  WILLIAMS.  An  old  and 
particularly  prominent  family  of  Cumberland 
County,  North  Carolina,  is  that  of  Williams.  The 
ancestors  came  to  Virginia  with  the  Bryans  and 
other  kindred  as  early  as  1689  from  Scotland, 
and  in  both  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  history 
have  been  conspicuous  in  various  lines  of  achieve- 
ment through  the  succeeiling  generations.  The 
present  head  of  the  family  in  Cumberland  County 
is  Capt.  J.  Marshall  Williams,  whose  fine  estate 
is  situated  four  miles  west  of  Fayetteville,  on  the 
Raeford  Road.  He  is  one  of  the  surviving  vet- 
erans of  the  great  war  between  the  states,  in 
which  he  participated  from  start  to  finish,  and  of 
whom  it  has  been  admiringly  said  "he  was  first 
at  Bethel  and  last  at  Appomattox. ' ' 

J.  Marshall  Williams  was  born  in  Cumberland 
County,  North  Carolina,  in  1838.  His  parents  were 
Joel  and  Jane  (Elliott)  Williams.  Captain  Wil- 
liams had  a  half  brother.  Judge  James  G.  Shep- 


lierd,  a  jurist  of  distinction,  who  married  a  sister 
of  Hon.  James  C.  Dobbin,  once  Secretary  of  the 
Navy.  One  of  Captain  Williams'  sisters  married 
Col.  K.  M.  Murchison,  and  another  married 
Col.  John  R.  Murchison,  both  very  prominent 
North  Carolinians  and  both  distinguished  officers 
in  the  Confederate  Army.  Professor  James 
Sprunt,  of  Wilmington,  the  noted  scholar  and  his- 
torian of  the  Cape  Fear  section,  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  Col.  K.  M.  Murchison.  Mrs.  William 
Boylen,  Sr.  a  lady  of  great  social  prominence  at 
Raleigh,  was  a  sister  of  Captain  Williams '  mother. 
The  liiographer  might  continue  almost  indefinitely 
consulting  the  family  records  of  many  other  of 
the  old  and  prominent  families  of  North  Caro- 
lina— the  Bryans,  Whitfields,  Turners,  Hughes, 
Tuckers,  Skinners  and  others,  and  be  sure  of  find- 
ing many  close  relationships  with  the  Williams 
family. 

The  mother  of  Captain  Williams  died  during 
the  progress  of  the  above  war,  and  the  father  died 
aliout  the  time  it  closed.  Before  the  war  he  was 
a  man  of  independent  fortune,  a  prominent  planter 
and  large  landowner  in  Cumberland  County  and 
had  many  slaves  with  which  to  carry  on  the  in- 
dustries that  built  up  the  country's  wealth  in  this 
section  at  that  time.  In  the  misfortunes  attend- 
ing war  the  magnificent  Williams  estate,  situated 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  was 
overrun  by  vandals  and  Joel  Williams  was  never 
able  to  recover  from  the  shock  and  loss. 

J.  Marshall  Williams  was  primarily  educated  by 
tutors  as  he  grew  up  on  his  father's  plantation, 
and  later  attended  a  private  school  at  Alexandria, 
Virginia.  He  was  twenty-three  years  old  when  the 
war  between  the  states  became  a  fact,  and  was 
one  of  the  very  first  to  respond  to  the  call  of 
the  Confederate  Government,  enlisting  in  April, 
1861,  as  a  private  in  the  famous  Fayetteville  In- 
dependent Light  Infantry,  the  first  military  act 
of  which,  at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  was  to 
capture  the  Fayetteville  Arsenal. 

The  above  company  was  the  nucleus  around 
which  was  formed  the  celebrated  Bethel  Regiment, 
with  which  Private  Williams  fought  at  Bethel,  re- 
ceiving his  military  baptism  in  the  first  battle  of 
the  war.  His  company  was  the  first  to  respond 
to  duty  and,  in  fact,  was  so  prompt  and  early 
that  it  had  to  wait  ten  days  before  other  com- 
panies forming  the  regiment  could  be  mobilized 
to  complete  this  organization. 

After  the  battle  of  Bethel  the  regiment  was 
disbanded  and  Mr.  Williams  returned  home,  and 
in  association  with  Col.  K.  M.  Murchison  or- 
ganized a  company  of  125  men  which  was  assigned 
to  the  Fifty-Fourth  Regiment,  which  was  sent  im- 
mediately to  General  Lee's  army  and  assigned  to 
General  Hood 's  Brigade,  General  Jackson 's 
Corps.  This  brigade  during  the  war  was  under 
perhaps  eight  different  commanders,  but  has  al- 
ways been  known  in  history  as  Hoke's  Old  Brig- 
ade, in  honor  of  one  of  the  state 's  fine  soldiers 
and  distinguished  citizens.  Mr.  Williams  was 
made  lieutenant  of  Company  C,  Fifty-Fourth  Regi- 
ment, and  this  was  his  official  classification  until 
he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain.  During 
the  war  he  was  largely  engaged  on  detached  or 
special  duty  as  a  commander  and  instructor  of 
sharpshooters,  belonging  to  different  regiments, 
for  which  duty  he  was  selected  because  of  special 
qualifications,  and  along  this  line  of  expert  duty 
he  was  at  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  in  which 
his  regiment,  the  Fifty-Fourth,  was  captured  by 
the  Federal  troops.     Captain  Williams  escaped  by 


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icii: 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


:il9 


swimming  the  Rapidan  Eiver  near  Brandywine 
Station.  Once,  during  his  service,  he  was  badly 
wounded,  and  once  had  his  shoulder  dislocated  by 
a  fall.  He  participated  in  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg and  was  in  practically  all  of  the  great  his- 
toric battles  of  the  war  in  Virginia.  At  the  time 
of  the  surrender  at  Appotomattox  he  was  second 
senior  oiBcer  of  his  regiment,  ranking  at  times  as 
adjutant  and  inspector-general.  No  better  in- 
formed member  of  the  gallant  old  Fifty-Fourth 
could  have  been  selected  to  write  the  history  of 
that  regiment  for  Judge  Clark 's  ' '  History  of 
North  Carolina  in  the  War ' '  than  Captain  Wil- 
liams, and  his  trustworthy  and  entertaining  ac- 
count adds  a  brilliant  chapter  to  that  excellent 
work. 

It  was  to  a  broken  domestic  circle  and  wrecked 
and  devastated  plantation  that  Captain  Williams 
returned  when  the  war  was  ended.  Local  history 
discloses  in  many  sections  that  in  those  weary 
days  there  were  home-coming  veterans  who  had 
faced  danger  and  death  for  years  who  could  not 
find  the  courage  to  endure  the  ch.anged  conditions 
that  surrounded  them  and  actually  died  of  dis- 
couragement and  despair.  Not  so,  however,  with 
Cajitain  Williams.  He  recognized  just  as  keenly 
as  others  the  great  work  of  reorganization  and 
repair  that  had  to  be  done  and  girded  himself 
for  his  tasks.  His  marriage  soon  took  place  and 
he  started  in  to  make  a  new  home  for  himself  as 
a  farmer  and  planter. 

Captain  Williams  was  married  first  to  Miss 
.Tanie  JIcDiarmid.  of  Cumberland  County,  who 
left  one  son,  Marshall,  who  is  a  prominent  banker 
and  farmer  of  Faison,  Duplin  County,  North 
Carolina.  He  was  married  second  to  Miss  Mar- 
titia  McNeill,  who  is  also  deceased.  Her  mother 
was  Mrs.  Boxana  (Worth)  McNeill,  and  her  grand- 
father was  Governor  Jonathan  Worth  of  North 
Carolina.  To  this  marriage  four  children  were 
born:  Boxana,  Joel,  Jesse  and  David  Worth.  One 
of  Captain  Williams '  sons  is  in  the  National 
Army,  .Tesse  being  "somewhere  in  France,"  a 
member  of  the  One  Hundred  Seventeenth  Engi- 
neers. 

In  1882  Captain  Williams  removed  to  his  pres- 
ent plantation,  which  is  a  fine  place  containing 
3.50  acres,  situated  in  Seventy-First  Township  and 
four  miles  west  of  Fayetteville.  The  Williams 
place  has  become  famous  for  its  displays  of 
prize-winning  crops  at  the  Cape  Fear  Fair  and 
also  the  State  Fair  at  Ealeigh.  This  distinction 
has  been  brought  about  through  the  enterprise 
and  actual  genius  of  Captain  Williams'  daughter, 
Miss  Boxana  Williams,  a  lady  possessing  remark- 
able gifts.  Miss  Williams,  modestly  making  her 
exhibits  in  the  name  of  her  father,  has  taken 
three  championship  prizes  at  the  Cape  Fear  Fair 
at  Fayetteville  and  one  at  the  State  Fair  at 
Raleigh  for  all-farm  products.  The  Cape  Fear 
organization  embraces  seven  counties  in  Eastern 
North  Carolina,  while  the  state  organization  brings 
competitive  displays  from  all  over  the  state.  Miss 
Williams'  exhibit  in  1914  gave  Cumberland  Coun- 
tv  an  agricultural  representation  at  the  State 
Fair  for  the  first  time  in  its  history.  The  re- 
markable extent  and  variety  of  this  exhibit  may 
be  judged  from  the  fact  that  it  comprised  500 
different  products  without  one  duplication,  and 
among  these  may  be  mentioned:  Seed;  canned 
goods  of  all  kinds;  corn;  home-made  vinegar; 
cotton;  forage  crops  of  all  kinds;  tobacco;  pol- 
ished gourds;  preserved  meats  of  all  kinds;  fruits; 


whisk  brooms  made  from  straw  from  the  farm. 
•  The  seed  display  was  of  such  a  high  grade  that 
a  specimen  of  each  kind  was  purchased  by  Curator 
Brimley,  of  the  State  Museum,  and  besides  re- 
sulted in  many  profitable  sales  of  seed  from  the 
Williams  farm.  Other  very  interesting  features 
of  the  exhibit  were  sun  and  steam-cured  tobacco, 
and  Japanese  persimmons  of  very  large  size.  The 
preparation  of  these  products,  astounding  in  com- 
pleteness and  utility,  and  the  assembling  for  the 
display,  was  done  entirely  by  Miss  Williams  or 
under  her  direction.  While  she  has  a  genuine 
love  for  doing  useful  things  about  the  farm  and 
liome,  she  also  possesses  great  artistic  taste,  as  is 
shown  in  the  making  of  beautiful  pine-needle 
baskets,  flower  pots  and  other  decorative  objects. 
She  is  in  close  sympathy  with  the  present  move- 
ment of  conservation  of  foods  and  intelligently 
experiments  with  various  products.  The  farm  is 
well  stocked  with  Duroc-Jersey  hogs  and  she  is 
interested  along  this  line  and  her  good  judgment 
has  often  assisted  in  the  profitable  sale  of  pigs 
each  year.  The  farm  has  fine  pasturage  and  in 
every  way  is  conducted  along  modern  lines  and 
not  only  is  a  comfortable  and  rarely  beautiful 
home  but  an  exceedingly  profitable  and  produc- 
tive one. 

Not  only  has  Captain  Williams  given  sons  to 
the  cause  of  patriotism,  but  four  of  his  grandsons 
are  in  the  National  Army.  Although  his  daughter- 
in-law,  Mrs.  Marshall  Williams,  of  Faison,  has 
long  been  a  noted  portrait  painter,  her  friends  and 
family  know  that  she  feels  more  distinguished  be- 
cause of  her  four  noble  sons  than  of  all  the  marked 
appreciation  shown  her  artistic  talent  in  past 
years.  These  sons  are  all  university  and  profes- 
sionally trained  young  men,  and  their  services  in 
each  case  were  volunteered  at  the  beginning  of 
the  United  States  war  with  Germany.  These 
sons  are:  Dr.  Louis  Hicks  Williams,  assistant  sur- 
geon in  the  United  States  Navy:  Roland  Williams, 
first  lieutenant  in  the  army:"  Marshall  Williams 
(III)  captain  of  coast  artillery  at  Fort  Story, 
Virginia;  and  Virginius  F.  Williams,  second  lieu- 
tenant in  the  National  Army. 

CoLLETTE  Levexthorpe  Miller.  a  banker  and 
merchant  at  Rutherfordton,  has,  as  the  record  of 
the  primary  points  in  his  career  indicate,  made 
wise  and  diligent  use  of  the  successive  opportu- 
nities that  have  come  to  him  during  his  active 
career. 

He  was  born  at  Rutherfordton  September  20, 
18.59,  son  of  Daniel  Franklin  and  Hester  T. 
(DePriest)  Miller.  His  father  was  a  blacksmith 
and  wheelwright.  The  son  was  reared  in  the 
decade  of  the  war  and  reconstruction,  and  had 
only  the  advantages  of  the  subscription  schools. 
Much  knowledge  that  has  been  valuable  to  him  in 
his  later  career  was  acquired  during  his  expe- 
riences in  the  printing  offices  of  the  Western  Vin- 
dicator and  the  Rutherford  Star.  He  also  worked 
as  clerk  in  a  general  store,  clerked  in  a  drug 
store,  and  his  interest  in  politics  and  his  popular- 
ity as  a  citizen  brought  him  in  1896  election  to 
the  office  of  the  county  treasurer.  He  filled  that 
office  with  credit  and  advantage  to  the  county 
for  three  terms,  six  years.  He  then  resumed  liis 
jiart  as  a  local  merchant  in  the  drug  business, 
liut  during  the  past  ten  years  has  been  primarily 
a  banker. 

He  was  one  of  the  original  directors  of  the 
Commercial    Bank    of    Rutherfordton    and    served 


320 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


as  its  cashier  from  September,  1909,  to  January 
1,  1915.  He  also  helpeil  organize  the  Citizens- 
Bank  &  Trust  Company,  a  reorganization  of  the 
Citizens  Bank,  and  has  since  been  president  of 
tlie  new  company.  In  191.5  he  was  one  to  erect 
the  handsome  brick  and  terra  cotta  building  in 
which  the  Bank  and  Trust  Company  has  its  home, 
a  structure  ,32x80  feet.  Mr.  Miller  is  also  a 
director  of  the  Cleghorn  Cotton  Mill  and  the 
Spencer  Cotton  Mills.  He  is  one  of  the  owners 
of  the  Miller  Hardware  Company.  Always  ac- 
tive in  politics,  Mr.  Miller  served  four  years  as 
chairman  of  the  Democratic  Committee,  and  is 
affiliated  with  the  Junior  Order  of  United  Amer 
ican   Mechanics. 

John  Wesley  White,  M.  D.,  has  been  practic- 
ing his  profession  as  a  physician  and  surgeon  at 
Wilkesboro  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
Success  has  come  to  him  in  generous  measure  as 
well  as  high  standing  in  professional  circles  over 
the  stat^.  He  is  a  former  vice  president  of  the 
North  Carolina  State  Medical  Society. 

Doctor  White  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Deep  Creek 
Township  of  Yadkin  County,  North  Carolina,  a 
son  of  William  White.  His  people  have  been 
identified  with  this  section  of  North  Carolina  for 
several  generations.  His  father  learned  the  trade 
of  carpenter  when  a  young  man  and  afterwards 
became  a  building  contractor.  He  erected  among 
other  structures  the  courthouse  at  Yadkinville. 
He  also  bought  a  farm  in  Deep  Creek  Township, 
improved  it  and  had  slaves  to  cultivate  the  fields 
until  the  war.  During  the  war  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Home  Guard.  His  death  occurred  in  1867. 
William  White  married  Sarali  Nicholson,  who  was 
born  at  Eagle  Mills  in  Iredell  County,  North 
Carolina,  daughter  of  John  Nicholson.  At  her 
husband 's  death  she  was  left  a  widow  with  three 
children:  John  Wesley;  George  Anderson,  now  in 
the  hardware  business  at  North  Wilkesboro;  and 
Cliarles  Henry,  who  is  a  brilliant  scholar  and  now 
holds  a  chair  in  the  faculty  of  instruction  of 
Harvard  University.  The  mother  of  these  three 
sons  continued  to  live  on  the  old  farm  and  reared 
her  sons  there  to  habits  of  industry.  She  spent 
her  last  years  at  the  home  of  her  son  Doctor  White 
at  Wilkesboro,  where  she  died  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
four. 

While  Doctor  Wliite  was  not  reared  in  a  luxuri- 
ous home  he  made  the  best  of  his  opportunities  and 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  began  teaching  in  the  rural 
schools  of  Yadkin  County.  Wliile  teaching  he 
pursued  the  study  of  medicine  and  subsequently, 
with  the  means  earned  by  his  own  labors,  he 
attended  a  course  of  lectures  in  Baltimore  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  and  later  entered  the 
Jefferson  Medical  College  at  Philadelphia,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  M.  D.  in  1889.  On  being 
licensed  to  practice  he  located  at  Wilkesboro  and 
in  a  few  years  had  a  paying  and  promising  prac- 
tice. Some  years  ago  in  order  the  better  to  care 
for  his  own  patients  and  afford  a  general  service 
Doctor  White  established  a  hospital  in  Wilkesboro. 
This  is  the  only  hospital  in  the  county  and  is  an 
institution  in  which  the  people  take  a  great  deal 
of  just  pride. 

Besides  his  active  membership  in  and  former 
official  connection  with  the  State  Medical  Society, 
Doctor  White  belongs  to  the  Wilkes  County  and  the 
Tri-State  Medical  societies. 

He  was  married  in  1898  to  Pearl  Sydnor,  who 
was  born  near  Richmond,  A'irginia,  member  of  the 
prominent  Sydnor  family  of  that  state.     She  is  a 


daughter  of  John  Lincoln  and  Nellie  (Catlin) 
Sydnor.  Doctor  and  Mrs.  White  have  two  children : 
Nellie,  now  a  student  in  Greensboro  Woman's 
College;  and  John,  who  is  still  in  school  at  Wilkes- 
boro. Doctor  White  has  found  time  in  the  midst  of 
his  busy  professional  duties  to  serve  as  mayor  of 
Wilkesboro  and  al^o  as  county  physician.  For 
twelve  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  High  School 
Committee.  He  is  now  chairman  of  the  Medical 
Advisory  Board,  War  Department,  Fifth  District. 

Guy  Berryman  Phillips  is  superintendent  of 
the  city  schools  of  Oxford.  He  is  a  native  of 
North  Carolina,  a  graduate  of  the  State  University, 
and  has  both  training  and  fine  natural  qualifica- 
tions for  his  duties  and  responsibilities  as  a  teacher. 

He  was  born  in  Ashboro  in  Randolph  County 
this  state  November  26,  1890,  son  of  Jesse  Lee 
and  Fannie  Polk  (Waddell)  Phillips.  His  people 
were  farmers,  and  in  a  rural  atmosphere  he  spent 
his  boyhood.  He  attended  the  Trinity  High  School 
and  in  191.3  graduated  from  the  University  of 
North  Carolina.  For  a  time  he  taught  school  at 
Raleigh,  and  attended  sessions  of  summer  school 
at  Columbia  University  in  New  York  City.  Mr. 
Phillips  came  to  Oxford  in  1916  to  take  up  his 
present  duties  as  superintendent  of  public  schools. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina  Teachers' 
Assembly  and  is  assistant  superintendent  of  the 
Sunday  school  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
at  Oxford.  His  fraternal  affiliations  are  with  the 
Junior  Order  United  American  Mechanics.  June 
27,  1917,  he  married  Anna  Elizabeth  Craig,  daugh- 
ter of  Braxton  and  Helen  (Wilson)  Craig.  Her 
father  is  a  well  known  Baptist  minister. 

C'h.\rles  H.\ll  ROBIN.SON'.  With  all  that  rep- 
resents stability  and  progress  during  the  last  half 
century  in  Elizabeth  City,  North  Carolina,  no  man 
has  been  more  continuously  and  consistently  iden- 
tified than  has  Charles  Hall  Robinson,  president 
of  the  First  National  Bank  and  the  moving  spirit 
in  and  connected  officially  or  otherwise  with  nu- 
merous other  successful  business  enterprises. 
With  youthful  ambition  and  unlimited  energy  Mr. 
Robinson  came  here  at  a  time  when  the  effects  of 
the  Civil  war  just  closed,  had  caused  business  de- 
pression in  every  field.  In  a  comparatively  short 
time,  however,  despite  his  youth,  he  became  a 
recognized  factor  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  stable 
and  dependable  enterprises  upon  which,  in  great 
measure,  rests  the  community's  present  prosperity. 

Charles  Hall  Robinson  was  born  at  Theresa  in 
Jefferson  County,  New  York,  October  13,  1848. 
the  yoimgest  child  and  the  only  son  in  a  family 
of  four  children  born  to  Thomas  Oakley  and  Pa- 
melia  (Hall)  Robinson.  The  three  daughters  were: 
Frances,  who  was  born  in  1836,  died  in  18.54; 
Emma,  who  was  born  in  1840,  is  the  widow  of 
R.  E.  Munson  and  is  a  resident  of  Philipsburg, 
Pennsylvania ;  and  Ellen,  who  was  born  in  1844, 
is  the  widow  of  William  L.  Quigley  and  resides 
at  Rockford.  Illinois. 

Tracing  far  back  it  is  found  that  the  Robin- 
sons and  Halls  were  families  of  substance  and 
influential  connections.  The  genealogical  record 
discloses  that  Mr.  Robinson  is  in  direct  line  of 
descent  from  the  Roliinsons  of  Rokeby  Park,  in 
the  north  of  Englanil.  Thomas  Robinson,  Baro- 
net at  Law,  colonel  in  the  Parliamentary  army, 
raised  a  company  of  horse  at  his  own  expense,  and 
was  slain  near  Leeds  in  1643. 

Sir  Leonard  Robinson,  third  son  of  Thomas, 
was    chamberlain    of    the    City    of    London,    was 


^A^a/i^^i^^'A^^ 


3 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


321 


knighted  at  Guild  Hall  by  Bang  WHliam  in  1692 
and  died  in  1696.  The  following  describes  the 
arms  of  Sir  Leonard  Kobinson:  Vert,  a  chevron 
between  three  stags  at  gaze — on  a  shield,  on  a 
green  field,  divided  by  a  golden  chevron  separat- 
ing three  stags  at  gaze  (or  standing  looking  face 
on,  indicating  a  green  park  with  tame  deer).  The 
Crest — a  stag  as  in  arms.  The  Motto,  Kes  Non 
Verba   (Deeds  not  Words). 

Thomas  Robinson,  only  son  of  Sir  Leonard,  of 
Enfield  Chase,  Middlesex,  and  West  Layton,  York- 
shire, died  in  1700. 

Matthew  Eobinson,  oldest  son  of  Thomas,  West 
Layton,  Yorkshire,  died  in  1778,  aged  eighty-four 
years. 

Thomas,  second  son  of  Matthew  Eobinson,  cler- 
gyman, of  Edgeley,  Yorkshire,  died  in  1798. 

Richard  Eobinson,  son  of  Thomas,  was  the 
grandfather  of  Charles  Hall  Eobinson.  He  was 
in  the  Eoyal  Navy  and  was  killed  in  a  sea  engage- 
ment in  1812. 

Thomas  Oakley  Robinson,  son  of  Eichard  and 
of  his  wife,  Frances  Oakley,  and  father  of  Charles 
Hall  Eobinson,  was  born  in  1806,  in  the  City  of 
London,  England,  and  in  1828  immigrated  to 
Northern  New  York  in  the  United  States.  He 
was  married  on  February  7,  1836,  to  Pamelia 
Hall,  who  was  born  March  20,  1815,  and  died 
January  20,  1889,  and  was  buried  at  Montour 
Falls,  New  York.  Her  parents  were  Joseph  and 
Margaret  (Beeman)  Hall,  the  former  of  whom 
was  born  August  23,  1772,  was  a  soldier  in  the 
War  of  1812,  and  died  February  8,  1859.  The 
latter  was  a  daughter  of  a  soldier  of  the  E«volu- 
tion  and  was  born  February  12,  1777,  and  died 
September  5,  1868,  having  survived  to  the  un- 
usual age  of  ninety-two  years.  Joseph  Hall  and 
his  wife  were  buried  at  La  Fargeville  in  Jeffer- 
son County,  New  York.  Thomas  Oakley  Eobin- 
son, born  November  11,  1806,  died  in  1881  and 
was  buried  at  Montour  Falls,  New  York. 

Charles  H.  Eobinson  was  taken  from  school  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  years,  during  the  Civil  war, 
and  placed  in  a  mercantile  office,  the  father  thus 
early  recognizing  in  the  youth  a  dormant  business 
faculty  that  should  be  given  a  chance  to  develop. 
In  1866  he  took  a  course  in  bookkeeping  at  the 
Eastman  Commercial  College,  Poughkeepsie,  New 
York,  and  two  years  later,  in  1868,  when  twenty 
years  old,  he  came  to  Elizabeth  City,  delegated 
to  look  after  his  father's  interests  in  a  vast  tract 
of  land,  31,000  acres,  this  being  locally  known 
as  the  "General  Park  estate."  In  1869  the  prop- 
erty was  placed  in  a  stock  company,  the  Land  & 
Lumber  Company  of  North  Carolina,  of  which  con- 
cern Mr.  Robinson  continued  secretary  until  its 
failure  in  1873,  whereby  Mr.  Eobinson  and  his 
father  suffered  a  total  loss  in  their  first  North 
Carolina  investment. 

Benefited  by  this  experience,  unpleasant  as  it 
was,  Mr.  Robinson  exercised  caution  in  1874  when 
he  embarked  in  the  sawmill  business,  and  was  able 
to  sell  out  at  a  good  profit  in  1875,  at  the  same 
time  retaining  valuable  timber  lands.  Alert  to 
further  business  opportunity,  in  February,  1877, 
he  entered  into  the  mercantile  business  at  Eliza- 
beth City,  establishing  what  is  now  known  as  the 
C.  H.  Robinson  Company,  which  has  been  success- 
ful from  the  start  and  at  present  does  a  large 
iobbing  business  in  Northeastern  North  Carolina. 
Its  business  has  been  continuous,  there  never  hav- 
ing been  a  stringency  in  its  financial  affairs  nor 
have  there  ever  been  any  fire  losses.  Progressive 
Vol.  IV— 21 


and  enterprising,  Mr.  Robinson  wag  the  first  to 
enter  the  wholesale  trade  and  his  was  the  first 
firm  to  send  out  traveling  representatives.  His  en- 
tire metliod  of  doing  business  has  been  along 
modern  lines  and  the  success  that  has  attended 
this  and  all  his  other  enterprises  has  been  marked. 
As  population  increased  and  conditions  changed, 
Mr.  Robinson  kept  pace,  his  business  vision  being 
clear  and 'his  foresight  seldom  at  fault.  In  1891 
he  organized  the  First  National  Bank  of  Elizabeth 
City,  of  which  he  has  been  president  ever  since. 
He  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  first  electric  light  company  and  the 
first  telephone  company.  He  is  president  of  the 
Elizabeth  City  Cotton  Mill,  and  is  vice-president 
of  the  Elizabeth  City  Hosiery  Company.  He  has 
always  taken  a  deep  interest  in  every  movement 
for  the  betterment  of  the  community  and  has  fre- 
quently demonstrated  his  public  spirit  and  civie 
pride. 

Mr.  Robinson  was  married  June  5,  1879,  to 
Miss  Adele  Le  Page,  who  was  a  daughter  of 
Louis  and  Marie  Le  Page,  residents  of  Norfolk, 
Virginia.  Mrs.  Robinson  died  without  issue  De- 
cember 10,  1884.  Mr.  Robinson  was  married  sec- 
ond, on  January  20,  1886,  to  Miss  Mary  E. 
Leigh,  who  is  a  daughter  of  James  and  Sarah 
Leieh.  of  Durant's  Neck,  North  Carolina,  and  a 
granddaughter  of  Col.  James  Leigh,  a  large 
planter  of  Pasquotank  and  Perquimans  counties. 
The  ancestral  Leigh  home,  built  at  Durant's  Neck 
in  1842,  is  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Eobinson.  Four 
children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eobin- 
son, namely:  Mary  Leigh,  who  married  Alexan- 
der S.  Hanes,  of  Winston-Salem,  North  Carolina, 
and  they  have  three  children,  Elizabeth,  Charles 
and  Alexander;  Charles  Oakley,  who  married  Ivy 
Blades,  a  daughter  of  W.  B.  Blades,  of  Newbern, 
North  Carolina,  and  they  have  two  children, 
Charles  O.  and  Wqiiam  B.;  Helen,  wife  of  W.  G. 
Gaither,  Jr.,  cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank; 
and  Eloise,  who  resides  with  her  parents  in  the 
beautiful  home  in  Elizabeth  City.  Mr.  Eobinson 
and  family  attend  the  Episcopal  Church,  all  being 
communicants. 

In  his  political  views  Mr.  Eobinson  is  a  demo- 
crat but  has  never  taken  any  very  active  part  in 
politics,  consenting  as  a  public  duty,  however,  to 
serve  two  terms  as  county  commissioner  and  two 
terms  as  alderman  of  Elizabeth  City,  these  offices 
being  .rather  forced  upon  him  than  solicited. 
Clubs  and  social  organizations  as  such  have  never 
appealed  strongly  to  Mr.  Robinson,  but  he  has 
long  been  identified  with  the  Masons.  He  was  mas- 
ter of  Eureka  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  18841885;  be- 
loncrs  to  Cherokee  Chapter,  Eoyal  Arch;  to  Griggs 
Commandery,  Knin-hts  Templar,  and  to  Khedive 
Temple,  of  the  Mystic  Shrine.  Personally  Mr. 
Eobinson  is  a  man  of  dignity  and  culture,  and  one 
whose  unfaltering  adherence  to  honorable  methods 
through  his  long  career  has  won  for  him  un- 
qualified respect  and  the  trust  of  his  fellow  men. 

Matt  McBrayer  is  in  point  of  continuous 
service  one  of  the  oldest  attorneys  of  the  Euther- 
fordton  bar.  He  has  been  in  practice  forty  years 
and  has  well  earned  the  dignity  and  success  he 
enioys  professionally  and  as  a  citizen  in  that 
part  of  the  state. 

Mr.  McBraver  was  born  at  Mooresboro  in  Cleve- 
land Countv,  North  Carolina,  August  4,  1852,  son 
of  Eeuben  H'll  and  Elizabeth  (Stroud)  McBrayer. 
His   early  life   was   spent  on   his   father's    farm. 


322 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


He  attended  public  schools,  the  Shelby  Academy 
and  also  high  school.  At  the  early  age  of  eighteen 
he  became  an  independent  merchant.  He  sold 
goods  four  years,  and  in  tlie  meantime  read  law 
and  in  1877  was  licensed  to  practice.  From  that 
year  to  the  present  he  has  been  identitied  with 
much  of  the  law  business  in  Kutherford  Count)', 
served  a  number  of  years  as  county  attorney,  and 
his  clientage  also  includes  a  number  of  banks 
and  other  business  firms  that  have  availed  them- 
selves of  his  experience  and  ability.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1916,  Mr.  McBrayer  was  elected  recorder, 
and  that  office  has  since  taken  most  of  his  time 
and   energies. 

For  many  years  he  served  as  a  trustee  of  the 
graded  schools  at  Kutherfordton.  He  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  Order  since  1880,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  was  master  of  his  lodge. 
He  is   a  member   of   the  Baptist  Church. 

December  12,  1877,  the  same  year  that  he  be- 
gan law  jiractiee,  Mr.  McBrayer  married  Louisa 
Eugenia  Wilkins,  of  Rutherford  County.  They 
are  the  parents  of  live  children:  Fred  W.,  an 
attorney  at  law  at  Kutherfordton;  Matt,  a  dentist 
at  Andrews,  North  Carolina,  married  Sallie  Kate 
Fisher  and  has  a  son  named  Matt  III.,  and  Nellie, 
Annie  and  Agnes,  the  three  daughters  are  all 
still  at  home. 

William  Clinton  Harris.  When  William 
Clinton  Harris  was  elected  judge  of  the  Municipal 
Court  of  Raleigh,  after  one  year 's  service  in  the 
office  of  prosecuting  attorney,  his  abilities  and 
integrity  were  but  given  their  desei"ved  recogni- 
tion. After  two  years  in  the  office  he  had  so 
strengthened  his  hold  upon  public  confidence  that 
he  was  chosen  again  for  this  office,  one  of  the 
most  important  in  the  civic  government.  Mr. 
Harris  is  one  of  the  younger  members  of  North 
Carolina's  judiciary,  but  his  career  has  been  one 
characterized  by  a  display  of  sterling  legal  ability, 
and  those  who  have  watched  his  rise  have  lieen 
gratified  by  the  showing  of  this  native  sou  of 
Raleigh. 

Judge  Harris  was  born  August  18,  1886,  and  is 
a  son  of  J.  C.  L.  and  Florence  C.  (Upchurch) 
Harris.  He  comes  by  his  predilection  for  the  law 
naturally,  for  his  father  has  long  been  one  of  the 
prominent  attorneys  of  the  Raleigh  bar.  After 
attending  the  public  schools  he  completed  a  course 
in  the  Raleigh  Male  Academy.  He  then  entered 
the  University  of  North  Carolina  and  also  began 
the  study  of  the  profession  which  he  has  made 
his  life  work  and  finished  his  law  course  in  the 
same  institution  in  1909.  Entering  at  once  into 
general  practice,  his  talents  and  general  ability 
soon  attracted  to  him  a  large  and  representative 
clientele,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  came 
before  the  people  in  a  number  of  cases  iu  which 
he  convinced  them  he  was  a  good  man  to  liold 
official  position.  His  election  as  prosecuting 
attorney  came  as  a  natural  sequence,  and  in  1913 
the  citizens  of  Raleigh  demonstrated  that  they 
believed  he  was  of  judicial  timber  when  they  sent 
him  to  preside  over  the  Municipal  Court.  Judge 
Harris  has  the  reputation  of  being  an  indefati- 
gable worker,  combining  scholarship  with  an  active 
energy  and  a  forceful  personality.  His  record  is 
absolutely  clean  and  one  upon  which  he  is  not 
afraid  to  stand.  Politically  a  democrat,  he  has 
not  allowed  his  party  ties  to  affect  his  judicial 
labors  in  any  way.  He  is  a  popular  member  of 
the  Capital  and  Country  clubs,  and,  with  Mrs. 
Harris,  belong  to  Christ  Episcopal  Church. 


Judge  Harris  was  married  November  8,  1911,  to 
Miss  Juliet  Crews,  of  Raleigh,  daughter  of  the 
late  W.  J.  Crews.  They  have  one  son,  William 
Clinton,  Jr.,  born  January  1,  191.3,  and  a  daughter, 
Katheriue  Crews,  born  March  7,  1917. 

.lOHN  A.  PuGH.  While  his  early  opportunities 
and  advantages  were  as  commonplace  as  those  of 
the  most  ordinary  North  Carolina  boy,  John  A. 
Pugh  by  his  energy  and  ambition  has  raised  him- 
self to  a  place  of  authority  and  influence  in  his 
business  affairs  and  is  one  of  the  leaders  in  the 
maniifacturing  circles  of  Durham. 

He  was  born  in  Wake  County,  North  Carolina, 
May  22,  1876,  a  son  of  .James  Monroe  and  Mary 
Ellen  (Collier)  Pugh.  His  father  was  a  country 
merchant.  The  son  attended  the  common  schools 
a  few  terms  and  later  the  Davis  Military  School. 
His  first  business  experience  was  clerk  in  a  dry 
goods  store  for  a  year,  after  which  he  acquired  a 
vast  and  detailed  information  of  the  hardware  busi- 
ness through  nine  years  of  practical  experience  in 
various  capacities.  This  was  supplemented  by  an- 
other two  years  spent  as  an  employe  of  the  South- 
ern Railway. 

In  1902  Mr.  Pugh  became  secretary  and  treas- 
urer of  the  Commonwealth  Cotton  Manufacturing 
Company.  Here  he  found  the  real  field  of  his  work 
and  his  individual  possibilities.  In  1909  he  re- 
signed his  commission  with  the  Commonwealth  Cot- 
ton Company  to  become  superintendent  of  Mills 
No.  6  and  7  of  the  Durham  Hosiery  Company.  He 
directed  these  mills  for  six  years  and  on  June  1, 
1916,  became  general  manager  of  the  Duke  Yarn 
Mill  at  Durham. 

Mr.  Pugh  is  a  life  member  of  the  Benevolent 
and  Protective  Order  of  Elks.  On  June  10,  1914, 
he  married  Miss  Vivian  Blackwell.  Mrs.  Pugh 
is  a  niece  of  W.  T.  Blackwell,  the  creator  of  the 
famous  Bull  Durham  tobacco. 

Gen.  Thomas  R.  Robertson,  former  adju- 
tant-general of  North  Carolina,  former  colonel 
of  the  First  North  Carolina  Infantry  and  cap- 
tain of  the  famous  Hornet 's  Nest  Riflemen  of 
Charlotte  in  the  Spanish-American  war,  has  been 
a  resident  of  Charlotte  for  many  years  and  ac- 
tive in  public  affairs  and  the  bar,  but  since  the 
spring  of  1917  has  been  su])erintendent  of  public 
buildings  and  grounds  at  the  state  capital  of 
Raleigh. 

General  Robertson  is  a  native  of  South  Caro- 
lina, horn  iu  Fairfield  County  in  1849,  son  of 
Judge  William  R.  and  Elizabeth  (Rabb)  Robert- 
son. .Judge  William  R.  Robertson  was  a  lawyer 
by  profession  and  for  a  numlier  of  years  held  a 
dignified  place  on  the  bench.  He  was  a  native  of 
South  Carolina,  as  was  also  his  father.  The 
great-grandfather  of  General  Robertson  was  born 
in  Prince  William  County,  Virginia,  the  ancestral 
home  of  the  Robertsons.  The  Robertsons  have 
been  identified  both  with  Virginia  and  the  Caro- 
linas.  From  the  Carolinas  the  party  of  Robert- 
sons passed  over  the  western  mountains  into  Ten- 
nessee. Col.  Sterling  Robertson  was  a  promi- 
nent figure  in  the  early  history  of  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  and  afterwards  gained  renown  and 
distinction  in  the  Republic  and  State  of  Texas. 
He  was  a  figure  in  the  winning  of  Texas  inde- 
pendence from  Mexico  in  1836,  being  present  at 
the  battle  of  San  .Jacinto  under  Gen.  Sam 
Houston.  Later  he  acquired  one  of  the  large 
colonial  grants  in  the  state,  and  out  of  the 
old  Robertson  colony  has  since  been  carved  many 


i 


n 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


323 


of  the  counties  of  Texas.  Colonel  Robertson  was 
a  cousin  of  General  Robertson's  father.  One  of 
his  family  was  tlie  late  Judge  Sawnie  Robertson, 
iuilge  of  the  State  Supreme  Court  of  Texas,  who 
died  in  1910. 

Thomas  R.  Robertson  was  reared  in  Fairfield 
County,  South  Carolina,  finishing  his  education  in 
South  Carolina  University  at  Columbia.  He  moved 
to  Charlotte,  North  Caroliua,  in  1881,  and  that 
city  was  his  permanent  home  until  1906.  For  sev- 
eral years  he  practiced  law  and  by  appointment 
from  Governor  Holt  was  for  eight  years  clerk  of 
tlie  Criminal  Court  of  Cliarlotte.  He  also  served 
on  the  Board  of  Aldermen  several  years  and  in 
every  way  was  oiie  of  the  leading  and  active  spir- 
its of  the  city. 

General  Robertson  has  been  especially  distin- 
guished in  his  record  with  the  North  Carolina 
National  Guard.  He  joined  the  famous  Hornet's 
Nest  Riflemen  in  188.?,  being  made  lieutenant. 
He  rose  to  the  rank  of  cajitain  and  commanded 
the  com]ianj',  officially  designated  as  Company  A, 
First  North  Carolina  Infantry,  in  the  Spanish- 
American  war.  This  company  was  at  the.  head 
of  the  First  North  Carolina  Regiment  when  it 
marched  as  the  first  American  troops  through  the 
streets  of  Havana,  Cuba.  General  Robertson  re- 
mained in  command  of  his  company  at  Havana 
during  the  winter  of  1898-99,  returning  to  Cliar- 
lotte in  April,  1899.  Later  he  was  elected  colonel 
of  the  First  North  Carolina  Regiment. 

General  Robertson  removed  to  Raleigh  in  1906 
to  take  the  position  of  adjutant  general  of  the 
state  by  appointment  from  Governor  Glenn.  His 
service  of  four  years  in  that  position  made  an 
enviable  record  for  efficiency  and  usefulness  and 
did  much  to  build  up  the  personnel  and  the  equip- 
ment of  the  state  military  organization. 

In  May,  1917,  General  Robertson  was  appointed 
to  his  present  position  as  superintendent  of  state 
buildings  at  Raleigh.  He  was  elected  by  a  com- 
mittee composed  of  Governor  T.  W.  Bickett,  Sec- 
retary of  State  J.  Bryan  Grimes,  State  Treasurer 
B.  R.  Lacy  and  Attorney-General  Manning. 

General  Robertson 's  first  wife  was  Miss  Cora 
Johnston,  of  Charlotte,  daughter  of  Col.  'William 
Johnston,  a  prominent  figure  of  that  city.  She 
was  a  sister  of  the  wife  of  Col.  A.  B.  Andrews 
of  Raleigh.  Governor  William  A.  Graham  was 
her  great-uncle.  Of  this  union  there  were  three 
children:  Maj.  William  R.  Robertson,  now  in  the 
National  Army  at  the  front  in  France  in  com- 
mand of  a  machine  gun  battalion;  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  E.  M.  Brevard,  of  Tallahassee,  Florida; 
and  Miss  .Julia  J.  Robertson. 

After  the  death  of  his  fir.st  wife  General  Rob- 
ertson married  in  1906  Miss  Jean  Clarkson,  of 
Prince  William  County,  Virginia.  Her  father, 
the  late  Dr.  Henry  Clarkson,  was  a  well  known 
Virginia  physician  and  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
Confederate  Army. 

Montgomery  HERirAx  Biogs,  M.  D.,  F.  A.  C.  S. 
One  of  the  important  institutions  that  mark 
out  Rutherfordton  among  the  cities  in  that  part 
of  the  state  is  Rutherford  Hosoital,  which  was 
founded  by  Doctor  Biggs  and  Doctor  Norris  in 
1906.  Doctor  Biggs  came  to  the  state  at  that 
time,  a  surgeon  of  long  and  thorougli  experience, 
and  his  work  in  this  state  has  demonstrated  that 
he  is  one  of  the  men  in  the  front  rank  of  that 
profession    in    North    Carolina. 

Doctor   Biggs   was   born    at    Hinsdale,    Illinois, 


May  17,  1870,  son  of  a  distinguished  Union 
officer  ill  the  Civil  war.  His  parents  were  Herman 
and  Anna  (King)  Biggs.  His  father  graduated 
from  West  Point  Military  Academy  in  18.56,  and 
was  ail  instructor  at  West  Point  wlieu  the  war 
broke  out.  He  at  once  took  up  arms  in  defense 
of  the  Union,  served  for  a  time  as  quartermaster 
in  tlie  Army  of  the  Potomac,  was  advanced  to 
the  rank  of  lieutenant-eolonel  and  finally  was 
brevetted  a  brigadier-general.  He  was  in  the 
war  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  but  at  the 
close  resigned  his  commission  in  tlie  regular  army. 
He  was  wounded  in  one  of  the  engagements  in 
North  Carolina,  Morehead.  General  Biggs  died 
October  9,  1887. 

Doctor  Biggs  in  course  of  a  liberal  education 
attended  high  school  at  Hammonton,  New  Jersey, 
and  in  1892  entei-ed  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania Medical  School,  wliere  lie  spent  four  years, 
graduating  in  1897.  For  over  twenty  years  he 
lias  found  his  field  of  work  and  experience  al- 
most entirelj'  in  surgery  and  in  hos]iital  jirae- 
tiee.  For  two  years  he  was  resident  physician 
to  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  was 
chief  resident  physician  there  one  year,  for  three 
years  was  assistant  with  Dr.  Charles  H.  Frazier, 
clinical  professor  of  surgery  at  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  from  1900  to  1903  was  assist- 
ant instructor  in  surgery  and  assistant  surgeon 
of  the  LTniversity  Hospital,  and  for  three  years 
chief  resident  physician  of  the  Philadelphia  Gen- 
eral Hospital. 

These  responsibilities  and  exceptional  opportu- 
nities made  Doctor  Biggs  already  a  man  of  dis- 
tinction in  his  profession  before  he  eanie  to 
Rutherfordton  and  with  Dr.  Henry  Norris  estab- 
lished the  Rutherford  Hospital.  This  is  a  hospital 
almost  exclusively  for  surgical  cases,  and  in  point 
of  equipment  and  personnel  it  is  one  of  the  best 
in  the  state.  The  hospital 's  home  is  a  solid 
l)rick  Iniilding,  with  most  modern  eqniimient,  and 
furnishes  accommodations  for  fifty  beds.  Doctor 
Biggs  and  Doctor  Norris  own  land  around  the 
hospital   of  about   200  acres. 

Doctor  Biggs  is  chief  surgeon  for  the  C.  C.  O. 
Railway  and  is  local  surgeon  for  the  Seaboard 
Air  Line  and  Southern  Railways.  As  indicated  at 
the  beginning  of  this  article,  he  is  a  Fellow  of 
the  American  College  of  Surgeons,  is  a  Fellow 
of  the  Southern  Surgical  Association,  a  member 
and  fellow  of  the  CVillege  of  Physicians  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  has  membership  in  the  Philadelphia 
Pathological  Society,  the  North  Carolina  Surgical 
Club,  the  Rutherford  County  and  Nortli  Carolina 
and  Tri-State  societies,  the  Southern  Medical  As- 
sociation and  the  American  Medical  Association. 
He  also  belongs  to  the  Southern  States  Asso- 
ciation of  Railway  Surgeons.  Doctor  Biggs  is 
member  and  vestryman  of  St.  Francis  Episcopal 
Church  at  Rutherfordton.  He  is  a  director  of 
the  Citizens  Bank  &  Trust  Company  of  that 
city. 

January  27,  1909,  he  married  Mary  Pepper 
Norris,  of  Philadelphia.  Their  two  children  are 
Cornelia    Nevins    and    Montgomery    Herman,    Jr. 

Henry  Norris,  M.  D.,  F.  A.  C.  S.  Reference 
to  the  work  of  Dr.  M.  H.  Biggs  at  Rutherfordton 
will  be  found  in  preceding  sketch.  The  active 
associate  of  Doctor  Biggs  in  establishing  the 
Rutherford  Hospital  and  its  subsequent  manage- 
ment for  surgical  patients  is  Dr.  Henry  Norris, 
wliose  work  and  attainments  have  brought  him 
a    high    reputation    in    the    field    of    surgery. 


324 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Doctor  Nonis  was  born  at  Philadelphia,  Penii- 
sylvauia,  May  27,  1875,  a  son  of  Joseph  Parker 
and  Isabel  Kevins  (Fry)  Norris.  The  Norris 
family  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  known  of 
the  old  Philadelphia  families.  His  first  Amer- 
ican ancestor  was  Isaac  Norris,  originally  a 
resident  of  near  Liverpool,  England.  From  there 
he  immigrated  to  Jamaica  and  in  1684  came  from 
that  Island  to  Philadelphia.  His  lasting  fame 
in  the  appreciation  of  American  people  comes 
from  the  fact  that  whde  he  was  speaker  of  the 
Assembly  at  Philadelphia  he  ordered  the  famous 
Liberty   Bell   from   England. 

Dr.  Henry  Norris  Was  reared  and  educated  at 
Philadelphia,  attending  private  schools  and  grad- 
uating in  the  department  of  medicine  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1896.  The  follow- 
ing ten  years  before  he  came  to  North  Carolina 
he  spent  as  interne  at  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital  and  lat«r  as  instructor  in  sur- 
gery in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  as  chief 
of  tlie  out-patient  surgical  clinic  and  assistant 
surgeon  to  the  University  Hospital  and  Children  's 
Ho.spital  of  Philadelphia.  He  also  attended  clinics 
in    Loudon,    Paris   and    Berlin. 

Doctor  Norris  left  Philadelphia  in  1906  and 
was  actively  associated  in  all  the  work  prepar- 
atory to  the  opening  of  Eutherford  Hospital. 
From  1903  to  1906  he  served  as  first  lieutenant 
of  the  medical  department  of  the  Pennsylvania 
National  Guard,  and  since  April  1,  1913,  has  been 
identified  with  the  North  Carolina  National 
Guard,  holding  the  successive  ranks  of  lieutenant, 
captain  and  major.  He  is  a  Republican,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  belongs  to  the 
Philadelphia  and  Bittenhouse  Clubs  of  Philadel- 
phia. 

August  3,  1898,  at  Philadelphia,  Doctor  Norris 
married  Ethel  Bowman  Wheeler,  daughter  of 
Charles  Wheeler,  of  Philadelphia.  They  have  four 
children :  Susan  Wheeler,  Henry,  Ethel  Stuart 
and  Charles. 

Smith  &  Duncan.  One  of  the  rising  legal  firms 
of  the  city  of  Raleigh  was  that  of  Smith  &  Dun- 
can, composed  of  Willis  Smith  and  William  Ben- 
jamin Duncan,  who,  although  members  of  the 
younger  generation  of  legists,  firmly  established 
a  place  for  themselves  in  the  fraternity  of  the 
City  of  Oaks.  Engaged  in  a  general  practice, 
the  firm  participated  in  a  number  of  important 
cases  which  have  recently  come  before  the 
courts,  and  the  best  evidence  of  the  success 
which  it  attained  was  found  in  the  rapid  increase 
of  its  clientele,  both  in  size  and  importance.  The 
firm  of  Smith  &  Duncan  was  dissolved  August  18, 
1917,  at  the  time  Mr.  Duncan  entered  the  army, 
and  Mr.  Smith  continued  the  practice  alone  since 
that  time  untU  July,  1918,  when  he  joined  the 
Coast  Artillery  Corps  and  is  stationed  at  Fortress 
Monroe. 

Willis  Smith,  senior  partner  of  the  firm  of 
Smith  &  Duncan,  was  born  at  Norfolk,  Virginia, 
December  19,  1887,  and  is  a  sou  of  Willis  and 
Mary  Shaw  (Creecy)  Smith,  his  father,  having 
been  a  well  known  merchant  of  Norfolk.  Mary 
Shaw  (Creecy)  Smith,  graduated  at  Miiitrfesho  o 
Female  College,  and  then  began  tutoring  and  after- 
wards taught  in  several  private  schools.  The  son 's 
early  education  was  under  the  tutorship  of  his 
mother  for  about  seven  years,  following  which  he 
pursued  a  course  at  the  Atlantic  Collegiate  Insti- 
tute, Elizabeth  City,  North  Carolina,  from  which 
institution  he  was  graduated  in  1905.  He  next 
enrolled  as  a  student  at  Trinity  College,  Durham, 


North  Carolina,  where  he  received  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1910,  and  prosecuted  his  legal 
studies  at  the  same  college,  finishing  his  law 
course  in  1912.  Mr.  Smith  at  once  entered  practice 
at  Raleigh  with  Col.  John  W.  Hinsdale  and 
remained  with  him  for  a  short  while.  He  then 
began  practicing  alone,  continuing  alone  untU 
November,  1915,  when  his  partnership  with  Mr. 
Duncan  was  effected.  Mr.  Smith  is  a  member  of 
the  Sigma  Phi  Epsilon  CoUege  Fraternity,  and 
belongs  to  the  Capitol  and  Country  clubs.  He 
holds  membership  also  in  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce and  has  been  identified  with  a  number  of 
movements  which  have  made  for  civic  betterment. 
Politically  a  democrat,  the  duties  of  his  profession 
have  so  far  prevented  him  from  engaging  in  public 
matters  as  a  politician.  He  has  demonstrated 
his  ability  as  a  sound  and  forceful  lawyer,  and 
has  already  buUt  up  a  reputation  among  his 
fellow-practitioners  for  his  observance  of  the 
ethics  of  his  calling.  In  1915  he  was  employed 
to  represent  the  State  Tax  Cdmmission  in  prose- 
cuting inheritance  tax  claims,  and  has  recovered  a 
great  many  thousands  of  dollars  for  the  State  of 
North  Carolina  in  this  work.  He  is  a  director  in 
The  Raleigh  Morris  Plan  Company,  and  in  the 
State  Packing  Company. 

William  Benjamin  Duncan,  junior  member  of 
the  firm  of  Smith  &  Duncan,  was  born  January 
6,  1893,  at  Beaufort,  Carteret  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, a  son  of  E.  C.  and  Carrie  (King)  Duncan. 
Mr.  Duncan's  father  is  a  banker  of  Raleigh  and 
one  of  the  substantial  business  men  and  citizens 
of  his  community.  After  attending  the  public 
schools,  Morson  Academy  at  Raleigh,  and  the 
Raleigh  High  School,  Mr.  Duncan  went  to  Trinity 
Park  School,  Durham,  North  Carolina,  where  he 
prepared  for  his  college  education.  In  1909  he 
matriculated  at  Trinity  College,  from  which  he 
received  his  Bachelor  of  Arts  degree  in  1913,  and 
two  years  later  was  graduated  in  law.  In  August, 
1915,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  began  prac- 
tice in  the  following  November  with  Mr.  Smith. 
Like  his  partner,  Mr.  Duncan  belongs  to  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  lends  his  aid  to  pro- 
gressive and  helpful  movements.  While  at  col- 
lege he  joined  the  Kappa  Sigma  fraternity,  and 
is  also  a  member  of  the  Country  Club.  He  votes 
the  republican  ticket.  Mr.  Duncan  is  an  alert, 
progressive  young  lawyer  who  made  rapid  strides 
in  his  profession.  His  training  has  been  thorough 
and  he  has  been  a  close  and  constant  student, 
while  natural  talent  and  a  strong  personality  are 
proving  contributing  factors  to  his  success.  Both 
members  of  the  firm  belong  to  the  North  Carolina 
State  Bar  Association. 

Mr.  Duncan  enlisted  in  June,  1917,  in  the  First 
North  Carolina  Field  Artillery,  which  afterwards 
became  the  113th  U.  S.  Field  Artillery.  He  was 
appointed  Sergeant  Major  immediately,  and  then 
later  was  promoted  to  Second  Lieutenant.  In  a 
short  whUe  he  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant, 
and  assigned  to  duty  as  an  Aerial  Balloon  observer 
in  the  Artillery. 

Col.  John  L.  Bridgers,  Jr.,  has  been  prac- 
ticing law  at  Tarboro  over  forty-five  years,  and 
he  bears  a  name  with  many  prominent  associa- 
tions with  the  legal  profession,  with  farming  and 
with  business  and  civic  affairs  in  that  part  of  the 
state. 

He  was  born  May  5,  1850,  a  son  of  John  Luther 
and  Rebecca  Louise   (Dicken)   Bridgers. 

His   first   American   ancestor   was   Gen.   Joseph 


1T1LT3 


1  Fl^O^        , 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


325 


BriJgers,  of  England,  where  the  name  was  spelled 
Bridges.  A  member  of  the  same  family  was  the 
English  General  Bridges  who  was  recently  in 
America.  Gen.  Joseph  Bridger  or  Bridgers  came 
from  England  and  settled  at  Smithtield  in  Isle  of 
Wight  County,  Virginia,  about  1620.  He  was 
warder  of  the  vestry  of  the  church  at  Smithfield 
and  built  the  first  edifice  for  worship  there.  His 
remains  were  removed  not  long  ago  from  his  farm 
Whitehall  on  the  James  River  where  he  first  set- 
tled, and  interred  beneath  the  chancel  of  the 
Smithfield  Church. 

Colonel  Bridgers'  great-grandfather  was  Brit- 
ton  Bridgei-s,  who  ajsout  1760  removed  from  Isle 
of  Wight  County,  Virginia,  to  Edgecombe  County, 
North  Carolina. 

John  Luther  Bridgers  was  in  his  time  a  very 
prominent  man  of  Edgecombe  County,  both  as  a 
lawyer  and  farmer.  He  was  born  at  Town  Creek 
in  "the  southwestern  part  of  Edgecombe  County 
November  28,  1821,  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
K.  Bridgers.  He  was  graduated  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina  cum  laude  magna  in 
1847.  A  man  of  thorough  education,  well  quali- 
fied for  legal  practice,  he  was  perhaps  extensively 
interested  and  very  successful  as  a  farmer  and 
manager  of  land.  Wealth  was  no  object  to  him, 
and  he  used  his  means  generously  toward  the 
wholesome  development  of  Edgecombe  County. 

In  April,  1857,  he  was  elected  captain  of  the 
Edgecombe  Guards.  This  company  became  Com- 
pany A  of  the  First  North  Carolina  Volunteers 
and  did  good  work  in  the  battle  of  Big  Bethel. 
It  was  a  member  of  this  company  who  was  the 
first  soldier  killed  in  the  war  on  either  side.  Later 
he  became  commandant  at  Fort  Macon,  and  served 
as  colonel  of  the  10th  Confederate  States  Artil- 
lery. On  account  of  ill  health  he  retired  from 
active  duty  in  1863.  He  was  chosen  one  of  the 
three  peace  commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  Con- 
federate States  from  North  Carolina  to  the  con- 
ference at  Montgomery,  Alabama.  He  was  also 
part  owner  of  High  Shoals  Iron  Company,  which 
manufactured  iron  products  for  the  Confederate 
government.  At  one  time  he  was  director  in  the 
Branch  Bank  of  the  North  Carolina  State  Bank. 

John  L.  Bridgers  was  always  a  loyal  democrat 
and  in  a  quiet  and  forceful  way  played  a  part 
that  entitles  him  to  recognition  as  among  the 
prominent  men  of  the  state  during  the  last  cen- 
tury. 

In  Halifax  County  in  April,  1847,  he  married 
for  hie  first  wife  Rebecca  Louisa  Dicken,  daugh- 
ter of  Louis  B.  K.  and  Elizabeth  F.  Dicken,  the 
latter  a  sister  of  B.  F.  Moore.  She  was  the 
mother  of  two  children :  John  L.,  Jr.,  and  Ruth  E., 
the  latter  now  deceased.  In  April,  1867,  John  L. 
Bridgers  married  for  his  second  wife  Mary  E. 
Battle,  of  Edgecombe  County.  By  the  second  mar- 
riage there  were  four  children:  Marcus  M.,  Whit- 
ney L.,  Louisa  and  Mary  H.  Of  these  the  only 
one  married  is  Whitney. 

Col.  John  Luther  Bridgers,  Jr.,  was  born  and 
raised  in  Ferboro,  North  Carolina.  He  received 
his  first  instruction  from  his  mother  and  then 
went  to  the  School  of  Prof.  F.  S.  Wilkinson,  and 
then  for  four  years  attended  the  Virginia  Mili- 
tary Institute,  graduating  in  1870.  He  was  well 
trained  in  military  tactics,  civil  engineering,  chem- 
istry and  other  subjects.  He  read  law  and  was 
licensed  to  practice  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and 
has  since  been  handling  the  business  of  a  thor- 
oughly capable  lawyer  at  Tarboro.     Mr.  Bridgers 


has  been  local  attorney  for  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line 
Railway  since  he  entered  practice,  and  has  en- 
joyed many  other  influential  connections  in  the 
profession.  He  was  presiding  judge  of  the  county 
for  some  years,  was  county  attorney  eighteen 
years,  served  as  town  attorney,  and  is  a  director 
of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Tarboro  and  presi- 
dent of  the  Mattelsfield  Company  of  Edgecombe 
County.  Too  young  to  serve  as  a  soldier  in  the 
war  between  the  states,  he  has  always  taken  a 
live  interest  in  military  affairs,  and  for  eight  years 
was  captain  of  the  Edgecombe  Guards  and  is  now 
captain  of  the  Edgecombe  Home  Guards.  He 
served  as  colonel  on  the  staff  of  Governor  A.  M. 
Scales. 

December  11,  1872,  Colonel  Bridgers  married 
Laura  Priscilla  Clark,  daughter  of  Gov.  Henry  T. 
Clark.  They  have  four  children:  Henry  Clark 
Bridgers,  a  prominent  railway  builder  and  financier 
of  North  Carolina;  Mary  Erwin,  wife  of  Prank 
P.  Williamson,  who  is  now  in  the  timber,  cattle 
and  land  business  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  where 
he  resides;  Laura  Priscilla,  wife  of  Rev.  Robb 
White,  Jr.,  of  Virginia;  and  Rebecca  Louisa. 
Another  daughter,  Elizabeth  Haywood,  died  at 
the  age  of  thirty-five.  Her  first  husband  was  P. 
B.  Cox,  son  of  Gen.  William  R.  Cox,  and  who 
did  not  live  long  after  the  marriage.  At  the 
time  of  her  death  she  was  the  wife  of  B.  F. 
Finney,  Field  Secretary  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  United  States.  Colonel  Bridgers,  like  his 
father,  has  always  kept  in  close  touch  with  the 
land  and  agriculture,  and  owns  a  large  amount 
of  farm  property  in  Edgecombe  County.  He  has 
done  much  to  develop  this  and  introduce  inten- 
sified farming  into  his  section  of  the  state. 

Robert  Caldeb  Cantwell.  Jr.,  was  one  of  the 
]irogressive  element  among  the  younger  genera- 
ation  of  business  men  at  AVilmington  until  the 
nation  entered  upon  the  tremendous  task  of 
making  the  world  safe  for  democracy,  and  one 
of  the  early  volunteers,  he  now  ranks  as  an 
ensign  in  the  Aviation  Corps.  Before  entering 
the  arniy  he  was  identified  with  a  number  of 
enteriirises  at  Wilmington  and  rendered  valuable 
pulilic    service. 

He  was  born  at  Conway,  South  Carolina,  April 
4,  1886,  and  when  one  year  old  his  parents  moved 
to  Wilmington.  He  is  a  son  of  Robert  Calder 
an<l  Mary  A.  (Chaifin)  Cantwell  and  member  of 
a  family  which  has  long  been  honorably  known 
in  the  South.  His  grandfather  was  the  late 
Col.    John    S.    Cantwell. 

After  eomjileting  the  pulilic  school  course  at 
Wilmington  Mr.  Cantwell  entered  the  Agricutural 
and  Mechanical  College  at  Raleigh,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  Civil  Engineer. 
He  immediately  entered  upon  railroad  and  munic- 
ipal work  in  c-onnection  with  his  profession.  He 
then  became  associated  with  his  father  in  the 
operation  of  a  lumber  business  and  planing  mills, 
under  the  style  of  the  Cantwell  Lumber  Company. 
With  this  industry  his  father  had  been  identi- 
fied at  Wilmington  for  many  years.  Later  he 
organized  and  developed  the  Greenfield  Sewerage 
Company,  of  which  he  remained  president,  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  until  the  business  was  sold 
to   the   City   of   Wilmington. 

In  191.5  Mr.  Cantwell  was  elected  chairman 
of  school  commissioners  of  District  No.  5,  and 
in  1916  reelected  for  a  term  of  two  years.  On 
March  26,  1917,  before  the  actual  declaration  of 


326 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


war  upon  Gerniauy,  Mr.  Cantwell  enlisted  as 
yeoman  to  Lieutenant  William  Atkinson  at  Wil- 
mington. He  was  transferred  to  the  Aviation 
Corps  in  August,  then  attended  tlie  ground  school 
course  at  Boston  Institute  of  Technology  for 
eight  weeks,  and  on  November  1,  1917,  arrived 
at  Pensacola,  Florida,  ftr  his  flying  training. 
In  Februai'y,  1918,  he  was  commissioned  as 
ensign,  and  is  now  one  of  the  division  command- 
ers. Squadron  2,  Hangar  9,  at  Pensacola  Air 
Station. 

Mr.  Cantwell  married  November  1,  1911,  Eliza- 
beth Clark  Ashmead,  of  Jacksonville,  Florida. 
Mrs.  Cantwell  is  a  cousin  of  Henry  Van  Dyke, 
former  minister  to  Holland  but  probably  best 
known  to  the  world  as  a  poet  and  essayist.  Mrs. 
Cantwell  has  some  of  the  gifts  which  distinguish 
her  famous  kinsman;  and  at  times  has  turned  her 
hand  very  creditably  to  verse.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cantwell  have  one  son,  Robert  Calder,  III,  born 
May  5,  1913. 

Hon.  Joseph  W.  Ring,  M.  D.  A  man  of  broad 
mental  capacity,  energetic,  progressive  and  ever 
alive  to  the  needs  of  the  hour,  Hon.  Joseph  W. 
Ring,  M.  D.,  of  Elkin,  is  well  and  wisely  known 
not  only  as  an  able  and  successful  physician  and 
surgeon  but  as  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  his 
community.  Of  pioneer  ancestry,  Dr.  Ring  was 
born,  in  1850,  on  a  farm  situated  about  three 
miles  west  of  WLnston-Salem,  a  son  of  Jackson 
Ring,  whose  birthplace  was  in  what  was  then 
known  as  Stokes  County,  but  is  now  included  with- 
in the  boundaries  of  Forsyth  County,  it  being 
about  nine  miles  northeast  of  Winston,  while  his 
father,  Thomas  Ring,  the  Doctor 's  grandfather, 
was  born  on  a  near-by  farm. 

Dr.  Ring's  great-great-grandfather  Ring  emi- 
grated from  England  to  America  when  young, 
running  away  from  home  and  crossing  the  Atlan- 
tic in  a  sailing  vessel.  Making  his  way  to  North 
Carolina,  he  settled  on  the  Ararat  River  and  buy- 
ing a  tract  of  land  that  was  still  in  its  virgin 
wildness,  he  improved  a  part  of  it,  and  there 
reared  his  family  and  spent  his  remaining  years. 

Following  the  occupation  of  his  ancestors,  the 
great-grandfather  of  the  Doctor  on  the  paternal 
side  migrated  as  a  young  man  to  the  eastern  part 
of  what  is  now  Forsyth  County,  and  was  there 
engaged   in   agricultural  pursuits  until   his  death. 

Thomas  Ring  also  became  an  agriculturist,  and 
having  located  about  nine  miles  northeast  of 
Winston-Salem  bought  a  plantation,  which  ho 
operated  vrith  slave  labor.  There  were  no  rail- 
roads in  the  state  at  that  early  day,  and  as  there 
were  no  convenient  markets  for  his  surplus  farm 
produce,  he,  with  many  of  his  neighbors,  owned 
and  operated  a  distillery,  transporting  such 
products  as  they  did  not  use  to  Fayetteville  with 
teams.  He  and  his  good  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  West,  died  on  the  home  farm  where  they  had 
spent  so  many  happy  years,  his  death  occurring 
when  he  was  but  sixty-five  years  old. 

When  ready  to  establish  a  household  of  his  own, 
Jackson  Ring  bought  a  farm  lying  about  three 
miles  west  of  Winston-Salem  and  immediately 
began  its  improvement.  During  the  progress  of 
-the  Civil  war  he  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  Army, 
and  for  a  time  was  detailed  with  others,  to  capture 
.deserters,  and  later  was  in  active  service  in  Vir- 
ginia. Returning  home  at  the  close  of  the  conflict 
he  resumed  his  agricultural  labors.  Disposing  of 
that  estate  a  few  years  later,  he  bought  a  farm 
lying  but  two  miles  from  Elkin,  and  was  there  a 


resident  until  his  death,  at  the  venerable  age  of 
eighty-one  years.  He  married  Mary  Pope,  who 
was  born  in  Davidson  County,  North  Carolina,  a 
daughter  of  Isaac  Pope.  She  survived  him,  pass- 
ing away  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-three 
years.  They  were  the  parents  of  four  children, 
Thoma.s,  Sanford,  Joseph  W.  and  Leopold. 

Gleaning  his  early  knowledge  of  books  in  the 
jural  schools  of  his  district,  Joseph  W.  Ring  con- 
tinued his  studies  at  Teague  Academy  in  David- 
sou  County,  after  which  he  taught  school  for  a 
year  in  Forsyth  County.  The  following  two  years 
he  studied  medicine  under  the  direction  and 
tutelage  of  Dr.  J.  F.  Shaffner,  after  which  he 
attended  a  course  of  lectures  at  the  Jefferson 
Medical  College.  Immediately  locating  in  Elkin, 
Dr.  Ring  has  been  actively  and  successfully 
engaged  in  the  j^ractice  of  his  profession  in  this 
little  city  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of  the 
time  he  spent  as  a  student  at  the  Baltimore  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  with  the  class  of  1880.  Wlien  the 
Doctor  first  settled  in  Elkin,  in  1872,  there  was  no 
railway  in  this  section  of  Surry  County,  and  the 
only  inc^ustry  was  a  small  cotton  mill.  The  town 
being  platted  in  that  year,  he  had  the  distinction 
of  having  purchased  the  very  first  lot  sold  in  the 
place,  and  since  that  time  has  taken  a  warm 
interest  in  local  progress  and  improvements, 
heartily  endorsing  all  enterprises  of  a  beneficial 
nature. 

Dr.  Ring  married  in  1873,  Miss  Mary  V.  Horney, 
who  was  born  at  High  Point,  Guilford  County,  a 
daughter  of  Levi  B.  and  Elizabeth  (Raper)  Hor- 
ney. Doctor  and  Mrs.  Ring  have  seven  children, 
namely:  Etta  R.,  Emma,  J.  Marvin,  Luther,  Carl, 
Maude  and  Edward.  Etta  R.,  widow  of  the  late 
Will  Paul,  has  se<-en  children,  Mary,  Louise, 
Martha,  Willie,  Ophelia,  Josephine  and  James. 
Emma,  wife  of  J.  F.  Henry,  has  seven  children, 
Mayhew,  Joseph,  Mary,  Irene,  Linville,  Clement 
and  Thomas.  Luther  married  Maud  Lamb,  and 
they  have  one  son,  Lewis.  Maude  married  Joseph 
Parker,  and  has  one  child,  Mary  Elizabeth  Parker. 
'Mrs.  Ring  and  her  children  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  Dr.  Ring  is 
surgeon  for  the  Southern  Railroad  Company,  and 
is  a  member  of  the  Surry  County  Medical  Society 
and  of  the  North  Carolina  State  Medical  Associa- 
tion. Frat<>rnally  he  belongs  to  Elkin  Lodge  No. 
14.5,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  to 
Elkin  Lodge  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias.  Active 
in  jmblic  affairs  he  is  the  present  mayor  of  Elkin, 
and  is  serving  in  that  capacity  as  faithfully  and 
acceptably  as  during  his  many  previous  terms  in 
that  office. 

Thornwell  Lanier.  It  is  to  the  law  that  young 
men  of  the  analytical  type  of  mind,  that  delights 
in  minute  observation  and  logical  deduction,  are 
apt  to  turn  when  they  make  choice  of  a  profes- 
sional career.  Not  always  do  their  subsequent 
achievements  equal  their  ambition,  but  the  selec- 
tion of  the  law  by  one  favored  by  nature  and 
thoroughly  trained  and  broadened  by  education, 
often  proves  a  sure,  although  never  an  easy,  path  to 
both  fame  and  fortune.  In  the  case  of  Thornwell 
Lanier,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Oxford  bar,  a 
happy  heritage  may  have  had  its  influence,  as  his 
father  was  a  lawyer  of  prominence.  Mr.  Lanier 
was  born  at  Oxford,  North  Carolina,  September  3, 
1871,  and  is  a  son  of  Marcellus  Volney  and  Eliza- 
beth (Hicks)  Lanier. 

Primarily  educated  at  Horner  School,  Thornwell 


QfL<  0 Hi. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


327 


Lanier  took  a  course  in  Bethel  Academy,  a  well 
known  Virginia  educational  institution,  and  after- 
ward spent  a  year  engaged  in  teaching  school  along 
the  eastern  siiore  in  that  state,  subsequently  at- 
tending summer  courses  in  Harvard  University  and 
in  the  law  department  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina.  In  1892  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
and  has  been  engaged  in  a  general  law  practice 
at  Oxford  ever  since,  having  built  up  a  substantial 
business  here  through  legal  ability  assisted  by  the 
homely  virtues  of  patience  and  perseverance.  Mr. 
Lanier  has  a  pleasing  personality  and  enjoys  a 
professional  reputation  that  identifies  him  only  with 
honoralde  methods  under  all  circumstances.  No 
client  of  his  has  ever  had  reason  to  doubt  his  in- 
terest or  integrity. 

Mr.  Lanier  was  married  in  March,  1905,  to  Miss 
Mary  Belle  Gregory,  of  Oxford,  and  they  have  one 
son,  Roger  Gregory.  In  politics  he  has  been  active 
to  some  degree  and  has  served  both  county  and 
city  officially,  the  former  as  county  attorney  and 
the  latter  as  a  member  of  the  town  board  of  com- 
missioners. As  a  citizen  he  has  always  been  con- 
scientiously concerned  and  has  always  been  found 
ready  to  co-operate  with  other  public-spirited  citi- 
zens in  promoting  the  best  interests  of  Oxford. 
He  belongs  to  the  Fraternal  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 

M.-\J.  JOHX  Betiiune  Mali.ot.  Few  old  fam- 
ilies of  Kobeson  County,  North  Carolina,  are  bet- 
ter or  more  favorably  known  than  that  of  Malloy. 
It  is  one  that  has  given  sturdy,  solid  citizenship 
to  the  jieaceful  life  of  the  community,  and  has 
also  contributed  notably  to  the  county's  honor- 
able military  record.  The  Malloys  came  to  Amer- 
ica from  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  and  those 
who  know  their  Scottish  history  well  will  recall 
many  brave  deeds  on  many  battleflelds  attributed 
to  tills  clan.  This  natural  courage  and  interest 
in  military  affairs,  together  with  many  admirable 
and  peaceful  characteristics,  seem  to  have  been 
preserved  generation  after  generation,  and  Rob- 
eson County  esteems  and  admires  its  "fighting 
Malloy ' '  of  the  present  day  in  the  person  of 
Maj.  John  Bethune  Malloy,  for  many  years  an 
officer,  now  retired,  of  the  Second  North  Carolina 
Infantry. 

John  Bethune  Malloy  was  born  near  Parkton, 
within  a  half  mile  of  his  present  plantation  in 
Robeson  County,  North  Carolina,  in  1874.  His 
parents  were  Duncan  C.  and  Mary  Alice  (Cobb) 
Malloy.  The  late  Duncan  C.  Malloy  was  born  in 
Robeson  County  and  died  here  in  1893.  His 
father  was  Duncan  Malloy,  who  was  an  infant 
when  his  parents,  over  a  hundred  years  ago, 
brought  him  to  the  United  States  and  settled  in 
Robeson  County,  and  their  old  homestead  is  situ- 
ated within  two  miles  of  Parkton.  Duncan  _  C. 
Malloy  was  a  man  of  quiet  life  and  devoted  him- 
self mainly  to  agricultural  pursuits,  but  his  broth- 
er, the  late  Capt.  J.  D.  Malloy,  commanded  a 
company  from  Robeson  County  in  the  war  be- 
tween the  states,  and  his  uncle.  Col.  D.  A.  Malloy, 
was  an  otficer  in  the  North  Carolina  Militia  for 
many  years  prior  to  that.  Duncan  C.  Malloy  mar- 
ried Mary  Alice  Cobb,  who  survives  him  and  re- 
sides with  her  son.  Major  Malloy.  She  was 
born  in  Robeson  County  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Col.  S.  J.  and  Mary  (Bethune)  Cobb.  Her  ma- 
ternal grandfather  was  John  Bethune,  who  came 
to  North  Carolina  from  Scotland.  The  Cobbs  also 
are  of  Scotch  ancestry,  and  this  branch  settled 
first    in    Sampson    County,    North    Carolina,    and 


from  there  came  to  Robeson,  and  Col.  S.  J.  Cobb 
was  a  colonel  in  the  state  militia  for  years  be- 
fore his  death. 

John  B.  Malloy  attended  school  in  boyhood  at 
Lumber  Bridge,  near  the  MaUoy  plantation.  It 
was  through  liis  skill  as  a  musician  that  he  en- 
tered military  service  at  the  early  age  of  four- 
teen years,  lieeoming  a  member  of  Company  L. 
Second    North    Carolina    Infantry,    in    1888.      In 

1894  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  corporal,  in 

1895  to  sergeant,  in  1899  to  second  lieutenant. 
In  1902  he  became  first  lieutenant,  and  on  Octo- 
ber 13,  1906,  he  was  made  captain  of  his  old 
company.  Company  L,  in  the  Second  North  Caro- 
lina Infantry.  His  advance  had  been  steady  and 
well  merited.  In  June,  1916,  his  company  and  regi- 
ment were  ordered  to  the  Mexican  border  and 
stationed  at  Camp  Stewart,  near  El  Paso,  Texas, 
and  he  continued  in  command  of  Company  L 
until  January  20,  1917,  when  he  was  commissioned 
major  and  witli  this  rank  he  remained  in  active 
service  until  June  28,  1917,  when,  according  to 
regulations,  he  was  retired,  his  retirement  auto- 
matically advancing  his  rank  to  that  of  colonel. 

In  brief  form  the  above  is  the  military  record 
of  a  soldier  and  officer  of  the  highest  standing, 
one  who  has  acquitted  himself  with  honor  and 
distinction  upon  all  occasions,  reflecting  credit  on 
his  name  and  his  community.  That  his  services 
were  highly  appreciated  by  his  commander.  Gen- 
eral Young,  and  the  governor  of  the  state,  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  in  October,  1917,  Major 
Malloy  was  officially  appointed  captain  of  the 
Home  Guards  for  Robeson  County,  and  was 
authorized  to  recruit  a  home  guard  company  of 
ninety-eight  men  in  preparation  for  possible  serv- 
ice in  the  great  tragedy  of  the  World  war.  Major 
Malloy  rapidly  accomplished  the  recruiting  of  the 
company  which,  under  his  watchful  eye,  is  under- 
going military  training. 

Major  Malioy  was  married  to  Miss  Ida  Warner, 
who  was  born  at  Troy,  Montgomery  County,  North 
Carolina.  Since  1912  Major  Malloy  has  resided 
on  his  plantation  situated  a  half  mile  from  the 
pleasant  Town  of  Parkton,  and  is  successfully 
engaged  in  general  farming  operations  but  with 
no  loss  of  interest  in  the  conduct  of  the  great 
military  operations  at  home  and  abroad.  He  is 
one  of  the  best  rifle  shots  in  the  South,  having 
held  the  championship  of  the  State  of  North  Caro- 
lina for  years. 

J,\jrES  SouTHEELAND  PATTERSON  came  to  Dur- 
ham in  January,  1914,  highly  recommended  and 
qualified  by  training  and  talents  for  the  prac- 
tice of  law,  and  has  been  justifying  the  expecta- 
tion of  his  friends  and  admirers  for  the  work 
he  has  done.  He  now  has  a  most  satisfactory 
general   practice   as    a   lawyer. 

Mr.  Patterson  was  born  in  Chapel  Hill,  North 
Carolina,  March  22,  1887,  son  of  Henry  Houston 
and  Mary  Elizabeth  (Hogan)  Patterson.  His 
father  was  a  merchant  at  the  university  town. 
The  son  was  educated  at  the  public  schools  and 
in  private  schools  and  in  1910  was  graduated 
from  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  and  in 
1912  completed  the  law  school  course  there.  The 
following  year  he  spent  in  New  York  City  as  a 
student  in  Columbia  University,  and  with  the  ad- 
vantages of  some  of  the  best  schools  of  both  the 
North  and  South  he  returned  to  his  native  state  to 
follow  his  professional  career.  He  is  a  member 
of    the    North    Carolina   Bar   Association. 


328 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Clatjde  Augustus  Shelton.  An  enterprising 
and  successful  business  man  of  Mount  Airy,  Surry 
County,  Claude  Augustus  Shelton  is  an  excellent 
representative  of  the  native  born  citizens  of  this 
section  of  the  state,  his  birth  having  occurred 
February  27,  1885,  in  Mount  Airy.  He  is  a  son 
of  the  late  William  Bass  Shelton  and  comes  of  old 
Virginia  stock,  his  Grandfather  Shelton  having 
spent  his  entire  life  of  ninety-two  years  in  Vir- 
ginia, dying  at  the  home  of  a  daughter  in  Grayson 
County. 

William  Bass  Shelton  was  bom  and  reared  in 
CarroU  County,  Virginia,  and  there  served  an 
apprenticeship  at  carpentry.  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  war  he  left  the  carpenter's  bench  to 
enlist  in  a  Virginia  regiment,  and  was  with  his 
command  in  many  important  engagements  up  to 
and  including  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  where  he 
was  captured  by  the  enemy  and  confined  as  a 
prisoner  of  war  until  the  close  of  the  conflict. 
Being  then  paroled,  he  returned  to  his  old  home 
in  Virginia,  and  when  ready  to  resume  his  trade 
came  to  North  Carolina,  locating  at  Mount  Airy, 
where  he  was  actively  engaged  in  carpentering 
until  his  death  in  1905,  being  then  seventy-one 
years  of  age,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  1834. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  WUliam  Bass 
Shelton  was  Julia  Lemmons.  She  was  bom  in 
Gaffney,  South  Carolbia,  a  daughter  of  Perry 
Oliver  and  Emily  (Camp)  Lemmons,  the  former 
a  native  of  Cleveland,  North  Carolina,  and  the 
latter  of  Spartanburg,  South  Carolina.  She  sur- 
vived her  husband,  and  is  still  a  resident  of  Mount 
Airy.  She  has  three  children,  Claude  Augustus, 
Clyde  Oliver  and  Clarence  Bass. 

Claude  Augustus  Shelton  received  a  practical 
education  in  the  schools  of  Mount  Airy,  and  after 
his  graduation  from  the  high  school,  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  years,  entered  the  employ  of  the 
Southern  Eailway  Company  as  truckman  at  the 
Mount  Airy  station.  Proving  himself  to  be  a 
faithful  and  trustworthy  workman,  he  soon  won 
promotion,  and  in  1904  was  made  cashier  in  the 
ofSce.  Two  years  later  he  was  again  promoted, 
and  from  1906  until  1915  served  as  station  agent. 
Eesigning  that  position,  Mr.  Shelton  embarked 
in  business  on  his  own  account,  and  has  since 
been  actively  and  prosperously  engaged  in  trade, 
as  a  dealer  in  coal,  and  agent  for  Texas  oil, 
meeting  with  signal  success. 

Mr.  Shelton  married,  June  22,  1908,  Miss  Lucy 
Estella  Poore,  who  was  born  in  Mount  Airy,  a 
daughter  of  Floyd  M.  and  Lucy  (Hull)  Poore. 
Into  their  pleasant  household  four  children  have 
made  their  advent,  Frances,  Margaret  F.,  Lucy  J. 
and  William  F.  Religiously  both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Shelton  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South.  Fraternally  Mr.  Shelton  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Granite  Lodge  No.  322,  Ancient  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons,  and  of  Magnolia  Lodge  No.  109, 
Woodmen  of  the  World. 

B.VBNARD  B.  Vinson'.  Naturally  studious  and  in- 
dustrious, devoted  to  his  profession,  and  possessing 
abilities  that  have  made  him  thoroughly  familiar 
with  many  branches  of  the  law,  Barnard  B.  Vinson, 
of  Thomasville,  a  well  known  attorney,  is  meeting 
with  well  deserved  success  in  his  legal  career,  dur- 
ing the  comparatively  short  time  that  he  has  been 
in  the  city  having  buUt  up  a  substantial  patronage. 
He  was  born  in  Brinkleyville  Township,  Halifax 
County,  North  Carolina,  March  17,  1889,  a  son  of 
Littleberry  Vinson,  Jr.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
Littleberry  Vinson,  Sr.,  married  Elizabeth  Pitts, 


and  for  many  years  thereafter  was  actively  identi- 
fied with  the  best  interests  of  Halifax  County. 

Littleberry  Vinson,  Jr.,  was  tor  many  years 
actively  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits,  having 
been  the  owner  of  upwards  of  5UU  acres  of  land 
in  Halifax  County,  his  large  plantation  being  lo- 
cated in  Brinkleyville  Townsuip.  Prominent  in 
public  affairs,  he  was  elected  register  of  deeds,  and 
served  in  that  capacity  for  tour  years,  alter  which 
he  resumed  farming.  Erecting  a  knittmg  mill  in 
Littleton,  Halifax  County,  in  1900,  he  was  there 
prosperously  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  stock- 
ings until  his  death,  in  1910,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two 
years.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Dora 
Garrett.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Frank  Garrett, 
who  served  as  a  surgeon  in  the  Confederate  army, 
and  later  was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  Halifax  County.  Five  children  were  born  of 
their  union,  as  follows:  Elizabeth;  Buby;  Barnard 
B.;  Fannie;  and  Sadie  E.,  who  married  S.  H. 
Pritehard,  and  has  one  son,  George  Pritchard. 

Fitted  for  college  in  the  Warrenton  High  School, 
Barnard  B.  Vinson  entered  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  from  which  he  was  graduated  vfith 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1908.  Making 
good  use  ot  the  knowledge  he  had  thus  acquired, 
Mr.  Vinson  subsequently  taught  school  for  six 
years.  During  that  period  he  employed  his  leisure 
moments  in  reading  law,  and  when  well  prepared 
for  more  extensive  study  entered  the  law  depart- 
ment of  his  akna  mater,  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  and  in  1915  received  his  license  to  prac- 
tice his  chosen  profession.  Mr.  Vinson  immediately 
opened  an  office  in  Thomasville,  where  the  com- 
paratively large  practice  that  he  has  won  bears 
evidence  of  his  legal  skill  and  ability. 

On  April  19,  1916,  Mr.  Vinson  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Helen  Julian,  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
C.  A.  and  Carrie  (Cramer)  Julian.  Eeligiously 
Mr.  Vinson  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Episco- 
pal Church,  while  Mrs.  Vinson,  true  to  the  faith 
in  which  she  was  reared,  is  a  worthy  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Joshua  Geaingek  Weight.  While  special  indi- 
vidual mention  should  be  made  of  the  career  of 
the  late  Joshua  Grainger  Wright  because  of  his 
services  as  a  soldier  and  one  of  the  leading  busi- 
ness men  and  citizens  of  WUmington,  the  family 
and  its  connections  have  a  particular  historic  re- 
lationship with  this  part  of  North  Carolina,  and 
a  number  of  names  might  appropriately  be  re- 
called. 

The  Wrights  were  an  English  family,  immigrat- 
ing to  America  early  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
They  were  of  the  nobility  of  old  England,  and 
after  coming  to  the  Carolinas  became  distinguished 
along  the  Cape  Fear  for  their  intelligence,  wealth 
and  high  personal  and  civic  virtues.  One  of  the 
early  members  of  the  family  in  North  Carolina 
was  Thomas  Wright.  Thomas  married  Anne 
Grainger,  and  that  introduces  another  prominent 
name  into  the  lineage. 

Anne  Grainger  was  a  daughter  of  Joshua  and 
Catherine  Grainger.  This  Joshua  was  a  son  of 
Joshua  Grainger  and  Elizabeth  Toomes.  The 
Graingers  came  from  England,  first  settling  at 
Charleston  in  South  Carolina,  and  afterward  com- 
ing to  the  Cape  Fear  district,  where  they  were 
likewise  people  of  distinction  and  wealth.  Joshua 
Grainger,  the  first  named,  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  Wilmington  which  was  then  known  as  Newton, 
and  afterward  New  Wampool,  and  still  later  was 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


329 


named  WUmington,  for  the  Earl  of  Wilmington, 
the  intimate  friend  and  patron  of  Governor  Gabriel 
Johnson.  Joshua  Grainger  served  as  justice  of 
the  quorum.  The  family  were  large  land  holders 
in  this  section.  Caleb,  a  son  of  Joshua,  held  many- 
positions  of  honor  during  the  colonial  period, 
and  Caleb's  son,  Maj.  Caleb  Grainger,  was  one 
of  the  intrepid  and  gallant  officers  of  the  Amer- 
ican army  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 

From  Thomas  Wright  and  his  wife,  Anne 
Grainger,  the  line  of  descent  to  the  late  Joshua  G. 
Wright  is  as  follows:  .Judge  Joshua  Grainger 
Wright,  who  married  Susan  Bradley;  Dr.  Thomas 
Henry  Wright,  who  married  Mary  Allan;  and 
Joshua  Grainger  Wright. 

Dr.  Thomas  Henry  Wright  was  a  prominent 
North  Carolina  physician  and  was  also  an  able 
financier.  He  served  as  president  of  the  Bank  of 
Cape  Fear  from  May,  1847,  until  his  death  on 
September  21,  1861.  In  the  early  years  of  the 
nineteenth  century  one  of  the  moat  attractive 
and  sought  after'  belles  and  beauties  of  Cape 
Fear  was  Miss  Mary  Allan,  who  gave  her  hand 
in  marriage  to  Doctor  Wright,  then  a  young 
phvsician. 

The  third  son  of  Doctor  Wright  and  his  wife, 
Mary  Allan,  was  Joshua  Grainger  Wright,  who 
was 'born  April  17,  1840.  His  birth  occurred  in 
the  old  family  homestead  at  the  southwest  corner 
of  Market  and  Third  streets  in  Wilmington.  This 
old  homestead  is  known  as  the  Lord  Cornwallis 
headquarters,  and  has  been  owned  by  the  Wright 
family  for  a  century. 

.Toshua  G.  Wright  was  prepared  for  college  at 
Wilmington,  completing  his  education  in  the  tlni- 
versity  of  North  Carolina,  and  graduating  A.  B. 
with  the  class  of  1861.  While  in  the  university 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Dialectic  Society. 

The  war  was  imminent  before  his  university 
studies  were  completed.  With  the  secession  of  the 
state  he  promptly  volunteered  for  the  military 
service  of  the  Confederacy,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1862  became  orderly  sergeant  of  an  independent 
cavalry  company.  After  a  short  time  with  that 
command  he  became  a  member  of  the  First  North 
Carolina  Infantry  and  was  commissioned  first  lieu- 
tenant of  Company  E.  Thereafter  he  saw  ardu- 
ous and  active  service,  participated  in  the  battles 
of  Boonstown,  South  Mountain,  Sharpsburg, 
Fredericksburg  and  Chancellorsville.  At  Chancel- 
lorsville  he  was  severely  wounded,  and  being  un- 
fitted for  further  field  duty  was  assigned  to  the 
office  of  provost  marshal  at  Wilmington,'  where 
he  spent  the  remaining  months  of  the  war. 

In  186.'i  Mr.  Wright  accepted  a  position  with 
the  firm  of  Williams  &  Murchison  at  Wilmington, 
and  he  remained  steadily  in  the  employ  of  that 
firm  for  eighteen  years.  On  resigning  he  formed 
the  well  known  Real  Estate  Aeency,  which  still 
bears  his  name  and  is  now  successfully  conducted 
by  his  son.  Thomas  H.  Wright  under  the  name 
J.  O.  Wripht  &  Son.  He  continued  to  be  identi- 
fied with  that  business  until  his  death  on  Decem- 
.ber  29,  1894. 

He  was  long  a  prominent  citizen  of  Wilmington, 
and  deeply  interested  in  all  questions  affecting 
the  welfare  of  his  home  city  or  state.  He  was  a 
democrat,  was  a.  member  of  Cornelius  Harnett 
Council  No.  231,  Royal  Arcanum,  Carolina  Lodge 
No.  434,  Knights  of  Honor,  and  was  a  member 
of  Cape  Fear  Camp  No.  254,  United  Confederate 
Veterans,  and  of  the  Cape  Fear  Club.     His  church 


home  was  St.  James  Episcopal,  and  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  parish  vestry  for  many  years. 

In  St.  John's  Church  at  Fayetteville,  North 
Carolina,  in  October,  1865,  Mr.  Wright  married 
Florence  Maffitt,  a  daughter  of  Capt.  John  Neu- 
land  Maffitt,  who  gained  distinction  as  a  naval 
officer  under  the  Confederate  government.  Her 
mother  was  the  first  wife  of  Captain  Maffitt, 
Mary  Florence  Murrell,  of  a  family  long  distin- 
guished in  Virginia  and  Alabama.  She  was  a 
niece  of  Col.  Joseph  Murrell,  of  Mobile,  Alabama. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  6.  Wright  had  the  following  chil- 
dren:  James  Allan  Wright,  who  married  Ida 
Farrar;  John  Maffitt  Wright,  who  married  Jo- 
sephine Wliitaker;  Joshua  Grainger  Wright,  who 
married  Gertrude  Clark;  Thomas  Henry  Wright, 
who  married  Eleanor  Gilchrist;  Mary  Allan 
Wright,  wife  of  Robert  Northrup;  and  Caroline 
Laurens  Wright,  who  married  Arthur  Van  Buren. 

Thomas  Henry  Wright.  A  son  of  the  late 
Joshua  G.  Wright  and  a  member  of  the  old  and 
jirominent  Wright  family  elsewhere  referred  to, 
Thomas  Henrv  Wright  was  born  at  Wilmington 
December  18,  1876.  After  completing  his  educa- 
tion he  entered  the  office  of  his  father  in  the 
real  estate  and  insurance  business,  and  has  con- 
tinuously been  identified  with  the  Real  Estate 
Exchange,  founded  and  for  many  years  conducted 
by  his  father.  After  his  father's  death  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  business  of  J.  G.  Wright  &  Son, 
and  since  then  has  extended  his  business  connec- 
tions until  they  now  include  a  wide  scope  of  in- 
terests. 

He  is  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Cooperative 
Building  &  Loan  Association,  which  he  founded, 
is  secretary  and  treasurer  and  manager  of  tlic 
Carolina  Apartment  Company,  is  president  of  the 
Southeast  Realty  Company,  is  secretary  and  treas- 
urer of  the  Wrightsville  Beach  Intenirban  &  De- 
velopment Company  and  a  director  of  the  Peoples 
Ravings  Bank. 

For  six  years  he  served  as  mayor  of  the  Town 
of  Wrip-htsville.  Mr.  Wright  is  a  member  of  the 
Cape  Fear  Club,  the  Cape  Fear  Country  Club, 
the  Carolina  Yacht  Club,  and  he  and_  his  family 
are  prominent  social  leaders  in  Wilmington.  On 
•Tanuary  28.  1914,  he  married  Miss  Eleanor  Gil- 
christ, of  Wilmineton.  They  have  one  daughter, 
Eleanor  Gilchrist  Wright. 

Robert  M.  O.^tes.  One  of  the  encouraging 
]ihcnomena  witnessed  by  students  of  affairs  since 
America  entered  into  the  great  war  has  been 
the  increasing  practice  all  over  the  country  of 
calling  to  places  of  public  responsibility  men  of 
proved  success  and  power  in  business  and  finan- 
cial fields,  men  not  normally  inclined  to  accept 
the  risks  and  hazards  of  politics  but  who  have 
been  prompted  by  a  sincere  patriotism  to  sur- 
render their  regular  tasks  temporarily  in  order  to 
give  a  united  nation  the  best  of  their  individual 
resources    and    leadership. 

Thus  at  Hendersonville  Robert  M.  Oates,  widely 
known  as  a  successful  cotton  manufacturer  and 
banker,  was  called  to  the  chairman  of  the  Board 
of  the  Countv  Council  of  Defense  and  the  Liberty 
Bond  Committee  and  also  was  prevailed  upon 
to  become  food  administrator  and  fuel  adminis- 
trator for  the  county. 

Mr.  Oates  was  born  at  Charlotte,  North  Caro- 
lina, March  .30,  1869,  son  of  David  W.  and  Anna 
(Blanks)  Oates.  His  father  was  a  cotton  buyer 
and  manufacturer,  and  was  educated  in  the  Caro- 


330 


HISTOEY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


lina  Military  Institute.  Mr.  Gates  was  prepared 
under  Capt.  William  A.  Barrier  for  college  and 
finished  bis  education  at  Davidson  College  in 
1888.  Since  then  he  has  had  a  very  active  and 
streuous  business  career.  When  lie  was  only 
twenty-one  years  of  age  he  was  superintendent 
of  the  Charlotte  Cotton  Mill.  In  1891  he  built 
and  owned  tlie  first  knitting  mill  at  Charlotte, 
and  he  also  established  the  first  dye  house  in  the 
South  for  fast  bla«k  cotton  dyeing.  In  1901 
Mr.  Dates  sold  his  interests  at  Charlotte  and 
since  1903  has  had  his  home  at  Hendersonville. 
Here  he  established  the  first  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany and  in  1904  incorporated  it  and  developed 
the  first  water  power  in  Henderson  County,  the 
plant  being  located  on  Big  Hungry  Creek,  seven 
and  a  half  miles  from  Hendersonville.  He  is  pres- 
ident anil  manager  of  the  Hendersonville  Light 
&  Power  Company,  aiul  is  vice  president  of  the 
First  Bank  &  Trust  Comjiany.  Mr.  Gates  is  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Trad"e,  is  a  thirty-second 
degree  Scottish  Rite  Mason  and  Shriuer',  and  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  is  also 
chairman  of  the  Democratic  Executive  Commit- 
tee   of   Henderson   County. 

December  9,  1892,  Mr.  Gates  married  Claudia 
Holt,  daughter  of  William  E.  and  Amelia  L. 
(Holt)  Holt.  They  have  two  children:  William 
Holt  anil  Anne,  the  latter  a  talented  musician. 
The  son  is  a  first  lieutenant  of  tlie  Gne  Hundred 
and  Second  Infantry  and  is  now  with  the  Amer- 
ican  armies   in   France. 

Dolphin  Alstox  Davls,  a  prominent  banker 
during  the  early  half  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  long  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Salisbury  and 
other  sections  of  the  state,  was  born  at  Fayette- 
ville  in   1802  and  died  December  14,  1881. 

His  father.  Dolphin  Davis,  was  born  in  Halifax 
County,  Virginia,  and  came  to  North  Carolina  with 
his  parents  soon  after  the  Revolutionary  war.  He 
had  served  in  the  Revolution,  and  whOe  a  soldier 
was  in  North  Carolina  and  a  participant  in  the 
battle  of  King's  Mountain.  He  secured  laud  in 
the  vicinity  of  Fayetteville,  and  both  he  and  his 
wife  spent  their  last  years  in  that  community.  He 
married  Ann  Stevenson,  whose  parents  were  early 
settlers  in  North  Carolina.  Dolphin  Davis  served 
as  a  ruling  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Cluirch.  He 
and  his  wife  had  the  following  sons  and  daughters : 
WUlie  Jones,  Mary  Hodges,  Elizabeth,  Thomas 
Drew,  Orindatus  Goodorum,  Ann,  Dolphin  Alston 
and  Emelia   B. 

Dolphin  A.  Davis  was  sixteen  years  old  when 
his  father  died  and  soon  after  that  event  he  was 
appointed  a  clerk  in  the  Fayetteville  branch  of 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  In  May,  1825, 
he  bought  a  farm  near  Fayetteville  and  looked 
after  its  operation  and  management  for  twelve 
years.  In  18.35  he  was  elected  cashier  of  the 
Branch  Bank  of  Cape  Fear  at  Salisbury,  and  in 
the  same  year  moved  his  home  to  that  city,  where 
it  ever  afterwards  remained.  He  had  served  as 
financial  agent  for  Cumberland  County  and  was 
then  chosen  to  a  similar  position  in  Rowan  County. 
He  was  a  stockholder  in  the  Salisbury  Cotton 
Mill,  a  director  in  the  Salisbury  and  Taylorsville 
Plank  Road  Company,  a  director  of  the  North 
Carolina  RaOroad,  was  chairman  of  special  court 
and  for  many  years  a  trustee  of  Davidson  College. 

About  the  close  of  the  war  the  Bank  of  Cape 
Fear  was  diseontinued  and  he  then  established  a 
private  bank  under  the  name  D.  A.  Davis,  which 
he  conducted  as  a  substantial  and  lilierally  patron- 


ized institution  until  his  death.  At  the  age  of 
twenty,  Mr.  Davis  joined  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  soon  afterward  was  made  church  clerk.  In 
December,  1839,  he  was  elected  elder  and  in  that 
office  he  continued  until  his  death.  He  also  served 
for  a  number  of  years  as  treasurer  of  his  church. 
October  21,  1821,  he  married  Jane  Wall,  a 
native  of  Warren  County,  North  Carolina.  She 
died  leaving  three  children :  Ann,  Mary  and 
Louisa.  For  his  second  wife  he  married  Mary 
Horah,  a  native  of  Salisbury  and  daughter  of 
William  H.  and  Louisa  Horah.  To  this  union 
were  born  the  f oUowing  children :  William  H., 
Jane  E.,  John  W.,  Gren  D.  and  Robert  M. 

James  Walter  Peacock.  M.  D.  A  man  of  vig- 
orous mentality  and  tireless  energy,  possessing 
marked  ability  in  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of 
the  various  ills  to  which  flesh  is  heir,  James 
Walter  Peacock,  M.  D.,  an  active  and  prominent 
physician  and  surgeon  of  Thomasville,  is  well 
qualified,  lioth  by  temperament  and  training  for 
the  distinguished  rank  he  has  gained  in  the  medical 
circles  of  Davidson  County.  He  was  horn,  June 
26,  1875,  on  the  Honeycutt  estate,  in  Township 
No.  7,  Cabarrus  County,  North  Carolina,  which 
was  also  the  birthplace  of  his  mother. 

William  Peacock,  the  doctor 's  grandfather,  a 
millwright  by  trade,  owned  a  farm  in  Township 
No.  7,  Cabarrus  County,  and  in  addition  to  attend- 
ing to  his  agricultural  labors  he  built  a  saw  mill 
and  a  grist  mill  on  his  estate,  and  operated  with 
slave  help.  Entering  the  Confederate  service  in 
1864,  he  went  with  his  regiment  to  the  front,  and 
as  he  was  never  after  heard  from  it  is  supposed 
that  he  was  killed  in  battle,  and  lies  buried  in  an 
unknown  grave.  He  had  six  children,  four  daugh- 
ters, all  of  whom  married,  and  went  West,  and 
two  sons,  one  of  whom,  Jacob,  spent  his  last  days 
in  Indian  Territory.  His  wife,  the  doctor's  grand- 
mother, died  before  he  joined  the  army,  and  he 
left  his  farm  and  mills  in  charge  of  a  trusty  slave 
named  Clint  Dry,  cautioning  him  at  the  same  time 
to  look  after  the  children  until  he  should  return. 
Clint,  who  is  still  a  resident  of  Cabarrus  County, 
proved  eminently  faithful  to  the  trust.  He  man- 
aged the  estate  wisely,  and  cared  for  the  children 
untd   they   were  grown. 

Jonas  Monroe  Peacock  was  but  ten  years  old 
when  his  father  started  for  the  war.  An  energetic, 
industrious  lad,  he  began  at  once  to  make  himself 
useful  both  on  the  farm  and  in  the  mills,  and 
remained  on  the  home  place  until  it  was  sold,  and 
the  proceeds  divided.  He  was  a  natural  mechanic, 
expert  in  the  use  of  tools,  and  soon  after  attaining 
manhood  built  an  engine,  and  established  a  grist 
and  saw  mill,  which  became  known  throughout  the 
locality  as  Dry  Mill.  He  likewise  had  a  cotton 
gin,  and  operated  that  and  the  mills  successfully 
for  several  years.  Removing  from  there  to  Salis- 
bury, Rowan  County,  he  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  sash,  doors  and  blinds,  continuing  there 
until  1901,  when,  on  account  of  failing  health,  he 
removed  to  Lakeland,  Florida,  where  he  was 
similarly  employed  until  his  death,  in  1912. 

The  maiden  name  of  his  wife,  the  doctor's 
mother,  was  Janet  Elizabeth  Cauble.  She,  too,  was 
born  in  Township  No.  7,  Cabarrus  County,  coming 
from  honored  pioneer  ancestry.  Her  mother  was 
Polly  Ann  (Honeycutt)  Cauble,  and  a  daughter  of 
James  Honeycutt,  an  early  pioneer  of  Cabarrus 
County.  This  James  Honeycutt,  great-grandfather 
of  Doctor  Peacock,  came  from  England,  his  native 
country,   to   America   in   early  manhood.      Settling 


ERNEST  L.  IllXTOX 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


331 


in  North  Carolina,  lie  secured  title  to  a  large 
tract  of  land  in  Cabarrus  County,  and  operated 
with  slaves.  One  of  his  slaves  having  discovered 
the  mine  at  Gold  Hill,  he  operated  it  successfully 
several  years,  and  then  sold  it  to  an  English  syn- 
dicate. At  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  he  gave  a 
tract  of  land  to  each  of  the  slaves  that  had  re- 
mained with  him.  He  died  at  his  home  in  Cabarrus 
County  when  about  seventy-five  years  old.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mary  Barrier.  She 
was  a  lineal  descendant  of  ilathias  Barringer. 
The  Barringers  were  all  Lutherans  until  1765,  when 
a  part  of  them  withdrew  from  that  denomination 
and  joined  the  Reformed  Church,  at  the  same  time 
changing  the  name  to  Barrier.  She  outlived  her 
husband,  dying  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-eight 
years. 

Polly  Ann  (Honeycutt)  Cauble,  the  doctor's 
maternal  grandmother,  was  married  soon  after  her 
graduation  from  Salem  College,  and  but  a  short 
time  later  was  left  a  widow.  Her  only  child,  Eliza- 
beth Cauble,  was  born  a  few  months  after  the 
death  of  her  husband.  Feeling  that  she  should 
support  herself  and  child,  she  taught  in  the  rural 
schools  of  Caliarrus  County  for  a  number  of  years. 
She  lived  to  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years.  Mrs. 
James  M.  Peacock  is  now  living  in  Lakeland, 
Florida,  where  she  has  a  pleasant  home.  She 
reared  three  children,  James  Walter,  Anna  Eliza- 
beth, and  Carrie  Lynn.  Both  she  and  her  husband 
rmited  with  Saint  Stephen's  Church,  a  Lutheran 
Church,  while  living  in  Township  No.  7,  Cabarrus^ 
County,  and  were  among  its  most  valued  members. 

James  Walter  Peacock  obtained  his  rudimentary 
education  in  the  graded  schools  of  Salisbury,  after 
which  he  attended  North  Carolina  College,  at 
Mount  Pleasant,  for  two  years,  and  the  University 
of  North  Carolina  for  three  years.  Going  then 
to  New  Orleans  he  entered  the  medical  department 
of  Tulane  University,  from  which  he  was  graduated 
with  honors  in  1901,  standing  at  the  head  of  his 
class.  The  Boer  war  was  then  in  progress,  and 
Doctor  Peacock  was  granted  a  commission  in  the 
British  transport  service,  but,  owing  to  his  par- 
ents '  objections,  he  declined  it,  and  immediately 
began  the  practice  of  medicine  at  New  London, 
Stanly  County,  where  he  remained  three  years. 
Coming  then  to  Davidson  County,  he  has  since  con- 
tinued in  active  practice  at  Thomasville,  being 
numbered  among  the  foremost  physicians  and  sur- 
geons of  his  community.  Doctor  Peacock  is  a  con- 
stant studei^t,  and  since  coming  to  Thomasville  has 
taken  special  courses  in  surgery  and  clinics  at 
Mercy  Hospital  in  Chicago,  and  at  the  Mayo 
Brothers '  Hospital  in  Rochester,  Minnesota.  He 
keeps  in  touch  with  the  most  advanced  methods 
used  in  medicine  and  surgery,  and  is  widely  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  most  popular  and  successful 
physicians 'in  this  section  of  the  state. 

Doctor  Peacock  married,  in  1901,  Minnie  Pearl 
Barringer,  who  was  born  in  Rowan  County,  North 
Carolina,  a  daughter  of  George  and  Margaret 
(Chitdz)  Barringer.  Five  children  have  blessed 
their  union,  namely:  Juanita  M.,  Evelyn  B.,  Ellen 
Clarice,  James  W.,  Jr.,  and  Thomas  Ludwig.  The 
Doctor  and  Mrs.  Peacock  are  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  and  liberal  contributors  towards 
its  support.  He  has  ever  evinced  a  genuine  in- 
terest in  matters  pertaining  to  the  public  welfare, 
and  as  chairman  of  the  board  of  road  commis- 
sioners of  Davidson  County  has  done  his  part  in 
establishing  and  maintaining  good  roads.  Doctor 
Peacock  is  a  member,  and  the  president,  of  the 
Davidson   County  Medical   Society;   and  a  valued 


member  of  the  State  Medical  Society.  He  is  local 
surgeon  for  the  Southern  and  Carolina  &  Yadkin 
River  railwavs.  Fraternally  he  belongs  to  Thomas- 
ville Loilge  "No.  214,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Order  of  Masons;  and  is  also  a  Scottish  Bite 
Mason. 

Erxest  Lynwood  Hinton.  a  boy  who  came 
from  the  rural  districts  of  North  Carolina,  who 
went  to  work  in  a  humble  position  and  was 
general  utilitv  clerk  in  a  store  at  Clayton  some 
thirty-five  years  ago,  Ernest  L.  Hinton  now  has 
interests  of  business  and  civic  connections  that 
would  not  be  to  the  discredit  of  any  man  in  any 
town  or  county  of  North  Carolina  or  anywhere  in 
the  United  States  for  that  matter. 

Mr.  Hinton  was  born  in  Johnston  County,  North 
Carolina,  March  17,  1864,  son  of  Malachai  and 
Elizabeth  (Hood)  Hinton.  His  father  was  a 
farmer,  and  during  his  early  youth  the  son  at- 
tended a  subscription  school  kept  near  the  old 
home.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  left  the  farm 
and  went  to  work  in  a  general  store  at  Clayton, 
and  in  1887  became  an  employe  of  J.  6.  Barbour. 
Wliile  his  duties  at  first  with  Mr.  Barbour  were 
not  important  or  fundamental  to  the  success  of 
that  business  man,  he  more  and  more  made  his 
services  worth  so  much  as  to  constitute  him  a 
right  hand  man  and  the  continued  growth  of  the 
Barbour  interests  is  largely  credited  by  people  who 
know  what  Mr.  Hinton  has  put  into  the  busi- 
ness. At  the  same  time  he  has  acquired  many 
independent  and  important  business  connections 
and  is  now  president  of  the  Liberty  Cotton  Mills, 
the  Clayton  Oil  Mills,  the  Chatham  Oil  and  Fer- 
tilizer Company,  is  a  director  of  the  Clayton 
Ranking  Company,  the  Clayton  Cotton  Mills,  the 
Lillington  Oil  Mills,  and  the  Pine  Level  Oil 
Mills. 

Mr.  Hinton  has  been  honored  in  a  civic  way 
almost  constantly  by  the  people  of  his  home  com- 
munity. For  twenty-one  years  he  held  the  office 
of  mayor,  seventeen  years  in  succession.  Practi- 
cally every  important  improvement  in  the  town 
was  made  under  if  not  as  a  direct  result  of  his 
administration.  He  served  as  postmaster  of  Clay- 
ton four  years  and  as  a  member  of  the  County 
Board  of  Commissioners  four  years.  He  has  also 
served  as  trustee  of  the  graded  schools,  and  is  an 
active  member   of  the  Baptist   Church. 

Auanist  26.  1S92,  Mr.  Hinton  married  Lela  El- 
lington, daughter  of  Senator  .Joseph  C.  Ellington, 
of  Wake  County.  They  have  one  son,  Ernest 
Lynwood,  Jr. 

Lawrence  V.  Lee.  M.  D.  Born  and  reared 
in  Cleveland  County,  with  present  home  at  Latti- 
more.  Dr.  Lawrence  V.  Lee  has  combined  in  an 
exceptionally  fortunate  degree  the  practice  of 
medicine  with  growing  and  extensive  business  in- 
terests. 

He  was  born  about  five  miles  from  his  present 
home  at  Boiling  Springs  in  Cleveland  Countv  in 
1871,  son  of  T.  G.  and  Permelia  (Holland)  Lee. 
His  father,  still  living  at  Boiling  Springs,  where 
he  was  born  in  1844,  was  a  successful  farmer 
during  his  active  life.  In  the  war  between  the 
states  he  was  a  member  of  Company  F,  Thirty- 
Fourth  North  Carolina  Troops,  and  saw  much 
hard  and  active  service  on  Virginia  battlefields. 
At  the  Battle  of  the  Wilderness  he  was  wounded. 
Doctor  Lee's  grandfather,  Osborn  Lee,  had  his 
home  also  at  Boiling  Springs,  and  in  that  locality 
the    Lees    have    lived    for    four    generations    since 


332 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


they  came  out  of  Virginia  about  the  time  of  the 
Bevolution. 

Doctor  Lee  was  educated  in  the  Boiling  Springs 
High  Scliool.  He  began  the  study  of  medicine 
at  Davidson  Medical  College  and  in  189-1  grad- 
uated from  the  Atlanta  Medical  College.  For 
two  years  he  practiced  at  Bostic  in  Rutherford 
County,  and  then  located  iiermanently  at  Latti- 
more  in  Cleveland  County.  He  has  an  extensive 
practice  both  in  the  town  and  throughout  the 
surrounding  country,  and  besides  the  confidence 
reposed  in  him  by  his  professional  patrons  he  is 
a  member  in  good  standing  of  tlie  County  and 
State   Medical   Societies. 

In  a  business  way  Doctor  Lee  is  interested  in 
several  flourishing  and  .successful  enterprises.  He 
is  active  vice  president  of  the  Farmers  Bank 
and  Trust  Company  of  Lattimore,  this  being  a 
branch  of  the  Farmers  Loan  and  Trust  Com- 
pany of  Forest  City,  of  which  Mr.  J.  F.  Alex- 
ander is  president.  Doctor  Lee  is  also  president 
of  the  Kendrick  Brick  and  Tile  Company,  oper- 
ating a  large  plant  at  Mount  Holly  in  Gaston 
County.  This  is  one  of  the  most  profitably  con- 
ducted industries  of  its  kind  in  this  part  of  the 
state. 

Doctor  Lee  married  Miss  Susan  Lattimore.  She 
is  a  daughter  of  A.  M.  Lattimore,  member  of  one 
of  the  oldest  and  most  prominent  families  of 
Cleveland  County  and  for  whom  the  Town  of 
Lattimore  was  named.  They  have  one  son,  Nor- 
man Lee. 

Peter  Washington  D.\lton,  a  veteran  of  the 
Confederate  Army,  has  been  a  resident  of  Winston- 
Salem  and  identified  with  its  business  and  civic 
life  for  over   forty  years. 

He  was  born  in  Patrick  County,  Virginia, 
August  9,  1841.  His  people  were  pioneers  of 
North  Carolina.  Going  back  several  generations 
his  ancestor  Samuel  Dalton  came  out  of  Ireland  to 
America  accompanied  by  two  brothers  named 
William  and  Robert.  After  a  brief  residence  in 
New  Jersey  Samuel  Dalton  moved  to  Georgia, 
living  for  a  time  on  the  present  site  of  the  City 
of  Savannah  and  finally  located  ten  miles  above 
the  present  site  of  Madison  in  North  Carolina. 
He  was  a  remarkable  man  in  energy  and  vigor 
and  attained  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  six 
years. 

Samuel  Dalton,  Jr.,  was  born  on  Beaver  Island 
in  Rockingham  County,  North  Carolina,  and  lived 
there  until  his  death  at  the  age  of  thirty  years. 
Nichola-s  Dalton,  of  the  next  generation,  and  the 
grandfather  of  Peter  W.,  was  born  in  Rockingham 
County,  and  remained  in  the  state  all  his  life. 
He  married  Rachel  Hunter.  Her  grandfather, 
James  Hunter,  Sr.,  was  a  native  of  Ireland  of 
Scotch  ancestry,  came  to  America  when  a  young 
man,  and  was  a  pioneer  in  Rockingham  County, 
North  Carolina.  He  married  a  Miss  Martin,  aunt 
of  Governor  Alexander  and  Col.  James  Martin. 
Gen.  James  Hunter,  Jr.,  father  of  Rachel  Hunter, 
was  born  on  a  plantation  at  Beaver  Island  April 
8,  1740,  and  was  a  leader  of  the  Regulators  before 
and  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  on.  that 
account  always  bore  the  title  General.  He  repre- 
sented Rockingham  County  in  the  State  Legisla- 
ture from  1778  to  1782  and  also  served  as  sheriff 
of  the  county.  General  Hunter  married  a  Miss 
McFarland. 

James  Hunter  Dalton,  father  of  Peter  W.,  was 
bom  in  Rockingham  County,  North  Carolina,  in 
1796.     He   afterwards  moved   to   Patrick   County, 


Virginia,  where  he  was  a  planter.  He  died  in 
1880.  James  Hunter  Dalton  married  Nancy 
Critz.  She  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  Her  father 
Capt.  Haman  Critz,  commanded  a  company  in 
Col.  Abram  Penn  's  regiment  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary war  and  for  his  services  was  granted  a 
tract  of  land  in  Patrick  County.  This  revolution- 
ary soldier  married  Nancy  Dalton.  Mrs.  Nancy 
Critz  Dalton  died  in  1880,  having  reared  eleven 
children. 

Peter  W.  Dalton  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm 
and  was  not  yet  twenty  years  of  age  when  the 
long  im]iending  war  broke  out  between  the  states. 
In  April,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  Company  H  of  the 
42nd  Regiment,  Virginia  Infantry,  was  soon  com- 
missioned first  lieutenant,  and  remained  in  active 
service  except  for  wounds  and  imprisonment  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  wounded  at  Kerns- 
town  while  fighting  with  the  Army  of  Virginia 
on  March  23,  1862,  sustained  another  wound  at  the 
great  battle  of  Chancellorsville  on  May  2,  1863, 
and  at  Spottsylvania  Court  House  was  cajjtured. 
He  was  first  confined  at  Fort  Delaware,  after- 
wards on  Morris  Island,  South  Carolina,  and  was 
one  of  the  immortal  six  hundred  who  spent  sixty 
days  in  that  northern  prison.  Another  .sixty  days 
he  spent  as  a  captive  of  war  at  Fort  Pulaski, 
Georgia,  and  was  then  taken  to  Hilton  Head, 
South  Carolina,  but  on  the  2d  of  March,  186.5,  was 
taken  back  to  Fort  Delaware  and  remained  in  that 
northern  prison  until  July,  1865,  when  he  was 
released. 

Returning  home  to  Patrick  County,  Virginia, 
after  a  year  he  came  to  the  state  of  his  ancestors 
and  for  five  years  was  engaged  in  the  tobacco 
business  in  Rockingham  County,  North  Carolina. 
After  that  he  lived  in  Virginia  until  November, 
1873,  when  he  identified  himself  with  the  growing 
town  of  Winston.  For  a  number  of  years  Mr. 
Dalton  was  a  merchant  and  subsequently  dealt 
extensively  in  tobacco.  He  is  well  known  in 
social  circles,  and  is  an  active  member  of  M.  W. 
Norfleet  Camp  of  the  Confederate  Veterans.  He 
is  a  member  of  Salem  Lodge  No.  289,  Ancient  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons,  Winston  Chapter  No.  24, 
Royal  Arch  Masons,  Piedmont  Commandery  No.  6, 
Knights  Templar,  of  which  he  was  a  charter  mem- 
ber, and  has  held  the  post  of  past  high  priest  in 
tlie  chapter  and  past  generalissimo  of  the  com- 
mandery. 

Mr.  Dalton  was  married  in  1869  to  Nancy 
Anderson  Dandridge,  of  Henry  County,  Virginia. 
Her  parents  were  William  Alexander  and  Mary 
Hamner  Dandridge.  Mrs.  Dalton  comes  of  an 
interesting,  historical  family,  being  a  lineal 
descendant  through  her  father  of  Pocahontas,  Gov- 
ernors, Major  General  Alexander  Spottswood  and 
John  West  and  also  a  descendant  from  William  the 
Conqueror,  Robert  Bruce  and  other  historical 
characters.  Her  ancestor  William  Dandridge  (the 
first)  had  a  distinguished  naval  career.  From  1737 
until  1743  he  commanded  the  Wolfe,  the  South  Sea, 
and  the  Ludlow  Castle,  all  three  in  His  Majesty's 
service.  He  also  took  part  in  Oglethorpe's  attack 
on  St.  Augustine  and  Admiral  Vernon  's  siege  of 
Carthagenia.  Mrs.  Dalton 's  father  was  a  planter 
in  Henry  County,  Virginia,  and  spent  all  his  life 
there.  Mr.  and  and  Mrs.  Dalton  have  reared  four 
children:  Edgar  E.,  Ada  A.,  Harry  Lee  and 
Charles  D. 

.John  Walter  Lambeth.  Prominent  and  active 
in  the  business  and  social  circles  of  Davidson 
County,    and    influential    in    public    affairs,    John 


TU.D-EN  POUKDATIONS 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


333 


Walter  Lambeth,  of  Thomasville,  a  member  of 
the  Lambeth  Furniture  Company,  holds  high  rank 
among  the  useful  and  valued  citizens  of  his  com- 
munity. He  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Thomasville 
Township,  Davidson  County,  coming  on  both  sides 
of  the  house  of  honored  pioneer  ancestry. 

His  father,  David  Thomas  Lambeth,  married 
Caroline  Simmons,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Ben- 
jamin Whitfield  and  Eliza  (Hussey)  Simmons,  and 
paternal  granddaughter  of  Benjamin  Simmons,  who 
married  Annie  Alexander,  a  daughter  of  James 
and  Elizabeth  (Carruthers)  Alexander;  and  on  the 
maternal  side  was  a  granddaughter  of  Joseph  and 
Sarah  (Mock)  Hussey. 

Shadrach  Lambeth,  Mr.  Lambeth's  grandfather, 
was  a  son  of  Josiah  and  Elizabeth  (Loftin)  Lam- 
beth, and  a  grandson  of  John  and  Sarah  (Heath) 
Lambeth.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Jennie  Thomas,  was  a  daughter  of  David  Thomas, 
and  a  sister  of  John  Warrick  Thomas,  the  founder 
of  Thomasville.  In  the  annals  of  North  Carolina 
many  of  the  names  of  the  ancestors  of  Mr.  Lam- 
betli  are  frequently  and  honorably  mentioned,  as 
will  be  remembered  by  those  familiar  with  the 
pioneer  history  of  the  state. 

Laying  the  foundation  for  his  future  education 
in  the  country  schools,  John  Walter  Lambeth  sub- 
sequently attended  the  Thomasville  graded  school, 
and  Old  Trinity  College.  For  two  years  after 
leaving  college,  he  clerked  in  his  father's  store. 
Then,  marrying,  he  assumed  the  proprietorship  of 
the  Lambeth  Hotel,  which  he  operated  successfully 
for  nine  years.  Mr.  Lambeth  then  purchased  an 
interest  in  the  Lambeth  Furniture  Company,  which 
had  been  previously  organized  by  his  brothers 
R.  L.  and  F.  S.  Lambeth,  and  has  since  devoted 
his  time,  talent  and  energies  to  the  business,  which 
is  in  a  flourishing  condition.  The  plant  is  amply 
supplied  with  substantial  buildings,  which  are 
equipped  with  all  the  up-to-date  machinery  and 
appliances  for  manufacturing  furniture,  and  its 
products  are  in  constant  demand. 

Mr.  Lambeth  married,  in  1890,  Daisy  Sumner, 
who  was  liorn  in  Thomasville,  a  daughter  of  Capt. 
J.  E.  and  Jennie  L.  (Loflin)  Sumner,  being  on 
both  sides  of  the  house  of  colonial  and  revolution- 
ary ancestry.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lambeth  have  two 
children,  J.  Walter,  Jr.,  and  Ernestine.  The  son 
is  a  young  man  of  brilliant  intellect,  noted  for  his 
scholarly  attainments.  During  the  four  years  that 
he  was  in  Trinity  College,  he  won  a  scholarship  each 
year,  and  was  graduated  in  1916  at  the  head  of  his 
class  of  eighty  students,  and  as  class  president. 

Mr.  Lambeth  is  a  member,  and  a  steward,  of 
Methodist  Episcopal  Cliurch,  South,  to  which  Mrs. 
Lambeth  also  belongs.  He  was  one  of  the  organ- 
izers of  the  Standard  Chair  Company,  and  one  of 
the  original  stockholders,  and  is  now  a  director 
of  the  High  Point  branch  of  the  Wachovia  Bank 
and  Trust  Company.  Ever  interested  in  local 
progress  and  improvements,  Mr.  Lambeth  is  ren- 
dering excellent  service  both  as  a  member  of  the 
county  roads  commission,  and  as  president  of  the 
Thomasville  Good  Beads  Commission  of  100  mem- 
bers. Fraternally  Mr.  Lambeth  is  a  member  of 
Thomasville  Lodge  No.  214,  Ancient  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Order  of  Masons;  of  Thomasville  Chapter 
No.  62,  Royal  Arch  Masons;  of  Salisbury  Com- 
mandery.  Knights  Templars;  and  of  Oasis  Temple, 
at  Charlotte. 

John  Gilchrist  McCormick  ia  a  lawyer  by 
profession  who  has  found  his  real  sphere  in  the 
executive   management   and   direction    of   various 


large  business  enterprises,  and  though  not  yet  forty 
years  of  age  is  one  of  the  foremost  business  men 
"and  citizens  of  Wilmington. 

He  was  born  in  Robeson  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, November  22,  1877,  and  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  his  successful  career  in  that  section  of 
the  state.  His  parents  were  Eugene  Little  and 
Sallie  (Gilchrist)  McCormick,  his  father  a  mer- 
chant and  planter.  Educated  iri  the  public  schools, 
graduating  from  the  University  of  North  Carolina 
in  the  literary  department  in  1898,  and  from  the 
law  department  in  1900,  he  at  once  entered  upon 
that  career  which  has  been  filled  with  such  diver- 
sified undertakings  during  the  past  fifteen  years. 

For  three  years  he  practiced  at  Maxton  and 
from  1903  to  1908  at  Lumberton,  both  towns  in 
Robeson  County.  Since  1908  his  homo  has  been 
at  Wilmington.  He  came  to  this  city  to  assume 
his  duties  as  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Acme 
Manufacturing  Company  and  as  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Con-es-Tee  Chemical  Company. 
Mr.  McCormick  is  president  of  the  Acme  Stors 
Company,  president  of  the  Cherokee  Supply  Com- 
pany, director  of  the  Bank  of  Robeson,  director 
of  the  Jennings  Cotton  Mills  at  Lumberton,  and 
has  numerous  other  interests  that  indicate  his 
standing  as  a  business  man  and  citizen. 

In  1908  he  served  as  chairman  of  the  Demo- 
cratic Executive  Committee  of  Robeson  County. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Asso- 
ciation, is  vice  president  and  a  very  active  factor 
in  the  Wilmington  Chamber  of  Commerce,  is 
chairman  of  the  New  Hanover  County  Council  of 
Defense  and  the  Food  Administration  of  New 
Hanover  County,  and  belongs  to  the  Cape  Fear 
Country  Club,  the  Carolina  Yacht  Club  and  the 
Cape  Fear  Club.  October  7,  1914,  he  married 
Miss  Sadie  Larkins  of  Lynchburg,  Virginia.  He 
has  one  daughter,  Sarah  Low  McCormick. 

William  A.  Ckowder.  Recently  one  of  the 
large  city  papers  of  North  Carolina  took  occasion 
through  its  editoi-ial  columns  to  quote  some  facts 
from  a  story  told  by  the  Cleveland  Star  regard- 
ing the  progressive  operations  of  William  A. 
Crowder  on  his  farm  near  Lattimore  in  Cleveland 
County.  It  was  stated  that  from  his  420  acres 
of  land  Mr.  Crowder  made  in  1917  100  bales  of 
cotton  and  2,000  bushels  of  corn.  The  editorial 
goes  on  as  follows:  "As  a  side  issue  Mr.  Crowder 
dabbles  a  little  in  cattle.  The  Star  says  he  has 
'a  modern  barn  with  concrete  floors  and  ample 
room  to  store  vast  quantities  of  feed. '  Last 
winter  he  took  care  of  a  117  head  of  cattle  and 
did  not  buy  a  dollar 's  worth  of  feed.  He  not 
only  made  good  returns  from  the  sale  of  the* 
cattle  but  what  is  more  '  hauled  out  over  a  hundred 
loads  of  stable  manure  with  which  to  enrich  his 
farm. '  Crowder  has  two  automobiles  and  uses 
modern  machinery.  His  friends  call  him  a  'paper 
farmer'  because  he  keeps  books  like  a  merchant, 
reads  the  farm  journals  and  talks  plant  food, 
soil  analysis,  fertilizer  ingredients  and  uses  scien- 
tific terms.  This  class  of  farmer  is  becoming 
more  numerous  every  year  and  exj^lains  in  large 
part  the  remarkable  degree  of  progress  along 
agricultural  lines  this  state  has  been  scoring. 
They  are  demonstrating  the  fact  to  the  world 
that  in  soil  and  climate  North  Carolina  is  the 
finest    agricultural    state    in    the   nation." 

Before  amplifying  and  modifying  in  some  de- 
tails this  description,  which  is  well  deserved  praise 
of  Mr.  Crowder 's  achievements,  something  should 
be  said  of  him  personally,  since  his  story  involves 


334 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


a  rise  from  poor  and  liumble  beginnings.  Tliougli 
a  member  of  au  old  and  solid  family  of  Cleve- 
land County,  partly  by  eircunistance  and  partly 
by  choice  lie  began  lite  dependent  entirely  upon 
his  own  exertions.  Even  his  schooling  is  a  result 
of  study  and  observation  carried  on  through  all 
the  years  with  little  contact  with  schools.  In 
fact  he  never  attended  school  more  than  six 
months  altogether.  He  was  born  and  reared  on 
a  farm,  and  has  always  been  a  farmer.  As  a 
boy  he  found  .outside  employment,  and  his  salary 
the  first  year  was  only  ten  dollars.  For  two 
subsequent  years  ne  worked  at  wages  of  thirty 
dollars   per   annum. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  fell  heir  to  a 
small  amount  of  money,  and  with  this  bought 
a  small  tract  of  land.  In  1906  he  made  the 
beginning  of  his  present  place,  ' '  Forest  Grove 
Farm,"  by  purchasing  120  acres.  To  this  he  has 
added  by  subsequent  purchases  until  he  now  has 
near   500   acres  in   one   body. 

"Forest  Grove  Farm"  is  located  two  miles  north 
of  Lattimore  on  the  Lattimore-Newhouse  Roa<l. 
It  is  one  of  the  richest  sections  of  Cleveland 
County.  The  average  cost  of  his  farm  per  acre 
was  $56,  but  nothing  near  that  figure  would  cause 
Mr.  Crowder  to  part  with  his  land  now.  He  is 
botli  an  extensive  and  an  intensive  farmer,  raises 
cotton  on  a  large  scale  but  is  not  an  exclusive 
cotton  planter.  In  1917  he  had  140  acres  of 
cotton  in  cultivation.  Alongside  were  extensive 
fields  of  corn  and  he  also  had  a  large  amount 
of  jiastorage  and  hay.  From  his  corn-fields  were 
gathered  in  1917  16,000  bunches  of  fodder  and 
he  also  jjut  up  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  tons 
of  hay.  Besides  the  fine  lint  cotton  that  goes 
from  his  place,  he  brings  back  the  cottonseed 
hulls  and  they  are  a  prominent  factor  in  his  feed- 
ing ration.  During  the  season  of  1916-17  he 
kept  117  liead  of  cattle,  and  fed  them  from  De- 
cember 1st  to  aljout  March  7th  without  a  single 
item  of  outside  expense,  every  pound  of  feed 
being  grown  on  his  own  farm.  As  indicated  in 
what  has  already  been  quoted,  he  carried  on 
a  very  profitable  business,  and  enters  into  the  out- 
side markets  in  buying  and  selling  of  horses,  cat- 
tle  and  hogs. 

It  has  always  been  Mr.  Crowder 's  policy  to 
keep  thoroughly  abreast  of  the  times  in  agri- 
cultural science  and  farm  operation.  His  indi- 
vidual experience  is  supplemented  and  refined  by 
constant  reading  of  agricultural  literature,  and  it 
is  also  true  that  the  ideas  he  secures  from  read- 
ing are  put  to  the  test  of  his  own  judgment  and 
exjierience.  He  has  never  been  in  a  hurry  to 
adopt  all  the  new  ideas  or  to  purchase  all  the 
new  makes  of  machinery  until  their  worth  has 
lieen  proved.  There  is  a  strong  bent  to  con- 
servatism in  William  A.  Crowder.  He  does  not 
use  all  of  the  modern  tools  and  implements  so 
enthusiastically  described  in  agricutnral  papers. 
Vp  to  1917  he  used  the  ordinary  cultivators  in 
his  fields.  In  1917  he  bought  a  doul)le-row  com- 
bination planter,  with  which  one  man  can  per- 
from  the  work  of  three.  He  has  not  been  per- 
suaded to  go  so  far  as  to  buy  a  tractor.  He 
jirefers  to  await  the  time  when  a  more  satis- 
factory and  economical  machine  is  placed  on  the 
market. 

By  much  study  and  experiment  in  fertilization 
problems  he  has  figured  out  and  adopted  a  scheme 
of  fertilizing  best  suited  for  his  own  farm.  As 
he  expresses  it,  his  fertilization  system  is  one 
of    the    best    ' '  hired    help ' '    he    has. 


JSTaturally  he  is  an  employer  of  labor.  He  gives 
the  men  on  his  farm  a  tuUy  adequate  amount 
of  livestock  for  power,  and  the  unit  and  standard 
of  his  operations  might  be  expressed  in  man 
power  and  horse  power.  Kather  than  enacting 
the  old-fashioned  role  of  master  among  men,  his 
idea  is  to  make  a  partner  of  each  of  his  tenants. 
Beginning  with  the  season  1917-18  he  has  offered 
a  bonus  of  ten  dollars  in  gold  to  the  tenant  who 
raises  above  six  bales  of  cotton  with  one  mule. 
This  is  a  big  incentive  to  encourage  thrift  and 
industry. 

On  the  ethical  and  moral  side  Mr.  Crowder 
requires  each  of  his  tenants  to  send  his  children 
to  Sunday  School.  The  purpose  is  to  build  up 
a  sound  community  of  clean  living,  self  respecting 
people. 

Mr.  Crowder  was  born  near  Polkville  in  Cleve- 
land County  in  1873,  a  sou  of  John  K.  and 
Biddie  (Walker  J  Crowder,  both  now  deceased. 
He  was  only  eighteen  months  old  when  his  mother 
died.  Her  father,  Jesse  Walker,  was  a  Ruther- 
ford County  citizen.  The  Crowders  are  among 
the  oldest  families  of  Cleveland  County.  His 
great-grandfather,  Robert  Crowder,  came  to  this 
section  from  Virginia  and  settled  about  where 
Lawndale  now  is.  He  and  his  son  Allen,  the 
latter  the  gi-andfather  of  William  A.  Crowder, 
were  extensive  land  holders,  and  at  one  time 
Allen  Crowder  was  spoken  of  as  owning  one  of 
the  largest  bodies  of  land  in  this  part  of  the 
state.  The  Crowders  came  to  what  is  now  Cleve- 
land County  about  the  time  of  the  Revolution, 
and  in  the  upper  part  of  the  county  were  born 
three  generations,  Allen  Crowder,  John  K.  Crow- 
der and  William  A.  Crowder.  John  K.  Crowder 
was  a  soldier  in  the  Confederate  army  in  the 
Thirty-fourth  North  Carolina  Regiment,  and  saw 
much  active  service  in  Virginia  and  toward  the 
close   of  the   war   was   wounded. 

Mr.  William  A.  Crowder  is  an  active  member 
of  the  Baptist  Church  and  in  polities  has  al- 
ways voted  the  democratic  ticket.  He  has  been 
twice  married.  By  his  first  wife  he  hail  seven 
children:  Lottie  May,  Forrest  Sylvester,  Biddie 
Leila,  Plato  Dixon,  Hattie  Lula,  Maud  Elizabeth 
and  Daisy  Lee.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife 
Mr.  Crowder  married  Miss  Fannie  Jones.  They 
have  two  children,  Hettie  Aline  and  John  Jones. 
Mrs.  Crowder  is  a  daughter  of  D.  W.  and  Mary 
(Magness)  Jones  of  Lawndale.  Her  great-grand- 
father, Benjamin  Magness,  was  one  of  the  first 
settlers  in  what  is  now  Cleveland  County.  He 
came  here  before  the  Revolution  and  obtained 
a  large  grant  of  land  from  King  George.  The 
Magnesses  were  an  English  family.  It  is  a  well 
authenticated  family  tradition  that  Cornwallis  on 
a  journey  through  this  section  of  the  state  visited 
ami  ate  dinner  at  the  home  of  Beu  Magness. 
That  old  tract  of  land  therefore  has  considerable 
historic  interest.  A  part  of  that  grant  to  Ben- 
jamin Magness  is  still  included  in  the  Forest 
Grove    Farm    of    Mr.    Crowder. 

Rev.  Henry  A.  Brown  has  been  pastor  of  the 
First  Baptist  Cliurch  of  Winston-Salem  forty 
years.  It  is  a  service  which  for  continuous  identi- 
fication with  one  church  has  few  parallels  in  North 
Carolina.  Doctor  Brown  is  one  of  the  eminent 
divines  of  the  state. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  year  in  which 
he  came  to  Winston-Salem  also  marked  the  advent 
to  that  city  of  Bishop  Eoundthaler  as  pastor  of 
the  Moravian  Church.   In  the  same  year  Mr.  Henry 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


335 


E.  Fries  established  a  Sunday  school  in  East 
Salem.  These  three  men  have  been  continuously 
engaged  in  the  good  work  they  thus  began  until 
the  present  time.  To  each  of  the  three  earnest 
Christian  workers  has  been  built  a  beautiful  mem- 
orial church.  Brown  Memorial  on  Fourth  Street 
is  a  credit  to  the  name  it  bears. 

Henry  A.  Brown  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Simp- 
sonville  Township,  Eoekingham  County,  North 
Carolina,  September  28,  1846.  Three  generations 
before  him  his  great-grandfather  came  out  of  Eng- 
land and  settled  in  this  country  near  Winchester, 
Virginia,  in  colonial  days.  Doctor  Brown's  grand- 
father, Robert  Brown,  was  a  soldier  in  tlie  Revo- 
lution. He  became  an  early  settler  in  Rockingham 
County,  North  Carolina,  improved  a  farm,  had  his 
slaves,  and  was  a  man  of  no  little  distinction  and 
influence  in  the  community.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  was  Campbell.  He  was  of  Scotch  ances- 
try and  was  second  cousin  of  the  famous  General 
Sam  Houston.  This  worthy  couple  each  lived  to 
be  about  seventy-five  years  old.  Their  four  chil- 
dren were  Alfred,  Robert,  Mary,  and  Margaret. 
Alfred  died  unmarried,  but  all  the  others  reared 
children. 

Robert  Brown,  Jr.,  father  of  Dr.  Henry  A. 
Brown,  was  born  in  Rockingham  County  in  1806, 
and  considering  the  time  in  which  his  early  youth 
was  passed  he  acquired  a  good  education.  The 
■  old  homestead  was  his  inheritance  and  he  also 
bought  adjoining  land  and  was  successfully  en- 
gaged in  farming,  employing  slave  labor  until  the 
war.  His  entire  lifetime  was  spent  on  the  home- 
stead in  Rockingham  County,  where  he  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five.  He  married  Sarah  Alisbury 
Troth,  who  was  born  in  the  same  county,  and  died 
in  her  seventieth  year.  Her  parents,  Henry  and 
Cynthia  (Baker)  Troth,  were  natives  of  England 
or  of  direct  English  parentage.  Dr.  Henry  A. 
Brown  was  the  oldest  of  seven  children,  the  others 
being  James  M.,  Margaret  Ann,  Abraham  P., 
Cynthia,  Robert  and  Sally. 

Doctor  Brown  first  attended  rural  schools  and 
continued  his  education  in  that  manner  until 
nearly  all  school  activities  were  suspended  on  ac- 
count of  the  war.  He  was  not  yet  fifteen  years 
of  age  when  hostilities  broke  out,  and  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  he  joined  Company  K  of  the  Third 
Regiment  of  Junior  Reserves,  commanded  by 
John  W.  Hinsdale.  From  that  time  forward  he 
was  active  in  the  service  of  the  Confederacy  until 
the  end  of  the  war.  He  participated  in  the  battles 
of  Fort  Fisher,  Kingston  and  Bennettsville,  and 
was  paroled  at  Greensboro  in  April,  1865. 

Immediately  after  the  war  he  sought  to  repair 
the  deficiencies  of  education  which  had  been  in- 
evitable because  of  the  war  and  he  entered  Pro- 
fessor Hines  Preparatory  School  near  Center  Grove 
in  Guilford  County,  and  subsequently  was  a  stu- 
dent in  the  school  conducted  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Denny 
on  his  farm  in  Guilford  County.  Most  of  the  stu- 
dents at  the  Denny  school  were  poor,  and  were 
allowed  to  bring  their  bedding  and  provisions, 
each  student  paying  one  dollar  per  month  for  the 
services  of  a  cook.  In  the  meantime  Mr.  Brovni 
had  been  licensed  to  preach.  After  one  year  in  the 
Denny  school  he  entered  Wake  Forest  College, 
where  he  was  graduated  in  1871.  He  was  selected 
to  deliver  the  salutary  address  at  commencement. 

Doctor  Brown  was  ordained  at  Youngsville, 
North  Carolina,  in  August,  1871,  and  had  his  first 
practical  experiences  in  the  ministry  as  a  home 
missionary.  He  was  stationed  near  Madison  and 
there  had  charge  of  a  circuit  of  five  churches  in 


Stokes,  Rockingham  and  Guilford  counties.  Like 
the  old  time  circuit  rider,  he  covered  this  jurisdic- 
tion on  horseback  and  had  a  jjeriod  of  unremit- 
ting labor  and  many  hardships.  Two  years  later, 
as  a  result  of  throat  trouble,  he  gave  up  active 
church  work  for  a  year,  but  in  1874  removed  to 
FayettevUle.  In  1877  he  was  called  to  the  pas- 
torate of  the  First  Baptist  Cliurch  of  Winston- 
Salem,  and  he  has  been  leader  of  that  society  to 
the  present  day  and  has  been  responsible  for  much 
of  the  splendid  growth  and  Christian  influence  of 
his  church  in  this  rapidly  developing  industrial  and 
commercial  city. 

Doctor  Brown  was  married  November  14,  1878, 
to  Julia  A.  Cain,  who  was  born  in  Fayetteville, 
North  Carolina,  July  13,  1854,  a  daughter  of 
Richard  and  Mary  (Morphis)  Cain.  Her  father 
was  also  a  native  of  Fayetteville.  Mrs.  Brown, 
who  died  in  1914,  was  the  mother  of  three  chil- 
dren, Addie,  married  William  C.  McCorkle,  and 
has  five  children,  named  Agatha,  Henry  Brown, 
William  O.,  Jr.,  Sarah  and  Eloise.  Doctor 
Brown 's  only  son,  Wingate,  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty-four.  His  younger  daughter,  Eloise,  is  the 
wife  of  H.  S.  Stokes  and  has  one  child,  Colin. 
Doctor  Brown  is  affiliated  with  Winston  Lodge  No. 
167,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  has 
served  as  its  chaplain  and  also  as  chaplain  of 
Norfleet   Camp   of   the    United    Confederate    Vet- 


Zed  Grifhth.  a  man  of  sterling  qualities,  pos- 
sessing a  clear,  keen,  and  alert  intellect.  Zed  Grif- 
fith, cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Thomasville,  is  held  in 
liigh  esteem  as  a  man  and  a  citizen,  and  as  a 
financier  his  judgment  and  counsel  are  always 
valued.  Coming  from  honored  Welsh  ancestry, 
and  from  patriotic  revolutionary  stock,  he  was 
born  on  a  farm  in  Arcadia  Township,  Davidson 
t'ounty,  North  Carolina,  being  fifth  in  line  of 
descent  from  the  immigrant  ancestor,  tlie  line  being 
thus  traced:  Charles,  Charles,  Zadoc,  Charles, 
Manly,    and   Zed. 

Charles  Griffith,  a  native  of  Wales,  came  to 
America  with  two  of  his  brothers  in  colonial  days, 
one  brother  settling  in  Maryland,  one  in  Penn- 
sylvania, while  he  pushed  further  southward,  lo- 
cating in  North  Carolina.  Fighting  bravely  with 
the  colonists  in  their  struggle  for  independence, 
he  was  with  Washington 's  army  at  Valley  Forge, 
and  was  at  Yorktown  when  Cornwallis  surrendered. 
He  spent  the  closing  years  of  his  life  in  Davie 
County,  North  Carolina,  near  Mocksville. 

Charles  Griffith  was  born,  it  is  thought,  in 
Rowan  County,  this  state.  Becoming  interested  in 
agriculture,  he  bought  land  in  Davie  County,  and 
with  the  help  of  slaves  improved  the  large  planta- 
tion on  which  he  resided  until  his  death.  His 
lirst  wife,  the  great-grandmother  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  a  Miss  Chinn.  She  bore  him 
five  sons  and  three  daughters,  as  follows:  Dan, 
Zadoc,  Richard,  Robert,  Frank,  Susan,  Margaret 
and  Catherine. 

Zadoc  Griffith  was  born  in  Davie  County,  about 
six  miles  from  Mocksville.  After  his  marriage 
he  settled  in  the  Yadkin  River  Valley,  in  what  is 
now  Forsyth  County,  on  land  that  his  wife  in- 
herited, and  began  life  for  himself  as  a  farmer 
and  a  slaveholder.  During  the  last  year  of  the 
war  he  served  in  the  Confederate  army,  and  after- 
ward lived  on  his  farm  until  his  death,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-three  years.  He  married  Emily  Johnson, 
who  spent  her  entire  life  of  eighty-two  years 
on  the  farm  where  her  birth  occurred.     Her  father. 


336 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


James  Johnson,  who  married  a  Miss  Echols,  owned 
a  large  tract  of  land  in  Forsyth  County,  about 
200  acres  of  which  was  bottom  land.  Zadoc  Griffith 
and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  in  that  faith  reared  their  four 
children,  James  Franklin,  Charles  Manly,  Thomas 
Wharton,  and  Jennie. 

Cniarles  Manly  GrifSth  was  born,  November  7, 
1850,  in  Forsyth  County,  on  a  plantation  lying  two 
miles  west  of  Clemmonsville.  As  a  youth  he  at- 
tended the  district  schools,  and  later  assisted  in 
the  management  of  the  home  farm,  on  which  he 
remained  until  187S.  Locating  then  in  Hampton 
Township,  Davidson  County,  on  land  belonging  to 
his  mother-in-law,  he  managed  it  successfully  for 
four  years.  Purchasing  then  a  farm  in  Arcadia 
Township,  he  lived  and  labored  there  until  1890. 
Being  then  elected  sheriff,  he  filled  the  office  so 
ably  that  he  was  re-elected  in  1892,  and  served 
faithfully  in  that  position  another  full  term,  his 
home  during  that  time  having  been  in  Thomas- 
ville.  He  then  resumed  his  agricultural  labors. 
Selling  his  farm  in  1900,  he  purchased  the  Lam- 
beth Hotel  in  Thomasville,  and  managed  it  suc- 
cessfully for  twelve  years,  being  popular  as  ' '  mein 
host."  He  has  since  lived  retired  from  active 
business  cares.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Laura  Caroline  Clouse,  was  born  in  Clemmonsville 
Township,  Forsyth  County,  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Cynthia  (Hampton)  Clouse.  Five  children 
were  born  of  their  marriage,  namely:  James 
Thomas,  Dion,  Zed,  Perry,  and  Charles  Manly, 
second.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  faithful  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
in  the  graded  school  at  Thomasville,  and  afterwards 
continued  his  studies  in  Baleigh,  at  the  Normal 
College  of  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Arts.  In 
Zed  Griffith  acquired  his  elementary  education 
1905  Mr.  Griffith  secured  a  position  as  clerk  in  the 
Bank  of  Thomasville.  and  during  the  next  five 
years  performed  the  duties  devolving  upon  him  so 
ably  and  faithfully  that,  in  1910,  he  was  elected 
to  his  present  responsible  office  of  cashier  and 
vice  president. 

Mr.  Griffith  married,  in  1911,  Miss  May  Sumner, 
a  daughter  of  Cant.  Julian  E.  and  Jennie  Sumner. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Griffith  are  both  identified  by  mem- 
bership with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
take  an  active  interest  in  its  work.  Fraternally 
Mr.  Griffith  is  a  member  of  Thomasville  Lodge 
No.  214,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Ma- 
sons; and  of  Thomasville  Council,  Junior  Order  of 
United  American  Mechanics. 

Judge  Chatham  Calhoun  Lyon,  a  resident  of 
Elizabethtown,  Bladen  County,  where  both  he  and 
his  ancestors  have  lived,  the  family  history  dat- 
ing back  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  war,  is  a 
distinguished  lawyer  and  is  now  judge  of  the 
Superior  Court.  Judge  Lyon  has  long  enjoyed 
an  enviable  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  and  his  life 
and  services  have  been  only  less  noteworthy  in 
the  general  field  of  citizenship. 

An  interesting  portion  of  North  Carolina  was 
redeemed  from  the  wilderness  by  the  efforts  of 
the  Lyon  family.  That  locality  has  long  been 
known  as  Lyon's  Landing.  The  ancestral  home 
is  about  nine  miles  above  Elizabethtown  on  the 
Cape  Fear  Biver  in  Bladen  County.  The  little 
settlement  takes  its  name  as  the  place  where 
Judge  Lyon's  s-reat-grandfather.  James  Lyon,  set- 
tled many  years  before  the  Revolutionary  war 
when  he  came  over  from  England.     James  Lyon 


was  a  native  of  England  but  of  French  ancestry. 
When  he  came  to  North  Carolina  he  brought  his 
family  including  his  son  Robert  Lyon,  who  was 
then  twelve  years  old.  James  Lyon  acquired  a 
large  tract  of  land  along  the  Cape  Fear  River, 
established  a  home  there  and  then  started  back  for 
England  to  settle  up  his  business  affairs.  While 
at  sea  he  died.  But  his  family  continued  to  live 
in  Bladen  County,  and  his  son  Robert  grew  up, 
assumed  the  responsibilities  of  manhood  and  be- 
came one  of  the  leading  planters  in_  the  Cape 
Fear  section  and  was  long  prominent  in  its  pub- 
lic affairs,  representing  Bladen  County  in  the 
Leo-islature  for  five  successive  terms.  Robert  Lyon 
at  "one  time  kept  the  famous  old  Wayside  Inn  at 
Lyon's  Landing.  This  inn  in  ante-bellum  days 
and  before  the  building  of  railroads  was  a  notable 
stopping  place  for  travelers  going  to  and  from 
Wilmington  and  the  upper  country. 

Judge  Lyon's  father,  Joseph  Lyon,  a  son  of 
Robert  and  grandson  of  the  original  James,  was 
liorn  at  the  old  estate  in  1807.  Before  the  war 
he  was  a  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Militia  for  Bladen  County  and  during  the 
war,  though  well  advanced  in  years,  served  as  a 
member  of  the  Home  Guard.  Colonel  Lyon  mar- 
ried Mary  Jane  Lucas,  who  died  in  1855,  when 
her  son  Judge  Lyon  was  only  five  years  of  age. 
She  was  a  memlier  of  the  well  known  Lucas  fam- 
ily of  Bladen  County.  The  Lucases  were  of 
French  Hugenot  extraction  and  her  ancestors 
came  from  France  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
in  colonial  times.  Judge  Lyon's  only  surviving 
brother,  Mr.  C.  W.  Lyon,  is  now  the  owner  and 
occupant  of  the  ancestral  home  above  Elizabeth- 
town,  and  that  section  is  endeared  to  the  family 
by  a  host  of  associations  and  memories. 

'  Judge  Lyon  was  born  in  1850  and  in  1860  he 
went  to  live  in  the  home  of  an  uncle.  Mr.  J.  J.  D. 
Lucas,  at  Whitehall,  just  below  Elizabethtown. 
Mr.  Lucas  soon  afterward  became  a  colonel  of 
the  North  Carolina  troops  in  the  war  between  the 
states.  Though  a  boy  at  the  time  Judge  Lyon 
has  many  recollections  of  the  strife  which  devas- 
tated the  State  of  North  Carolina  and  in  which 
members  of  his  own  family  bore  an  honorable 
part.  Thoush  his  education  was  necessarily  some- 
what nesrlected  during  that  critical  period,  he  at- 
tended for  several  years  the  Maysville  High  School 
in  Bladen  County.and  then  took  up  the  study  of 
law  in  the  office  of  his  older  brother,  the  late 
Robert  H.  Lyon,  at  Elizabethtown.  He  was  still 
young  when  licensed  to  practice  law  in  January, 
1872.  Judee  Lvon  began  practice  associated  vfith 
h's  brother,  and  soon  gained  a  reputation  as  a 
forceful  advocate  and  a  man  of  thorough  learn- 
iro-  and  abilHv,  and  for  over  thirty  years  he 
had  the  handling  of  some  of  the  most  important 
lesral  interests  in  Bladen  County.  In  the  minds 
of  the  peoTile  his  abilities  as  a  lavrver  have  always 
been  asso"int°d  with  a  splendid  integrity  of  char- 
acter, and  the  combination  has  given  him  much 
power  and  influence  in  the  community  as  well  as 
the  state  at  large. 

In  1906  he  was  elected  judsre  of  the  Superior 
Court  for  t'ie  resnilar  term  of  eight  years.  In 
1914  he  was  reelected,  and  prior  to  his  first  term 
he  had  served  h's  district  for  five  years  as  solici- 
tor. To  the  work  of  the  jurist  Judge  Lyon 
broup-ht  lonfr  experience,  a  secure  prestige,  and 
has  served  as  a  dignified  and  impartial  judge. 
Such   public   service   on   the  part  of  such  a  man 


<^^r^^^:^^t_ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


337 


must  necessarily  mean  self  sacrifice.  He  gave  up 
to  a  large  extent  his  pi'ofitable  law  practice  in 
order  to  attend  to  his  duties  on  the  bench. 

For  recreation  Judge  Lyon  has  found  nothing 
more  satisfactory  than  life  in  the  open  and  at 
times  he  considers  himself  a  practical  farmer.  He 
owns  two  fine  farms  in  Bladen  County,  one  near 
Elizabethtown  and  the  other  in  French's  Creek 
Township.  To  farming  as  a  practical  business 
proposition  and  as  one  of  the  great  resources  of 
the  state  .Judge  Lyon  has  given  not  a  little 
thought  and  attention.  He  has  exemplified  the 
principle  of  mixed  farming,  and  besides  his  field 
crops  he  raises  some  fine  stock,  particularly  Berk- 
shire hogs. 

Judge  Lyon  has  been  twice  married  and  both 
his  wives  are  now  deceased.  All  his  children  are 
by  his  first  wife,  who  was  Miss  Margaret  Rich- 
ardson. His  second  wife  was  Mrs.  Mary  E. 
(Robinson)  Stednian.  Judge  Lyon 's  children  are : 
Homer  LeGrande  Lyon,  a  successful  lawyer  and 
now  serving  as  solicitor  of  the  Wilmington  Dis- 
trict; Mattie,  wife  of  Mr.  J.  M.  Clark,  sheriff 
of  Bladen  County;  Joseph  Alden  Lyon,  a  lawyer 
at  Elizabethtown ;  and  Terry  Alexander  Lyon,  a 
Fayetteville  lawyer,  and  at  this  writing,  1918, 
assistant  .iudge  advocate  with  the  rank  of  major 
of  Thirty-seventh  Division,  United  States  Troops, 
known  as  the  "Buckeye"  Division. 

Ch.\ri,es  J.  Hamriok.  For  over  a  century  and 
a  half  the  Hamricks  have  lived  and  prospered 
in  Cleveland  County,  North  Caroliua,  and  the 
present  head  of  the  family,  Cliarles  .T.  Hamrick, 
soldier,  planter  and  merchant,  still  owns  a  part 
of  the  ancestral  estate.  Mr.  Hamrick  belongs  to 
the  oldest  family  of  continuous  residence  in  this 
section    of   North    Carolina. 

Charles  J.  Hamrick  was  born  in  1833,  near  his 
present  home  at  Boiling  Springs,  Cleveland  Coun- 
ty, North  Carolina.  His  parents  were  J.  Y.  and 
Catherine  (Hardin)  Hamrick.  The  family  is  of 
German  extraction,  the  great-great-grandfather  of 
Mr.  Hamrick  being  the  German  emigrant  to  Penn- 
sylvania in  1728.  Some  years  prior  to  the  Rev- 
olutionary war,  with  other  compatriots,  he  re- 
moved to  North  Carolina,  and  the  record  of  the 
family  shows  that  his  son,  James  Hamrick,  was 
the  earliest  settler  on  Beaver  Dam  Creek,  in 
what  is  now  Cleveland  County,  on  land  which 
today    is    a    part    of   his    great-grandson 's    farm. 

.T.  Y.  Hamrick,  father  of  Charles  J.,  was  born 
in  1807,  a  son  of  George  Hamrick  and  a  grandson 
of  James  Hamrick.  J.  Y.  Hamrick  became  an 
influential  man  and  prominent  citizen.  He  owned 
vast  sections  of  land,  rich  plantations  and  many 
slaves  and  used  his  wealth  and  influence  as  a 
good  steward.  After  Cleveland  County  was  or- 
ganized, he  was  sent  as  the  first  member  to  the 
State  Legislature,  in  1844-45,  and  again  in  1848- 
49,  liut  in  the  prime  of  his  usefulness  he  was 
called  away,  his  death  occurring  in  1849.  So 
soimd  was  his  judgment  and  so  just  were  his 
conclusions  on  all  matters,  both  as  a  statesman 
and  as  a  private  citizen,  that  his  loss  was  long 
lamented  by  his  public  associates  and  his  neigh- 
bors as   well. 

Charles  J.  Hamrick  was  reared  on  the  paternal 
plantation  and  for  many  years  agriculture  claimed 
the  greater  part  of  his  attention,  but  in  later 
years  he  became  associated  with  a  son  in  the 
mercantile  business.  In  1861,  when  war  broke 
out  between  the  states,  Mr.  Hamrick  entered  the 
Confederate  service  and  served  with  notable  valor 

Vol.  IV— 22 


for  three  and  a  half  stormy  years  as  a  member 
of  Company  D,  Fifty-fifth  North  Carolina  In- 
fantry. Although  he  survived  the  struggle  and 
returned  to  peaceful  pursuits,  it  was  with  a  bullet 
in  liis  right  arm,  received  at  the  Battle  of  the 
Wilderness. 

Mr.  Hamrick  's  plantation  interests  are  quite  ex- 
tensive, his  land  lying  mostly  to  the  east  of  his 
home  at  Boiling  Springs,  extending  toward  Beaver 
Dam  Creek.  About  5()0  acres  are  fine  agricultural 
land  and  in  addition  he  has  a  large  acreage  of 
timlier.  The  business  firm  of  C.  ,1.  Hamrick  & 
Son,  general  merchants,  was  established  at  Boiling 
Springs  in  1881  and  is  one  of  the  successful 
business  enterprises  of  the  place.  Boiling  Springs, 
appropriately  named  from  a  feature  of  nature 
in  this  locality,  is  situated  nine  miles  west  of 
Shelby  and  five  miles  south  of  Lattimore,  with 
beautiful    and    i.ealthy    surroundings. 

Mr.  Hamrick  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Ham- 
rick, of  distant  relationship,  who  is  now  deceased. 
Four  children  were  born  to  them,  namely:  Elijah 
B.,  who  is  his  father's  partner  in  the  firm  of 
C.  J.  Hamrick  &  Son;  O.  N.  Hamrick;  Mrs. 
Catherine  Green ;  and  J.  Y.,  who  died  in  April, 
1917.  The  late  J.  Y.  Hamrick  was  a  man  of  note 
in  public  affairs.  Primarily  a  farmer,  he  entered 
politics  and  was  elected  first  a  member  of  the 
lower  house  of  the  State  Legislature  and  later 
a  member  of  the  Senate,  and  also  served  for  four 
years  as  state  labor  commissioner  for  North  Caro- 
lina. The  eldest  son,  Elijah  B.  Hamrick,  was 
married  to  Miss  Cora  G.  Green,  a  member  of  an 
old  and  prominent  family  in  the  Boiling  Springs 
vicinity.  They  have  one  son,  James  Y.,  who  is  a 
practicing  physician  at  Boiling  Springs.  He  was 
S'raduated  in  medicine  from  Columbia  University, 
New  York,  after  wliich  he  spent  three  ye;  's  in 
hospital  work  in  that  city  and  for  one  year  be- 
fore locatine'  at  Boiling  Springs  had  charge  of  a 
liospital   in    Newfoundland. 

In  the  course  of  his  long  and  useful  life  Mr. 
Hamrick  has  b,'en  identified  with  marv  move- 
ments of  importance  to  this  section.  He  has  been 
interested  in  numerous  philanthropic  enterprises, 
and  the  cause  of  education  ha.s  always  enlisted 
his  attention.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  and 
patrons  of  the  Boiling  Springs  Academy,  a  high 
class  educational  institution  for  both  sexes.  It 
is  a  Baptist  school  and  was  established  in  1907, 
under  the  ausnices  of  the  Kings  Mountain  and 
Sandy  Ridee  Baptist  associations.  It  has  hand- 
some buildings  and  fine  enuipments,  and  its  ad- 
vantages are  equal  to  any  like  school  in  the  state 
and  attendance  is  large. 

Richard  .To.seph  Gallovtat.  The  Galloway 
family  has  long  been  prominent  at  Mount  Airy, 
both  in  business  affairs  and  socially.  Richard 
Joseph  Galloway  followed  his  father  as  a  mer- 
chant in  that  city  and  has  many  other  interests 
that  now  require  his  time  and  business  judgment. 

He  was  born  in  the  City  of  Mount  Airy,  De- 
cember 10,  1867.  He  is  of  Scotch'  ancestry.  His 
grandfather,  Charles  Galloway,  was  a  native  of 
Rockingham  County,  North  Carolina,  and  in  the 
early  days  had  a  plantation  and  farmed  it  with 
the  aid  of  his  slaves.  He  spent  all  his  life  in 
Rockingham  County.  He  married  SaUy  Michaux, 
who  was  born  in  Virsinia,  daughter  of  Richard 
and  Mary  (Macon)  Michaux.  Richard  Michaui 
was  a  native  of  Virginia  and  of  direct  French 
ancestry.  He  came  to  North  Carolina  when  his 
daughter  Sally  was  but  a  few  years  old. 


338 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Eobert  E.  Galloway,  father  of  Eichard  J.,  was 
born  on  a  plantation  near  LeaksvUle  in  Eock- 
inghani  County,  was  reared  and  educated  there, 
and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  married  a  Miss  Smith, 
who  died  eight  months  later.  Then  when  still 
under  age  he  became  associated  with  his  uncle  in 
the  management  of  the  Piedmont  Springs,  a  sum- 
mer resort  in  Surry  County.  While  at  the  Springs 
he  met  Mary  Virginia  Cardwell,  and  before  he 
was  twenty-one  they  were  married.  They  then 
removed  to  Mount  Airy,  and  he  took  up  merchan- 
dising. His  wife 's  inheritance  was  a  large  tract 
of  land  beginning  at  the  Dry  Bridge  on  North 
Main  street  and  extending  into  the  country  a  mile 
or  more.  Eobert  E.  Galloway  built  his  own  home, 
a  commodious  residence,  on  high  ground  a  few 
blocks  west  of  the  bridge.  Among  other  accom- 
plishments he  was  gifted  in  music  and  when  the 
war  broke  out  he  enlisted  as  a  musician.  After  the 
war  he  continued  merchandising  and  farming  and 
sulisequently  gave  his  entire  attention  to  the 
management  of  his  extensive  real  estate  interests. 
He  lived  in  Mount  Airy  until  his  death.  His 
wife,  Mary  Virginia  Cardwell,  was  born  on  a 
plantation  close  to  Mount  Airy.  Her  father, 
Eichard  Cardwell,  a  native  of  Stokes  County,  came 
to  Surry  County  and  bought  a  large  tract  of  land, 
a  part  of  which  is  now  included  in  the  City  of 
Mount  Airy,  and  some  of  it  in  the  adjacent  val- 
ley. Mr.  Cardwell 's  own  home  was  about  a  half 
mile  from  the  city.  He  lived  there  surrounded 
with  every  comfort  that  affluence  could  give,  and 
before  the  war  cultivated  his  numerous  acres  by 
the  aid  of  his  slaves.  He  married  Eachel  Moore, 
a  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  (Martin)  Moore. 
William  Moore  was  born  on  a  plantation  near  Dan- 
bury  in  Stokes  County,  and  he  subsequently  owned 
and  operated  a  large  farm  on  the  Dan  Eiver, 
where  he  died  when  about  eighty  years  of  age.  He 
survived  his  wife  several  years.  Mrs.  Eachel  Card- 
well  after  the  death  of  her  first  husband  married 
Samuel  Moore,  and  she  passed  away  at  the  age 
of  eighty-four. 

Eichard  Joseph  Galloway  grew  up  at  Mount 
Airy,  attended  the  public  schools  there,  and  also 
supplemented  his  early  education  with  a  business 
course  at  Eastman 's  Business  College  at  Pough- 
keepsie.  New  York.  On  returning  home  he  took 
a  place  in  his  father's  store,  and  finally  concen- 
trated his  time  upon  the  millinery  business,  which 
he  has  continued  to  conduct  to  the  present  time. 
He  also  succeeded  to  the  ownership  of  his  ma- 
ternal grandfather's  plantation  and  much  of  his 
time  is  spent  in  its  superintendence. 

At  the  age  of  twenty- four  Mr.  Galloway  mar- 
ried Miss  Agnes  Nutt.  She  was  born  in  Eowan 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Eichard 
and  Elizabeth  Nutt.  Five  children  have  been 
born  to  their  marriage:  Margaret  Cardwell,  Eob- 
ert E.,  Wingate,  Philip  and  Agnes.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Galloway  are  active  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church  and  he  is  one  of  the  trustees.  Fraternally 
he  is  afSliated  with  Granite  Lodge  No.  322,  An- 
cient Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 

Paul  Davis  Gradt,  whose  work  as  a  lawyer  is 
especially  concerned  with  the  civil  branch  of  prac- 
tice, recently  came  to  Ealeigh  from  Wilson,  J^orth 
Carolina,  and  is  now  practicing  with  offices  in  the 
Commercial  Bank  Building. 

He  was  born  in  Wayne  County,  North  Carolina, 
September  5,  1888,  a  son  of  .James  Calhoun  and 
Ella  (Outlaw)  Grady.  His  father  was  a  physician. 
Mr.  Grady  is  a  product  of  some  of  the  best  schools 


of  the  country.  He  attended  the  Tennessee  Mili- 
tary Institute,  the  Gilbert  College  at  Greensboro, 
North  Carolina,  and  in  1910  graduated  in  the  law 
course  from  Washington  and  Lee  University  at 
Lexington,  Virginia.  After  his  admission  to  the 
bar  he  practiced  at  Wilson,  North  Carolina,  until 
1916,  when  he  removed  to  Ealeigh,  and  though  a 
newcomer  and  one  of  the  younger  members  of  the 
bar  has  already  attracted  attention  by  his  very 
able  work. 

On  June  10,  1908,  Mr.  Grady  married  Miss  Lelia 
Swink  of  Lexington,  Virginia.  They  have  three 
children:  Eloise,  Elsie  and  Paul  Davis,  Jr.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Grady  are  members  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian  Church   of  Ealeigh. 

Christopher  C.  McLellan.  It  is  exceedingly- 
interesting,  as  it  is  somewhat  unusual,  in  the  ordi- 
nary efforts  of  the  biographer  to  bring  forward 
every  possible  record  pertaining  to  a  family  so 
that  the  page  of  history  may  be  authentic  and 
truly  reflect  their  deeds,  to  find  in  an  active  busi- 
ness man  of  today  a  surviving  grandson  of  a 
soldier  of  the  Eevolutionary  war.  This  distinc- 
tion belongs  to  Christopher  C.  McLellan,  a  veteran 
officer  of  the  war  between  the  states,  and  owner 
of  mill  property  and  farming  land  near  Godwin, 
in  Cumberland  County,  North  Carolina. 

As  his  name  indicates,  Christopher  C.  McLellan 
is  of  Scotch  ancestry,  but  of  American  parentage. 
He  was  born  in  Cumberland  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, in  1847,  a  son  of  Archibald  and  Sallie  (Mc- 
Donald) McLellan.  Archibald  McLellan  was  born 
on  the  old  McLellan  homestead  in  Cumberland 
County,  which  has  been  the  lifelong  home  of  his 
son,  Christopher  C.  His  father  was  Daniel  Mc- 
Clellan,  who  was  born  in  the  Highlands  of  Scot- 
land and  came  to  the  American  colonies  and  set- 
tled in  North  Carolina  in  1766.  He  located  in 
what  is  now  Cumberland  County  and  established  a 
plantation  which  has  ever  since  been  in  the  family, 
situated  about  two  miles  from  the  present  Town 
of  Godwin,  and  here  the  McLellans  have  lived, 
multiplied  and  prospered  for  over  150  years. 

Daniel  McLellan  was  accompanied  to  America 
by  two  brothers,  perhaps  older  than  himself  as 
they  had  been  required  to  take  an  oath  of  allegi- 
ance to  Great  Britain  before  setting  forth,  and 
thus  the  unhappy  situation  that  has  since  been 
many  times  duplicated  was  brought  about,  of 
brothers  fighting  on  opposite  sides  in  war.  Daniel, 
having  decided  where  he  desired  to  make  his  per- 
manent home,  was  willing  to  fight,  if  need  be,  for 
the  privilege,  and  proved  his  courage  and  loyalty 
during  the  Bevolution.  He  was  a  good  soldier 
and  among  his  descendants  other  good  soldiers 
have  been  found.  One  of  his  sons,  Malcolm  Mc- 
Lellan, took  part  in  the  Seminole  war  in  Florida; 
another,  John  McLellan,  served  at  Fort  Johnson, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  Eiver,  in  the  War 
of  1812  and  possibly  in  the  Mexican  war;  whUe 
in  the  war  between  the  states  four  of  his  grand- 
sons, Daniel,  Neal,  Archibald  and  Christopher  C, 
fought  for  principles  they  believed  to  be  right.  A 
granddaughter,  Mrs.  Catherine  (McLellan)  Tew,  a 
resident  of  Cumberland  County  and  an  older  sister 
of  Christopher  C,  retains  a  vivid  recollection  of 
this  old  pioneer  and  soldier  and  relates  many  in- 
teresting anecdotes  concerning  his  military  experi- 
ences and  his  early  days  in  Cumberland  County. 

Christopher  C.  McLellan  grew  up  on  the  home 
place,  where  industry  and  thrift  always  prevailed, 
for  his  mother  also  was  of  Scotch  parentage  (her 


C^t/  '^^^^^.i^-^^^- 


^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


339 


mother  being  a  MeSwain),  and  he  was  given  re- 
ligious instruction  as  well  as  taught  obedience  and 
frugality.  As  he  looks  back  he  deems  the  first 
serious  event  of  his  life  to  have  been  his  enlist- 
ment, in  1864,  when  seventeen  years  old,  as  a  pri- 
vate in  Company  H,  Seventy-second  North  Caro- 
lina Infantry,  later  becoming  lieutenant  of  his 
company.  After  enlistment  he  went  with  his  com- 
pany, in  the  Junior  Eeserves,  to  Wilmington  and 
from  there  to  Fort  Johnson  at  Southport,  where  he 
remained  until  October,  1864.  Then  he  accom- 
panied his  regiment  to  Virginia  and  took  part  in 
the  Battle  of  Bellford,  after  which  the  regiment 
returned  to  Wilmington,  following  which  came  the 
defense  of  Port  Fislier,  in  which  the  Confederates 
endured  a  terrific  and  continuous  bombardment 
of  several  days  from  the  Federal  war  ships.  Mr. 
McLellan  lost  many  of  his  comrades  but  he  was 
one  of  the  survivors  that  took  part  in  the  last 
battles  of  the  war  in  North  Carolina,  those  of 
Kinston  and  Bentonville. 

Since  the  war  closed  Mr.  McLellan  has  pursued 
peaceful  pursuits  in  his  native  county  and  has 
lived  on  the  old  homestead.  For  a  number  of 
years  he  was  engaged  agriculturally  and  later  be- 
came interested  in  milling  enterprises.  A  few 
years  back  he  sold  a  large  tract  of  land  for  mill 
purposes  to  the  Rhodes  Mill  Company,  in  which 
he  owns  a  one-fifth  interest.  This  tract  embraces 
the  large  pond,  a  part  of  the  South  River,  which 
gives  the  fine  water  power  utilized  by  the  mill. 
The  Rhodes  Mill  was  built  in  1817,  by  John  Smith 
of  Cumberland  County,  and  although  a  century 
old,  is  yet  a  profitable  property,  having  at  various 
times  been  improved  and  modernized.  Mr.  Mc- 
Lellan represented  Cumberland  County  in  the  Leg- 
islature in  the  session  of  1885. 

He  was  married  to  Miss  Carrie  Rhodes,  who  died 
in  1910,  the  beloved  mother  of  five  children:  Mrs. 
Lizzie  McNeill,  Mrs.  Lillian  Jones,  Mrs.  Mary 
Benson,  Rhodes  and  Christopher  C,  Jr.  Rhodes 
McLellan  is  manager  of  the  mill  above  mentioned. 
Old  Bluff  Presbyterian  Church,  founded  in  1758, 
IS  probalily  one  of  the  most  historic  churches  in 
North  Carolina  and  this  has  been  the  religious 
home  of  the  McLellan  family  for  five  generations, 
beginning  with  the  Revolutionary  patriot,  Daniel 
McLellan.  Other  old  and  stable  enterprises  of  this 
section  have  been  founded  and  fostered  by  this 
family  and  individually  and  as  a  body  they  are 
held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  all  who  know  them, 
and  in  the  case  of  Mr.  McLellan  of  this  record 
real  affection  is  entertained  because  of  his  genial 
and  benevolent  personality. 

H.tRRY  Skinner.  His  position  as  president  of 
the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association  in  1915-16, 
not  to  mention  the  many  other  professional  and 
public  honors  which  he  has  enjoyed,  gives  the  ca- 
reer of  Mr.  Harry  Skinner  especial  interest  to  the 
citizens  of  North  Carolina  and  especially  to  the 
members  of  the  bar,  among  whom  he  has  lonir 
been  jirominent. 

He  was  born  in  Perquimans  County,  North  Car- 

y^'l"' .^""L^^'  ^^^°'  ^"'^  "*  J'^iies  C.  and  Elmira 
(Ward)  Skinner.  He  is  a  direct  descendant  of 
that  large  and  influential  familv  of  Skinners  from 
the  Albemarle  section  of  the  state  whose  charac- 
ter, means  and  influence  have  in  a  large  meas- 
ure shaped  the  history  and  development  of  that 
favored  section.  He  is  directly  descended  from 
Gen.  Wilham  Skinner,  of  the  Revolutionary  war 
His  great-grandfather,  Hon.  John  Skinner  served 
with   credit   in   the  Legislature   and   in  the  State 


Senate  for  many  years.  The  grandfather,  Hon. 
Harry  Skinner,  for  whom  the  Greenville  law- 
yer was  named,  also  represented  for  many  years 
liis  county  and  district  in  the  Legislature  and  in 
the   State   Senate. 

James  C.  Skinner,  his  father,  was  a  man  of 
great  force  of  character  and  brilliant  mind,  and 
in  ante-bellum  days  a  large  slave  and  land  holder. 
He  took  a  prominent  part  in  public  affairs,  be- 
ing a  delegate  to  the  National  Democratic  Con- 
vention of  1860,  at  the  time  of  the  division  of 
the  democratic  party.  He  represented  the  first 
senatorial  district  in  the  Senate  of  North  Car- 
olina in  1870-72,  and  took  part  in  the  impeach- 
ment trial  of  Governor  W.  W.  Holden. 

Mr.  Harry  Skinner  spent  his  boyhood  in  his 
native  county,  attending  Hertford  Academy.  In 
1873,  at  a  time  when  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  was  in  eclipse,  he  entered  the  University 
of  Kentucky  at  Lexington  (Transylvania)  and 
was  graduated  from  that  excellent  law  school  in 
June,  1875,  LL.  B.  In  August  of  the  same  year 
he  moved  to  Greenville,  where  he  continued  his 
studies  under  the  direction  of  Maj.  L.  C.  La- 
tham. At  the  January  term,  1876,  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  he  was  licensed  to  practice  law,  and 
at  once  lormcd  a  partnership  with  his  preceptor, 
under  the  style  of  Latham  &  Skinner.  This  -con- 
tinued until  the  death  of  Major  Latham  in  1894. 
The  firm  enjoyed  a  large  and  lucrative  practice, 
the  senior  member  being  recognized  as  one  of 
the  best  equipped  all  around  trial  lawyers  in 
Eastern  North  Carolina.  After  the  deatn  of 
Major  Latham  Mr.  Skinner  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  his  nephew,  H.  W.  Whetbee,  now  Judge 
Whetbee,  which  continued  until  Judge  Whetbee  s 
elevation  to  the  bench  in  1911.  Mr.  Skinner  has 
practiced  witliout  a  partner  since  tlien  and  has 
one  of  the  best  clienteles  of  any  attorney  in  East- 
ern  North   Carolina. 

His  })ublic  service  has  been  notable.  In  1901 
he  was  ajipointed  United  States  district  attorney, 
serving  eight  years.  He  was  reappointed  for  a 
second  term,  without  having  to  file  any  petition, 
and  sometime  in  advance  of  the  expiration  of 
his  first  term.  His  work  as  United  States  dis- 
trict attorney  was  characterized  with  such  effi- 
ciency and  with  such  general  satisfaction  to  the 
department  of  justice  that  it  was  generally  taken 
for  granted  on  the  death  of  Hon.  T.  R.  Purnell, 
United  States  district  judge,  that  Mr.  Skinner 
would  be  his  successor.  Factional  differences  in 
the   party   prevented    his   appointment. 

Mr.  Skinner  was  town  councilman  of  Green- 
ville in  1878,  was  a  member  and  aide  de  camp  to 
Governor  Jarvis  from  1879  to  1886,  and  was  a 
trustee  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  from 
1898  to  1902. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  1891, 
elected  by  the  unprecedented  majority  in  those 
days  of  1,076.  While  a  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture he  served  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
internal  improvements,  was  a  member  of  the 
judiciary,  educational  and  insane  asylum  commit- 
tees and  chairman  of  the  liouse  branch  of  the 
committee  on  redistricting  the  state.  In  this 
Legislature  he  was  regarded  as  progressive.  Among 
measures  introduced' were  those  requiring  a  docket  . 
of  criminal  and  civil  procedure,  the  establishment 
of  an  orphans'  court,  one  presenting  sale  of  land 
under  mortgage  or  execution  which  did  not  bring 
50  per  cent  of  its  tax  value.  With  Hon.  R.  D. 
Gilmer  he  made  the  chief  fight  on  the  floor  of  the 
House   for    the   bill    providing    for   the   establish- 


340 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


ment  of  the  Industrial  Training  School  for  Girls 
at  Greensboro.  He  advocated  liberal  appropri- 
ations to  the  Southern  Soldi^'-s'  Home,  for  com- 
pleting the  governor's  mansion,  for  the  Colum- 
bian Exposition,  for  the  extension  of  the  Atlan- 
tic &  North  Carolina  Railroad,  and  for  a  railroad 
commission,  introducing  measures  prescribing  the 
duties  of  such  railroad  commission,  also  a  bill  for 
appomting  a  committee  to  codify  the  laws  upon 
corporation  and  to  make  suggestions  to  the  fol- 
lowing Legislature  wherebv  they  might  be  re- 
lieved of  the  great  bulk  of  private  legislation. 
Mr.  Skinner  was  tendered  but  •  declined  in  1892 
the  nomination  for  governor  and  for  Congress 
offered  by  the  populist  party. 

In  1894  he  was  elected  to  the  Fifty-fourth  Con- 
gress and  in  1896  re-elected  to  the  Fifty-fifth  Con- 
gress. While  in  Congress  lie  served  on  important 
committees,  one  being  the  public  buildings  and 
grounds  committee.  He  introduced,  advocated 
and  put  into  the  Congressional  Record  all  the  nec- 
essary data  connected  with  the  inland  water  way. 
He  introduced  the  bill  entitled  Equal  Protection, 
which  had  for  its  purpose  fixing  a  stable  price 
for  cotton,  and  also  a  bill  ostalilishing  a  land 
basis  for  national  bank  issue.  He  advocated  an 
enlargement  of  the  na,vj  and  the  state  of  pre- 
paredness, not  for  offensive  but  for  defensive  pur- 
poses. It  is  necessary  to  remember  that  these 
mea.sures,  showing  the  trend  of  his  mind  and 
thought,  wei'e  advocated  more  than  twenty  years 
ago.  The  Congressmen  who  are  described  as  pro- 
gressive have  hardly  taken  a  more  advanced  stand 
during  the  last  five  or  six  years.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  Mr.  Skinner  was  perhaps  twenty  years  in 
advance  of  his  time,  and  largely  for  that  reason 
his  measures  met  with  disfavor,  though  they  have 
since  been  advocated  by  both  parties  and  many 
of  them  have  been  written  into  the  basic  laws  of 
the  nation. 

As  early  as  1886  Mr.  Skinner  wrote  an  article 
entitled  "A  Landed  Basis  for  our  National  Bank 
Issue, ' '  embodying  the  same  pivotal  ideas  con- 
tained in  the  Federal  Reserve  Bank  Act.  His 
article  also  contemplated  the  rural  credit  system. 
This  article  was  afterward  published  in  Frank 
Leslie's  Illustrated  of  issue  November  30,  1889. 
under  the  heading  "The  Hope  of  the  South." 
It  is  said  this  article  was  read  on  the  floor  of 
the  St.  Louis  Convention  and  became  the  basic 
idea  upon  which  the  sub-treasury  suggested  by 
the  Farmers'  Alliance  was  adopted  The  same 
idea  was  contained  in  a  more  practical  form  in 
a  bill  introduced  in  Congress  by  Mr.  Skinner 
looking  toward  Government  control  of  the  South  's 
cotton  crop.  Apparently,  therefore,  the  claims 
made  for  him  have  been  well  founded  as  origi- 
nator of  asset  banking  and  as  the  first  to  sug- 
gest the  Government  control  of  cotton  crops  in 
Southern  States. 

Mr.  Skinner  has  long  been  prominent  both  in 
the  North  Carolina  State  Bar  Association  and 
the  American  Bar  Association.  In  the  State  As- 
sociation he  served  several  terms  as  chairman  of 
the  executive  committee,  and  in  the  American 
Bar  Association  served  two  years  as  vice  presi- 
dent for  North  Carolina  and  three  terms  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  president  of,  the  American  Bar 
Association  the  committeeman  from  North  Caro- 
lina on  the  important  committee  to  resist  the  call 
of  judges.  His  last  appointment  to  that  position 
was  made  by  Hon.  Elihu  Root,  president  of  the 
association. 

Mr.  Skinner  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Order 


and  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  June  5,  1878,  he 
married  Miss  Lottie  Moutiero,  of  Richmond,  Vir- 
ginia. To  their  marriage  were  born  Miss  Wini- 
fred Skinner,  Mr.  Harry  Skinner,  Jr.,  Ella  Mon- 
tiero  Skinner  and  Lottie  Skinner.  Harry  Skin- 
ner, Jr.,  a  Ijright  and  promising  lawyer  was  killed 
in  an  unfortunate  automobile  accident  in  No- 
vember, 1909.  Ella  Montiero  Skinner  married 
A.  M.  Moseley  and  resides  in  Greenville.  Lot- 
tie Skinner  married  George  B.  Cooper,  manager 
of  the  Export  Leaf  Tobacco  Company  of  Bristol, 
England.  For  his  second  wife  Mr.  Skinner  mar- 
ried October  26,  1895,  Miss  Ella  Montiero.  By 
this  union  there  is  one  son,  Francis  Xaviar  Skinner, 
who  is  now  a  volunteer  in  the  United  States  serv- 
ice as  yeoman  in  the  Naval  Reserves. 

Luther  Wellington  Beamer.  In  tlie  locality 
where  his  forefathers  lived  for  generations  Luther 
W.  Beamer  has  quietly  but  successfully  followed 
the  pursuits  of  farming  and  stock  raising,  and  hag 
accomplished  those  things  which  give  him  an 
honorable  place  in  the  community  and  in  the 
state.  Mr.  Beamer 's  farm  is  near  Mount  Airy 
in  Surry  County. 

He  was  born  in  Stuarts  Creek  Township  of  that 
county  September  14,  1877.  His  lineage  in  that 
section  goes  back  to  his  great-great-grandfather, 
Henry  Beamer,  who  so  far  as  known  spent  the 
majority  of  his  active  years  in  Stuarts  Creek 
Township  and  was  an  early  day  planter.  The 
great-grandfather  was  John  Beamer,  wlio  ac*- 
quired  extensive  tracts  of  land  in  that  township. 
The  lumber  of  which  his  house  was  constructed 
was  "whip-sawed"  and  the  few  nails  used  in 
tying  the  timbers  together  were  made  by  the  local 
blacksmith.  The  shingles  on  the  roof  were  rived 
by  hand.  Most  of  the  labor  in  the  fields  on  this 
plantation  was  performed  by  slaves.  John  Beamer 
continued  to  live  in  Stuarts  Creek  Township  until 
his  death.  He  reared  four  sons :  Reuben,  Frost, 
Jacob  and  Andy.  The  descendants  of  these  sons 
are  still  numerously  represented  in  this  section 
of  North  Carolina. 

Frost  Beamer,  who  was  also  bom  in  Stuarts 
Creek  Township,  inherited  a  portion  of  his  father 's 
acres,  had  some  slaves,  and,  like  his  father,  was  a 
life-long  resident  of  that  locality.  He  married 
Miss  Cunningham,  and  they  reared  one  son,  Adam 
Jefferson,  and  five  daughters,  named  Julina, 
Mary  Ann,  Caroline,  Nancy  and  Rachel. 

Adam  Jefferson  Beamer  was  born  in  Stuarts 
Creek  Township,  October  27,  1844.  He  grew  up 
on  the  farm  and  was  about  seventeen  when  the  war 
broke  out.  He  enlisted  in  the  Thirty-seventh  Vir- 
ginia Regiment  of  Cavalry,  and  was  in  active 
service  during  a  large  part  of  the  war.  After  per- 
forming his  duties  to  his  country  he  returned 
home,  and  his  father  gave  him  a  tract  of  land. 
On  that  he  built  a  log  cabin,  and  there  he  and  hia 
young  bride  commenced  housekeeping.  His  voca- 
tion after  that  was  general  farming,  and  his  suc- 
cess enabled  him  to  acquire  a  large  and  well  de- 
veloped plantation,  which  he  occupied  imtil  his 
death  on  December  7,  1911.  Adam  J.  Beamer 
married  Mary  Golding,  who  was  born  in  Stuarts 
Creek  Township,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Jane 
(Felts)  Golding.  She  died  in  1913.  Her  grand- 
father, William  Golding,  Sr.,  owned  a  plantation 
in  Stuarts  Creek  Township.  He  married  Lucy 
Jones,  daughter  of  Minatin  Jones,  who  was  a 
Virginia  planter  and  at  one  time  represented  his 
district  in  the  Virginia  State  Legislature.  William 
Golding,  Jr.,  maternal  grandfather  of  Luther  W. 


Q 


i 


'"0.: 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


341 


Beamer,  was  born  in  Stuarts  Creek  Township,  was 
a  farmer,  and  spent  his  active  career  in  Surry 
County.  During  the  Civil  war  he  served  as  an 
officer  in  the  Home  Guards.  Adam  J.  Beamer 
and  wife  reared  six  children:  WUliam  F.,  Mary 
Jane,  Columbus,  Luther  W.,  Letitia  and  Gertrude. 

Luther  W.  Beamer  attended  the  rural  schools 
during  his  youth  and  by  working  on  the  farm  was 
well  qualified  for  the  duties  and  responsibilities 
of  an  agriculturist  when  he  came  to  manhood.  He 
finally  succeeded  to  the  ownership  of  the  old 
liomestead,  and  has  carried  forward  its  improve- 
ment so  as  to  make  it  a  farm  in  keeping  with  the 
most  modern  standards  and  creditable  to  a  family 
which  has  lived  so  long  in  this  section.  He  has 
erected  a  barn,  has  remodeled  the  house,  and  his 
improvements  are  among  the  best  to  be  found  in 
that  township.  His  business  is  general  farming 
and  stock  raising. 

On  December  30,  191.5,  Mr.  Beamer  married 
Eliza  Virginia  Jones,  who  was  born  in  Stuarts 
Creek  Township,  a  daughter  of  Francis  and  Eliza 
(McGrady)  Jones.  Her  parents  were  natives  of 
Virginia  and  came  to  Stuarts  Ci'eek  Township  and 
bought  a  farm,  on  which  they  spent  their  last 
years.  Mrs.  Beamer  attended  the  Whitehead 
Academy  in  Grayson  County,  Virginia  and  was 
graduated  as  a  trained  nurse  at  St.  Peters  Hos- 
pital in  Charlotte,  North  Carolina.  Both  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Beamer  were  reared  in  the  Baptist  faith. 
Fraternally  lie  is  affiliated  with  Mount  Airy  Lodge 
No.  107,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and 
with  Blue  Eidge  Council  No.  73,  Junior  Order  of 
TJnited  American  Mechanics. 

WiLLi.iM  W.'VRHINGTON  FirE.  A  man  of  superior 
business  ability  and  .judgment,  and  of  pleasing 
address,  the  late  William  Washington  Fife  was 
for  many  years  actively  identified  with  the  mer- 
cantile and  financial  interests  of  Thomasville,  and 
occupied  a  place  of  note  among  the  worthy  and 
jespected  citizens  of  Davidson  County.  A  son  of 
William  Fife,  he  was  born,  it  is  thought,  in  the 
eastern  part  of  North  Carolina,  of  Scotch  ancestry. 

Having  served  an  apprenticeship  at  the  tailor's 
trade  when  young,  he  followed  it  for  a  time  in  his 
native  county.  During  the  progress  of  the  Civil 
war,  he  came  to  Davidson  County,  and  for  several 
years  was  actively  and  prosperously  engaged  in 
mercantile  pursuits  in  Thomasville.  Being  forced 
on  account  of  ill  health  to  dispose  of  his  stock  of 
merchandise,  Mr.  Fife  embarked  in  the  brokerage 
business,  which  he  conducted  as  long  as  he  was 
able,  the  closing  years  of  his  life  being  spent  in 
Thomasville,  retired   from  business  activities. 

Mr.  Fife  married  Olivia  Davis,  a  native  of 
,Eastern  North  Carolina.  She  died  at  the  early  age 
of  thirty-six  years,  leaving  five  children,  namely: 
Mary,  Sarah,  Emma,  William  Pell,  and  Eugenia. 

William  Pell  Fife,  the  only  son  of  the  parental 
household,  afquired  a  good  education  when  young, 
and  lieing  endowed  with  strong  religious  tendencies 
he  became  an  evangelist  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  carried  on  the  work  successfully  for 
a  number  of  years.  Being  obliged  to  relinquish 
his  ministerial  labors,  on  account  of  a  serious 
throat  trouble,  he  became  interested  in  a  mining 
entei-prise,^  with  which  he  was  connected  until  his 
death.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Jennie 
Whitford,  was  a  native  of  Newbern,  North  Caro- 
lina. She  survives  him,  with  her  two  children,  Wil- 
liam Washington,  and  Elma,  who  married  Carlton 
Newby. 


Eugenia  Fife,  the  youngest  child  of  her  parents, 
is  the  only  member  of  the  household  aow  living  in 
Thomasville.  She  is  a  woman  of  talent  and  ability, 
and  for  upwards  of  thirty  years  has  been  prosper- 
ously engaged  in  the  millinery  business.  She  is  an 
active  and  consistent  member  of  the  Main  Street 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  belongs  to 
both  the  Foreign  and  the  Home  Missionary  Society. 

Ernest  Fostek  Young,  though  now  known 
throughout  many  of  the  eastern  counties  of  North 
Carolina  as  one  of  the  ablest  lavryers  and  men  in 
public  affairs,  deserves  primary  credit  in  this  his- 
tory for  the  worthy  and  energetic  part  he  played  as 
the  upbuilder  of  that  flourishing  business  town  and 
agricultural  center  known  as  Dunn  in  Harnett 
County. 

Mr.  Young  was  very  youthful  when  he  went  to 
that  incipient  village  in  1888,  which  had  been  estab- 
lished following  the  construction  of  the  new  sec- 
tion of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line,  now  the  main 
artery  of  that  great  railroad  system.  Soon  after 
reaching  here  Mr.  Young  embarked  in  the  mercan- 
tile business,  being  one  of  the  first  merchants  in 
the  town.  He  built  the  first  brick  building,  a 
structure  now  occupied  by  the  Goldstein  Company. 
He  also  helped  establish  the  first  bank  and  be- 
came president  of  the  Merchants  and  Farmers 
Bank.  He  was  responsible  for  Dunn's  first  large 
factory,  the  South  Dunn  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, at  that  time  one  of  the  largest  furniture 
making  institutions  in  the  state.  He  was  respon- 
sible for  the  building  of  the  Dunn  Oil  Mills,  and 
he  was  associated  with  John  A.  McKay  in  estab- 
lishing the  John  A.  McKay  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany. Mr.  Young  constructed-  Dunn's  first  to- 
liacco  warehouse,  bought  a  gas  plant  to  light  the 
streets,  built  a  roller  flour  mill,  formed  the  South- 
ern Lumber  Company,  and  was  one  of  those  citi- 
zens chiefly  responsible  for  bringing  the  Erwin 
Cotton   Mills   to  this  part   of  the   state. 

A  leader  in  the  beginning,  Mr.  Young  has  re- 
laxed none  of  his  diligence  and  vigilance  and 
]uiblie  spirit  in  forwarding  everything  that  is  good 
and  beneficial  to  the  community.  Today  Dunn  is 
the  center  of  what  is  probably  the  richest  agri- 
cultural region  in  North  Carolina.  A  bale  of  cot- 
ton per  acre  is  a  regular  thing  year  after  year 
and  what  were  formerly  poor  farmers  have  grown 
wealthy  under  the  improved  agricultural  methods 
of  the  present  day  and  the  high  prices  for  farm 
products. 

Ernest  Foster  Young  was  born  in  Dinwiddie 
County,  Virginia,  in  1871,  and  in  the  same  year 
his  parents  moved  to  North  Carolina,  locating  at 
Wilson,  where  the  son  was  reared  and  educated. 
He  is  a  son  of  John  T.  S.  and  Mary  (Foster) 
Young.  His  father 's  mother  was  a  member  of  the 
noted  Sydnor  family  of  Virginia. 

From  mercantile  and  other  business  connections 
Mr.  Young  retired,  and  having  studied  law,  though 
without  any  college  preparation,  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1906.  The  subsequent  twelve  years 
have  put  him  well  to  the  front  among  the  lavpyers 
of  prominence  and  ability  in  Eastern  North  Caro- 
lina, and  his  general  practice  extends  over  several 
counties  and  he  has  handled  much  important  liti- 
gation in  both  state  and  federal  courts.  He  has 
hosts  of  admiring  friends  and  supporters  through- 
out Harnett  and  ad.i'oining  counties,  and  among  all 
classes  of  people  he  has  exercised  a  strong  influ- 
ence in  molding  and  directing  political  opinion 
and  action.     In  1912  he  was  elected  a  member  of 


342 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


the  Lower  House  of  the  State  Legislature,  and 
did  some  highly  creditable  work  during  the  ses- 
sion of  1913. 

Mr.  Young  married  Miss  Alma  Fleming,  whose 
former  home  was  near  Ealeigh  in  Wake  County. 
They  have  two  children,  Mrs.  Isabel  Williams  and 
J.  Hobert  Young.  J.  Robert  Young  is  now  ex- 
pressing the  patriotism  of  the  famUy  in  a  practical 
fashion  as  an  officer  in  the  One  Hundred  Nine- 
teenth Infantry  of  the  National  Army. 

Eknest  Lixwood  Willis.  For  many  years  the 
name  Willis  has  beeu  prominently  associated  with 
the  mechanical  and  manufacturing  industries  of 
Newbern,  where  Mr.  E.  L.  Willis  is  now  presi- 
dent of  the  Newbern  Iron  Works.  He  is  a  son 
of  Philip  Augustus  and  Rosa  W.  (Dixou)  Wil- 
lis, his  father  now  being  retired  after  a  long  and 
active  connection  wit)i  the  foundry  and  machine 
business  and  the  handling  of  dredge  machinery 
and  supplies. 

Ernest  Linwood  Willis  was  born  at  Newbern 
August  24,  1887,  was  educated  in  the  Newbern 
High  School,  and  served  a  complete  apprentice- 
ship iu  the  foundry,  machine  and  supply  house 
of  his  father.  He  knows  every  phase  of  the 
business  from  the  technical  processes  of  the  foun- 
dry to  the  counting  room,  and  in  his  position  as 
president  he  is  in  touch  with  and  responsible  for 
every  detail  of  management  in  the  Newbern  Iron 
Works  and  Supply  Company,  whose  two  plants  are 
located  at  Newbern  and  Fayetteville. 

Mr.  Willis  is  affiliated  with  the  Benevolent  and 
Protective  Order  of  Elks,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  He  was  mar- 
ried April  19,  1911,' to  Miss  Mary  Waller  Denmead, 
of  West  Point,  Virginia.  Her  father,  Charles 
Denmead,  is  a  prominent  lumber  manufacturer 
and  also  a  marine  and  railway  engineer.  They 
have  one  son,  Ernest  Linwood,  Jr.,  born  April  4, 
191.3. 

James  Ashby  Albritton".  One  of  the  ablest 
lawyers  of  Greene  County  is  James  Ashby  Al- 
britton,  who  has  successfully  practiced  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Snow  Hill  bar  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury. In  the  character  of  a  hard  working  and 
able  lawyer  Mr.  Albritton  has  handled  an  im- 
mense volume  of  professional  business  and  at 
the  same  time  has  acquainted  himself  with  the 
needs  of  the  communit}-  and  in  many  ways  has 
served   the    public   to   advantage. 

He  was  born  at  Snow  Hill  December  17,  1869, 
a  son  of  James  Henry  and  Mary  Ann  (Sugg)  Al- 
britton. His  father  for  many  years  was  a  mer- 
chant. Educated  in  the  Snow  Hill  Academy,  the 
Davis  School  at  LaGrange,  and  iu  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina,  Iwth  in  the  literary  and 
law  departments,  Mr.  Albritton  was  found  qual- 
ified for  admission  to  the  bar  in  1892.  He  at 
once  located  in  the  town  where  he  had  been 
reared,  and  soon  acquired  a  profitable  general 
practice.  That  practice  has  continued  to  the 
present  time. 

Mr.  Albritton  has  served  Snow  Hill  as  mayor, 
was  formerly  county  superintendent  of  educa- 
tion, and  in  1909-10  was  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture from  Greene  County.  With  the  exception  of 
two  years  he  has  served  as  county  attorney  since 
1898,  and  iu  1916-17  was  solicitor  for  the  county. 

Mr.  Albritton  is  an  active  member  of  the  North 
Carolina  Bar  Association  and  fraternally  is  affil- 


iated with  the  Masouic  Order  and  the  Knights  of 
Pythias. 

Capt.  Henry  L.  Riggins,  of  Winston-Salem, 
long  identified  with  the  fortune  and  upbuilding 
of  this  city,  was  born  opposite  the  City  of  Rich- 
mond in  Henrico  County,  Virginia,  August  1,  1861, 
a  son  of  William  S.  and  Sally  (Jeffries)  Crafton. 
His  parents  spent  their  lives  in  Virginia  and  died 
when  Captain  Riggins  was  very  young.  After 
that  he  was  adopted  by  Capt.  J.  J.  Riggins  and 
wife  and  took  their  family  name.  Their  home  was 
in  Prince  Edward  County,  where  Captain  Riggins 
was  reared  and  educated. 

He  began  his  business  career  at  the  age  of 
twenty  in  Danv-iUe,  Virginia,  as  clerk  in  the  To- 
liacco  Manufacturing  Company  establishment  of 
J.  F.  Oyler  &  Company.  A  great  fund  of  energy 
and  ambition  led  him  to  rapid  accumulation  of 
knowledge  concerning  the  business  in  every  detail, 
and  he  was  iu  the  course  of  time  promoted  to  man- 
ager of  the  manufacturing  and  export  leaf  de- 
with  the  firm  of  Holland,  Hickey  &  Company,  un- 
der the  name  Holland,  Hickey,  Uyler  &  Company, 
Captain  Riggins  was  made  general  manager  of  the 
larger  concern  and  was  successfully  engaged  in 
business  there  until  on  account  of  ill  health  he 
removed  to  North  Carolina. 

On  locating  at  Winston  Captain  Riggins  entered 
the  service  of  M.  N.  Williamson  &  Company.  He 
was  put  in  charge  of  their  export  business,  and  was 
with  the  company  a  number  of  years.  Later  he 
became  associated  with  L.  F.  and  A.  B.  Gorrell 
in  the  export  leaf  tobacco  business.  This  business 
had  a  flourishing  existence,  but  in  time  the  factory 
was  destroyed  by  fire  and  as  there  was  no  insur- 
ance Captain  Riggins  lost  heavily. 

He  has  always  been  active  in  public  affairs  in 
Forsyth  County,  was  elected  county  treasurer  and 
served  six  years,  and  after  leaving  office  was  for 
a  time  in  the  livery  business.  He  was  then  re- 
tired for  three  years  on  account  of  ill  health  and 
spent  the  time  on  his  farm.  Since  1915  has  been 
a  dealer  iu  feed  and  seed.  He  is  also  an  agricul- 
turist, owning  a  farm  two  and  a  quarter  miles 
from  Winston-Salem.  At  one  time  he  owned  farm 
lands  now  included  within  the  city  and  the  por- 
tion known  as  Crafton  Heights  was  named  by  him 
in  honor  of  his  father. 

In  1890  Captain  Riggins  married  Mary  Gor- 
rell, daughter  of  Albert  and  Fannie  Gorrell.  Their 
only  child,  Albert  Gorrell  Riggins,  died  in  in- 
fancy. 

Captain  Riggins  was  Lnstrimiental  in  organizing 
the  fire  company  at  Winston,  was  chosen  its  cap- 
tain and  later  for  a  time  served  as  chief  of  the 
entire  department.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Twin 
City  Club,  the  Forsyth  County  Country  Club,  and 
is  a  member  of  the  Benevolent  and  Protective 
Order  of  Elks  and  Winston  Lodge  No.  167,  An- 
cient Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 

Bev.  James  Ernest  Hall,  now  pastor  of  the 
Clemmonsville  Moravian  Church,  has  for  many 
years  been  one  of  the  foremost  Moravian  minis- 
ters iu  Carolina.  He  was  for  twenty-five  years  a 
member  of  the  Prorincial  Board  of  the  Southern 
Province  of  the  Moravian  Church,  and  also  a 
member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Theological 
Seminary.  For  twenty-five  years  he  was  one  of 
the  trustees  of  Salem  Academy  College,  and  has 
twice  been  a  delegate  to  the  General  Synod  of  the 
Moravian     Church     held    at    Hermhutt,     Saxony. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


343 


Eev.  Mr.  Hall  was  born  at  Salem,  North  Caro- 
lina, April  14,  1855.  His  family  became  iden- 
tified with  the  Moravian  community  of  Western 
North  Carolina  early  in  the  last  century,  and 
going  still  further  back  they  were  active  Mora- 
vians in  the  Pennsylvania  settlements.  The  foun- 
der of  the  American  branch  of  the  family  is  four 
generations  removed  from  Eev.  Mr.  Hall.  The 
founder  was  James  Hall,  who  was  born  at  Brad- 
ford, Wiltshire,  England,  December  21,  1724.  By 
an  ajiprenticeship  in  the  woolen  mill  he  learned 
the  trade  of  cloth  fuller.  He  was  converted  under 
the  preaching  of  Cennick  and  joined  the  Mora- 
vian Church  at  Gormmersal,  England. 

In  1756  James  Hall  emigrated  to  America.  He 
located  in  the  center  of  the  Moravian  Colony  at 
Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  and  followed  his  trade 
there  for  several  years.  In  1776  he  removed  to 
Lititz,  Pennsylvania,  and  continued  his  trade  until 
1774.  Returning  to  Bethlehem,  he  became  man- 
ager of  a  cloth  mill  there  and  died  in  his  fifty- 
ninth  year.  He  was  first  married  at  Lititz  to 
Anna  Maria  Kalkloeser,  who  left  one  son  named 
John.  For  his  second  wife  he  married  Anna 
Maria  Fisher,  and  by  that  union  there  were  two 
sons  and  one  daughter. 

John  Hall,  representing  the  next  generation, 
great-grandfather  of  Eev.  Mr.  Hall,  learned  the 
trade  of  locksmith.  He  was  born  in  Betlilehem, 
Pennsylvania,  and  subsequently  located  at  Eitters- 
ville,  where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  is 
buried  in  the  Lutheran-Eeformed  Churchyard  at 
Schoenersville,  Pennsylvania. 

James  Hall,  grandfather  of  Rev.  Mr.  Hall,  was 
born  at  Fittersville,  Pennsylvania,  in  1801.  He 
served  an  apprenticeship  at  the  shoemaker's  trade. 
In  those  days  all  boots  and  shoes  were  made  by 
hand,  and  the  shoemaker  occupied  a  correspond- 
ingly more  important  position  in  the  scale  of  in- 
dustry. For  a  time  he  worked  at  his  trade  in 
Lititz,  and  when  still  a  young  man  came  to 
North  Carolina,  making  the  journey  on  foot.  Lo- 
cating at  Salem,  where  he  found  himself  on  the 
congenial  society  of  other  Moravians,  he  soon 
succeeded  in  company  with  his  brother  John  in 
establishing  a  tannery  in  the  locality  then  known 
as  Liberty,  about  a  mile  north  of  the  courthouse. 
They  did  a  flourishing  business  in  tanning  leather 
and  manufacturing  shoes.  Some  of  their  products, 
not  consumed  by  the  local  trade,  were  loaded  on 
wagons  and  conveyed  to  the  mountain  districts, 
where  the  boots  and  shoes  were  traded  for  hides, 
tallow,  beeswax  and  other  local  products.  After 
some  years  they  closed  out  their  business.  In  the 
meantime  the  brothers  had  acquired  considerable 
real  estate  in  and  about  Salem.  They  owned  the 
land  including  the  block  upon  which  the  O'Hanlon 
o£5ce  building  stands.  Grandfather  James  Hall 
erected  the  first  building  on  that  block,  and  the 
corner  now  known  as  O  'H\nlon  's  was  prior  to  that 
known  as  Hall's  Corner.  James  Hall  was  in  the 
mercantile  business  on  that  corner  until  after  the 
war.  He  had  built  a  home  on  Main  Street  in 
Salem  between  Cemetery  and  Bank  streets,  the 
number  of  which  is  now  425.  He  occupied  that 
old  place  for  many  years  and  died  there. 

While  living  at  Lititz,  Pennsylvania,  James 
Hall  met  and  married  Sarah  Green.  She  was  born 
in  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  October  18,  1802. 
Her  father  was  Samuel  Green,  and  the  lineage  is 
traced  back  from  son  to  father  through  John 
Green,  Samuel  Green,  James  Green  and  John 
Green.  The  last  John  Green  came  from  Salisbury, 
Wilkshire,    England,    and    located    in    Boston    in 


1638.  Later  he  went  to  Providence,  where  he 
bought  land  from  the  founder  of  that  colony, 
Roger  Williams.  He  also  bought  land  of  Mianto- 
nanee,  an  Indian  chief.  This  land,  it  is  interesting 
to  note,  in  1859  was  owned  by  Gov.  John  Brown 
Francis  of  Ehode  Island.  John  Green,  the  original 
settler,  was  also  one  of  the  original  proprietors 
of  Warwick,  Ehode  Island.  James  Hall  married 
after  coming  to  Salem,  North  Carolina.  He  had 
walked  back  to  Pennsylvania,  but  after  his  mar- 
riage bought  a  pair  of  horses  and  a  carriage,  and 
in  that  vehicle  he  brought  his  bride  to  their  North 
Carolina  home. 

William  Henry  Hall,  father  of  Eev.  James  HaU, 
was  born  at  Salem,  North  Carolina,  October  25, 
1829.  As  a  young  man  he  went  to  Philadelphia 
to  learn  the  confectioner's  trade.  Having  served 
his  apprenticeship  he  returned  to  his  native  vil- 
lage and  became  a  confectioner  in  partnership 
with  his  brother.  They  had  their  first  shop  at  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Academy  streets.  After  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  William  H.  Hall  entered  the 
Confederate  service  as  a  musician.  He  went  out 
with  the  Twenty-sixth  Eegiment  North  Carolina 
Troops  and  was  in  service  until  captured  at  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg.  After  that  he  remained  a 
prisoner  of  war  at  Point  Lookout,  Maryland,  and 
Fort  Delaware.  Being  released  he  returned  home, 
resumed  the  manufacture  of  confectionery,  and 
conducted  two  stores,  one  in  Winston  and  one  in 
Salem.  For  several  years  he  also  supplied  the 
wholesale  trade  in  that  community  for  many  miles 
around.     His  last  years  he  spent  retired. 

William  H.  Hall  married  Ernestine  Augusta 
Veirling.  She  was  born  in  Salem,  a  daughter 
of  Ernest  Veirling,  also  a  native  of  that  town, 
and  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Samuel  Veirling. 
Doctor  Veirling  was  a  notable  character  in  old 
Salem.  A  native  of  Germany,  he  was  reared 
and  liberally  educated,  was  graduated  in  medicine, 
and  came  to  America  to  practice.  Locating  in 
Salem,  he  erected  a  commodious  brick  house  at  the 
head  of  Bank  Street,  and  on  a  large  plat  of  land 
surrounding  his  house  he  raised  herbs  from  which 
he  manufactured  many  of  his  own  medicines. 
He  had  a  high  degree  of  popularity  as  a  physi- 
cian, and  practiced  over  the  surrounding  country 
for  many  years.  Ernest  Veirling,  his  son,  bought 
a  farm  south  of,  but  now  included  within  the 
limits  of  Salem.  He  continued  farming  a  number 
of  years,  subsequently  was  clerk  in  a  mercantile 
establishment,  and  lived  in  this  community  until 
his  death.  Ernest  Veirling  married  Paulina  Eeigh, 
who  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Salem  and  spent 
their  last  years  in  the  town  of  that  name. 

James  E.  Hall  grew  up  at  Salem,  attended  the 
Boys  School  and  prepared  for  college  under  the 
private  instruction  of  Eobert  Gray  and  Eugene 
Goslin.  With  this  preparation  he  entered  Mora- 
vian College  at  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  where 
he  was  graduated  in  the  Academic  Department  in 
1875  and  completed  the  Theological  course  in 
1877.  After  his  return  to  Salem  he  was  ordained 
in  1878  as  a  deacon  in  the  Home  Moravian  Church 
by  Bishop  Immel  De  Sehweinitz.  He  was  or- 
dained a  presbyter  in  1879.  For  four  years 
while  teaching  at  the  Boys  School  in  Salem  he  also 
had  charge  of  St.  Phillip's  Church.  In  1881  Eev. 
Mr.  Hall  was  appointed  pastor  of  the  Friedberg 
Church,  and  was  in  active  service  in  that  pastorate 
for  nearly  twenty  years.  In  1900  he  removed  to 
Clemmonsville  and  has  been  identified  with  the 
Moravian  Church  there  practically  from  its  be- 
ginning.    The  first  services  of  the  Moravians  held 


344 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


at  ClemmousviUe  were  on  the  second  floor  of  the 
Strupe  store  building  on  October  29,  1899. 
August  13,  1900,  the  church  was  constituted  with 
thirty-nine  members.  This  congregation  has 
grown  and  prospered  and  in  1916  numbered  115. 
The  Clemmous  School  was  commenced  October  9, 
1900,  in  a  temporary  buUding.  ' '  Poimder  's 
Hall, ' '  a  commodious  brick  building,  two  stories 
high,  was  erected  in  the  summer  of  1901.  This 
building  is  in  two  parts,  the  east  half  of  the  first 
floor  being  used  for  a  church,  while  the  west 
half  and  all  the  second  story  is  used  for  school 
purposes.  For  seven  years  in  addition  to  looking 
after  his  church  Mr.  Hall  had  charge  of  the  school 
and  all  the  buildings,  including  the  parsonage, 
which  was  erected  under  his  supervision. 

In  1881  Rev.  Mr.  Hall  married  Martha  Johnson. 
She  was  bom  in  South  Fork  Township  of  Forsyth 
County,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Salome  (Sides) 
.Johnson.  Her  great-great-great-grandfather  Wil- 
liam Johnson  was  born  in  Wales,  where  he  grew 
up  and  married,  and  came  with  his  wife  to 
America,  lauding  at  Cliarleston,  South  Carolina. 
He  died  soon  after  their  arrival  and  their  only 
son  named  John  was  born  on  the  passage  across 
the  ocean.  This  son  John  became  the  father  of 
William,  whose  son  William  was  the  father  of  Mrs. 
Hall.  Mrs.  Hall's  father  was  left  an  orphan  at 
an  early  age  and  lived  until  he  was  grown  with 
relatives  named  Clouse  in  Davie  County.  On 
reaching  his  majority  he  bought  a  tract  of  land 
in  South  Fork  Township  of  Forsyth  County.  Its 
imjirovements  were  a  log  house  and  a  log  barn. 
He  became  a  very  successful  farmer  and  planter, 
and  in  time  had  300  acres  of  land.  His  death 
occurred  at  the  age  of  sixty  years,  and  his  wife 
passed  away  aged  sixty-three.  Both  were  devout 
and  faithful  Moravians.  There  were  nine  chil- 
dren in  the  .Johnson  family  named  John  H.,  Henry 
W.,  Mary,  Elizabeth,  Martha,  Costen  E.,  James 
M.,  Maria  R.,  and  James  L. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall  have  two  children,  Ber'tha 
and  William  James.  Bertha  is  the  wife  of  Harry 
Peterson  and  their  two  children  are  named  Harry 
and  Josephine.  William  James  received  his  higher 
education  in  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege at  Raleigh,  and  on  leaving  school  took  a  posi- 
tion with  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company. 
He  resigned  that  to  become  connected  with  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  where  he  was 
occupied  until  he  volunteered  for  training  in  the 
United  States  of  America. 

WiLLi.Mi  Marsh  Sanders  has  for  over  thirty 
years  been  actively  identified  with  merchandising 
at  Smithfield  in  Johnston  County.  _  Many  other 
business  and  civic  interests  have  claimed  his  time 
and  attention.  Aside  from  his  success,  which  has 
been  well  deserved,  the  chief  matter  of  interest 
attaching  to  his  career  is  his  character  of  positive 
and  aggressive  honesty  and  high  mindedness,  which 
lias  enabled  him  to  render  a  valuable  service  to 
the  community  by  stimulating  and  keeping  up  the 
moral  tone  which,  without  the  presence  of  such 
men  as  Mr.  Sanders,  inevitably  is  lowered  and  fails 
to  respond  in   times  of  emergency  and  stress. 

Mr.  Sanders  was  born  near  Smithfield,  Johnston 
C<mnty,  North  Carolina,  February  14,  18.58,  a  son 
of  Lucian  H.  and  Martitia  (Marsh)  Sanders.  His 
first  ancestor  in  North  Carolina  was  William 
Marsh,  who  served  as  a  captain  in  the  Continental 
army  and  who  died,  according  to  the  inscription 
on  his  tombstone,  at  the  age  of  a  hundred  three 
years,   nine    months,    seven    days.      Mr.    Sanders' 


fatlier  was  a  whig  and  was  thoroughly  opposed 
to  the  secession  movement.  However,  though  he 
and  his  family  recognized  the  inevitable  outcome, 
they  went  into  the  Confederate  army  and  made 
all  the  sacrifices  imposed  upon  the  sons  of  the 
loyal  South. 

Lucian  H.  Sanders  graduated  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina  in  1844,  and  was  a  man  of 
acknowledged  leadership  and  one  of  the  best  edu- 
cated men  in  his  community.  While  a  farmer,  he 
had  an  academy  established  on  his  plantation,  and 
it  was  in  that  school  that  William  M.  Sanders  re- 
ceived much  of  his  early  training.  He  also  at- 
tended an  academy  near  Raleigh,  presided  over 
by  Capt.  John  J.  Fray,  one  of  tlie  noted  educators 
of  the  South.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  went  to 
work  in  a  country  store,  and  in  1S86  engaged  in 
the  general  merchandise  business  at  Smithfield, 
and  has  been  steadily  serving  his  patrons  there 
for  over   thirty  years. 

Mr.  Sanders  was  the  first  man  in  Johnston 
County  to  abolish  fences  around  his  fields,  and 
it  was  his  example  and  leadership  that  brought 
about  the  no  fence  law.  He  was  much  more 
aggressive  and  determined  in  fighting  the  liquor 
traffic  in  city  and  county,  and  he  led  a  campaign 
personally  to  close  up  the  barrooms  and  was  the 
first  cliairman  of  the  local  dispensary  board.  He 
also  took  a  primary  part  in  building  both  the  cot- 
ton mills  at  Smithfield  and  for  years  was  presi- 
dent of  both  companies.  Many  years  ago  he  had 
a  private  bank,  operated  largely  as  a  matter  of 
convenience  to  his  customers,  and  located  in  the 
store,  and  later  he  organized  and  incorporated 
what  is  the  Johnston  County  Banking  and  Trust 
Company,  of  which  he  is  president.  Having  been 
reared  on  the  farm,  Mr.  Sanders  has  at  all  times 
been  thoroughly  identified  with  agriculture.  At 
this  time  he  owns  and  operates  several  plantations, 
also  three  large  gin  plants  and  a  brick  plant.  One 
gin  mill  is  located  on  his  plantation,  another  is 
at  Four  Oaks  and  one  is  at  Smithfield.  He  is  vice 
president  of  the  Selma  Cotton  Mills,  is  chairman 
of  the  finance  committee  of  the  state  prison  board, 
is  a  director  of  the  Bank  of  Four  Oaks,  is  a  former 
mayor  and  member  of  the  town  board  of  Smith- 
field,  was  for  years  chairman  of  the  road  commit- 
tee of  the  township,  is  a  director  of  the  JefEerson 
Standard  Life  Insurance  Company  of  Greensboro, 
of  the  Atlantic  Fire  Insurance  Company  of 
Raleigh,  a  member  of  the  executive  board  of  North 
Carolina  Agricultural  Society,  and  a  member  of 
the  executive  board  of  the  prison  farm.  Recently 
he  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  Fourth  Con- 
gressional Democratic  Executive  Committee  by 
Chairman  Warren  of  the  Democratic  Executive 
('ommittee.  Mr.  Sanders  is  a  steward  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Smithfield,  and 
was  chairman  of  the  building  committee  when  the 
hand.some  church  edifice  was  erected  at  a.  cost  of 
.$20,000.  All  these  relationships,  briefly  told,  rep- 
resent the  resourcefulness  and  the  varied  service 
rendered  to  his  community. 

May  20,  188-5,  he  married  Miss  Lillian  Lee  Long, 
daughter  of  William  Long,  of  Caswell  County. 
Nine  children  have  been  born  to  their  marriage: 
Laura,  who  died  at  eight;  Ashley,  who  died  at  four: 
Mildred,  a  student  in  Peabody  College  in  Ten- 
nessee; Ruth  McKelway,  wife  of  Dr.  Abraham  H. 
Rose,  of  Smithfield ;  William  Ransom,  in  the  whole- 
sale grocery  business  and  proprietor  of  a  garage 
and  now  in  the  quartermasters  department  at 
Camp  .Johnson;  Sarah  Elizabeth,  a  graduate  of 
Peace  Institute  at  Raleigh;  Lillian,  wife  of  George 


'^^^  ^^^c/P^^^^'^^^^ 


„.-J^^.-.''^' 


"I 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


345 


E.  Pou,  who  is  now  in  the  Aviation  Corps  in 
France;  Frances  Campell;  and  WiUiam  Marsh,  a 
student  in  the  Bingham  School  at  Asheville. 

Joseph  Eppye  Debnam  is  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  leading  newspaper  at  Snow  Hill  and  for 
many  years  has  been  successfully  identified  with 
educational  work  in  that  county.  He  is  county 
superintendent  of  instruction  and  has  supervised 
the  work  of  the  public  schools  in  Greene  -County 
for  fifteen  years. 

Mr.  Debnam  was  born  in  Wake  County,  North 
Carolina,  June  11,  1870,  son  of  Omega  Thomas  and 
Kcbecca  (Wiggs)  Debnam.  His  father  was  a 
Wake  County  farmer.  He  grew  up  on  the  farm, 
attended  the  Stanhope  Academy  in  Nash  County, 
and  finished  his  education  in  Wake  Forest  College. 
Mr.  Debnam  began  teaching  in  early  manhood.  He 
taught  in  private  schools  for  a  number  of  years 
and  for  three  years  was  principal  of  the  Snow 
Hill  Academy.  In  1902  he  was  elected  to  the 
office  of  county  superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion in  Greene  County  and  has  l)een  successively 
retained  in  that  position  to  the  present  time. 

He  is  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Standard  La- 
conic, which  was  established  at  Snow  Hill  in  1906 
and  has  the  leading  circulation  of  any  paper  pub- 
lished in  that  city.  Mr.  Debnam  has  been  very 
active  in  the  Baptist  Church,  having  served  as  dea- 
con, trea.surer,  clerk  and  superintendent  of  the 
Sabbath  school.  He  is  past  master  and  is  now 
secretary  of  Radiance  Lodge  No.  132,  Ancient  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons. 

On  December  26,  1897,  he  married  Miss  Birdie 
Lee  Speight,  of  Greene  County.  They  have  five 
children:  Waldemar  Enos,  William  Douglas,  Jos- 
eph Eppye,  Jr.,  Birdie  Lee  and  Robert  Gerald. 

Joseph  A.  Vance  is  a  prominent  foundryman 
and  manufacturer  at  Winston-Salem,  and  member 
of  one  of  the  oldest  families  in  this  section  of 
North  Carolina. 

He  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Kernersville  Town- 
ship of  Forsyth  County,  North  Carolina,  and  is 
descended  remotely  from  one  of  two  or  three 
brothers  who  came  from  Ireland  and  were  colonial 
settlers  in  North  Carolina.  Mr.  Vance's  great- 
grandfather, John  Vance,  lived  for  a  time  in  Bel- 
lews  Creek  Township,  then  in  Stokes  but  now  in 
Forsyth  County,  and  subsequently  moved  to  Ker- 
nersville Township,  where  he  spent  his  last  years. 
He  lived  to  be  very  old  and  his  widow  passed  away 
at  the  age  of  ninety-five.  Taking  the  family  as  a 
whole  old  age  is  a  notable  characteristic. 

John  Vance,  grandfather  of  Joseph  A.,  was  born 
in  Kernersville  Township  and  inherited  part  of  the 
old  homestead.  He  also  bought  some  land  a  mile 
and  a  half  away  in  Belews  Creek  Township.  His 
life  was  protracted  to  the  age  of  eighty-four. 
His  wife,  Polly  Marshall,  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-eight.     They  reared  eight  children. 

William  N.  Vance,  father  of  Joseph  A.,  was 
born  on  his  father's  plantation  in  Forsyth  County 
in  1819,  bought  some  of  the  old  homestead  and 
was  extensively  engaged  in  general  farming.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty-two.  He  married  Hepsy 
J.  Smith,  who  was  born  in  Kernersville,  daughter 
of  Adam  and  Eunice  (Starbuek)  Smith,  of  Nan- 
tucket, Massachusetts.  Mrs.  Hepsy  Vance  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-four,  having  reared  seven 
children. 

Joseph  A.  Vance  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm, 
attended  the  district  schools,  and  since  the  age  of 
seventeen  has  lived  in  Winston-Salem.     For  seven 


years  he  was  employed  by  Fogle  Brothers,  and 
then  bought  an  interest  in  a  foundry  and  machine 
shop  and  subsequently  became  its  sole  owner. 
He  has  developed  that  to  a  large  and  important 
business,  one  of  the  chief  of  its  kind  in  Winston- 
Salem. 

Mr.  Vance  married  for  his  first  wife  Adelaide 
Fogle,  who  was  born  in  Salem  and  died  in  1894. 
She  was  the  mother  of  four  children,  Clara,  Lucy 
Louise,  Horace  H.  and  Charles  F.  "The  daughter 
Clara  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Siewers  and  has  four 
children,  named  Charles,  Caroline,  Margaret  and 
John  D.  Lucy  Louise  is  the  wife  of  W.  Ledoux 
Siewers,  of  a  prominent  family  elsewhere  men- 
tioned in  this  publication.  Mr.  Vance  married  for 
his  second  wife  Annie  Pittman.  Their  two  chil- 
dren are  Eosina  and  Joseph  A.,  Jr. 

C.  Trenholm  McClenaghan  has  for  a  number 
of  years  been  recognized  as  a  leader  in  the  field 
of  insurance  in  North  Carolina.  In  fact,  his 
experience  and  varied  qualifications  are  so  well 
knowni  tliat  he  was  recently  induced  to  become  a 
candidate  for  the  democratic  nomination  for  state 
insurance  commissioner.  He  is  not  only  a  thor- 
oughly practical  man  in  the  business,  but  has 
made  a  study  of  its  theoretical  details,  and  has 
succeeded  in  liuilding  up  one  of  the  most  important 
general  insurance  agencies  in  the  South. 

He  was  born  at  Florence,  South  Carolina,  No- 
vember .5,  1886,  a  son  of  J.  H.  and  Portia 
(Bacot)  McClenaghan.  His  family  were  early 
settlers  in  North  Carolina,  and  he  is  a  nephew 
of  the  late  Colonel  William  J.  Saunders  of 
Raleigh. 

In  1904  Mr.  McClenaghan  graduated  from  the 
Porter  Military  Academy  at  Charleston,  liaving 
taken  a  course  in  architecture  and  meclianieal 
drawing.  It  was  his  aml)itiou  then  to  liecome 
an  architect,  but  before  he  could  become  settled 
in  practice  there  occurred  one  of  those  slight  inci- 
dents which  are  afterwards  regarded  as  critical 
turning  points  in  an  individual  career.  He  visited 
his  uncle  Colonel  Saunders  at  Raleigh,  and  while 
there  accepted  an  opportunity  to  go  into  tlie  in- 
surance business  with  John  C.  Drewry.  He  proved 
his  capability  in  a  short  time,  became  chief  clerk 
in  Mr.  Drewry  's  office,  and  for  the  first  five  years 
devoted  his  efforts  exclusively  to  life  insurance. 
He  then  took  up  ca.sualty  and  fire  insurance,  and 
has  since  become  general  manager  of  the  Tar 
Heel  Company,  which  sells  every  form  of  insur- 
ance, from  life  and  health  to  liability,  bonding 
and  insurance  of  automobiles  and  all  kinds  of 
property.  This  company  has  the  state  agency  for 
the  New  .\msterdam  Casualty  Company,  the  New 
York  Plate  Glass  Insurance  Company  anil  is  local 
agent  for  the  Mutual  Benefit  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany, the  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  North 
America,  the  North  Carolina  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany, the  Atlanta  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and 
tlio  Ealeigh  Fire  Insurance  Company. 

While  building  un  his  reputation  as  a  success- 
ful business  man.  Mr.  McClenaghan  has  not  neg- 
lected those  forms  of  civic  and  social  activity 
which  are  so  essential  to  the  community  and  the 
individual 's  life.  He  is  a  thirty-second  degree 
Mason,  is  a  past  master  of  William  G.  Hill  Lodge 
No.  218,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and 
is  District  Deputy  Grand  Master  of  the  Fifteenth 
Masonic  District.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Raleigli  Chamber  of  Commerce,  of  the  Country 
Club,  and  a  former  member  of  the  Board  of  Di- 
rectors of  tlie  Young  Men  's  Christian  Association. 


346 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


He  is  a  member  of  Christ  Episcopal  Ctiurch. 
Outside  of  business  he  finds  his  favorite  diversion 
in  hunting  and  fishing,  and  usually  spends  a  fevF 
days  every  season  hunting  geese  and  ducks  along 
the  shores  of  Eastern  Carolina.  On  April  1-1, 
1914,  at  Raleigh  he  married  Miss  Amelia  Whita- 
ker.  They  have  one  dauglitcr,  Miss  Marian  Tren- 
holm  McCIenaghan. 

Lycubgus  E.  Varsek.  There  is  no  class  more 
intimately  connected  and  associated  with  the  public 
events  of  any  community  than  that  which  is  rep- 
resented by  the  bench  and  bar.  The  courts  are 
the  final  arbiters  of  the  disputes  which  arise  iu 
any  locality.  Property  rights,  rights  of  personal 
liberty  and  all  other  matters  over  which  a  con- 
tention exists  are  finally  determined  by  the  courts 
and  these  courts  are  valuable  in  proportion  to  the 
legal  learning  and  integrity  of  the  bench  and  bar 
and  those  summoned  before  this  tribunal  to  assist 
in  the  administration  of  justice.  Probably  the 
County  of  Robeson  can  present  as  fine  an  array 
of  legal  talent  as  any  other  county  in  the  state, 
and  prominent  on  its  lists  is  found  the  name  of 
Lycurgus  R.  Varser.  Mr.  Varser  is  not  only  a 
lawyer  of  great  ability  and  learning,  but  a  man 
who  is  also  prominent  in  various  other  matters 
directly  concerning  the  welfare  and  advancement 
of  his  community,  and  is  especially  well  known  and 
esteemed  at  Lumberton,  where  he  is  a  member  of 
the   firm   of   McLean,   Varser   &  McLean. 

Mr.  Varser  was  born  in  1878,  in  Gates  County, 
North  Carolina,  a  son  of  W.  H.  and  Emily  (Duck) 
Varser.  His  father  was  also  born  in  Gates  County, 
the  Varser  home  being  in  the  extreme  northern 
part  of  this  county,  adjoining  the  state  line  of 
Virginia.  Both  the  Varser  and  Duck  families  were 
originally  from  the  nearby  southeastern  section  of 
Virginia,  the  former  coming  to  that  part  of  the 
Old  Dominion  from  England,  although  the  name 
is  of  Holland  Dutch  origin.  They  intermarried  in 
Virginia  w-ith  the  Ellises,  Whitfields  and  other 
families  of  prominence. 

Lycurgus  R.  Varser  received  a  liberal  education 
in  his  youth,  first  attending  the  local  schools  of 
his  native  locality,  later  going  to  Reynson  Insti- 
tute in  Gates  County,  and  matriculating  in  1895 
at  Wake  Forest  College,  from  which  he  was  grad- 
uated with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1899. 
He  took  his  law  course  also  at  Wake  Forest,  and 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws 
from  that  famous  institution  in  1901.  In  the 
meantime  he  had  taught  two  school  years  at  Back 
Swamp  School  in  Robeson  County  and  Mount 
Moriah  School  in  Wake  County.  In  1901,  being 
licensed  to  practice,  he  entered  upon  his  profession 
at  Kinston,  in  partnership  with  A.  J.  Loftin,  as 
Loftin  &  Varser.  Later,  J.  G.  Dawson  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  firm,  which  adopted  the  style  of 
Loftin,  Varser  &  Dawson.  There  he  made  a 
splendid  professional  reputation  in  general  prac- 
tice for  thoroughness  in  the  principles  of  law  and 
their  forceful  application.  In  removing  to  Lum- 
berton on  March  1,  1911,  he  found  a  wider  field 
for  his  exceptional  talents  and  he  has  since  re- 
mained as  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  active 
advocates  at  the  bar.  Shortly  after  his  arrival 
at  Lumberton  Mr.  Varser  formed  a  partnership 
with  Hon.  Angus  Wilton  McLean,  of  Lumberton, 
a  sketch  of  whose  distintmished  career  will  be 
found  elsewhere  in  this  work,  the  firm  style  now 
being  McLean.  Varser  &  McLean.  It  is  the  opin- 
ion of  one  of  the  Supreme  Court  justices  that: 
' '  There  is  no  better  all-around  lawyer  in  the  state 


than  L.  R.  Varser. "  As  an  orator  he  has  a  wide 
following  and  his  services  are  constantly  in  de- 
maud  at  public  gatherings. 

Mr.  Varser  is  a  director  of  the  National  Bank 
of  Lumberton.  He  is  exceptionally  progressive, 
public  spirited  and  a  leader  in  aU  constructive 
and  useful  movements.  He  is  chairman  of  the 
Soldiers '  Business  Aid  Committee  for  Robeson 
County,  by  appointment  of  Governor  Bickett,  and 
chairman  of  the  War  Savings  campaign  for  this 
county.  He  has  made  many  addresses  and  is  con- 
stantly active  iu  these  movements.  As  a  friend 
of  education,  he  is  serving  as  a  member  of  the 
board  of  education  and  is  doing  all  in  his  power 
to  elevate  the  standard  of  the  graded  schools.  He 
is  a  leading  member  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
of  Lumberton  and  one  of  the  most  promiaent  lay- 
men in  the  state  in  that  denomination,  and  in 
191-1  was  honored  by  being  elected  moderator  of 
the  Robeson  Baptist  Association,  a  position  which 
he  still  holds  in  this  one  of  the  most  flourishing 
associations  hi  the  state  which  embraces  fifty-four 
churches.  Mr.  Varser  is  a  prominent  democrat, 
aud  has  taken  an  active  part  in  all  campaigns  for 
his  party. 

In  1904  Mr.  Varser  was  married  to  Miss  Lily 
Ford  Snead,  of  Fluvanna  County,  Virginia,  and 
they  are  the  parents  of  one  daughter:  Lily  Snead 
Varser. 

Lawson  a.  Gettys.  For  a  number  of  years 
the  monazite  mining  industry  has  been  one  of 
large  importance  in  Cleveland  County,  and  to  Law- 
son  A.  Gettys  belongs  the  credit  of  being  the  pio- 
neer here  in  this  line.  In  addition  to  being  a 
mineralogist,  miner  and  road  builder,  Mr.  Gettys 
has  substantial  farming  interests  in  Rutherford 
County  aud  is  one  of  the  enterprising  and  public 
spirited  citizens  of  tlie  beautiful  little  City  of 
Shelby. 

Lawson  A.  Gettys  was  born  in  1866,  in  Ruther- 
ford County,  North  Carolina,  as  was  his  father, 
John  Gettys,  and  his  mother  Alpha  (Tomey)  Get- 
tys the  latter  of  whom  on  the  maternal  side  was 
a  Sweezy,  which  name  is  one  of  the  oldest  in 
Rutherford  County,  equalled  only  by  that  of  Tomey, 
members  of  which  took  part  in  the  Revolutionary 
war.  The  Gettys  came  originally  from  Scotland 
and  established  themselves  first  in  Adams  County, 
Pennsylvania,  where  the  historic  Town  of  Gettys- 
burg perpetuates  their  name  aud  importance.  A 
branch  of  this  family  came  from  Pennsylvania  to 
Rutherford  County,  North  Carolina,  in  1791,  and 
has  been  worthily  represented  liere  ever  since. 

Lawson  A.  Gettys  was  reared  on  his  father 's 
farm  situated  in  tne  eastern  part  of  Rutherford 
County,  and  obtained  his  education  in  the  county 
schools  and  in  early  manhood  taught  school.  Agri- 
culture, liowever,  claimed  the  larger  part  of  his 
time  before  becoming  an  expert  in  the  mining  and 
manufacturing  of  monazite,  that  important  mineral 
deposit  found  only  in  the  Carolinas  and  in  Bra- 
zil. Mr.  Gettys '  interest  in  agriculture  has  never 
ceased,  however,  and  he  still  owns  a  fine  farm  sit- 
uated in  the  foothills  of  the  Cherry  Mountains  in 
one  of  the  most  picturesque  parts  of  Rutherford 
County. 

Mr.  Gettys  has  probably  had  more  to  do  with 
developing  the  monazite  business  in  Cleveland 
County  than  any  other  man.  He  came  to  Shelby 
in  1893  and  has  made  this  place  his  home  ever 
since,  taking  an  active  part  in  its  business  and 
public  life  and  through  his  enterprise  and  en- 
ergy   contributing    largely    to    its    solid    progress. 


pu::.i- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


347 


He  was  one  of  the  organizers  and  is  the  manager 
of  tlie  Carolina  Monazite  Company,  one  of  the 
largest  monazite  concerns  iu  the  United  States. 
This  company  owns  the  mineral  leases  on  several 
thousand  acres  of  mineral  land  in  the  northern 
portion  of  Cleveland  County,  beginning  at  Shelby 
and  extending  to  the  extreme  northern  portion  of 
the  county  and  also  extending  across  the  line  into 
portions  of  Burke  and  Lincoln  counties.  The 
principal  business  of  this  company  is  the  mining 
of  monazite  on  the  land  referred  to  and  a  large 
amount  of  business  was  done  until  unfavorable 
tariff  legislation,  enacted  within  the  past  few 
years,  together  with  an  influx  of  cheap  labor  and 
cheap  transportation  rates  on  this  mineral  mined 
in  Brazil  made  the  industry  less  profitable.  The 
company  still  retains  all  its  lease-holdings,  propi- 
erty  and  equipments,  and  is  ready  to  resume  ac- 
tive operation  up'on  the  reappearance  of  favor- 
able   conditions. 

There  is  no  part  of  the  monazite  business  that 
is  unfamiliar  to  Mr.  Gettys,  his  knowledge  begin- 
ning with  the  separation  of  the  crude  mineral 
from  the  sand  as  it  is  found  in  the  creeks  and 
little  water  branches,  until  it  is  manufactured  intfl 
mantles,  the  Welsbach  being  an  example,  and  other 
useful  articles.  He  knows  the  true  value  of 
monazite  in  its  crude  state,  and  its  commercial 
value  according  to  the  presence  of  thorium,  and 
probably  has  handled  more  than  any  other  man 
in    the   state. 

Mr.  Gettys  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Mamie  Brice,  who  was  born  in  Fairfield  County, 
South  Carolina,  and  they  have  two  children,  Alpha 
and  Bertie. 

Since  becoming  a  resident  of  Shelby  Mr.  Gettys 
has  cheerfully  taken  upon  himself  the  responsi- 
bilities of  citizenship  and  has  been  particularly  ac- 
tive in  all  matters  concerning  the  public  schoolg 
and  is  a  careful  member  of  the  graded  school 
board.  For  several  years  he  has  also  been  serv- 
ing on  the  highway  commission  board  of  Town- 
ship No.  6,  and  has  been  one  of  the  prime  mov- 
ers in  securing  the  justly  celebrated  good  roads 
through  this  section.  With  his  family  he  belongs 
to  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  is  a  liberal  con- 
tributor to  its  benevolent  agencies,  as  he  is 
mindful  of  the  call  of  need  from  all  over  the 
world   at   the  i^resent   time. 

Joseph  Francis  Ferrall.  Since  early  youth 
Joseph  Francis  Ferrall  has  been  steadily  climbing 
along  the  road  of  business  life,  and  a  number  of 
years  ago  acquired  a  substantial  position  as  one 
of  Raleigh 's  leading  merchants. 

Raleigh  is  his  native  city,  where  he  was  born 
October  17,  18.59.  His  parents  were  Patrick  and 
Margaret  (Fanning)  Ferrall,  and  his  father  be- 
fore him  was  a  merchant.  He  was  well  educated, 
attending  Lovejoy  Academy,  and  found  his  first 
.  employment  in  the  office  of  a  manufacturing  plant. 
He  was  promoted  to  bookkeeper,  but  subsequently 
transferred  his  energies  to  a  retaU  dry  goods  house 
at  Raleigh,  with  which  he  remained  until  1898. 
He  then  engaged  in  business  for  himself,  in  the 
dry  goods  line,  as  junior  member  of  the  firm  of 
Dobbin  &  Ferrall.  This  firm,  which  was  incor- 
porated in  1906,  with  Mr.  Ferrall  as  secretary 
and  treasurer,  carries  one  of  the  most  complete 
stocks  of  general  dry  goods  in  the  capital  city. 

In  the  meantime  he  has  acquired  various  other 
connections  with  the  business  and  social  life  of 
the  city.  He  is  a  director  in  the  Raleigh  Savings 
Bank  and  Trust  Company,  and  was  one  of  its  or- 


ganizers; is  a  member  and  secretary  of  the  Raleigh 
Township  School  Board;  is  a  member  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  North  Carolina  State 
Fair  Association;  a  director  in  the  Catholic  Or- 
phanage, and  has  long  been  prominent  in  the  Order 
of  Elks.  He  is  past  exalted  ruler  of  the  Elks 
Lodge  at  Raleigh,  has  served  as  past  district  dep- 
uty of  the  order,  and  for  1916-17  is  president  of 
the  North  Carolina  State  Association  ot  the  Be- 
nevolent and  Protective  Order  of  Elks.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Capital  and  Country  clubs  and  of 
the  Neuseco  Fishing  Club.  On  November  16,  1887, 
Mr.  Ferrall  married  Miss  Anna  H.  Edmoudson,  of 
Houston,  Virginia.  In  politics  Mr.  Ferrall  is  a 
democrat. 

John  Robert  Myers.  Conspicuously  identified 
with  the  manutacturing  interests  of  Davidson 
County,  John  Robert  Myers,  secretary  and  treas- 
urer of  the  Thomasville  Furniture  Company,  is  a 
man  of  solid  worth,  possessing  the  ability  and  in- 
tegrity that  ever  command  respect  in  the  business 
world,  and  gain  the  esteem  of  associates  and 
friends.  He  was  born  in  the  Village  of  Thomas- 
ville, North  Carolina,  December  11,  1874,  of  pio- 
neer ancestry.  His  father,  Wilson  Lindsay  Myers, 
and  his  grandfather,  Peter  Myers,  were  natives 
of   Davidson   County. 

His  great-grandfather,  Michael  Myers,  an  agri- 
culturist, owned  and  occupied  a  farm  lying  tliree 
miles  southwest  of  Thomasville,  and  there  lived 
and  labored  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
fiva  years.  He  married  Susan  Hepler,  whose 
mother,  Mrs.  Hepler,  great-great-grandmother  of 
John  R.  Myers  died  in  Thomasville  at  the  vener- 
able age  of  ninety-three  years.  The  wife  of 
Michael  Myers  died  at  the  age  of  three  score  and 
ten  years,  leaving  one  son  and  four  daughters. 

Peter  Myers  was  born  on  the  home  farm,  near 
Thomasville,  February  26,  1816,  and  spent  his 
entire  life  there,  he  having  inherited  a  portion  of 
the  homestead,  his  death  occurring  August  29, 
1888.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Martha 
Meredith,  was  born  near  the  north  line  of  David- 
sou  County,  July  15,  1816,  on  the  farm  of  her 
father,  who,  as  far  as  is  known,  was  a  life-long 
resident  of  the  county.  She  passed  to  the  life 
beyond  June  10,  1886.  Nine  children  were  born 
into  their  household,  as  follows:  Alfred,  Wilson 
Lindsay,  Franklin,  Lorenzo  W.,  Sandy,  Louisa, 
John,  Henry  and  Clay. 

Born  on  the  parental  homestead  in  Thomasville 
Township,  May  31,  1839,  Wilson  Lindsay  Myers 
was  early  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  agricul- 
ture. Enlisting,  in  1861,  in  Company  H,  Forty- 
eighth  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops,  he  was 
with  his  regiment  in  thirty-five  regular  battles, 
and  numerous  skirmishes.  He  was  five  times 
wounded,  although  none  of  the  wounds  proved 
serious.  On  April  2,  1865,  he  was  captured  by 
the  enemy  near  Hatchers  Run,  where  he  had 
charge  of  1,200  men  on  the  picket  line,  the  whole 
bunch  being  taken  to  Point  Lookout,  Maryland, 
and  confined  as  prisoners  of  war  until  July,  1865. 
Being  then  paroled,  he  returned  to  Davidson 
County,  and  again  assumed  possession  of  his  farm, 
which  was  located  1%  miles  southwest  of  Thomas- 
ville. He  had  purchased  that  tract  of  fifty-four 
acres  when  he  was  but  eighteen  years  old,  running 
in  debt  for  almost  all  of  the  purchase  price  of 
$212. .  He  immediately  began  farming  in  earnest, 
and  met  with  such  good  results  that  in  two  years 
he  had  paid  off  all  of  his  indebtedness.  Moving 
to  Thomasville  in  1872,  he  followed  the  carpenter 's 


348 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


trade  three  years;  Tvas  afterwards  engaged  in 
mercantile  pursuits  twenty-four  years;  and  after 
that  was  for  fifteen  years  engaged  in  the  under- 
taking business.  Having  accomplished  a  satis- 
factory work,  he  is  now  liraig  retired  from  active 
pursuits,    enjoying   a   well-earned    leisure. 

Wilson  L.  Myers  married  in  1860,  Susan  Bath- 
sheba  Fouts,  who  was  born  in  Thomasville,  a 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Mary  Magdalena  (Long) 
Fouts,  and  who  died  in  1902.  He  has  four  chil- 
dren, namely :  Mary,  Fannie,  Magdalena,  and  John 
Robert. 

Receiving  his  preliminary  education  in  the 
graded  schools  of  Thomasville,  John  Robert  Myers 
subsequently  attended  the  High  Point  Institute  a 
year.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  entered  his 
"father's  store  as  a  clerk,  and  during  the  seven 
years  he  was  thus  employed  gained  a  practical 
"knowledge  of  the  business.  Thus  well  equipped, 
he  embarked  in  mercantile  pursuits  on  his  own  ac- 
count in  Thomasville,  continuing  for  six  years  as 
a  merchant.  Mr.  Myers  then  purchased  an  interest 
in  the  Cramer  Furniture  Company,  of  which  he 
was  made  secretary  and  treasurer.  Disposing  of 
his  stock  in  that  organization  in  1912,  Mr.  Myers 
bought  an  interest,  with  his  brother-in-law  in  the 
Thomasville  Furniture  Company,  with  which  he  has 
since  been  actively  and  officially  identified  as  its 
secretary  and  treasurer. 

Mr.  Myers  married,  in  1900,  Alice  Herman 
Lambeth, "who  was  born  in  Thomasville  Township, 
Davidson  County,  a  daughter  of  David  T.  and 
Caroline  (Simmons)  Lambeth.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Myers  have  one  child,  Susie  Kathleen  Myers.  Mr. 
Myers  is  a  valued  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South,  which  he  has  served  as  a 
steward  the  past  fifteen  years.  Fraternally  he 
is  a  member  of  Thomasville  Lodge  No.  214,  An- 
cient Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons;  of 
Thomasville  Chapter  Xo.  62,  Royal  Arch  Masons; 
of  Salisbury  Commandery,  Knights  Templar;  and 
of  Oasis  Temple,  Ancient  Arabic  Order  of  the 
Nobles  of  the  Mystic  Shrine,  at  Charlotte. 

Julian  Mekedith  B-iiker,  M.  D.  The  first  of 
the  Baker  family  came  to  Edgecombe  County, 
North  Carolina,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century 
from  Virginia.  They  are  an  English  family, 
though  their  home  has  been  on  American  soil  for 
fully  two  centuries.  In  Edgecombe  County  the 
name  has  been  especially  associated  with  the  med- 
ical profession,  in  which  several  of  the  name  have 
attained  more  than  ordinary  distinction.  Dr.  Ju- 
lian Meredith  Baker,  of  Tarboro,  is  regarded  as 
one  of  the  foremost  surgeons  and  gynecologists 
of  the  state. 

Both  his  grandfathers  and  also  his  father  were 
capable  physicians.  Julian  M.  Baker  was  bom 
at  Tarboro"  October  27,  1857,  son  of  Dr.  Joseph 
Henry  and  Susan  (Foxhill)  Baker.  His  father 
was  a  physician  in  Edgecombe  County  for  fifty 
years,  and  was  a  graduate  of  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  the  same 
school  whii'h  had  been  attended  by  the  grandfa- 
thers of  Julian  M.  Baiter. 

The  latter  was  accorded  the  advantages  of  a 
thorough  training  and  liberal  education,  attending 
Tarboro  Male  Academy,  Horner  and  Graves  Mili- 
tary Academy,  and  graduating  Bachelor  of  Science 
from  the  fniversity  of  North  Carolina  in  1877. 
He  studied  medicine  in  the  University  of  Mary- 
land, graduating  in  1879,  and  also  was  a  student 
in  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  and  has 
taken  a  number  of  later  courses  in  the  New  York 


Polyclinic  and  also  in  Chicago.  From  the  first 
he  has  specialized  in  surgery  and  gynecology, 
having  begun  practice  at  Tarboro  in  1879.  He  is 
surgeon  of  the  Edgecombe  General  Hospital  of 
Tarboro,  was  surgeon  of  the  First  Regiment,  North 
Carolina  Guard,  and  assistant  surgeon  general  of 
the  state  under  Governors  Scales  and  Fowler.  He 
is  a  former  superintendent  of  health  of  Edgecombe 
County,  an  ex  commissioner  of  Tarboro,  ex-presi- 
dent of  the  State  Board  of  Medical  Examiners  and 
of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  FeUow  of  the  Ameri- 
can College  of  Surgeons  and  member  of  the  State 
Medical  Society,  is  surgeon  in  charge  of  Pittman 
Hospital  at  Tarboro,  is  president  of  the  Red  C^oss 
Society  of  Edgecombe  County,  and  has  been  identi- 
fied with  all  the  medical  organizations,  including 
the  County,  State,  Tri-State,  Seaboard  and  Ameri- 
can Medical  associations.  He  is. a  former  president 
of  the  State  Medical  Society  and  is  a  member 
of  the  Association  of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line  Bail- 
way  Surgeons.  Doctor  Baker 's  practice  has  been 
that  of  a  man  of  unusual  ability,  thoroughly  in 
love  with  his  work,  with  a  deep  undercurrent  of 
sympathy  for  humanity,  and  money  has  never  been 
a  direct  consideration  or  an  end  in  itself,  though 
he  has  been  deservedly  prospered.  Doctor  Baker 
is  a  past  master  of  his  Masonic  Lodge,  past  high 
priest  of  the  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  is  a  Knights 
Templar  Mason  and  a  thirty-second  degree  Scot- 
tish Rite,  and  belongs  to  the  Phi  Kappa  Sigma 
college  fraternity. 

On  June  14,  1884,  he  married  Miss  Lizzie  J. 
Howard,  daughter  of  Hon.  George  Howard,  of 
Tarboro.  Three  children  have  been  born  to  their 
marriage:  Anna  Howard,  Mrs.  William  E.  Fenner, 
of  Rocky  Mount,  North  Carolina;  Sue  Foxhill, 
wife  of  Dr.  William  W.  Green,  of  Tarboro;  and 
Miss  Elizabeth  Howard  Baker. 

.J.\MES  A.  COSTXER  is  a  banker  in  the  Town  of 
Mount  Holly,  Ga.ston  County,  where  he  has  re- 
sided since  1887.  The  substantial  place  he  oc- 
cupies in  business  afl'airs  is  a  tribute  to  his  own 
energy  and  also  to  the  splendid  qualities  of  his 
family,  which  has  long  been  prominent  in  Lin- 
coln  and   Gaston   counties. 

He  is  a  direct  descendant  of  Adam  Costner, 
who  was  the  founder  of  the  Costner  family  in  this 
section  of  North  Carolina.  Adam  was  born  in 
the  Upper  Rhine  country  in  the  south  of  Ger- 
many. He  was  a  member  of  one  of  those  early 
colonial  movements  that  set  out  from  Germany 
during  the  eighteenth  century  to  found  homes 
in  the  American  colonies,  chiefly  in  Pennsylva- 
nia. From  Pennsylvania  about  17.jO  Adam  Cost- 
ner moved  to  North  Carolina  and  founded  his 
family,  numbering  now  a  large  number  of  de- 
scendants in  Gaston,  Lincoln  and  other  counties. 
Adam  Costner  died  in  this  state  in  1767.  One 
of  his  sons  was  Jacob  Costner,  who  bought  land 
from  the  state  by  patent  in  m^H.  This  is  the' 
earliest  ■^rant  of  land  of  which  there  is  any  rec- 
ord in  this  part  of  North  Carolina.  .Jacob  Cost- 
ner became  a  man  of  large  affairs  and  of  influ- 
ential leadership.  In  1769  he  was  commissioned 
a  justice  of  the  peace  by  virtue  of  a  commission 
from  the  British  Crown.  In  1774  he  became  sher- 
iff of  Tryon  County.  That  old  county  was  later 
divided  into  Lincoln,  Gaston  and  other  counties. 
In  1776,  independence  haying  been  declared,  he 
espoused  the  cause  of  his  native  country  and  ac- 
cepted a  major's  commission  in  the  Tryon  Regi- 
ment. He  did  his  full  duty  as  a  soldier  and  from 
him  James  A.  Costner  received  the  qualifications 


(Liu 


Jh.QaJ/o^ypfkS). 


iC  Li-oi'^^'^ 


I  TILL' t 


LEMOX 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


349 


entitling  )iim   to   niembersliip  in  the  Sons  of   the 
American    Revolution. 

Major  Jacob  had  a  son  named  Michael,  who  in 
turn  was  the  father  of  Jacob  Costner,  grandfather 
of  the  Mount  Holly  bauker.  Jacob  Costner  had 
a  fine  estate  about  two  miles  north  of  Dallas  in 
Gaston  County.  He  married  Anna  M.  Rudisill,  a 
member  of  another  prominent  family  of  German 
origin  in  this  part  of  North  Carolina.  The  Rudi- 
sill family  was  founded  by  Philip  Rudisill,  who 
came  from  Pennsylvania,  in  1754  and  located  on 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Black  place  between 
Friday  Shoals  and  High  Shoals  in  what  was 
then  Ansou,  now  Gaston  County.  His  grant  of 
land   comprised    500    acres. 

Mr.  James  A.  Costner,  who  was  born  near  Liu- 
colnton  in  Lincoln  County,  North  Carolina,  is 
a  son  of  Amlirose  and  Melinda  (Quickel)  Cost- 
ner, both  now  deceased.  Ambrose  Costner  was 
born  June  14,  1825,  at  the  old  Costner  farm  two 
miles  north  of  Dallas.  He  became  one  of  North 
Carolina's  most  distinguished  citizens,  serving 
several  terms  as  a  member  of  the  Legislature  in 
the  State  Senate  and  throughout  his  active  life 
was  entrusted  with  numerous  positions  of  respon- 
sibility. He  became  a  generous  patron  of  edu- 
cation and  was  a  leader  in  every  movement  for 
the  benefit  of  his  community  and  state. 

A  ,iust  tribute  to  Mr.  Ambrose  Costner  is  paid 
by  Mr.  Laban  Miles  Hoffman  in  his  excellent 
history  of  the  Hoffman,  Costner  and  related  fam- 
ilies: "Ambrose  Costner,"  says  Mr.  Hoffman, 
"was  one  of  nature's  noblemen — a  most  lova- 
ble man,  of  born  dignity,  without  the  slightest 
suggestion  of  egotism ;  a  straightforward,  can- 
did man  whose  voice  and  bearing  compelled  con- 
fidence. He  was  a  gentleman  of  fine  intelligence, 
temper  and  .iudgment.  He  had  held  many  places 
of  honor  and  public  trust,  and  always  with  the 
utmost  fidelity  to  duty  and  credit  to  himself.  Most 
of  his  life  was  spent  on  his  farm  near  Lincoln- 
ton,  but  after  his  wife  died  he  spent  his  remain- 
ing days  in  the  Town  of  Lineolnton.  The  good 
Lord  gave  him  neither  poverty  nor  great  riches, 
but  an  abundance  for  the  comfort  of  himself  and 
family,  and  he  always  found  means  to  lend  a 
helping  hand  to  others  in  need  and  to  materially 
assist  in  all  the  charitable  work  of  his  commu- 
nity. He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Gaston  Fe- 
male College,  and  without  ostentation  or  intol- 
lerance  he  was  a  stanch  supporter  of  his  church 
and  all  its  enterprises — the  chnreh  of  his  fa- 
thers— the  Lutheran  Church,  to  which  he  was  de- 
voutly attached. ' '  The  death  of  this  good  citi- 
zen oecured  in  June,  1911. 

Mr.  James  A.  Costner  grew  up  in  a  home  nota- 
ble for  its  intelligence  and  culture.  He  was  well 
educated,  and  since  attaining  manhood  has  be- 
come one  of  the  progressive,  substantial  and  pub- 
lic spirited  citizens  of  Mount  Holly.  In  190.'!  he 
organized  the  Bank  of  Mount  Holly  and  has  had 
active  charge  of  that  institution  in  the  office 
of  cashier.  He  is  also  vice  president  of  the  Gas- 
ton Brick  Company,  a  local  manufacturing  con- 
cern operating  two  plants.  Mr.  Costner  has  a 
beautiful  home,  located  on  the  site  of  the  former 
residence  of  the  late  Gen.  D.  H.  Hill,  who  for 
some  years  owned  a  large  plantation  embracing 
the  present  Costner  home.  Mr.  Costner  married 
Miss  Gertrude  Dewstoe.  She  was  born  in  Du- 
buque, Iowa,  but  her  parents  removed  to  North 
Caroliua    a   number    of   years    ago. 


Joseph  Columbus  Rowe,  D.  D.  A  man  of 
strt)ng  personality  and  deep  consecration.  Rev. 
Joseph  C.  Rowe,  D.  D.,  a  minister  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Cliurch,  South,  now  serving  as  pre- 
siding elder  of  the  Salisbury  district,  is  not  only 
an  eloquent  preacher  of  the  gospel  but  is  also  a 
deep  thinker,  as  broad  and  liberal  in  his  spirit  as 
he  is  sincerely  devout  in  his  convictions.  He  was 
born  August  4,  1848,  in  Providence  Township, 
Rowan  County,  which  was  likewise  the  place  in 
which  his  father,  Charles  Richard  Rowe,  first  saw 
the  light  of  this  world. 

His  grandfather,  George  Rowe,  was  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  without  any  doubt  was  of  New 
England  ancestry.  In  early  life  he  came  from 
his  native  state  to  North  Carolina,  locating  in 
Rowan  County,  where  he  spent  his  remaining 
days. 

Charles  Richard  Rowe  was  brought  up  on  a  farm 
and  prior  to  the  Civil  war  was  employed  as  an 
overseer  on  plantations,  operating  with  slaves.  In 
January,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  D,  Forty- 
second  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops,  and  was 
subsequently  detailed  as  assistant  in  a  hospital  lo- 
cated at  a  place  in  North  Carolina  known  as 
' '  Egypt. ' '  At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  returned 
home',  arriving  in  May,  1865.  A  short  time  after 
his  enlistment  he  had  purchased  a  farm  in  Provi- 
dence Township,  and  had  there  left  his  family. 
Soon  after  his  return  he  sold  his  farm  and  pre- 
pared to  remove  to  Iredell  County,  but  circum- 
stances prevented.  A  horse  which  he  was  leading 
across  a  bridge  broke  through,  and  he  received 
injuries  from  which  he  never  recovered,  his  death 
occurring  in  1868.  He  was  three  times  married. 
Of  his  marriage  with  Mrs.  Rosanna  (Basinger) 
Stoup  he  had  but  one  child,  Joseph  C.  Rowe,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  The  mother  died  in  1858. 
There  were  other  children  in  the  family,  named 
both  R*we  and  Stoup. 

Gaining  his  early  knowledge  of  books  in  the 
district  schools,  Joseph  C.  Rowe  subsequently 
entered  the  Olin  High  School,  and  after  his  gradu- 
ation from  that  institution  taught  school  four 
years.  Of  a  naturally  religious  temperament  and 
mind,  he  began  a  study  of  the  Bible  in  early 
youth,  and  while  yet  a  lad  in  his  teens  united 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 
Gifted  with  oratorical  powers,  Mr.  Rowe  became 
noted  as  a  public  speaker,  and  in  1874  was  li- 
censed as  a  local  preacher.  In  December.  1877, 
he  joined  the  North  Carolina  Conference,  with 
which  he  has  since  been  conspicuously  identified. 
Mr.  Rowe 's  first  appointment  was  the  Alexander 
circuit.  Since  that  time  he  has  served  as  pastor 
of  the  West  Market  Street  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  at  Greensboro,  and  of  various 
other  churches  of  that  denomination,  including 
those  at  Monroe  Station,  Central  Station,  Asheville 
Station,  and  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  at  Salisbury.  Since  first  appointed 
to  the  position  of  presiding  elder,  for  which  he 
is  eminently  fitted  and  adapted,  Mr.  Rowe  has  had 
charge  of  the  Franklin,  Statesville,  Charlotte  and 
Asheville  districts,  and  is  now,  in  1917,  filling  his 
second  term  as  presiding  elder  of  the  Salisbury 
District. 

Mr.  Rowe  married,  in  1872,  Nancy  Adelia 
Brown,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Louisa  (Arey) 
Brown.  Six  children  have  blessed  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rowe,  namely:  Lillie,  Gilbert, 
Eugenia,  Laura,  Claudius,  and  Henry  Boyden; 
Laura    died    at    the    age    of    twenty-five    years. 


350 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Lillie,  who  is  herself  an  able  and  accomplished 
lawyer,  is  the  wife  of  Hon.  A.  M.  Frye,  an  at- 
torney at  Bryson,  and  has  one  child,  Lois  Frye. 
Claudius  Rowe  is  a  successful  lawyer.  Henry  Boy- 
den  Rowe,  a  physician  at  Mount  Airy,  married 
Sallie  Lovell.  Gilbert  Rowe,  the  oldest  "son  of  the 
parental  household,  is  one  of  the  leading  minis- 
ters of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
and  a  prominent  member  of  the  Western  North 
Carolina  Conference.  He  has  been  honored  with 
various  degrees.  Trinity  College,  at  Durham,  hav- 
ing conferred  upon  liim  the  degrees  of  A.  B.  and 
D.  D.;  the  Parkyn  School  in  Cliicago  honoring 
him  with  the  degree  of  P.  S.  D.;  the  Central  Uni- 
versity of  Indiana  conferring  upon  him  the  de- 
gree of  Ph.  D. ;  and  Temple  College,  Philadelphia, 
with  that  of  S.  T.  D. 

Fabitjs  Porter  Browx.  One  of  the  oldest  busi- 
ness houses  of  the  City  of  Raleigh,  North  Caro- 
lina, is  that  bearing  the  name  of  H.  J.  Brown 
Company,  funeral  directors,  a  business  that  has 
been  handed  down  from  father  to  son  through 
three  generations.  It  has  been  in  existence  for 
more  than  eighty  years,  for  it  was  founded  by 
H.  J.  Brown  in  IS.'ie,  passed  from  him  to  John 
W.  Brown,  who  conducted  the  establishment  for 
forty  years,  or  until  his  death  in  1914,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  the  present  proprietor.  Fab.  P. 
Brown,  who  is  upholding  in  every  way  the  honor- 
able prestige  established  by  the  "former  owners. 

Fabius  Porter  Brown  was  born  at  Raleigh,  North 
Carolina,  Augiist  23,  1873,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
W.  and  Anna  Bell  (Porter)  Brown.  His  education 
was  .secured  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
city,  Morson  and  Denson  Academy,  where  he  prose- 
cuted his  preparatory  studies,  and  Trinity  College, 
at  Durham,  from  which  institution  he  was  grad- 
uated with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  While 
attending  college,  Mr.  Brown  won  considerable 
reputation  as  a  football  player,  being  a  star  half- 
back on  the  varsity  eleven  during  the  year  that 
Trinity  was  conceded  the  college  football  cham- 
pionship of  the  South.  While  he  is  very  modest 
in  speaking  of  his  achievements  as  a  star  of  the 
gridiron,  it  is  stated  by  his  friends  that  much 
of  the  success  of  the  team  that  year  was  due  to 
Mr.  Brown 's  skill  in  carrying  the  pigskin.  On 
leaving  college,  he  took  up  business  life  and 
gradually  drifted  into  real  estate  operations,  a 
field  in  which  he  won  considerable  success,  and 
for  seven  years  was  secretary  of  the  Raleigh  Real 
Estate  and  Trust  Company.  "  In  1914,  at  the  time 
of  his  father  's  death,  he  took  over  the  management 
of  the  H.  J.  Brown  Company,  and  has  continued 
as  its  directing  head  to  the  present  time.  A  com- 
temporary  biographer,  in  speaking  of  Mr.  Brown, 
says:  "The  fact  that  he  is  a  funeral  director 
is  entirely  incidental  in  the  life  of  Fab.  P.  Brown, 
whose  cheerful  disposition  and  sunny  smile  belie 
the  old  theory  that  an  undertaker  should  always 
typify  a  picture  of  gloom.  He  believes  that  it  is 
life  that  really  matters  and  refuses  to  allow  his 
business  associations  to  change  his  viewpoint  or 
make  him  different  from  his  fellows. ' ' 

Like  his  forefathers,  Mr.  Brown  is  a  Methodist, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Edenton  Street  Church. 
He  takes  an  active  part  in  the  work  of  the  Raleigh 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Merchants'  Associa- 
tion and  the  Rotary  Club,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Capitol  Club,  the  Country  Club,  the  Junior  Order 
of  United  American  Mechanics  and  the  Odd  Fel- 
lows. He  is  likewise  an  enthusiastic  fisherman 
and  likes  nothing  better  than  to  get  away  from  the 


cares  of  business  and  spend  a  vacation  beside  the 
waters  of  lake  or  stream,  seldom  returning  from 
these  excursions  without  a  good  catch  as  evidence 
of  his  skill  with  rod  and  fly.  As  a  member  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  Rotary  Club, 
he  has  proved  by  his  untiring  zeal  in  every  pro- 
gressive step  made  by  the  city  in  many  years,  that 
there  is  no  more  enthusiastic  citizen  nor  one  who 
has  the  interest  of  Raleigh  closer  at  heart  than 
has  he. 

Mr.  Brown  has  been  twice  married.  His  first 
wife  was  Miss  Lena  Wynne,  of  Raleigh,  who  died 
in  1913,  leaving  one  daughter:  Isabelle.  Later 
Mr.  Brown  married  Miss  Flo  Broome,  of  Waxhaw, 
North   Carolina. 

Robert  G.  Campbell.  As  North  Carolina  leads 
all  other  states  in  number  of  cotton  mills,  it  is 
one  of  the  distinctive  services  that  a  publication 
of  this  character  renders  to  search  out  and  teU 
the  careers  of  some  of  the  big  cotton  mill  operators 
of  the  present  and  past.  From  the  standpoint  of 
technical  and  administrative  skill  and  ability  one 
of  the  greatest  is  undoubtedly  Robert  G.  Campbell, 
whose  present  associations  are  with  Hope  Mills  in 
Cumberland  County. 

Ajiart  from  his  big  achievements  the  story  of  his 
life  has  interest  and  inspiration  for  those  who 
must  overcome  the  many  minor  difficulties  and 
obstacles  which  too  often  stand  in  the  way  of  any 
success  whatever.  He  was  born  in  Robeson  County, 
North  Carolina,  in  1866,  a  son  of  Robert  Harley 
and  Jane  (Hodges)  Campbell.  His  mother  is  still 
living  and  has  been  able  to  take  great  pride  in  the 
accomplishments  of  her  son,  who  when  her  hus- 
band died  in  1876  was  the  mainstay  and  support 
of  the  little  family.  Robert  H.  Campbell  was  a 
native  of  Scotland,  came  to  North  Carolina  in  the 
■40s,  before  the  war  was  in  business  at  Fayette- 
ville,  in  Cumberland  County,  and  finally  moved  to 
Robeson  County.  During  the  war  he  served  in 
the  Confederate  Army. 

Robert  G.  Campbell  can  scarcely  recognize  any 
of  his  early  associations  apart  from  the  enriron- 
ment  of  a  cotton  mill.  He  was  only  nine  years 
old  when  in  1875  he  obtained  his  first  position  as 
a  floor  sweeper  in  the  old  Pee  Dee  Mill  at  Rock- 
ingham in  Richmond  County.  His  emplovment  at 
that  time  was  not  a  necessity  but  it  proved  for- 
tunate in  giving  him  some  experience  before  the 
death  of  his  father,  which  occurred  a  year  later, 
as  a  result  of  which  his  mother  and  several  sisters 
had  to  look  to  him  to  supply  most  of  the  means  of 
existence.  From  that  time  forward  he  worked  in- 
dustriously and  continuously  in  cotton  mills.  Con- 
sequently there  were  few  and  brief  opportunities 
to  attend  school.  But  when  he  was  in  school  he 
was  there  for  a  purpose,  and  he  mastered  rapidly 
and  thoroughly  the  fundamentals,  and  these  with 
long  continuous  association  with  .successful  men 
have  brought  him  a  well  rounded  education.  Some 
of  his  early  employment  was  in  the  old  Woodlawn 
Mill  near  Lowell  in  Gaston  County,  and  later  he 
went  to  work  in  the  Gray  mills  at  Gastonia.  It 
was  as  a  cotton  mill  operative  under  the  late 
George  A.  Gray  that  he  acquired  his  real  ap- 
prenticeship. George  A.  Gray  had  likewise  spent 
his  life  as  a  poor  boy,  and  by  his  remarkable  re- 
sults in  the  spinning  industry  had  achieved  a 
great  fortune.  Mr.  Gray  took  a  special  liking  for 
young  Campbell,  his  attention  being  attracted  to 
his  earnestness,  industry  and  ambition,  and  ac- 
cordingly he  gave  him  every  opportunity  to  make 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


351 


use  of  his  talents  aud  rise  on  his  merits.  Mr. 
Campbell  was  associated  closely  with  Mr.  Gray  for 
fourteen  years,  and  under  him  became  a  mill  super- 
intendent and  mill  manager. 

One  of  the  well  known  names  in  North  Carolina 
mercantile  affairs  was  that  of  the  late  Caesar 
Cone  of  Greensboro.  Mr.  Cone  and  his  brothers 
had  become  immensely  wealthy  as  merchants,  and 
they  finally  determined  to  use  some  of  their  capital 
for"  cotton  manufacturing,  but  to  this  industry 
they  could  supply  only  capital,  having  no  knowl- 
edge of  the  technical  side  of  the  business.  In 
the  course  of  his  inquiries  Caesar  Cone  had  brought 
to  his  attention  the  capacity  and  ability  of  Robert 
G.  Campliell  as  a  practical  mill  man.  There  fol- 
lowed an  interview  between  the  merchant  and  the 
mill  operator  at  Greensboro,  and  the  result  was  a 
proposition  made  to  Mr.  Campbell  to  superintend 
the  building  and  installation  of  machinery  and 
subsequently  the  management  of  a  mill  which  Mr. 
Cone  proposed  to  erect  at  Greensboro.  This  com- 
mission was  assumed  and  executed  by  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, and  in  1.S96  he  had  in  operation  one  of  the 
biggest  mills  of  the  state,  the  Proximity  Mill 
at  Greensboro.  Changes  and  additions  were  sub- 
sequently made,  the  capacity  increased,  and  today 
it  is  one  of  the  largest  mills  in  the  South.  Later 
Mr.  Campbell  built  the  Revolution  and  the  White 
Oak  mills  for  Mr.  Cone.  As  Mr.  Cone's  general 
manager  of  cotton  mills  he  had  complete  charge  of 
the  industry  for  eighteen  years.  In  cotton  mill 
circles  it  is  well  understood  that  the  unexampled 
success  and  profitableness  of  these  mill  properties, 
which  added  so  much  to  the  Cone  fortunes,  were 
primarily  and  principally  due  Mr.  Campbell 's  ex- 
pert management.  He  had  qualified  himself  for 
such  responsibilities  as  a  result  of  long  and  hard 
experience,  and  his  thorough  knowledge  of  cotton 
mill  practice  extends  to  every  phase  and  detail 
from  the  first  technical  process  to  the  marketing 
of  the  product.  Tliere  is  a  sound  reason  at  the 
basis  of  a  claim  frequently  made  that  Robert  G. 
Campbell  is  a  cotton  mill  genius.  Along  with 
other  work  which  he  did  at  the  Cone  mill  he  built 
up  a  .splendid  welfare  organization  for  the  mill 
operatives. 

After  long  years  of  hard  and  steady  application 
to  the  business  Mr.  Campbell  evinced  a  natural 
desire  to  retire  and  temporarily  at  least  take  up 
residence  in  the  country.  This  lead  to  his  pur- 
chase of  a  farm  at  Friendship  in  Guilford  County, 
ten  miles  west  of  Greensboro,  consisting  of  420 
acres.  On  this  he  has  spent  something  over  $100,000 
above  the  purchase  price,  and  the  result  is  now  one 
of  the  finest  and  most  highly  improved  farms  in 
the  entire  South.  The  farm  is  not  merely  a  rich 
man 's  fancy  but  a  practical  proposition  through- 
out. It  is  a  splendid  example  and  source  of  en- 
couraeement  to  the  surrounding  agricultural  com- 
munities. It  is  conducted  on  general  farming 
lands,  with  a  specialty  of  livestock.  One  of  the 
best  herds  of  registered  Guernsey  cattle  in  the 
state  is  found  there,  and  there  are  many  thor- 
oughbred Berkshire  and  Yorkshire  hogs.  The  farm 
bears  the  attractive  name  of  "Campbella."  The 
residence  is  a  handsome  two-story  structure, 
equipped  with  every  modern  convenience,  includ- 
ing a  gravity  water  supply  from  an  artesian  well 
of  the  purest  water.  Mr. 'Campbell  has  an  expert 
chemist  examine  this  water  every  year  to  insure 
its  continued  purity  and  wholesomeness. 

While  the  charms  and  routine  of  country  life 
still  exercise  a  strong  fascination  upon  him,  Mr. 


Campbell  is  once  more  in  the  hard  work  of  his 
real  profession,  with  headquarters  at  Hope  Mills 
in  Cumberland  County.  In  March,  1916,  he  took 
charge  of  the  Eockfish  Mills,  which  had  lain  idle 
for  several  years  and  which  had  been  purchased 
by  a  group  of  capitalists  of  Rocky  Mount,  North 
Carolina,  headed  by  Mr.  S.  L.  Arrington,  who  is 
president  of  the  corporation.  The  Rockfish  Mills 
at  Hope  Mills  are  four  in  number,  one  of  which 
has  been  discontinued.  Mr.  Campbell  began  the 
habilitation  and  re-equipping  of  MiU  No.  2,  now 
being  successfully  and  profitably  operated.  Un- 
der his  direction"  the  best  and  most  modern  ma- 
cliinery  was  installed  in  that  mill.  It  is  operated 
l)y  water  power  from  the  Big  Rock  Fish  River.  In 
1917  Mr.  Campbell  began  similar  equipment  and 
remodeling  of  Mill  No.  4,  which  will  probably  be 
in  operation  early  in  1918.  There  is  every  indica- 
tion that  Mr.  Campbell  will  repeat  here  the  remark- 
able success  he  had  with  the  Cone  Mills  at  Greens- 
boro. 

Mr.  Campbell's  first  wife  was  Jane  Hilliard,  of 
Davidson  County.  She  was  the  mother  of  two 
daughters,  May  and  Mary.  His  present  wife 
before  her  marriage  was  Miss  Bertha  Heritage, 
of  Chatham  County. 

NoRM.\N  Ollen  W.^rren  is  one  of  the  youngest 
men  filling  an  important  executive  post  in  the 
l)anking   circles    of    Greenville. 

He  was  born  in  Edgecombe  County,  North  Car- 
olina, Seiitember  28.  1890,  a  son  ot  Ollen  and 
Susie  Elizabeth  (Wilson)  Warren.  His  father 
for  a  number  of  years  has  been  engaged  in  the 
insurance  and  fertilizer  business.  >forman  O. 
Warren  had  a  public  school  education  at  Green- 
ville, and  as  a  youth  entered  the  Greenville  Bank- 
ing &  Trust  Company  in  the  capacity  of  messen- 
ger. This  institution  is  the  oldest  and  largest 
bank  in  the  county,  with  resources  of  over  $1,.500,- 
000.  He  rapidly  familiarizeil  himself  with  his 
duties  and  responsibilities  and  workeii  steadily 
upward  in  promotion  until  in  January,  1916,  he 
was  made  cashier  of  that  institution,  a  post  he 
fills  today.  Mr.  Warren  is  attiliated  with  the 
Knights  of  Pythias. 

June  11,  1916,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Flanagan 
Shelburne,  of  Greenville.  Mr.  Warren  was  chair- 
man of  all  three  liberty  loan  committees  of  Pitt 
County,  and  at  this  time  he  is  handling  the  Pitt 
County   Liberty  Loan  quotas. 

William  Samuel  Allred  from  early  boyhood 
has  spent  his  years  and  energies  in  the  cotton 
mills.  His  father  was  long  prominent  in  the  same 
industry,  and  William  S.  Allred  has  for  many 
years  been  superintendent  of  the  Alpine  Woolen 
Mills  in  Surry  County. 

He  was  born  at  Buck  Shoals  in  Yadkin  County, 
North  Carolina,  October  29,  1863.  His  grand- 
father, John  Allred,  was  a  planter  and  so  far  as 
known  spent  his  entire  career  in  Randolph 
County.  John  Allred  married  Miss  Shoon,  and 
they  had  two  sons,  Stephen  and  Albert,  and  four 
daughters,  Lovina,  Martha,  Sally  and  Otelia. 

Albert  Allred,  father  of  William  S.,  was  born 
at  Sandy  Creek  in  Randolph  County  April  15, 
1830.  Wlicn  only  ten  years  of  age  he  entered  the 
cotton  mills  at  Cedar  Falls  in  Randolph  County, 
and  by  a  long  and  thorough  apprenticeship  learned 
every  detail  of  the  business.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-one  he  engaged  as  a  machinist  with  R.  R. 
Gvpyn's  mill   at   Elkin.     In   1861   he   removed   to 


352 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Buck  Shoals  and  was  connected  with  the  mills  of 
Gaither  and  Lawrence  until  1863.  He  then  be- 
came connected  with  the  Turner  MUl  near  States- 
ville  in  Iredell  County,  and  in  1S67  took  the  super- 
intendency  of  the  Hamburg  Mills.  In  1869  he 
became  connected  with  the  firm  of  J.  F.  and  W.  A. 
Moore  at  Green  Hill,  and  was  with  that  firm  until 
January  1,  1880.  In  the  meantime  he  had  built 
a  woolen  mill  on  Lovill  's  Creek  a  mile  and  a  half 
above  Mount  Airy,  and  was  active  in  its  operation 
until  it  burned  in  1895.  After  that  Albert 
Allred  lived  retired  until  his  death  on  January 
6,   1904. 

In  1852  he  married  Sally  Gordon.  She  was  born 
at  Jonesville  in  Yadkin  County  in  1835,  a  daughter 
of  William  and  Eebeeea  (Laffoon)  Gordon.  Wil- 
liam Gordon,  a  native  of  Virginia  and  of  Scotch 
parentage,  was  a  carpenter  by  trade  and  built 
many  of  the  first  frame  houses  in  Surry  County. 
From  Jonesville  he  removed  to  a  farm  he  had 
purchased  near  Dobson  in  Surry  County,  and  there 
spent  his  last  years. 

William  Samuel  Allred  was  given  the  privilege 
of  attending  school  regularly  during  his  youth, 
but  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  left  his  books  and 
studies  and  began,  work  in  cotton  and  woolen  mills 
and  learned  all  details  of  the  business,  from  the 
handling  of  the  raw  material  to  the  finishing 
processes.  In  1880  his  qualifications  justified  his 
appointment  as  superintendent  of  his  father's  mill 
near  Mount  Airy,  and  he  was  with  that  institution 
until  it  was.burned  in  1895.  At  that  date  he  ac- 
cepted the  superintendeney  of  the  Alpine  Woolen 
Mills,  which  are  located  on  Lovill 's  Creek  about 
four  miles  from  Mount  Airy.  Mr.  Allred  had 
found  his  duties  in  these  mills  suificient  to  absorb 
all  his  time  and  energies  and  he  has  largely  been 
responsible  for  the  success  and  prosperity  of  the 
establishment. 

Mr.  Allred  was  first  married  in  1881,  to  Emma 
Sparger,  who  was  born  in  Mount  Airy  Town- 
ship, member  of  a  prominent  old  family  of  this 
section  of  North  Carolina.  Her  parents  were  John 
H.  and  Matilda  (Smith)  Sparger,  and  her  grand- 
parents were  Murlin  and  Bethania  (Cook)  Spar- 
ger. Mrs.  Allred  passed  away  March  10,  1905. 
For  his  second  wife  Mr.  Allred  married  Minnie 
Stimpson,  a  daughter  of  Eev.  Hampton  and  Annie 
(Davis)  Stimpson.  By  his  first  wife  Mr.  Allred 
had  seven  children :  Albert,  a  soldier ;  Samuel, 
also  a  soldier;  John,  Mary,  Inez,  Joseph  and 
Edward.  There  are  seven  children  of  the  present 
union:  Annie,  Hampton,  Katie,  Charles,  Mabel, 
Fred  and  Marie.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allred  are  active 
members  of  the  Salem  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South. 

Phillip  Hanes.  A  man  of  sterling  worth  and 
integrity,  endowed  with  marked  business  ability 
and  tact,  the  late  Phillip  Hanes,  of  Mocksville,  was 
intimately  associated  with  the  development  and 
promotion  of  the  manufacturing  interests  of  this 
section  of  the  state  as  long  as  his  health  permitted, 
having  as  a  tobacco  manufacturer  carried  on  a 
large  and  lucrative  business,  his  plant  having  been 
located  in  Winston,  Forsyth  County.  A  son  of 
Alexander  and  Jane  (March)  Hanes,  he  was  born 
on  a  farm  in  Davie  County,  North  Carolina,  on 
May  1,  1852. 

Although  brought  up  on  a  farm,  PhiUip  Hanes 
had  no  special  liking  for  agriculture,  and  while 
yet  a  youth  learned  to  manufacture  tobacco.  Be- 
coming familiar  with  that  pursuit,  he  formed  a 
copartnership  with  his  brother,  Benjamin  F.  Hanes, 


and  established  a  tobacco  factory  at  Winston, 
Forsyth  Coimty,  where  he  continued  in  active  busi- 
ness for  many  years,  meeting  with  eminent  success 
as  a  manufacturer.  Being  obliged,  on  account  of 
ill  health,  to  retire  from  active  pursuits,  Mr.  Hanes 
sold  his  interest  in  the  factory,  and  returned  to 
his  pleasant  home  in  Mocksville,  where  he  con/ 
tinned  a  resident  until  his  death,  in  March,  1903. 
Mr.  Hanes  married,  December  7,  1875,  Sallie 
Booe.  She  was  born  in  Davie  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, a  daughter  of  Alexander  and  Sarah  (Clem- 
ent) Booe,  and  granddaughter  of  Phillip  Booe. 
She  still  occupies  the  beautiful  home  in  Mocksville, 
and  in  it  entertains  her  friends  and  neighbors  in 
a  most  hospitable  manner.  She  is  the  mother  of 
seven  children,  namely:  Sadie,  wife  of  B.  W.  D. 
Connor;  Spencer  B.,  who  married  Clara  Lockhart; 
Mary,  wife  of  E.  W.  Crowe;  Blanche  M.,  married 
Frank  Clement;  Frank,  an  attorney  in  Winston- 
Salem,  married  Bettie  Poindexter;  Sarah,  wife 
of  T.  H.  Stone;  and  Clement,  a  commercial  trav- 
eler, with  headquarters  in  Utica,  New  York.  Mrs. 
Hanes  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  to  which  Mr.  Hanes  also  belonged, 
he,  while  a  resident  of  Winston-Salem,  having 
been  steward  of  Centenary  Church. 

RoscoE  William  Turner.  Able  in  the  law  and 
distinguished  likewise  in  politics,  Eoscoe  William 
Turner  may  well  be  named  as  one  of  Elizabeth 
City 's  leading  and  representative  men.  He 
worthily  bears  a  name  that  has  belonged  to  East- 
ern North  Carolina  for  generations  and  honorably 
known  in  professional,  agricultural  and  business 
circles. 

T?oscoe  William  Turner  was  born  September  16, 
1876,  at  Hertford,  Perquimans  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  is  a  son  of  Wesley  and  Lucy  (Williams) 
Turner.  Wesley  Turner  was  a  highly  respected 
citizen  of  Hertford  and  for  many  years  was  en- 
gaged in  the  drug  business  there. 

In  excellent  private  schools  maintained  in  Eliza- 
beth City,  North  Carolina,  Eoscoe  W.  Turner  ob- 
tained his  preparatory  education  and  then  entered 
Wake  Forest  Collesre,  where  he  pursued  a  course 
in  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  North  Carolina  bar 
in  September,  1899.  He  immediately  opened  an 
ofiice  at  Elizabeth  City  and  has  continued  here 
ever  since  and  has  built  up  a  very  substantial 
practice.  He  was  elected  city  attomev  and  served 
with  complete  satisfaction  in  that  oflSce,  and  sub- 
sequently served  two  years  on  the  bench  as  judge 
of  the  Criminal  Court. 

Mr.  Turner  was  married  November  12,  1901,  to 
Miss  Alvine  Covert,  of  Elizabeth  City,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  they  have  eight  children,  as  follows: 
Beamon,  Alvena,  Eoscoe  William,  Archie,  Mantor, 
Wesley,  Ruby  and  an  infant.  Mr.  Turner  and 
family  are  active  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  and  formerly  he  was  a  member  of 
its  board   of  stewards. 

In  political  matters  Mr.  Turner  has  been  an 
important  factor  in  democratic  circles  in  Pasquo- 
tank County  for  a  number  of  years,  and  the  ex- 
treme confidence  felt  by  his  fellow  citizens  in  his 
ability  and  integrity  was  shown  in  1909,  when  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina 
State  Senate.  He  served  through  the  regular  term 
and  also  through  the  extra  session.  During  this 
time  he  introduced  many  important  bills  and  one 
that  particularly  benefited  Pasquotank  County  was 
that  which  gave  the  graded  schools.  He  has  al- 
ways been  greatly  interested  in  education  and  for 
many  years  has  served  as  a  very  wise  and  urgent 


\     Ti. 

|pi]3Ut 


astor.  !-• 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


353 


member  of  the  school  board  of  Elizabeth  City. 
In  many  other  ways  and  at  different  times  Sen- 
ator Turner  has  shown  his  sincere  public  spirit. 
He  is  identified  with  various  organizations,  po- 
litical, professional  and  fraternal,  is  a  Chapter 
Mason,  a  member  of  the  Junior  Order  of  the  United 
American  Mechanics  and  is  past  exalted  ruler  of 
the  local  lodge  of  the  Benevolent  and  Protective 
Order  of  Elks.  In  manner  genial  and  agreeable, 
Senator  Turner  has  a  wide  circle  of  warm  per- 
sonal friends. 

Hon.  Claxide  Bernard  McBrayer.  One  of  the 
important  promotions  in  the  public  service  of  the 
state  that  occurred  during  and  after  the  cam- 
paign of  1916  was  the  appointment  of  Claude 
Bernard  McBrayer,  a  well  known  young  lawyer 
of  Shelby,  to  the  oflSee  of  assistant  attorney  gen- 
eral under  Judge  Mannii  g.  Mr.  McBrayer  was 
strongly  endorsed  by  members  of  the  bar  all  over 
the  state  as  candidate  for  this  appointment,  which 
is  made  by  tlie  attorney  general  himself,  and  there 
was  no  opposition  to  his  candidacy. 

The  McBrayers  are  an  old  and  prominent  fam- 
ily of  North  Carolina.  Mr.  McBrayer 's  grand- 
father was  Col.  Elisha  McBrayer,  who  served  as 
a  colonel  in  the  North  Carolina  Militia  before  the 
war,  and  during  the  war  held  a  military  position 
under  the  Confederate  State  Government  at  Ea- 
leigh.  The  McBrayers  settled  in  Cleveland  Coun- 
ty in  pioneer  times.  Their  old  home  was  at  Mc- 
Brayer's  Springs,  about  four  miles  north  of 
Shelby. 

Dr.  T.  Evans  McBrayer,  father  of  the  Shelby 
lawyer,  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  physicians 
of  Cleveland  County.  He  was  born  there  in  1849, 
was  educated  at  Catawba  College  when  the  fa- 
ther of  Hon.  Hoke  Smith  was  president,  and  was 
graduated  in  medicine  from  tie  Washington  Uni- 
versity at  Baltimore,  Maryland.  His  high  stand- 
ing in  his  courses  in  medicine  gave  him  the  com- 
plimentary diploma  from  the  Baltimore  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  Doctor  McBrayer 
has  practiced  for  many  years  at  Shelby  and  is  a 
man  of  wide  influence  in  the  civic  affairs  of  that 
county.  He  has  always  kept  abreast  of  the  ad- 
vances made  in  medical  and  surgical  science,  and 
has  taken  post  graduate  courses  in  Philadelphia 
and  the  polyclinic  in  New  York.  Doctor  Mc- 
Brayer married  in  1881  Miss  Sallie  Webb,  who 
was  1  orn  in  Cleveland  County  and  died  in  1888. 
Her  father,  David  Webb,  was  one  of  the  pioneer 
merchants  of  Shelby.  On  May  2.3,  1894,  Doctor 
McBrayer  married  Miss  Lizzie  M.  Allen,  of  an 
old  and   influential  Virginia  family. 

One  son  of  Doctor  McBrayer  is  Capt.  C.  E. 
McBrayer,  who  has  won  distinction  as  a  surgeon 
in  the  United  States  Army.  He  is  a  graduate  of 
Wake  Forest  College,  of  the  medical  department 
of  the  University  of  Maryland,  and  subsequently 
took  post-graduate  work  in  New  York  City.  He 
was  soon  afterward  appoint-d  surgeon  with  the 
rank  of  lieutenant  in  the  United  States  army, 
and  still  later  promoted  to  captain.  Captain  Mc- 
Brayer is  now  major  of  Base  Hospital  ii4,  Amer- 
ican   Expeditionary    Forces,   France. 

Claude  Bernard  McBrayer,  who  inherits  all  the 
enviable  charaet^ristics  Irng  associated  with  the 
family  name  in  this  section  of  North  Carolina, 
was  born  at  McKinney.  Collin  County.  Texas,  in 
188.5.  He  was  graduated  with  the  classical  A.  B. 
degree  from  Wake  Forest  College  in  1907  and 
also  pursued  his  law  studies  there.  Admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1908,  he  began  practice  at  Marion, 

Vol.  IV— 23 


North  Carolina,  but  since  1911  has  had  both  home 
and  oflice  in  Shelby.  The  successes  of  the  able 
lawyer  quickly  came  to  him,  and  his  attainments 
and  ability  as  a  public  leader  also  attracted  much 
attention.  In  the  campaign  of  1916  he  was  se- 
lected to  make  a  number  of  campaign  speeches 
for  tlie  democratic  ticket  throughout  the  state, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  virile  and  resourceful  de- 
baters of  his  party.  Prior  to  his  appointment  as 
assistant  attorney  general  he  served  as  city  at- 
torney of  Shelby. 

Hon.  Samuel  G.  Pace,  who  for  many  years  was 
actively  identified  with  tobacco  manufacture  and 
mercliandising,  is  now  United  States  commissioner 
and  proprietor  of  the  leading  hotel  at  Mount  Airy 
in  Surry  County. 

He  represents  an  old  Virginia  family  and  was 
born  on  a  plantation  in  Henry  County  of  that 
state  March  29,  1848.  His  grandparents  spent  aU 
their  lives  in  Virginia,  and  his  grandmother's 
maiden  name  was  Mary  Stone.  His  father,  James 
B.  Pace,  was  born  in  Virginia  and  owned  and  oc- 
cupied a  farm  in  Henry  County,  operating  it  with 
slave  labor.  He  early  took  up  the  manufacture 
of  tobacco.  Before  the  war  he  had  a  trusted  slave 
named  Matt  who  followed  the  practice  of  taking 
the  tobacco  to  Tennessee,  driving  a  six  mule  team. 
Some  of  the  tobacco  was  sold  en  route,  and  Matt 
could  be  trusted  to  carefully  guard  the  proceeds. 
In  1856  James  B.  Pace  sold  his  plantation  and 
moved  to  Stokes  County,  North  Carolina,  purchas' 
ing  a  thousand  acres  of  land  at  the  present  site 
of  Pinnacle.  There  he  not  only  worked  his  plan- 
tation but  also  had  a  store  and  manufactured 
tobacco.  In  186.3  he  sold  that  place  and  removed 
to  Olin  in  Iredell  County,  buying  a  farm  and 
operating  it  until  1865.  Having  sold  out,  he  re- 
moved to  Rogersville,  Hawkins  County,  Tennessee, 
and  in  that  village  kept  a  public  house  until  1872. 
He  then  sold  his  hotel  and  bought  a  farm  in  the 
same  county  near  the  Virginia  line.  A  few  years 
later,  disposing  of  his  property  in  Eastern  Ten- 
nessee, he  removed  to  Danville,  Virginia,  and  be- 
came associated  with  his  son  Samuel  in  the  manu- 
facture of  tobacco.  That  was  his  work  until  a 
short  time  before  his  death.  He  died  at  the  age 
of  eighty-one.  James  B.  Pace  married  Lucy  Tay- 
lor, who  was  born  in  Henry  County,  Virginia. 
Her  father,  William  A.  Taylor,  owned  and  occu- 
pied a  large  plantation  near  Traylorsville  in  Henry 
County.  He  was  one  of  the  prominent  citizens  of 
that  county.  Well  educated,  of  sterling  character, 
he  was  often  called  upon  to  settle  estates  and  to 
act  as  guardian  for  minor  heirs.  William  A.  Tay- 
lor married  Catherine  Hill,  and  both  spent  all  their 
lives  in  Henry  County.  Mrs.  James  B.  Pace  sur- 
vived her  husband  and  died  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one.  Her  children  were  named  Samuel  G.,  Grief, 
Kittie  A.,  Spotswood  P.,  Kate  A.,  Virginia  C. 
and  Judith  P. 

In  the  various  localities  named  above  Samuel  G. 
Pace  spent  his  early  youth  and  boyhood.  His  pri- 
mary education  was  acquired  in  rural  schools,  and 
he  also  attended  Olin  College  at  Olin  in  Iredell 
County,  this  state.  One  of  his  first  experiences 
was  working  in  his  father's  tobacco  factory,  and 
he  learned  that  business  in  every  detail.  In  1875 
he  became  a  manufacturer  of  tobacco  at  Danville, 
Virginia,  under  his  own  name,  though  his  father 
was  associated  with  him  in  the  enterprise.  A 
short  time  before  his  father's  death  he  closed  out 
the  business  and  in  1887  removed  to  Mount  Airy, 
in  which  city  he  was  successfully  identified  with 


354 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


the  livery  business  until  1916.  In  1902  Mr.  Pace 
opened  his  home  in  Mount  Airy  to  the  public  under 
tlie  name  The  Pace  House,  and  has  operated  it  as 
a  hotel  since  that  date. 

In  November,  1889,  he  married  Miss  Laura  B. 
Cox,  who  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Galax  in 
Grayson  County,  Virginia,  daughter  of  William 
and  Emeline  Cox.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pace  have  one 
son,  named  William  Samuel.  The  family  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Central  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South. 

Mr.  Pace  came  to  his  majority  in  Tennessee  and 
there  cast  his  first  vote  for  Hon.  Thomas  A.  R. 
Nelson,  candidate  for  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Tennessee.  His  first  presidential  ballot  was 
given  to  Horace  Greeley.  He  has  always  been  a 
stalwart  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  demo- 
cratic party  and  has  filled  various  offices  of  trust. 
For  three  terms  he  served  as  mayor  of  Mount 
Airy,  and  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  in  se- 
curing light  and  water  for  the  city.  In  his  pres- 
ent office  as  United  States  commissioner  he  has 
served  since  his  appointment  in  1913. 

Hon.  Abner  Clinton  Payne,  a  former  mayor 
of  Taylorsville  and  former  state  senator  from 
this  district,  has  won  a  high  place  in  tlie  legal 
profession  and  is  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  of 
Alexander  County. 

Mr.  Payne  was  born  in  1871,  and  while  his 
birthplace  was  in  Caldwell  County,  it  was  just 
•  over  the  county  line  from  Alexander  County  and 
only  eleven  miles  west  of  Taylorsville.  T)ie  Payne 
family  came  into  tliis  section  of  North  Carolina 
and  established  homes  and  through  a  number  of 
generations  their  work  and  influence  have  con- 
tributed to  the  development  and  welfare  of  the 
section.  The  Paynes  are  of  English  origin  and 
since  revohitionarj'  times  have  lived  in  the  Brushy 
Mountain  section  embraced  in  what  is  now  Cald- 
well and  Alexander  counties.  Mr.  Payne  is  a 
great-grandson  of  Aquilla  Payne,  wlio  is  spoken 
of  in  the  early  annals  as  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  Caldwell  County.  His  grandfather  was  Barnett 
Payne.  Mr.  Payne  is  a  son  of  Waller  and  Eliza- 
beth (Downs)  Payne,  l)Oth  now  deceased.  The 
father  was  born  in  Caldwell  County  in  1818,  was 
a  sul)stantial  farmer  and  land  owner,  and  in  his 
day  a  man  of  wide  influence  in  business  and 
politics.  During  the  war  he  was  captain  of  the 
Little  River  company  of  Home  Guards. 

Abner  C.  Payne  grew  up  at  the  old  home  and 
remained  there  until  he  was  twenty-two  years  of 
age.  In  addition  to  the  local  schools  he  attended 
the  Taylorsville  Collegiate  Institute,  at  that  time 
under  Prof.  J.  A.  White.  Then  and  for  many 
years  prior  to  that  it  was  one  of  the  best  eon- 
ducted  institutions  of  higher  education  in  this 
nart  of  North  Carolina.  Especially  before  the  war 
wlien  Prof.  James  Foote  and  Prof.  Theodore 
Burke  were  at  the  head  of  the  institution  it  at- 
tracted students  from  nearly  every  southern  state. 

Mr.  Payne  took  his  law  work  in  Trinity  College 
at  Durham  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1911. 
He  began  practice  at  Taylors^-ille  and  has  found 
his  time  and  abilities  fully  occupied  with  a  grow- 
ing legal   business. 

In  1912  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State 
Senate  from  the  district  embracing  Alexander, 
Caldwell,  Burke  and  McDowell  counties.  During 
the  session  of  1913  he  was  active  in  the  general 
work  of  the  Senate,  and  was  particularly  instru- 
mental in  good  roads  legislation.  The  bill  under 
which  the  highway  from  Old  Fort  to  Asheville  was 


constructed  was  introduced  by  him.  Mr.  Payne 
made  a  creditable  record  as  head  of  the  municipal 
administration  of  Taylorsville  in  the  office  of 
mayor.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church 
and  is  master  of  the  Masonic  Lodge  of  Taylorsville. 
In  1898  he  married  Miss  Grace  Sloan  of  Iredell 
County.  They  have  two  children,  Sloane  and 
Eunice  Payne. 

Hon.  Frank  Gough.  In  making  a  study  of  the 
forces  wliieh  have  combined  for  the  advancement 
of  our  men  of  public,  business  and  professional 
eminence,  the  biographer  consistently  finds  that 
the  men  to  whom  others  look  for  leadership  in 
the  affairs  of  life  are  those  who  in  large  degree 
have  been  compelled  to  win  their  own  way  to  the 
forefront  through  their  own  inherent  ability  and 
force  of  character.  Tiie  traits  upon  which  these 
men  have  depended  for  their  advancement  have 
included  industry,  integrity,  perseverance  and  self- 
reliance,  and  to  these,  in  large  part,  may  Ije  at 
tributed  the  success  of  Hon.  Prank  Gough,  of  Liun- 
berton,  merchant,  capitalist,  extensive  farmer, 
member  of  the  State  Senate,  and  one  of  the  prom- 
inent  citizens    and  leaders   of   North   Carolina. 

Hon.  Frank  Gough  was  born  in  Yadkin  County, 
North  Carolina,  in  1866,  and  is  a  son  of  Stephen 
and  Pauline  (Douglas)  Gough,  both  of  whom  are 
now  deceased.  His  father  was  of  English  ancestry 
and  his  mother  of  Scotch  descent,  her  mother  hav- 
ing been  born  in  Scotland.  Stephen  Gough  located' 
at  Lumberton,  Robeson  County,  in  1875,  and  died 
two  years  afterward.  That  was  the  liard-times 
period  in  North  Carolina,  and  Frank  Gough,  a 
penniless  boy,  was  literally  ' '  picked  up  on  the 
street"  by  a  German  storekeeper  of  Lumberton, 
the  late  A.  C.  Melke,  and  given  work.  He  subse- 
quently did  chores  and  accepted  any  employment 
around  the  store  or  Mr.  Melke 's  home  that  he 
could  do,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  having 
shown  ambition  and  aptitude  for  business,  was 
sent  by  Mr.  Melke  to  Eastman's  Business  College,. 
I'ouglikeepsie,  New  York,  this  being  considered 
by  Mr.  Melke  as  a  "good  investment."  Mr. 
Gough  took  the  business  course  at  Eastman  's  and 
this  was  the  only  schooling  he  ever  had,  with  the 
exception  of  some  little  night  studying  at  Lumber- 
ton.  His  rise  to  his  present  wealth  and  prom- 
inence seems  quite  remarkable,  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  it  was  not  until  after  he  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  that  he  was  able  to  pay  his 
father's  funeral  expenses.  While  his  education 
was  not  of  an  extensive  character,  experience 
jiroved  a  good  teacher  and  many  and  valuable 
were  the  lessons  which  he  learned  under  its  in- 
struction, in  addition  to  which  lie  possessed  an  ob- 
servant eye  and  a  retentive  memory  and  stored 
in  the  recesses  of  his  mind  much  of  value  that  he 
turned  to  account  in  his  varied  Vmsiness  career. 

In  1892  Mr.  Melke  died,  and  Mr.  Gough  suc- 
ceeded him  as  the  proprietor  of  the  mercantile 
liusiness,  which  he  continued  to  conduct  until  189.^. 
At  a  time  when  his  outlook  seemed  exceptionally 
Ijright  for  the  future,  Liimberton  was  practically 
destroyed  by  fire,  at  least  the  business  portion,  and 
the  mercantile  establishment  which  he  was  build- 
ing up  went  with  it.  This  would  have  seemed  com- 
pletely discouraging  to  many  men,  but,  while  Mr. 
Gough  had  not  been  born  to  an  inheritance  of 
wealth,  he  had  the  qualities  of  pluck  and  patience, 
and  the  word  fail  was  not  in  ]iis  vocabulary.  At 
the  time  of  the  conflagration  he  contracted  a  severe 
cold  wliich  tlireatened  him  with  lung  trouble,  and" 


r  u  r . 


.,! 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


355 


on  advice  of  physicians  he  took  treatment  for  this 
troulile  and  did' not  at  that  time  re-enter  the  mer- 
cantile business.  Instead,  for  nine  years  following 
1895  he  occupied  business  positions  with  railroads 
in  North  Carolina,  principally  the  Seaboai-d  Air 
Line.  In  1907,  in  partnership  with  A.  E.  White, 
he  again  entered  the  mercantile  business,  under 
the  firm  name  of  White  &  Gongh.  Their  lirst  store 
was  a  very  modest  venture,  occupying  what  would 
now  seem  a  ridiculously  diminutive  portion  of  then- 
present  large  establishment  on  the  corner  of  Elm 
Street  and  the  Courthouse  Square.  Their  success 
in  this  enterprise  was  instantaneous  and  has  con- 
tinued without  interruption  to  the  present  time. 
Starting  in  with  a  stock  of  goods  worth  about 
$2,500,  the  house  now  carries  an  average  stock  of 
.$80  000,  this  consisting  of  general  high-class  mer- 
chandise. The  firm  has  made  hosts  of  friends  over 
a  wide  expanse  of  trade  territory  and  the  esta,b- 
lishment  is  unusually  popular  with  the  people. 
Mr.  Cough's  success  may  be  said  in  the  business 
world  to  hinge  upon  one  "thing:  Right  dealing  with 
his  fellow-men — the  business  is  one  built  upon 
honor. 

Both  Mr.  Gough  and  Mr.  "White  are  directors 
and  stockholders  in  the  National  Bank  of  Lumber- 
ton  as  well  as  directors  and  stockholders  in  the 
Luiiiberton  Cotton  Mills,  the  Dresden  Cotton  Mills, 
the  Jennings  Cotton  Mills  and  other  corporations. 
They  were  public-spirited  supporters  and  contrib- 
utors in  the  building  of  the  handsome  new  Hotel 
Loraine  at  Lumberton.  Mr.  Gough  may  be  ac- 
credited, in  fact,  with  a  fine  public  spirit  in  taking 
hold  of  every -good  move  that  is  for  the  promo- 
tion of  the  growth  and  development  of  Lumberton 
and  Eobeson  Comity.  He  has  been  for  many 
years  a  leading  figure  in  the  municipal  government 
of  Lumberton,  and  particularly  in  the  handling 
and  management  of  the  municipal  finances  his  serv- 
ices have  been  repeatedly  called  for  and  always 
freely  given.  He  has,  in  fact,  achieved  wide 
reputation  for  his  ability  as  a  financier  and  an 
expert  in  fiscal  management.  Also,  in  partnership  , 
with  Mr.  Wliite,  he  has  accomplished  a  world  of 
good  for  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  commu- 
nity by  carrying  on  modern  and  successful  agri- 
cultural operations  in  RoVieson  County.  The  part- 
ners own  twelve  or  fourteen  farms  in  the  county, 
one  of  them,  known  as  the  Wishart  farm,  being 
their  especial  pride,  and  one  that  may  well  be 
designated  as  a  prize'  model  farm.  It  consists  of 
about  600  acres^  of  rich  and  productive  land,  lying 
three  miles  from  Lumberton.  Their  other  farms 
range  in  size  from  40  to  800  acres  each,  and  all 
are  well   improved   ami  valuable. 

Mr.  Gough  has  been  a  lifelong  straight  demo- 
crat of  loyal  type.  Although  an  exceedingly  popu- 
lar man  and  one  who  lias  had  for  years  hosts  of 
friends  who  have  urged  him  to  become  a  can- 
didate for  various  offices  within  the  gift  of  the 
peojile,  he  steadfastly  refused  all  honors  in  this 
respect  until  1916,  when  it  seemed  practically  im- 
possible for  him  to  decline  his  party 's  nomina- 
tion for  the  State  Senate.  He  became  the  candi- 
date and  was  duly  elected  in  the  November,  1916, 
election,  as  state  senator  for  the  Twelfth  North 
Carolina  District,  which  comprises  Bobeson  County. 
He  is  a  director  of  the  Atlantic  &  North  Caro- 
lina Railroad,  this  being  the  railroad  that  is 
owned  by  the  state,  and  the  position  an  appointive 
one  under  the  governor.  He  is  also  member  of  the 
board  of  directors  of'  the  state  prison  and  farm. 
Personally  Senator  Gough  is  of  clever  and  engaging 


personality  aud  has  a  wide  circle  of  friends  and 
acquaintances  among  the  prominent  people  of  the 
state.  He  is  well  known  in  fraternal  circles,  being 
a  member  of  practically  all  the  secret  and  be- 
nevolent societies,  among  them  being  the  Masons, 
ill  which  he  has  advanced  to  the  Royal  Arch  de- 
gree; the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the 
Knights  of  Pythias,  the  Improved  Order  of  Red 
Men,  the  'Woo"dmen  of  the  World  and  the  Junior 
Order  of  United  American  Mechanics.  He  is 
also  well  known  in  religious  movements,  being  a 
member  aud  deacon  in  the  Baptist  Church  of 
Lumberton,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  efficient 
ehurch  organizations  in  the  state. 

Senator  Gough  married  Miss  Lena  Linkhauer, 
of  Lumlierton,  who  is  of  German  ancestry,  and 
they  have  two  children:  Miss  Lina,  who  is  a  grad- 
uate of  Meredith  College,  North  Carolina;  and 
Frank,  Jr.,  who  is  attending  the  Lumberton  High 
School. 

J.^MES  Henry  H.^kper,  M.  D.  To  his  lifework 
as  a  jiliysician  and  surgeon  Doctor  Harper  brought 
an  unusual  natural  talent,  trained  and  matured 
l)y  extensive  association  and  study  in  one  of  the 
best  medical  schools  of  the  country,  and  almost 
from  the  beginning  of  his  practice  at  Snow  Hill 
lie  luis  been  recognized  as  a  man  of  exceptional 
attainments.  With  jirotessioual  success  he  has 
found  opportunities  to  engage  in  business  affairs, 
and  has  a  number  of  important  interests  in  his 
section  of  tlie  state. 

He  is  director  and  general  manager  of  the 
East  Carolina  Electric  and  Realty  Company  and 
is  a  director  of  the  Snow  Hill  Banking  and  Trust 
Company.  Doctor  Harper  is  a  member  of  the 
Green  County,  the  North  Carolina  State  and  the 
Tri-State  Medical  societies  and  the  American  Med- 
ical  Association. 

He  was  born  at  Snow  Hill  October  8,  1884,  a 
son  of  James  Thomas  Henry  and  Martha  Eliza- 
beth (Sugg)  Harper.  His  father  not  only  had 
a  farm  but  also  conducted  a  drug  store  for  many 
years  at  Snow  Hill.  Doctor  Harper  was  edu- 
cated primarily  in  the  Snow  Hill  Academy,  spent 
two  years  in  the  medical  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  and  from  there  en- 
tered Jefferson  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia, 
where  he  was  graduated  M.  D.  in  1905.  Alter 
one  year  of  clinical  experience  in  Mercy  Hospi- 
tal at  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  he  returned  to 
his  native  city  and  embarked  in  a  general  prac- 
tice. Doctor  Harper  has  served  as  coroner  of 
Green  County  since  1906.  He  is  a  lodge  and 
chapter  Mason  and  belongs  to  the  Phi  Chi  Greek 
letter    fraternity. 

Ch,\rles  Irving  Jones.  A  man  of  good  busi- 
ness ability,  enterprising  and  keen  sighted,  Charles 
Irving  Jones,  a  successful  cotton  broker  of  Salis- 
bury, is  actively  identified  with  the  development 
of  one  of  the  material  industries  of  the  state,  his 
influence  being  recognized  in  both  manufacturing 
and  mercantile  circles.  A  native  of  Maryland,  he 
was  born  in  Davidsonville,  Anne  Arundel  County, 
which  was  also  the  birthplace  of  his  father,  Wil- 
liam Edward  Jones,  and  his  grandfather,  John 
Henry  Jones.  His  great-grandfather  Jones  was, 
it  is  supposed,  a  native  of  Scotland,  from  which 
country  he  came  with  the  Stewart  family  to  Anne 
Arundel  County,  Maryland,  where  he  spent  his  re- 
maining days. 

John  Henry  Jones  spent  his  entire  life  of 
seventy-six  years  in  Anne  Arundel  County,  Mary- 


356 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


land.  Owning  not  only  extensive  tracts  of  land, 
but  many  slaves,  he  employed  an  overseer  to  su- 
perintend his  plantations  while  he  lived  in  town. 
During  the  Civil  war,  although  a  slave  holder,  he 
did  not  favor  secession,  differing  decidedly  with 
his  wife  on  that  question.  He  married  Rachel 
Jarboe,  who  survived  him  a  short  time,  passing 
away  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years.  They 
reared  five  sons,  John  H.;  William  E.;  Samuel 
Morgan,  now  of  Chester,  South  Carolina;  Stephen 
C;   and  Richard  B.;   and  one  daughter,  Lucy. 

William  Edward  Jones  inherited  a  part  of  the 
parental  estate,  and  having  purchased  the  interest 
of  the  remaining  heirs  is  there  carrying  on  general 
farming  and  stock  raising  with  gratifying  results, 
being  one  of  the  leading  agriculturists  of  Anne 
Arundel  County.  He  married  Edith  May  Fowler, 
who  was  born  in  Anne  Arundel  County,  Maryland, 
as  were  her  parents,  Joseph  C.  and  Catherine 
(Leiteh)  Fowler,  who  were  of  English  ancestry. 

Obtaining  his  rudimentary  education  in  the  pub- 
lie  schools  of  Davidsonville,  Maryland,  Charles  I. 
Jones  subsequently  entered  Anne  Arundel  College 
at  Millersvilie,  Maryland,  where  he  was  graduated 
with  the  class  of  1907.  Going  then  to  Baltimore, 
he  completed  the  course  of  study  in  Sadler's  Busi- 
ness College,  thus  fitting  himself  for  a  business 
career.  Immediately  locating  in  Chester,  South 
Carolina,  Mr.  Jones  was  there  engaged  as  a  cotton 
broker  until  1913,  when  he  went  to  Spartanburg, 
where  he  was  similarly  employed  for  a  year. 
Coming  from  there  to  North  Carolina  in  1914, 
Mr.  Jones  opened  an  office  in  Salisbury,  and  as  a 
buyer  and  seller  of  cotton  has  met  with  good  suc- 
cess, his  business  being  extensive  and  lucrative. 
He  has  also  other  interests  of  a  financial  nature, 
being  one  of  the  directorate  of  the  Morris  Plan 
Bank  of  Salisbury. 

On  June  28,  1911,  Mr.  Jones  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Mary  Austin  Kempton,  who  was 
born  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
F.  and  Sarah  E.  Kempton.  She  is  of  colonial  an- 
cestry, the  immigrant  ancestors  of  the  Kempton 
family  having  come  from  England  to  America' 
with  the  Massachusetts  pilgrims.  Two  children 
have  blessed  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones, 
Charles  Irving,  Jr.,  and  Dorothy.  Religiously  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Jones  are  valued  members  of  the  First 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Salisbury.  Fra- 
ternally Mr.  Jones  is  a  member  of  Chester,  South 
Carolina,  Lodge  No.  18,  Ancient  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Order  of  Masons,  and  of  Salisbury  Lodge 
No.  699,  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of 
Elks. 

Lewis  Giles  Hokne.  An  able  representative 
of  the  agricultural,  manufacturing  and  milling 
interests  of  Davie  County,  Lewis  Giles  Home,  one 
of  the  leading  business  men  of  Mocksville,  is 
widely  known  as  a  man  of  integrity  and  sterling 
worth.  A  native  of  Da\ie  County,  he  was  born 
in  Callahan  Township,  being  a  son  of  Lewis  Giles 
Home,  Sr.,   and   coming  from  pioneer   stock. 

His  great-grandfather,  Howell  Home,  the  first 
member  of  the  Home  family  of  which  he  has  any 
knowledge,  was  for  many  years  a  resident  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  owned  land  that  is 
now  included  within  the  corporate  limits  of  the 
City  of  Washington. 

The  grandfather  of  Mr.  Home  was  for  several 
years  a  resident  of  Iredell  County,  North  Carolina. 
Removing  from  there  to  Da\'ie  County,  he  bought 
land    in    Callahan    Township,    and    subsequently 


operated  it  with  slave  labor,  living  on  his  farm 
until  his  death.  His  vpife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Lusana  Gatton,  survived  him  a  few  years, 
dying  on  the  home  farm. 

Although  Lewis  Giles  Home,  Sr.,  was  brought 
up  on  the  farm  where,  in  1836,  in  Callahan  Town- 
ship, his  birth  occurred,  he  never  developed  a 
taste  for  agricultural  pursuits,  but  when  ready 
to  begin  life  for  himself  embarked  upon  a  busi- 
ness career,  establishing  a  tannery  at  Callahan, 
which  he  operated  successfully  a  number  of  years. 
He  enlisted  in  Company  G,' Fifth  Regiment,  North 
Carolina,  and  with  his  command  proceeded  to 
Virginia.  While  on  active  duty  he  was  stricken 
with  measles,  and,  while  broken  out  with  the 
disease  was  forced  to  wade  the  Potomac  River. 
The  waters  were  cold,  and  the  icy  chill  gave  him 
a  shock  from  which  he  never  recovered.  He  was 
taken  to  a  hospital  in  Richmond,  but  in  spite 
of  the  care  given  him,  he  died  two  weeks  later, 
a  j-oung  man  of  but  twenty-eight  years. 

The  maiden  name  of  tlie  wife  of  Lewis  G.  Home, 
Sr.,  was  Esther  Haseltine  Campbell.  She  was 
liorn  at  Mount  Bethel,  Iredell  County,  North 
Carolina.  She  was  left  a  widow  with  two  sons, 
Gaston  E.,  residing  in  Mocksville,  and  Lewis 
Giles.  An  energetic  and  capable  woman,  she 
superintended  the  work  on  the  farm,  and  reared 
and  educated  her  sons,  keeping  them  with  her 
until  each  had  a  home  of  his  own.  She  is  now 
living  with  them,  and  is  a  mother  of  whom  they 
may  well  be  proud. 

In  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth,  Lewis 
Giles  Home  attended  the  rural  .  schools  of  his 
district,  and  assisted  his  widowed  mother  on  the 
home  farm.  Going  to  Countyline  in  1889,  he 
learned  the  trade  of  a  miller  with  John  A.  Butler, 
and  at  the  end  of  two  years  he  and  his  brother 
bought  the  Butler  mill.  It  was  operated  by  steam. 
and  water  power,  the  latter  being  obtained  from 
Little  Creek,  the  stream  on  which  the  mill  was 
located.  In  1893  Mr.  Hoyne  built,  in  Winston,  the 
mill  which  he  has  since  operated,  it  being  now 
known  as  the  Home,  Johnstone  Company  Mill. 
It  is  finely  equipped  with  all  the  latest  most  im- 
proved machinery  used  in  making  flour,  and  is 
0|)erated  both  as  a  merchant  and  a  custom  mill. 
The  Home  Johnstone  Company  built,  own  and 
operate  the  Mocksville  Telephone  Exchange,  an. 
enterprise  that  has  been  of  inestimable  value  to 
the  community.  Mr.  Hom«  is  likewise  interested 
in  agriculture,  the  farm  which  he  owns  being 
operated  by  tenants.  ' 

Mr.  Home  married,  in  December,  1881,  Miss 
Emma  Wilson,  who  was  born  in  Mocksville,  a 
daughter  of  William  (known  as  "Tailor  Bill") 
and  Lena  Wilson.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Home  have  five 
children,  namely:  Esther,  Claude,  Iva,  Edna,  and 
Lewis  G.,  Jr.  Esther  was  educated  at  the  Greens- 
boro Normal  Scliool,  and  is  now  engaged  in  teach- 
ing. Claude  has  completed  the  course  of  study 
at  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  in 
Raleigh,  this  state.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Home  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  Church,  of  which  he  is  a 
deacon  and  a  trustee,  and  also  a  teacher  in  the 
Sunday  School,  having  charge  of  the  Bible  class. 
Mr.  Home  is  a  member  of  Mocksville  Camp, 
Woodmen  of  the  World. 

Roger  Moore.  From  earliest  colonial  times  in 
the  Carolinas  down  to  the  present  hardly  any  fam- 
ily has  shown  more  vitality,  a  finer  degree  of 
patriotism,    greater    sturdiness    and   enterprise    in 


rih 


HISTORY  OF  XORTH  CAROLINA 


357 


business  affairs  than  the  Moores,  whose  principal 
seat  through  many  generations  has  been  at  Wil- 
mington. 

The  painstaking  work  of  genealogists  has  re- 
vealed many  interesting  facts  concerning  the  fam- 
ily both  in  America  and  England  and  Ireland. 
A  Roger  Moore,  a  person  of  considerable  note, 
lived  in  County  Berks,  England,  as  early  as  the 
time  of  Henry  VI.  There  is  evidence  that  the 
illustrious  family  of  Moore  or  O  'Moore  of  Ireland 
was  of  the  same  Anglo-Norman  stock.  The 
O 'Moores  of  Ireland  have  been  described  as  "lead- 
ers of  that  proud  and  spirited  class  who  vigorously 
opposed  the  policies  of  England  in  her  government 
of  Ireland,  and  their  many  valorous  deeds  made 
them  central  figures  against  English  oppression 
in  that  portion  of  Irish  territory  over  which  Eng- 
land held  sway  for  several  centuries." 

The  conspicuous  figure  of  the  family  _  in  Irish 
history,  and  the  more  important  in  this  sketch 
because  his  generation  is  approximate  to  the  date 
of  the  immigration  of  the  Moores  to  America,  was 
the  illustrious  Col.  Boger  Moore,  who  died  in  1646 
and  was  descended  from  a  long  line  stretching 
back  through  fifty  or  more  generations  of  Irish 
ancestors.  '  Col.  Roger  Moore  was  the  ' '  Rory 
O'More"  of  popular  tradition  in  Ireland,  and  to 
his  courage  and  resources  in  a  great  measure  were 
due  the  formidable  Irish  insurrection  of  1641. 
An  Irish  historian  has  described  him  as  follows: 
"Roger  Moore  was  the  head  of  a  once  powerful 
Irish  family  of  Leinster.  His  ancestors  in  the 
reign  of  Mary  had  been  expelled  from  their  princely 
possessions  by  violence  and  fraud  and  their  sect 
harassed  and  almost  extirpated  by  military  exe- 
cution. They  were  distinguished  by  a  hereditary 
hatred  of  the  English  which  0  'Moore  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  reign  expressed  by  the  violence  and 
obstinacy  of  his  hostility.  The  resentment  of 
Roger  was  equally  determined,  irritated  as  he  was 
by  the  sufferings  of  his  ancestors,  his  own  in- 
digence and  depression,  and  the  mortifying  view 
of  what  he  called  his  rightful  inheritance  pos- 
sessed by  strangers  rioting  in  the  spoils  of  his 
family.  But  his  conduct  was  cautious  and  delib- 
erate; for  he  had  judgment,  penetration  and  a 
refinement  of  manner  unknown  to  his  predecessor. 
He  was  allied  by  intermarriages  to  several  of  the 
old  English  families  and  lived  in  intimacy  with 
the  most  civilized  and  noblest  of  their  race.  Some 
part  of  his  youth  had  been  spent  on  the  con- 
tinent, where  his  manners  were  still  further  pol- 
ished and  his  hatred  of  the  English  power  con- 
firmed by  an  intercourse  with  his  exiled  country- 
men. He  attached  himself  particularly  to  the  son 
of  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  who  had  obtained  a  regi- 
ment in  Spain  and  who  was  caressed  at  the  Court. 
It  was  natural  for  such  companions  to  dwell  on 
the  calan  es  of  their  fathers,  their  brave  efforts 
in  the  cause  of  their  countrymen,  and  the  hopes  of 
still  reviving  the  ancient  splendor  of  their  fam- 
ilies. With  such  men  in  such  a  place  an  aversion 
to  that  power  which  had  subverted  all  the  old 
establishments  in  Ireland  was  heroic  patriotism. 
The  spirit  of  Moore  was  on  fire.  He  vowed  to 
make  one  brave  effort  for  the  restoration  of  his 
brethren,  was  applauded  by  his  associates,  and 
returned  to  Ireland  totally  engaged  by  the  bold 
design.  From  the  moment  that  the  idea  had  first 
dawned  in  his  mind,  Moore  wisely  contrived  by 
every  possible  measure  to  conciliate  the  esteem 
and  appreciation  of  the  native  Irish;  he  had  the 
qualities  most  effectual  for  this  purpose,  a  person 


remarkably  graceful,  an  aspect  of  dignity,  a 
courteous  and  insinuating  address,  a  quick  discern- 
ment of  men's  characters,  and  a  pliancy  in  adapt- 
ing himself  to  their  sentiments  and  passions.  The 
old  Irish  beheld  the  gallant  representative  of  one 
of  their  distinguished  families  with  an  extrava- 
gance of  rapture  and  affection;  they  regarded  him 
as  their  glory  and  their  protection.  They  cele- 
brated him  ill  their  songs  and  it  became  a  pro- 
verbial expression  that  their  dependence  was  on 
'God,  Our  Lady  and  Rory  O 'Moore,' 

"Writers  of  Irish  history  who  concur  in  noth- 
ing else,  agree  in  representing  Roger  Moore  as  a 
man  of  the  loftiest  motives  and  the  most  passionate 
patriotism.  None  of  the  excesses  which  stain  the 
first  rising  in  Ulster  are  charged  against  him.  On 
the  contrary,  when  he  joined  the  Northern  army 
the  excesses  ceased,  and  strict  discipline  was  estab- 
lished as  far  as  possible  among  men  unaccustomed 
to  control  and  frenzied  with  wrongs  and  suffer- 
ings. ' ' 

The  first  conspicuous  American  of  this  lineage 
was  .Tames  Moore,  a  grandson  of  Col.  Roger  Moore 
of  the  Irish  rebellion.  James  Moore  was  appointed 
governor  of  North  Carolina  in  1700.  He  was  born 
in  Ireland  in  16-10,  immigrated  to  America  in 
166.5,  and  settled  on  his  grant  of  land  in  the 
froose  Creek  section  of  the  colony.  A  year  later 
he  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir  John  Yea- 
mans.  Several  of  his  sons  became  conspicuous, 
including  .Tames,  who  died  unmarried  November  19, 
1740.  and  ^Maurice,  who  died  November  19,  1740, 
within  an  hour  after  his  brother,  James:  Nathaniel, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  Colonial  Assembly, 
17.iS-39;    and   Roger,   known   as   King  Roger. 

The  title  King  Roger  was  bestowed  partly  on 
account  of  Roger's  kingly  bearing  and  unflinching 
courage.  As  he  practically  drove  the  Indians  from 
the  surrounding  country  he  merited,  owing  to  his 
authority  anil  forcefulness,  the  title.  He  was  for 
many  years  a  member  of  Governor  Gabriel  John- 
son 's  council.  He  is  described  as  a  man  of  great 
wealth,  possessing  immense  tracts  of  land  in  the 
surrounding  country.  He  was  a  builder  of  the  his- 
toric mansion  called  "Orton"  still  standing. 

Some  items  of  history  concerning  the  famous 
brothers  of  this  seueration  should  be  noted.  In 
1711,  when  the  Tuscaroras  were  massaereing  the 
folonists  in_  Albemarle  and  threatened  to  exter- 
minate the  white  people  in  North  Carolina,  Col. 
James  Moore,  2d,  with  a  body  of  South  Caro- 
lina troops  hastened  to  the  scene  and  waged  a 
vigorous  campaign  which  restored  peace.  He  was 
re-enforced  by  an  army  under  the  command  of 
his  younger  brother,  Maj.  Maurice  Moore,  who 
remained  in  Albemarle  a  year,  when  he  was  sum- 
moned to  South  Carolina  with  his  forces  to  sub- 
due a  serious  Indian  uprising.  He  marched  along 
the  coast,  crossing  Cape  Fear  River  near  Sugar 
Loaf,  and  was  so  favorably  impressed  with  these 
river  lands  that  he  conceived  the  idea  of  set- 
tling them.  He  could  not  carry  out  the  project 
until  172.5,  as  the  lord  proprietors  had  prohibited 
a  settlement  within  twenty  miles  of  the  river  banks. 
His  brother,  Roger  Moore,  had  married  a  daughter 
of  Landgrave  Smith,  who  had  located  a  grant  of 
48,000  acres  on  the  Cape  Fear  in  1692,  and  this 
may  have  had  an  influence  in  bringing  about  the 
settlement.  King  Roger  Moore  came  with  his 
hundreds  of  slaves  and  built  "Orton,"  one  of  the 
finest  examples  of  pure  colonial  architecture  in 
America,  and  here  he  lived  in  princely  style. 
Maurice  Moore  selected  a  bluff  site  near  Orton, 


358 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


fifteen  miles  below  the  present  City  of  Wilming- 
ton, and  laid  out  a  town  which  he  called  Bruns- 
wick, in  honor  of  the  reigning  family.  Nathaniel 
Moore's  plantation,  known  as  York,  was  situated 
on  a  bluff  some  forty  miles  from  Brunswick. 

Tlie  year  1719  is  memorable  in  Carolina  an- 
nals for  tlie  overthrow  of  tlie  Proprietarv  form  of 
government.  The  Moore  family  was  thoroughly 
in  accord  with  those  opposed  to  a  continuance  of 
British  oppression  through  the  Lords  Proprietors, 
and  when  tlie  peojile  resolved  to  have  a  governor 
of  their  own  choosing,  they  turned  to  Col.  James 
Moore,  who  had  been  commander-in-chief  of  the 
militia  in  the  late  Indian  war,  but  was  removed 
for  his  active  opposition  to  the  authority  of  the 
Proprietors,  and  chose  him  as  their  leader.  He 
was  elected  governor  in  1719,  and  subsequently 
served  as  attorney-general  and  .iudge  of  the 
Admiralty  Court  of  South  Carolina,  and  was 
speaker  of  the  Colonial  Assembly,  1722-2.5. 

In  1766,  or  a  generation  later,  the  Moores  again 
became  conspicuous  as  eliampions  of  the  rights  of 
the  peo)ile  by  presenting  to  Governor  Tryon  an 
assurance  of  the  spirit  of  independence  th6n  pre- 
vailing and  which  would  sustain  the  people  to  the 
extent  of  armed  resistance  to  the  enforcement  of 
the  odious  stamp  act.  On  this  momentous  occasion 
George  Moore  was  selected  to  challenge  the  author- 
ity of  the  King  and  of  the  Parliament.  Tlie  fear- 
less Moore,  with  a  force  of  1.50  armed  men,  ap- 
peared before  Governor  Tryon,  and  through  his 
resolute  defiance  in  tlie  face  of  two  British  sloops 
of  war,  the  government  found  itself  powerless  in 
the  premises. 

Throughout  the  memorable  struggle  of  the  war 
for  independence  the  Moore  family  bore  an  hon- 
orable part.  In  1774  .lames  and  George  Moore 
represented  New  Hanover  County  as  delegates  to 
a  revolution  convention,  and  Maurice  Moore  was 
a  member  of  the  committee  organized  to  draw  up 
an  address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain  setting 
forth  the  wrongs  of  the  colonies  in  North  America. 
His  brother,  .James,  was  colonel  of  the  First  North 
Carolina  troops  and  was  in  command  during  the 
Battle  at  Moore's  Creek  Bridge  in  February, 
1776.  He  was  promoted  brigadier-general,  was 
made  commander-in-chief  of  the  Department  of  the 
South,  and  received  the  thanks  of  Congress  for 
his   gallantry. 

Such  are  some  of  the  outstanding  facts  in  the 
record  of  this  family  in  colonial  and  revolutionary 
times.  It  now  remains  to  consider  more  specifically 
the  career  of  a  late  citizen  of  Wilmington  whose 
patriotism,  courage,  resourcefulness  and  integrity 
showed  him  possessed  of  all  the  honorable  family 
traits  in  the  preceding  generations  and  whose  career 
is  part  of  history  in  modern  times. 

The  late  Col.  Roger  Moore  was  born  in  New  Han- 
over County,  North  Carolina,  .Tuly  19,  1838,  a  son 
of  Eoger  and  Ann  Sophia  (Toomer)  Moore.  As 
a  young  man  he  rendered  heroic  service  in  the 
cause  of  the  Confederacy.  He  became  colonel  of 
the  Third  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Cavalry.  The 
greatest  achievements  of  this  regiment  were  ac- 
complished while  it  was  under  the  command  of 
Col.  Roger  Moore,  and  won  for  him  the  unstinted 
praise  and  sincere  thanks  of  General  Lee.  The 
Third*  Reeiment  was  originally  under  the  com- 
mand of  Colonel  Baker,  who  was  captured  at  the 
Davis  farm.  His  command  then  devolved  on 
Colonel  Waddell,  who  soon  resigned  on  account 
of  ill  health  and  was  succeeded  bv  Colonel  Moore. 


wlio   ]ireviously   held   the   rank   of   major   and   lieu- 
tenant-colonel. 

Of  his  military  record  in  the  war  and  in  recon- 
struction time  the  unpublished  manuscript  of 
Sloan  's  History  has  this  to  say : 

"  Lieutenant  Colonel  Waddell  is  quite  favorably 
mentioned  in  the  official  reports  of  this  date.  But 
it  was  under  his  successor,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
Roger  Moore,  that  the  regiment  won  its  highest 
honors.  This  gentleman  was  no  trained  soldier, 
but  by  mere  force  of  cliaraeter,  unflinching  cour- 
age and  capital  good  sense  he  accomplished  the 
best  results  in  every  kind  of  service.  Under  him 
two  of  the  most  brilliant  dashes  were  made ;  that 
of  Captain  McClancey  at  White  Oak  Swamp  in 
August,  186-1,  when  he  charged  into  the  Yankee 
lines  and  brought  out  prisoners  under  short  range 
of  musketry;  and  Sergeant  .Tohnstou  of  Captain 
Hatchetfs  Company,  when  he  entered  the  Federal 
camp  on  the  Warren  retreat  from  Bellfield  in  De- 
cember, 1864,  and  made  its  whole  circuit  with  a 
mounted  squad  of  ten  men.  Half  of  those  daring 
and  gallant  fellows  were  literally  chopped  to 
pieces  with  axes  by  the  Pioneer  Corps,  but  the 
survivors  went  ahead  all  the  same.  , 

' '  Colonel  Roger  Moore  was  not  only  conspicuous 
as  a  valiant  soldier  in  the  Confederate  army, 
liiit  he  did  yeoman  "s  service  for  his  section  as  Chief 
of  the  Division  of  tlie  Ku-Klux-Klan  in  Wilming- 
ton. It  is  not  violating  the  secrets  of  this  organ- 
ization to  state  that  Colonel  Roger  Moore,  after 
takiuir  the  secret  oath  at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina, 
ill  1868,  organized  and  commanded  a  Ku-Klux- 
Klau  at  Wilmington,  which  was  made  up  of  the 
best  blood  of  the  South.  Many  members  of  this 
Klan  were  loyal  and  devoted  soldiers  who  had 
served  under  Colonel  Roger  Moore.  It  is  now 
generally  known  that  conditions  in  the  South  at 
the  close  of  the  war  occasioned  the  birth  of  the 
organization  known  as  the  Ku-Klux-Klan.  It  was 
organized  under  the  direction  of  General  Nathan 
Bedford  Forrest  in  1867-68,  to  protect  the  South 
from  the  ravages  and  depredations  of  the  spoilers 
who  came  South  immediately  after  the  war.  A 
friend  of  Colonel  Roger  Moore 's  and  a  member  of 
the  Ku-Klux-Klan  in  an  adjoining  neighborhood 
in  speaking  of  the  debt  the  citizens  owed  Colonel 
Roger  Moore  said:  'Colonel  Roger  Moore  did  his 
duty  in  this  matter  and  never  allowed  his  Klau 
to  commit  an  act  that  was  not  justified  and  en- 
dorsed by  our  superiors.  He  was  in  every  sense 
a  ffallant  and  chivalrous  citizen.  The  people  of 
Wilmington  had  every  cause  to  thank  him  and  the 
Klan  for  the  good  order  that  followed.  But  of 
course  none  but  the  members  knew  it  was  he,  as 
it  was  one  of  the  closest  hide-bound  secret  orders 
ever  known.'  " 

Late  in  life  the  welfare  and  security  of  his 
home  city  of  Wilmington  were  again  entrusted  to 
Col.  Roger  Moore  in  the  capacity  of  commander 
of  the  general  organization  of  white  citizens  to 
protect  the  lives  and  homes  from  the  possible  negro 
ravages  during  the  race  war  of  1898.  This  war 
occurred  November  10,  1898,  and  so  thoroughly 
were  the  demoralized  negroes  controlled  by  the 
white  men  under  the  leadership  of  Col.  Roger 
Moore  that  the  unpleasant  conditions  were  im- 
mediately changed  in  a  way  which  meant  per- 
manent good  for  all  concerned. 

The  early  business  career  of  Col.  Roger  Moore 
was  as  a  commission  merchant  trading  in  turpen- 
tine and  allied  products.    He  subsequently  engaged 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


359 


iu  the  manufacture  of  brick  and  as  a  dealer  m 
Ijuilding  materials,  and  thus  became  the  founder 
oi  the  business  house  of  Roger  Moore  &  Sons  Com- 
pany, a  business  still  continued  at  "Wilmington  by 
his  son,  Roger  Moore,  Jr. 

Col.  Roger  Moore  died  April  21,  1900.  He  had 
always  been  a  Christian  gentleman,  but  in  1888, 
through  the  preaching  of  the  noted  evangelist,  R.  G. 
Pearson,  became  imbued  with  a  profound  religious 
fervor,  which  was  unabated  throughout  the  rest  of 
his  life.  He  served  as  a  steward  and  trustee  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  _ 

His  first  marriage  was  to  Rebecca  Scott  Smith, 
a  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Prink)  Smith, 
of  Wilmington.  Their  only  son  and  child,  Roger, 
died  in  his  fifteenth  year. 

On  May  3,  1871,  Colonel  Moore  married  Eugenie 
Berry,  widow  of  George  Atkins  and  daughter  of 
Benjamin  W.  and  Ann  Eliza  Berry.  There  were 
nine  children  of  this  union,  and  five  of  them 
reached  maturity. 

Anne  Moore,  the  oldest  of  her  father's  children, 
is  one  of  the  distinguished  women  of  her  time. 
She  o-raduated  with  the  highest  average  ever  at- 
tained in  St.  Mary's  School  at  Raleigh,  won  the 
degrees  A.  B.,  A.  M.,  and  honors  including  a 
graduate  scholarship  from  Vassar  College,  and  was 
twice  in  succession  appointed  to  the  Marine 
Biological  L.abor.itorv  at  Wood's  Hole.  She  had 
a  scholarship  iu  the  ITniversity  of  Chicago,  which 
awarded  her  the  Ph.  D.  degree.  For  four  years 
she  was  head  of  the  department  of  physiology  and 
bioloQ-v  at  the  State  Normal  School,  San  Diego, 
California,  and  subsequently  became  investigator 
of  social  conditions  in  New  York  City.  She  is 
the  author  of  many  scientific,  sociological  and  vari- 
ous popular  articles  and  stories.  Perhaps  the  most 
noteworthv  of  her  writings  is  ' '  The  Feeble-Minded 
in  New  York,"  published  by  the  New  York  State 
Charities  Aid  Association  in  1911,  and  used  as  a 
basis  of  appeal  to  the  New  York  State  Legislature 
for  improved  commitment  laws  and  increased  ap- 
propriations. Her  "The  Financial  Standing  of 
Patients  in  Fifteen  Dispensaries,"  was  published 
in  the  New  York  County  Medical  Record  in  Feb- 
ruarv.  1914:  "Phvsiologv  of  Man  and  Other 
Animals"  was  published  by  Henry  Holt  &  Com- 
panv.  1909.  and  she  is  author  of  various  scientific 
articles  published  in  the  .\merican  Journal  of 
Phvsiology. 

Parker  Ouincp,  the  oldest  son  of  the  late  Col. 
Roeer  Moore,  was  educated  at  Capt.  Bell 's  Military 
School  at  Rutherfordton,  North  Carolina,  and  has 
twice  been  elected  mavor  of  Wilmington.  He 
married  Willie  Mav  Hardin.  The  third  son.  Louis 
Toomer.  who  finished  his  education  at  the  TTni- 
versitv  of  North  Carolina,  is  a  member  of  Davis- 
Moore  Paint  Company  at  Wilmington.  Mary  Ella, 
the  vounsrest  daua-htor,  attended  St.  Mary's  School 
at  Raleif'h  and  is  the  wife  of  Arthur  L.  Mills  of 
Greenville.   South   Carolina. 

Ron-er  Moore  was  born  at  Wilmington  October 
10.  1S79,  was  educated  in  private  schools  at 
Wilmineton.  and  finished  a  course  in  a  business 
college  at  Baltimore,  Maryland.  In  1900,  upon 
the  death  of  h^s  father,  he  took  his  place  as  active 
manao-er  of  the  old  established  firm  of  RogeT 
Moore's  Sons  Company,  and  has  carried  this  busi- 
ness forward  on  a  scale  of  increasing  importance. 
The  leadini?  feature  of  the  business  is  the  manu- 
facture of  brick  and  the  handling  of  buildinar  sup- 
plies, and  the  firm  employs  about  forty  individuals. 
Mr.  Moore  is  also  a  director  in  the  Mechanics 


Building  &  Loan  Association,  is  past  })resident  of  . 
the  Rotary  Club,  is  president  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  is  a  democrat  in  politics,  ti-ustee  of 
Grace  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  president 
of  the  Adult  Bible  Class.  He  is  chairman  of  the 
War  Camp  Community  Service  work  under  the 
Fosdick  Commission. 

He  was  twice  married  and  a  son,  Edwin  Gerry 
Moore,  was  born  of  the  first  marriage.  At 
Wilmington  October  14,  1914,  he  married  Miss 
Alice  Wallace  Borden,  daughter  of  Edwin  and 
Penelope  (Wallace)  Borden.  Her  father  was  long 
officially  connected  with  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line 
Railway.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moore  have  one  son,  Roger, 
Jr.,  born  August  16,  1916. 

JosiAH  Call  Exum  is  a  young  man  prominent 
in  business  affairs  at  Snow  Hill,  and  is  now  presi- 
dent of  the  First  National  Bank.  He  was  liber- 
ally educated,  attending  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  and  on  leaving  college  took  up  a  busi- 
ness  career   with   his   father. 

He  was  born  at  Snow  Hill,  North  Carolina,  July 
2:{,  1879,  a  son  of  Josiah  and  Martha  (Suggs) 
E.x'um.  His  father  for  many  years  has  been  a 
well  known  merchant  at  Snow  Hill.  He  attended 
t)ie  jiublic  schools,  the  Fayetteville  Military  In- 
situte  and  completed  his  eilucation  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina.  His  early  business 
experience  was  acquired  with  his  father  in  a 
general  merchandise  store,  and  he  became  a 
member  of  the  firm  J.  Exum  and  Comjiany.  In 
1916  Mr.  Exum  turned  his  attention  to  liankiug 
and  organized  the  First  National  Bank,  of  which 
lie  was  elected  president.  The  bank  has  a  cap- 
ital of  $2.5,000  and  its  deposits  according  to  a 
lecent  statement  aggregate  .$300,000.  The  bank 
has  a  splendid  home,  a  two-story  brick  building, 
with  offices  on  the  second  floor.  The  bank  was 
Iniilt   at   a  cost   of   $9,000. 

Mr.  Exum  has  done  much  for  his  home  county. 
For  the  past  eight  years  he  has  served  as  chair- 
man of  the  board  of  county  commissioners  and 
during  that  time  the  county  undertook  the  con- 
struction of  the  splendid  roads  which  now  are  a 
matter  of  pride  to  the  entire  community.  Mr. 
Exum  is  a  member  of  the  Phi  Delta  Theta  col- 
lege fraternity  and  is  active  in  the  Methodist 
Ejiiscopal    Church,    South. 

In  December,  1904,  he  married  Miss  Josie  Her- 
ring, of  Snow  Hill.  Mr.  Exum  has  an  ideal  home 
life.'and  his  efforts  in  a  Inisiness  way  are  inspired 
by  his  wife  and  children.  The  eiglit  children  who 
li'ave  blessed  their  marriage  are:  Robert,  Grace, 
Jamie.  Mattie,  Josiah  IV,  Susan,  Allen  and  Wood- 
row  Wilson. 

William  Henry  Stewart.  Employed  in  a  pro- 
fession that  is  peculiarly  exacting  in  its  demands, 
William  Henry  Stewart,  of  Salisbury,  proprietor 
and  publisher  of  the  Carolina  Watchman,  one  of 
the  oldest  publications  of  the  state,  is  successfully 
devoting  his  thought  and  energy  to  making  his 
paper  bright,  newsy,  reliable,  and,  above  all,  clean, 
nothing  of  worth  being  too  small  to  escape  his  at- 
tention, and  no  topic  so  large  that  he  cannot 
handle  it  with  ability.  Inheriting  in  no  small 
measure  the  brilliant  intellect,  courageous  spirit 
and  the  ready  command  of  language  that  charac- 
terized his  father,  the  late  John  Joseph  Stewart, 
himself  a  noted  iournalist,  Mr.  Stewart  does  his 
own  thinking,  and  in  his  criticisms  spares  no  evil 
doer,   instead  he   "hews   to   the   line,   letting  the 


360 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


chips  fall  where  they  will."  He  is  a  native  born 
son  of  Rowan  County,  his  birth  having  occurred  in 
SaUsbury  January  17,  1870. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  Alexander  Stewart, 
was  born  and  educated  in  South  Carolina.  Subse- 
quently moving  to  Georgia,  he  lived  for  a  time  in 
Newton  County,  but  later  bought  land  in  Troup 
County,  not  far  from  West  Point,  and  there  on 
the  farm  which  he  improved  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  years.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Salina  Bruner.  She  was  born  at  Beaver  Dam, 
Montgomery  County,  North  CaroUna,  being  a 
lineal  descendant,  it  is  thought,  in  the  fifth  gen- 
eration of  Jacob  Bruner,  who  emigrated  from 
Germany  to  America  prior  to  the  Revolutionary 
war,  the  line  of  descent  being  thus  traced:  Jacob, 
Henrich,  Henry,  Henry  and  Salina. 

John  Joseph  Stewart  was  born  June  15,  1827, 
in  Newton  County,  Georgia,  near  Covington,  and 
there  spent  his  boyhood  days.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen years  he  came  with  his  uncle,  J.  J.  Bruner, 
publisher  of  the  Carolina  'Watchman,  to  Salisbury, 
the  uncle  having  been  a  visitor  at  the  Stewart 
home  in  Georgia,  and  for  a  while  after  coming 
here  attended  the  city  schools.  Spending  his 
leisure  time  in  the  office  and  work  rooms  of  the 
Carolina  Watchman,  he  became  familiar  with  the 
art  preservative  and  acquired  a  taste  for  jour- 
nalism. He  afterwards  became  a  clerk  in  the 
store  of  James  Ennis,  and  later  bought  out  the 
interests  of  his  employer.  While  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits  he  established  a  paper,  the  Ban- 
ner, and  continued  its  publication  xmtil  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Civil  war.  Enlisting  then  in 
Company  B,  Forty-sixth  Regiment,  North  Carolina 
Troops,  he  was  made  first  sergeant,  and  later  was 
twice  promoted,  first  to  second  lieutenant  and  then 
to  first  lieutenant.  With  the  exception  of  a  while 
in  the  hospital  while  recovering  from  a  wound  in- 
flicted by  a  minnie  ball,  and  a  brief  sick  leave,  he 
was  with  his  command  in  all  of  its  marches,  cam- 
paigns and  battles  until  the  close  of  the  conflict. 
Returning  then  to  SaUsbury,  John  Joseph  Stewart 
continued  to  publish  the  Banner  as  a  daily,  semi- 
weekly  and  tri-weekly  for  a  while,  and  also  taught 
school  a  few  terms.  About  1880  he  published  The 
Examiner  and  in  1885  established  the  Salisbury 
Truth,  a  family  and  political  newspaper.  He 
kept  himself  well  informed  on  local  and  national 
affairs,  but  did  his  own  thinking,  and  never  did 
he  hesitate  to  publish  the  results  of  his  mental 
activities,  great  names  and  exalted  positions 
inspiring  him  with  no  dread.  He  was  of  an 
intense  nature,  and  a  master  of  strong,  trenchant 
language,  which  he  could  use  daringly  and  most 
effectively.  Although  an  invalid  during  the  latter 
part  of  his  life,  he  edited  his  paper  until  his 
death,  June  20,  1896. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  John  Joseph 
Stewart  was  Clara  Lois  Bruner.  A  daughter  of 
John  Joseph  and  Mary  (Kineaid)  Bruner,  she 
was  bom  in  Salisbury,  and  there  reared  and 
educated,  with  the  addition  of  several  sessions  at 
the  StatesviUe  Female  College.  Her  paternal 
grandfather,  Thomas  Kineaid,  married  Clarissa 
Brandon,  a  daughter  of  Colonel  James  and  Esther 
(Horah)  Brandon.  Of  the  marriage  of  John  J. 
and  Clara  Lois  Stewart,  ten  chUdren  were  bom, 
as  follows:  Beulah,  who  married  James  P.  Moore; 
John  Joseph  married  Grace  Morton;  William 
Henry,  the  special  subject  of  this  brief  review; 
Mary  Esther  married  Edwin  CuthreU;  May  Pearl 
married  Henry  D.  Abernathy;  Clara  Grace 
married  Henry  M.  Armistead;  Charles  F.  married 


Lucy  Brittingham;  Bruner  A.  married  Louisa 
Abernathy;  Annie  Viele  married  Frank  M.  Hood 
and  Lois  Dunbar  married  Walter  L.  Meek. 

Having  completed  the  course  of  study  in  the 
Salisbury  schools,  WiUiam  H.  Stewart  was 
employed  in  the  office  of  the  Examiner,  a 
weekly  paper  published  in  Salisbury  by  his  father. 
Having  in  the  year  of  1883  been  appointed 
mounted  messenger  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
he  spent  the  following  two  years  in  Washington, 
District  of  Columbia.  Returning  to  North  Card- 
lina  in  1885,  Mr.  Stewart  was  engaged  in  jour- 
nalistic work  in  Salisbury  for  five  years.  Going 
to  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  in  1890,  he  remained 
there  three  years,  having  first  been  associated 
with  the  Chronicle,  now  the  Observer,  and 
afterward  with  the  Charlotte  News.  In  1893, 
having  accepted  an  appointment  in  the  folding 
room  of  the  United  States  House  of  Representa- 
tives, he  lived  for  two  years  in  Washington.  Re- 
turning then  to  Salisbury,  Mr.  Stewart  assumed 
charge  of  Salisbury  Truth,  a  weekly  paper 
referred  to  above,  and  managed  it  for  aljout  four 
years.  Forming  then  a  company,  in  which  he 
was  the  chief  stockholder,  he  conducted  the  Salis- 
bury Daily  Truth-Index.  Later  he  purchased  the 
plant,  and  at  the  end  of  eighteen  months  he 
bought  out  the  other  share  holders  and  became 
sole  proprietor.  Selling  the  paper  to  Varner  and 
SpUlman  in  1903,  Mr.  Stewart  retained  the 
presses  and  published  the  paper  for  his  successors 
for  a  year.  Mr.  Stewart  then  resurrected  the 
Carolina  Watchman,  and  has  since  devoted  his 
time  and  attention  to  its  interests,  making  it 
one  of  the  best  and  most  popular  journals  of  the 
kind  in  the  city. 

Mr.  Stewart  married  Charlotte  A.  Davidson,  a 
woman  of  culture  and  refinement.  True  to  the 
religious  faith  in  which  he  was  brought  up,  Mr. 
Stewart  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Mrs.  Stewart  is  a  member  of  Saint  Luke's  Episco- 
pal Church.  Fraternally  Mr.  Stewart  belongs  to 
Winona  Council  No.  18,  Junior  Order  of  United 
American  Mechanics,  which  he  represented  in  1916, 
1917  and  1918  at  the  State  Council;  to  Bagley 
Council  No.  5,  Sons  and  Daughters  of  Liberty; 
and  to  the  Patriotic  Order  Sons  of  America, 

EtTBERT  Lterlt.  In  the  remarkable  industrial 
development  that  has  made  Hickory,  North  Caro- 
lina, one  of  the  manufacturing  centers  of  the 
state,  the  Lyerly  family  has  borne  an  important 
part,  their  business  enterprises  having  been  potent 
factors  for  almost  half  a  century.  A  prominent 
bearer  of  the  name,  and  a  sharer  in  the  industrial 
fame  that  attaches  thereto,  is  Maj.  Eubert  Lyerly, 
a  retired  ofiicer  of  the  National  Guard  of  North 
Carolina,  and  a  third  owner  of  the  Elliott  Knitting 
Mills    here. 

Eubert  Lyerly  was  born  in  1877,  at  Hickory, 
North  Carolina,  and  is  one  of  three  sons  bom  to 
the  late  J.  L.  and  Addie  (Walker)  Lyerly.  One 
brother.  Walker  Lyerly,  is  an  extensive  manu- 
facturer of  lumber.  The  other  brother,  Capt. 
George  Lyerly,  is  in  the  active  service  of  the 
United  States  Army,  in  the  World  war. 

J.  L.  Lyerly,  the  father,  was  born  in  Rowan 
County,  North  Carolina.  During  the  war  between 
the  states,  he  served  in  Company  K,  in  the  famous 
Fourth  North  Carolina  Infantry,  of  which  he  was 
quartermaster  sergeant,  and  participated  in  many 
of  the  struggles  that  made  this  regiment  one  of 
the  noted  organizations  of  the  Confederate  Army. 
About  1869  or  1870  he  came  to  Hickory  and  is 


THE  KEV/  Y!' 

FU3LICLic 


ASTOR. 

TtLDE;-    - 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


361 


credited  with  being  largely  the  founder  of  its 
industrial  life.  He  found  here  a  simple  country 
village,  with  no  railroad  connection.  His  start 
was  in  the  lumber  business,  and  he  established 
and  operated  the  first  circular  saw  in  Western 
North  Carolina.  He  helped  to  build  the  Western 
North  Carolina  Railroad,  now  the  Asheville  branch 
of  the  Southern,  and  in  a  general  way  his  business 
enterprise  was  the  needed  impetus  that  gave 
Hickory  a  start  as  a  manufacturing  town.  He 
furnished  the  lumber  and  was  the  contractor  for 
the  build  ins  of  the  way  stations  along  the  line 
of  this  railroad.  The  station  at  Bridgewater, 
constructed  more  than  forty  years  ago,  is  still 
standing  and  is  in  good  condition.  He  was  an 
able  business  man  and  a  constructive  citizen  of 
the  highest  rank.  He  was  permitted  to  live  to 
see  Hickory  grow  into  a  model  manufacturing 
city  teeming  with  industries,  its  great  wood-work- 
ing plants,  its  textile  mills  and  other  industries 
sending  its  name  to  far  distant  sections.  In  all 
this  he  had  part,  practically  retiring  from  business 
activity  in  1892.  but  surviving  until  1903.  ^ 

Euhert  Lyerly  was  reared  at  Hickory  and  secured 
his  education  in  the  local  schools  and  in  the  David 
Military  School  at  Winston-Salem,  from  which 
he  was  graduated.  For  about  ten  ye^rs  after- 
ward he  was  in  the  railway  mail  service  and  then 
became  interested  in  the  knitting  mill  business 
and  subsequently,  with  his  two  brothers,  became 
the  owner  of  the  Elliott  Knitting  Mill,  a  modern 
plant  equipped  with  sixty-four  knitting  machines 
for  the  manufacture  of  hosiery.  Its  product  is 
high  grade  and  its  contracts  have  never  been 
more  numerous  than  at  the  present  time. 

Major  Lyerly  was  the  organizer  in  Hickory,  of 
Company  A,  of  the  North  Carolina  National 
Guard,  and  was  elected  its  captain  and  served 
as  such  for  several  years  prior  to  being  promoted 
major,  being  succeeded  as  captain  by  his  brother 
George,  who,  as  noted  above,  has  gone  to  a  wider 
field  of  service. 

Major  Lyerly  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Josephine  Bonniwell,  and  they  have  one  daughter, 
Josephine.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Lyerly,  the  late 
George  Bonniwell,  was  of  French  origin  and  his 
name  was  formerly  spelled  Bonneville.  He  came 
from  New  York  to  North  Carolina  and  in  the 
early  '70s  located  at  Hickory,  where,  in  associa- 
tion with  the  father  of  Major  Lyerly,  he  founded 
the  famous  Piedmont  Wagon  Company,  which 
was  the  first  large  industry  in  the  town.  These 
wagons  have  been  sold  all  over  the  country  and  the 
factory  remains  today  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  profitable  of  Hickory's  industries.  Subse- 
quently Mr.  Bonniwell  left  the  wagon  company  and 
engaged  extensively  in  the  manufacture  of  sash, 
doors,  blinds  and  building  material,  and  for  several 
years  his  plant  furnished  all  the  material  used 
in  the  construction  of  buildings  at  Hickory  and 
in  adjacent  territory. 

Major  Lyerly  is  active  and  influential  in  all 
that  concerns  the  further  development  of  Hickory, 
cooperating  with  his  fellow  citizens  along  every 
line  of  worthy  endeavor  and  steadfastly  maintain- 
ing the  high  business  standards  for  which  his 
family  name  has  always  stood. 

John  R.  Bowden.  One  of  the  solid,  substantial 
citizens  of  Cumberland  County,  the  owner  of  a 
fine  plantation  and  the  proprietor  of  the  leading 
general  store  at  Wade,  is  John  R.  Bowden.  Mr. 
Bowden  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  successful 
business  men  of  this  section  and  he  has  deserved 


this  success  because  he  has  built  up  his  fortune 
from  the  very  bottom  entirely  through  his  own  in- 
dustry and  perseverance.  Left  fatherless  in  child- 
hood," he  had  fewer  opportunities  than  many  others 
in  tlie  way  of  eduratiou  and  business  opportunity, 
and  it  was  through  the  discipline  of  adversity  that 
his  character  was  developed  and  his  struggle  for  a 
business   footing  was  successful. 

John  E.  Bowden  was  born  in  1861,  at  Wade,  his 
birthplace  being  within  a  few  yards  of  his  present 
residence.  His  parents  were  William  and  Susan 
(Cook)  Bowden.  Wniiam  Bowden  was  born  in 
Duplin  County,  North  Carolina,  and  came  to  the 
site  of  the  present  Town  of  Wade  in  the  middle 
'50s,  accompanying  his  father,  Mitchell  Bowden, 
and  others  of  tlie  family.  Many  Bowdens  still  live 
in  Duplin  County,  where  the  family  was  established 
liy  the  English  Bowdens  when  they  came  to  North 
Carolina  before  the  Revolutionary  war.  They  gave 
the  name  to  the  present  Town  of  Bowden  in 
Duplin  County.  William  Bowden  enlisted  in  the 
Confederate  army  when  the  war  between  the  states 
liroke  out,  and  was  a  brave  and  efficient  soldier 
until  he  was  captured  by  the  enemy  and  was  con- 
fined in  a  Federal  prison  until  the  war  was  over. 
He  was  able  to  return  to  his  home  but  exposure 
and  hardship  had  done  their  work  and  he  died 
shortly  afterward,  leaving  a  widow  and  children 
but  illy  provided  for.  He  was  a  man  of  good  in- 
tention and  fine  character  and  was  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church. 

John  R.  Bowden  came  upon  the  scene  of  life 
at  an  unhappy  time  in  his  country's  history,  and 
innocent  although  he,  with  thousands  of  others, 
was,  he  had  to  face  and  contend  with  hard  condi- 
tions in  youth  and  early  manhood.  As  soon  as  he 
was  able  he  assumed  as  much  responsibOity  as  he 
could  in  taking  care  of  his  over-burdened  mother 
and  his  brothers  and  sisters,  and  eagerly  accepted 
every  offer  of  work,  even  distasteful  ones,  for  there 
was  little  money  in  the  county  at  that  time  and 
his  wages  were  pitifully  small.  He  presevered,  how- 
ever, and  by  dint  of  industry  and  self  denial,  finally 
accumulated  sufScieut  capital  to  start  a  store  at 
Wade,  in  a  small  way,  and  from  that  has  succeeded 
through  lionorable  methods  and  superior  business 
capacity  in  building  up  a  mercantile  enterprise 
that  is  both  profitable  and  prospering.  He  sup- 
plies the  needs  of  a  large  territory,  is  personally 
known  and  esteemed  by  practically  every  one  in 
this  part  of  Cumberland  County,  and  is  rated  com- 
mercially in  the  first  rank  as  to  business  stability. 
For  some  years  Mr.  Bowden  has  also  been  accumu- 
lating farming  land  and  now  owns  about  400  acres 
extending  north  of  the  Village  of  Wade  and  his 
yearly  crops  of  cotton  and  corn  are  satisfying. 
This  is  becoming  one  of  the  most  productive  agri- 
cultural regions  in  the  state,  largely  because  of 
the  system  of  drainage  by  canals  that  has  been 
established,  bringing  enhanced  value  to  Mr.  Bow- 
den 's  and  his  neighbors '  lands. 

Mr.  Bowden  was  married  to  Miss  Molly  Meredith, 
and  they  have  three  children:  John  Atwood,  Mag- 
gie May  and  Mrs.  Willie  Starling. 

Since  early  youth  Mr.  Bowden  has  been  a  com- 
municant in  the  historic  old  Bluff  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  which  he  has  been  an  elder  for  several 
years.  Bluff  Church  was  founded  in  1758  by  the 
Scotch  Presbyterians  and  probably  is  the  oldest  in 
the  state.  The  original  church  edifice  still  stands 
on  a  bluff  overlooking  the  Cape  Fear  River,  about 
one  mile  from  the  Town  of  Wade.  It  is  not  now 
used   for   regular   services,   the   congregation  wor- 


362 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


shiping  in  a  more  modern  liuilding  at  Wade.  The 
old  cluireli  and  suri'onnding  graveyard  are  kept  in 
good  condition  and  each  year,  in  the  month  of 
Septeniljer,  a  rennion  and  historical  meeting  of 
tlie  meniliers  and  their  friends  are  held  here.  The 
old  communion  cups,  presented  to  this  church  in 
1775  by  the  Presljyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  with 
a  suitable  inscription  thereon,  are  still,  after  a 
lapse  of  140  years,  in  the  service  of  the  congrega- 
tion but  taken  out  only  at  the  annual  reunion. 
These  are  beautiful  cups  of  solid  silver  of  exquisite 
^  design  and  workmanship.  Mr.  Bovrden  is  their 
custodian  and  keeps  them  secure  in  his  own  home. 
He  has  always  been  an  earnest  citizen  but  has  never 
accepted  any  other  public  office  than  membership 
on  the  board  of  county  commissioners. 

Hon.  Oliver  M.\x  Gardner.  In  November, 
1916,  the  )ieople  of  North  Carolina  elected  to 
the  office  of  lieutenant  governor  a  young  lawyer 
of  Cleveland  County  wliose  brief  career  in  public 
life  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  witnessed  in  this 
state  in  the  present  generation.  He  has  been 
called  a  new  leader  in  polities,  and  that  means 
that  he  not  only  has  the  resources  of  mind,  the 
wit  and  logic,  the  savoir  faire  and  the  personal 
charm  and  graces  of  eloquence  which  have  al- 
ways been  considered  requisite  to  attainment  in 
politics,  but  also  the  broad  minded  vision,  the 
depth  and  sincerity  of  purpose,  and  both  dis- 
interestedness and  competence  which  are  the  es- 
sentials of  real  statesmanship. 

Mr.  Gardner  was  born  in  Shelby  March  22, 
1882,  a  son  of  Dr.  O.  P.  and  Margaret  Gardner. 
His  father,  the  late  Doctor  Gardner,  was  a  dis- 
tinguished jjhysician  in  Western  North  Caro- 
lina. He  was  a  prominent  leader  in  the  state 
during  the  trying  days  of  secession  and  war.  He 
was  a_  member  of  the  General  Assembly  and  the 
Secession  Convention  of  North  Carolina,  and  sub- 
sequently organized  and  became  captain  of  a  com- 
pany from  Cleveland  County  for  active  service  in 
the  field.  From  the  close  of  the  war  until  his 
death  he  practiced  medicine,  gave  his  life  with 
the  utmost  zeal  to  his  calling  and  to  the  service 
of  liumanitv,  and  left  a  memorv  to  be  cherished. 
Governor  Gardner's  mother,  Margaret  (Young) 
Gardner,  represented  in  her  maternal  line  the 
distinguished  Blanton  family.  Her  grandfather, 
Burwell  Blanton,  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  dis- 
tinction, reared  a  large  family,  and  all  of  them 
made  their  mark  in  the  world.  The  Blantons  of 
the  present  generation  are  leaders  in  commerce 
and  industry  in  Western  North  Carolina,  and  are 
a  strong  and  virile  race  that  has  not  died  out, 
but  are  progressive  and  have  increased  in  influ- 
ence and  substance.  For  several  generations  the 
Blantons  have  furnished  some  of  the  strongest 
and  most  successful  characters  to  their  section  of 
the  state. 

Oliver  Max  Gardner  attended  local  schools  and 
in  lOO."!  graduated  Bachelor  of  Science  from  the 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  of  North 
Carolina  at  Raleieh.  During  his  college  career 
he  was  captain  of  the  football  team,  and  was 
also  prominent  in  other  student  activities,  being 
the  winner  of  the  debater's  medal  and  the  ora- 
tor's medal.  After  graduating  he  spent  two  years 
as  instructor  in  chemistry  in  the  Aericultural  and 
Mechanical  College.  He  subsequently  studied  law 
in  the  t'niversity  of  North  Carolina,  and  while 
there  was  also  a  member  of  the  famous  foot- 
ball team  of  190.5,  which  defeated  Virginia.  He 
was  elected  captain  of  the  team. 


Mr.  Gardner  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1906, 
and  during  the  past  ten  years  has  rapidly  risen 
in  his  profession  and  has  practiced  at  Shelby. 
He  is  not  only  a  strong  and  forceful  lawyer,  but 
is  also  interested  in  practical  farming,  and  has 
a  line  place  of  500  acres  three  miles  from  Shelby, 
where  he  raises  between  75  and  100  bales  of  cot- 
ton in  every  year. 

For  seven  years  he  was  captain  of  Company  G, 
First  Begiment,  National  Guard  of  North  Caro- 
lina. His  brother,  Col.  J.  T.  Gardner,  is  now 
colonel  of  the  same  regiment  and  is  commanding 
it  in  service  on  the  Mexican  border. 

Mr.  Gardner 's  active  connection  with  democra- 
tic politics  began  as  soon  as  he  reached  his  ma- 
.iority.  He  was  formerly  chairman  of  the  County 
Democratic  Executive  Committee,  and  is  now  a 
memljer  of  the  State  Executive  Committee.  In 
1908  he  was  president  of  the  association  of  the 
College  Democratic  Club,  and  as  such  he  organ- 
ized 2,700  college  men  into  clubs.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Senate  of  the  General  Assem- 
blies of  1911  and  1915.  In  the  1915  session  he 
waS  unanimously  chosen  ]}resident  pro  tem,  and 
it  fell  to  his  duties  to  preside  frequently  over 
the  Senate,  and  as  president  he  proved  a  most 
able  parliamentarian  and  kept  the  machinery  of 
tlie  Senate  working  with  unequaled  dispatch. 

In  tlie  democratic  state  primary  of  1916  Sen- 
ator Gardner  was  the  unanimous  choice  of  his 
party  for  the  office  of  lieutenant  governor.  It  is 
said  that  he  is  the  youngest  man  to  be  thus  hon- 
ored by  the  people  of  the  state  for  such  an  im- 
j)Ortant  office  during  a  period  of  half  a  century. 
No  man  has  risen  more  rapidly  politically  in 
North  Carolina,  and  the  qualities  which  have  con- 
tributed to  this  rapid  rise  are  happily  described 
in  an  editorial  that  appeared  in  the  Winston-Sa- 
lem Journal  in  October,  1916,  under  the  title 
' '  A  New  Leader. ' ' 

"Any  man,  and  especially  any  young  man, 
who  can  present  the  cause  of  a  political  party 
with  such  convincing  power  as  Hon.  O.  Max  Gard- 
ner presented  the  cause  of  democracy  to  the  vot- 
ers of  Forsyth  County  here  last  night  is  bound 
to  become  a  political  leader  of  tremendous  force 
and  great  influence.  And  we  dare  say  that  it 
won 't  take  very  many  such  campaigns  as  Mr. 
Gardner  is  making  in  North  Carolina  to-day  to 
lift   him   into   this  high   sphere. 

' '  There  are  speeches  that  thrill  and  speeches 
that  soothe  but  do  not  convince.  There  are 
speeches  that  please  democrats  very  much,  but 
make  republicans  so  very  mad  that  they  don't 
count  for  anything  on  election  day.  There  are 
speeches  that  help  and  speeches  that  in.iure  the 
cause  which  they  espouse.  And  then  there  are 
speeches  that  have  no  appreciable  effect  one  way 
or  another. 

"Mr.  Gardner's  speech  in  Winston-Salem  last 
night  was  a  vote  winning  speech.  And  it  is  a 
very,  very  rare  thing  to  .see  a  political  cam- 
paigner who  is  able  to  make  ,iust  that  sort  of  a 
speech.  When  any  political  jiarty  discovers  such 
a  speaker  it  usuallv  ties  to  him.  Speakers  who 
can  arouse  democrats  are  valuable  assets  of  the 
democracy  in  North  Carolina.  They  help  get 
democrats  to  the  jjolls.  But  a  much  more  val- 
uable asset  is  the  speaker  who  can  win  votes. 
For  one  vote  won  is  worth  two  votes  held,  when 
the  time  comes  to  figure  up  the  majority. 

' '  Because  Mr.  Gardner  is  such  a  speaker,  be- 
cause he  can  both  enthuse  and  convince,  because 
he  has  a  remarkable  grasp  on  the   issues   of  the 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


363 


day  ajid  knows  how  to  jireseut  them  with  that 
extraoriUnarj-  effectiveness  which  can  only  be  at- 
tained liy  one  wliose  lips  are  touched  with  some- 
thing akin  to  the  divine  fire  of  eloquence,  because, 
along  with  these  gifts.  Nature  has  endowed  him 
with  a  personality  that  wins  men,  we  hail  him  as 
a  new  leader. ' ' 

Mr.  Gardner  was  happily  mai-ried  November  6, 
1908,  to  Miss  Fay  Lamar  Wehb,  daughter  of 
Judge  James  L.  Webb.  He  and  his  wife  are  the 
parents  of  three  children:  Margaret  Love,  James 
Webb  and  Ralph  L.  Gardner.  The  family  are 
members  of   the   Baptist  Church. 

Walter  Alexander  Goodman.  Conspicuously 
identified  with  the  promotion  of  the  leading  busi- 
ness interests  of  Rowan  County,  Walter  Alexander 
Goodman  is  numbered  among  the  more  intelligent, 
prosperous  and  progressive  merchants  of  Spencer, 
where  he  has  built  up  an  extensive  and  profitable 
trade  as  a  general  merchant.  A  native  of  Rowan 
County,  he  was  born  in  Atwill  Township,  January 
8,  1870,  being  descended  from  one  of  two  cousins 
who  came  from  Pennsylvania  to  North  Carolina  in 
colonial  days.  His  great  great  grandfather, 
WUliam  Goodman  then  calleil  ' '  Gutermaun, ' '  was 
but  eight  years  old  when  brought  by  his  parents 
from  Germany  to  America.  On  attaining  man's 
estate  he  located  in  that  part  of  Rowan  County, 
North  Carolina,  that  is  now  included  in  Barringer 
Township,  Iredell  County,  securing  title  to  a  tract 
of  land  in  the  vicinity  called  Amity,  and  there 
spent  his  remaining  years. 

William  Goodman,  grandfather  of  Walter  A. 
Goodman  and  grandson  of  the  original  William 
Goodman,  was  born  on  the  parental  homestead  in 
Barringer  Township  in  1807,  and  his  son  Alfred, 
the  next  in  line  of  descent,  was  born  in  the  same 
township,  his  birth  occurring  in  1838.  A  lifelong 
farmer  of  Barringer  Township,  William  Goodman 
married  Ann  Burton  Cook,  and  both  lived  to  an 
advanced  age,  his  death  having  occurred  at  the 
age  of  eighty-one  years,  whOe  she  lived  to  the 
age  of  eighty-three  years. 

Alfred  Goodman,  Mr.  Goodman's  father,  grew 
to  manhood  on  the  ancestral  homestead,  and 
assisted  in  its  care  untU  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
war.  In  1861  he  enlisted  in  what  was  first  known 
as  the  "Iredell  Blues,"  and  later  as  the  "  Santillo 
Boys".  The  organization  became  Company  B, 
Fourth  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops,  which 
was  commanded  by  Captain  Andrews,  while  the 
regiment  was  first  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Anderson  and  then  under  Colonel  Grimes.  Going 
to  the  front  with  his  command,  he  was  wounded 
at  the  Battle  of  Seven  Pines.  XTpon  recovering 
from  his  injuries,  he  rejoined  his-  command  and 
in  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg  was  captured  and 
afterward  confined  as  a  prisoner  of  war  at  Fort 
Delaw-are  and  Fort  Lookout  and  while  thus  con- 
fined was  employed  as  an  instructor  in  carpentry. 
He  was  released  on  parole  in  January,  186.5,  but 
was  not  exchanged  in  season  to  join  his  command 
before  the  surrender.  Returning  home,  he  was 
subsequently  prosperously  engaged  in  farming  in 
Rowan  County  until  his  "death,  January  17,  1916. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Alfred  Good- 
man was  Rebecca  Shinn.  She  was  born  in  Iredell 
County  in  1840.  of  old  and  honored  ancestry, 
having  been  a  descendant  in  the  sixth  generation 
from  John  Shinn,  the  immigrant,  the  line  being 
continued  through  Thomas,  Samuel,  Joseph,  Isaac 
and  R«becca.  John  Shinn,  a  native  of  England, 
came  to  America  in  1678,  settling  in  New  Jersey, 


where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was 
a  Quaker,  and  reared  his  family  in  the  same  faith. 
Samuel  Shinn,  the  founder  of  the  North  Carolina 
family  of  Shinn,  came  to  North  Carolina  in 
pioneer  days,  bringing  slaves  with  him,  he  having 
left  the  Quaker  Cliurch  on  account  of  its  antago- 
nism to  slave  owning.  Sojourning  for  awhile  in 
Virginia,  he  lived  in  Hopewell  in  the  valley  south 
of  Winchester.  Continuing  southward  he  then 
settled  in  Cabarrus  County,  North  Carolina,  where 
he  purchased  residential  property,  his  home  having 
been  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  railroad 
station  at  Concord.  He  married  in  New  Jersey, 
Abigail  Urie  and  after  locating  in  Cabarrus 
County,  they  united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
at  their  deaths  both  being  buried  in  the  Presby- 
terian Churchyard  at  Old  Bethpage.  Joseph  Shinn 
was  born  in  Hopewell,  A'irginia,  but  was  reared 
in  Cabarrus  County,  North  Carolina  and  as  a 
young  man  located  in  Mecklenburg  County,  North 
Carolina.  Enlisting  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution- 
ary Army,  he  liecame  captain  of  the  militia  com- 
mand of  Mecklenburg  in  1781.  Both  he  and 
his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Jane  Ross, 
spent  the  later  years  of  their  lives  in  Mecklenburg 
County.  Isaac  Shinn,  a  native  of  Mecklenburg 
County,  moved  to  Iredell  County  and  having 
bought  laud  in  the  Cool  Springs  community,  im- 
proved the  farm  on  which  he  lived  and  labored 
throughout  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His  first 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Sarah  Plunkett, 
bore  him  eleven  children.  By  his  marriage  with 
his  second  wife,  Elizabeth  Wilkins,  the  maternal 
grandmother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  seven 
children  were  born,  one  of  whom  was  Rebecca 
Shinn. 

Rebecca  (Shinn)  Goodman  died  in  1910.  To 
her  and  her  husband,  four  children  were  born  and 
reared,  namely:  James  William,  a  graduate  of 
Davidson  College,  is  a  Presbyterian  minister; 
Walter  Alexander ;  John  Finley  is  an  elder  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Hendersonville,  North 
Carolina,  and  Laura  Jane  is  the  wife  of  Samuel 
McCorkle,  of  Rowan  County.  Both  parents  were 
active  and  faithful  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Hendersonville  and  Alfred  Goodman 
was  for  forty-one  years  a  ruling  elder  in  Thyatira 
Clmrch  at  Mill  Bridge. 

Acquiring  his  rudimentary  education  in  the 
public  schools,  Walter  A.  Goodman  completed  the 
course  of  study  at  the  Mill  Bridge  High  School, 
and  in  1897  was  graduated  from  Davidson  College 
with  the  degi'ee  Bachelor  of  Arts  as  Valedictorian 
of  his  class.  He  subsequently  taught  school  five 
years,  and  the  following  four  years  was  in  the 
employ  of  the  Southern  Railroad  Company  as 
cashier  at  the  Salisbury  station.  In  1906  Mr. 
Goodman  became  interested  in  business  in  Spencer, 
where  he  has  since  been  actively  and  successfully 
engaged  in  mercantUe  pursuits  under  the  name  of 
the  Spencer  Mercantile  Company,  having  buUt  up 
an  extensive  and  highly  remunerative  trade  as  a 
general  merchant.  He,  however  resided  in  Salis- 
bury, North  Carolina  at  403  South  Main  Street. 

Mr.  Goodman  married  in  1904  Lucy  Brown,  of 
Salisbury,  a  daughter  of  Jeremiah  M.  and  Virginia 
(James)  Brown.  Mrs.  Goodman  is  a  direct  lineal 
descendant  of  one  of  the  prominent  and  early 
pioneers  of  Rowan  County,  named  Michael  Braun, 
as  he  spelled  his  name.  He  was  the  great-great- 
grandfather of  Mrs.  Goodman.  Michael  Braun 
acquired  large  tracts  of  land  and  the  large  stone 
house,  located  about  four  miles  east  of  Salisbury, 
which   he   built   is   still   standing   and   in    a   good 


364 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


state  of  preservation.  The  ■will  made  by  this 
pioneer  of  the  division  of  his  property  is  now 
possessed  by  Mrs.  Goodman's  father  and  bears 
the  date  of  1807.  The  successive  generations 
between  Michael  Braun  and  Mrs.  Goodman  were 
represented  by  Jeremiah  Brown,  her  great-grand- 
father, Jeremiah  M.  and  Charlotte  Caroline 
(Verble)  her  grandparents,  and  Jeremiah  M.  and 
Virginia   (James)    Brown,  her  parents. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goodman  have  one  child,  Virginia 
Alexander  Goodman.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Good- 
man are  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Salisbury,  and  he  is  a  member  of  its  board  of 
deacons.  Fraternally  Mr.  Goodman  is  a  member 
of  Salisbury  Lodge  No.  24  Knights  of  Pythias,  in 
which  he  has  filled  all  of  the  offices,  and  in  1915 
joined  the  Grand  Lodge. 

Frank  Lee  Jackson.  The  value  of  modern 
efficiency  in  business  methods,  bookkeeping,  ac- 
counting and  kindred  work,  has  long  been 
recognized  by  large  institutions  the  daily  main- 
tainence  of  which  makes  necessary  the  handling 
of  a  wealth  of  incidental  matter,  but  it  has  been 
left  until  recent  years  for  this  business  efficiency 
to  be  applied  in  a  sound,  practical  manner  to  the 
management  of  our  schools  of  learning.  One  of 
the  first  to  realize  the  benefits  accruing  from 
such  a  work  was  Davidson  College,  one  of  the 
historic  institutions  of  learning  in  the  South. 
This  old  and  honored  college  was  founded  in  1837 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Concord  Presbytery, 
as  a  result  of  a  movement  inaugurated  by  the 
Rev.  Br.  Robert  Hall  Morrison,  and  many  noted 
men  have  been  trained  in  its  historic  halls,  notable 
among  them  being  President  Woodrow  Wilson. 
That  an  institution  of  such  established  standing 
and  reputation  should  adopt  business  efficiency 
as  a  part  of  its  management  is  a  distinct  act 
of  appreciation  of  such  work,  and  the  benefits 
which  have  been  discernible  since  the  appointment 
of  Frank  Lee  Jackson,  in  1914,  to  the  position  of 
business  manager  and  treasurer  of  the  institution, 
show  that  the  course  was  wisely  taken. 

Frank  Lee  Jackson  was  born  in  Gaston  County, 
North  Carolina,  in  1882,  and  is  a  son  of  .John 
Frank  and  Mary  Isabelle  (Adams)  .Jackson, 
bcth  of  whom  are  still  living  in  their  home  in 
Gaston  Connty.  John  F.  Jackson  was  born  in 
York  County,  South  Carolina,  but  when  still  a 
young  man,  shortlv  after  he  was  married,  removed 
just  across  the  line  into  Gaston  County,  North 
Carolina,  and  settled  on  a  farm  eight  miles  south 
of  Gastonia.  In  later  years  he  has  resided  at  his 
present  home,  a  fine  farm  within  a  mile  and  one- 
half  of  Gastonia,  within  easy  distance,  in  fact 
almost  in  the  suburbs,  of  the  highly  prosperous 
and  rapidly  growing  industrial  city.  He  is  a 
first  class  modern  farmer  and  stockman,  takes 
great  pride  in  his  farm,  and  has  taken  many  prizes 
at  fairs,  etc.,  vrith  the  products  of  his  farm. 

Frank  Lee  Jackson  was  reared  on  the  farm  and 
attended  the  local  schools.  He  spent  four  years 
as  a  student  at  Davidson  College,  from  which  he 
was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1906,  and  then 
taught  school  at  Maysville,  for  one  year,  and  for 
the  following  two  years  at  Belmont,  Gaston 
County.  From  1909  to  191.3,  inclusive,  he  was 
secretary,  treasurer  and  general  manager  of  the 
Montreat  Association,  at  Montreat,  in  western 
North  Carolina.  It  is  at  Montreat  that  the  summer 
assemblies  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church 
are  held,  conducted  under  the  name  of  the  Mon- 
treat Association.  It  is  one  of  the  important 
features  of  church  life  in  this  denomination. 


In  1914  Mr.  .Jackson  accepted  the  position  of 
treasurer  and  bu.siness  manager  of  Davidson  Col- 
lege, North  Carolina,  a  newly  created  position. 
Previous  to  tliat  time  the  business  and  financial 
affairs  of  the  college,  correspondence,  etc.,  had 
l)een  conducted  by  members  of  the  faculty  who 
combined  their  work  with  their  teaching  duties. 
In  this  new  position  Mr.  Jackson  has  charge  of 
all  business  and  financial  affairs,  maintaining  for 
this  purpose  a  modern  office  system  and  modern 
accounting  and  auditing.  In  the  regular  course 
of  business  his  office  handles  something  over 
.$40,000  annually.  In  addition  to  this  as  treasurer 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  he  has  the  responsibility 
of  collecting  the  endowments,  holding  the  college 
assets  of  three  quarters  of  a  million  dollars  and' 
accounting  for  same.  The  business  and  financial 
affairs  of  the  college  have  never  before  been 
conducted  in  sucli  an  efficient  and  resultant  man- 
ner. It  is  the  unanimous  verdict  of  the  faculty 
and  board  of  trustees  that  Mr.  .Jackson  has  made 
good  in  this  position,  and  they  have  shown  their 
appreciation  of  this  fact  in  a  substantial  and 
satisfying  manner. 

Mr.  Jackson  is  a  graduate  of  Walton  School  of 
Commerce  in  general  accountancy  and  commercial 
law,  and  is  a  certified  public  accountant,  having 
successfully  stood  the  North  Carolina  examination 
as  set  liy  the  Board  of  Accountancy  in  1917. 

Mr.  .Jackson  is  a  memlier  and  an  elder  of  the 
Presbyterian  Cliurch.  He  was  first  made  elder 
in  Montreat  church  and  after  moving  to  David- 
son College  was  also  elected  elder  in  the  Davidson 
church.  He  is  a  thirty-second  degree  Scottish 
Rite  Mason  and  a  member  of  the  Mystic  Shrine. 

Mr.  .Jackson  married  Miss  Annie  Cliaffin,  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  and  Sue  (MacQueen)  Chaffin,  of 
Lumbcrton,  North  Carolina,  the  latter  being  a 
direct  descendant  of  Col.  James  MacQueen,  the 
founder  of  the  famous  MacQueen  family  in  Robe- 
son County,  North  Carolina.  They  have  three 
children:  Susie  MacQueen,  Annie  Chaffin,  and 
Frank  Lee,  Jr. 

Thomas  J.^rvis  M.aekham.  A  noticeable  fea- 
ture of  the  citizenship  of  Elizabeth  City  is  the 
number  of  young  men  who  have  come  to  the  front 
within  the  last  decade  who  have  made  notable 
progress  and  in  many  cases  have  achieved  successes 
which,  in  old  times,  would  have  been  deemed  ex- 
ceedingly creditable  to  those  of  middle  or  even 
farther  advanced  age.  This  alive,  alert  spirit  espe- 
cially permeates  the  professions  and  is  a  very 
stirring  factor  in  political  matters.  A  case  in 
point  is  the  life  and  career  of  Thomas  Jarvis 
Markham,  lawyer,  legislator  and  useful,  progressive 
and  dependable  citizen. 

Thomas  Jarvis  Markham  was  born  at  Elizabeth 
City,  North  Carolina,  November  8,  188.3.  His  par- 
ents are  Thomas  Crowder  and  Olivia  (Brett)  Mark- 
ham. For  many  years  his  father  has  been  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits. 

During  the  boyhood  and  youth  of  Mr.  Markham 
he  was  a  student  in  the  select  school  of  Professor 
Tillett,  an  educator  of  note  in  this  section,  was 
there  prepared  for  college  and,  like  many  of  his 
fellow  students,  he  selected  Wake  Forest  as  his 
alma  mater.  Subsequently  he  entered  the  law  de- 
partment of  this  institution  and  after  completing 
his  law  course  was  admitted  to  the  North  Carolina 
bar  in  February,  1906.  He  immediately  entered 
into  practice  in  his  native  place  and  continues 
here  and  has  made  a  fine  record.    He  was  elected 


THOMAS  J.  .MARKHAM 


J 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


365 


city  attorney  and  served  in  that  office  for  two 
terms,  his  complete  efficiency  in  the  same  giving 
universal  satisfaction. 

After  Mr.  Markhara's  energy,  ability  and  execu- 
tive talent  in  the  office  above  named,  his  political 
party  felt  safe  in  proposing  further  political  ad- 
vancement and  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  large  circle 
of  friends  he  was  chosen  for  the  Legislative  race 
in  1911  and  vras  elected  with  a  flattering  majority 
and  entered  upon  his  duties  at  Raleigh  as  the 
youngest  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
Since  his  return  to  private  life  he  has  devoted 
himself  largely  to  his  ever  increasing  practice  and 
is  numbered  with  the  leading  men  of  the  Pasquo- 
tank bar. 

Owning  a  considerable  extent  of  rich  farming 
land,  Mr.  Markham  is  much  interested  in  agricul- 
tural development  and  he  is  a  member  of  the  board 
of  trustees  of  the  Albemarle  Agricultural  Associa- 
tion. As  a  good  citizen  he  promotes  in  every  pos- 
sible and  honorable  way  the  local  organizations  in 
which  he  has  entire  confidence,  and  is  serving  as  a 
member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  State 
Normal  School  for  Colored  Race,  and  is  a  director 
and  trustee  of  the  Albemarle  Building  &  Loan  As- 
sociation and  is  also  attorney  for  the  same. 

From  its  founding  here  Mr.  Markham  has  been 
interested  in  the  work  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  of  which  he  is  the  present  presi- 
dent. He  is  identified  fraternally  with  such  rep- 
resentative bodies  as  the  Odd  Fellows,  the  Be- 
nevolent and  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  and  the 
Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics.  He 
is  an  acceptable  member  of  the  city 's  best  social 
circles. 

S.\MiiES,  BoBBiTT  UNDERWOOD  is  an  educator, 
and  while  one  of  the  prominent  men  of  his  pro- 
fession in  North  Carolina  today  his  activities  are 
by  no  means  confined  to  the  routine  adminis- 
tration of  schools  but  have  entered  intimately  into 
many  movements  of  vital  interest  to  the  welfare 
of  the  state  and  his  community. 

Mr.  Underwood  was  born  in  Stanly  County, 
North  Carolina,  October  19,  1885,  a  son  of  Rev. 
John  Edmund  and  Ella  (Allen)  Underwood.  His 
father  has  been  one  of  the  leading  ministers  of 
the  Methodist  Episcojial  Church,  South,  in  North 
Carolina  for  the  past  thirty  years.  The  son  was 
educated  in  private  schools,  in  Trinity  Park 
School,  and  he  graduated  with  the  class  of  1906 
from  Trinity  College  at  Durham,  North  Carolina. 
Since  then  he  has  given  his  time  and  energies  un- 
interruptedly to  his  chosen  work  as  an  educator. 
For  one  year  he  taught  English  in  the  Southern 
College  at  Sutherland,  Florida,  for  three  years 
was  superintendent  of  the  graded  schools  of  Hert- 
ford, North  Carolina,  was  head  master  of  Trinity 
Park  School  at  Durham  a  year,  for  three  years 
was  superintendent  of  city  schools  at  Kinston, 
and  in  1914  came  to  Greenville  and  has  since 
been  superintendent  of  the  Pitt  County  public 
school  system.  He  is  also  instructor  in  school  man- 
agement in  the  East  Carolina  Teachers  Training 
School. 

Among  other  activities  that  absorb  his  time 
and  energies  Mr.  Underwood  has  been  president 
of  the  Associated  Charities  of  Greenville,  is  a 
member  of  the  Pitt  County  Board  of  Health,  a 
member  of  the  North  Carolina  Social  Service  Con- 
ference, and  is  active  in  the  North  Carolina  Teach- 
ers Assembly,  being  vice  president  of  that  body, 
and  the  National  Education  Association.  He  was 
chairman  of  the  State  Text-book  Sub-commission 


in  191(3.  He  is  affiliated  with  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  the  Carolina  C!lub  of  Greenville,  and  in 
tlie  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  of  that 
city  is  lay  leader  and  teacher  of  the  Baraca 
class.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  General  Conter- 
ence  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
in  1918. 

December  27,  1906,  he  married  Miss  Eloise  Lis- 
ter, of  Elizabeth  City,  Nortli  Carolina.  They 
have  one  son,  Samuel  Bobbitt,  Jr.,  born  February 
2,    1911. 

Hon.  Joseph  M.  Prevette,  member  of  the 
State  Legislature  from  Wilkes  County,  has  success- 
fully combined  the  profession  of  law  with  practi- 
cal agricultural  and  horticulture  in  Wilkes  County. 
He  is  a  member  of  an  old  and  well  known  family 
of  Western  North  Carolina. 

His  grandfather,  Joseph  Prevette,  owned  a 
plantation  in  Iredell  County  and  spent  his  active 
career  there.  John  G.  Prevette  father  of  the 
Wilkesboro  lawyer,  was  born  in  Iredell  County  in 
August,  1849.  He  attended  the  district  schools, 
and  on  leaving  the  farm  clerked  a  while  for  his 
brother  near  Hunting  Creek,  and  subsequently  he 
and  his  brother  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business 
at  Wilkesboro.  For  several  years  after  they 
established  their  store,  Wilkesboro  had  no  direct 
railway  communication  and  goods  were  hauled  by 
wagons  from  Salisbury.  They  gradually  broadened 
their  trade  and  kept  a  large  stock  of  general 
merchandise.  John  G.  Prevette  continued  a  busi- 
ness man  at  Wilkesboro  until  his  death.  He  was 
also  interested  in  farming.  He  passed  away 
August  29,  1889.  He  was  then  forty  years  of 
age.  He  had  married  in  1887  Sarah  Jane 
McNeill,  who  was  born  in  Beaver  Creek  township 
of  Wilkes  County,  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Milton  and 
Martha  (Barlow)  McNeill.  At  the  death  of  her 
husband  she  was  left  a  widow  with  two  sons, 
whom  she  reared  and  carefully  educated  and  with 
whom  she  now  lives  on  their  farm.  These  sons 
are  Joseph  Milton  and  John  Green  Prevette. 

The  McNeills  are  a  family  of  long  and  honorable 
standing  in  Western  North  Carolina.  It  was 
founded  here  by  a  native  of  Ireland  of  Scotch 
ancestry,  who  with  three  brothers  came  to  America 
in  colonial  times  and  after  living  in  Virginia  a 
few  years  moved  to  Wilkes  County,  where  the 
direct  ancestor  engaged  in  farming.  He  was  also 
a  pioneer  Baptist  preacher  and  he  attained  a 
good  old  age.  Joseph  McNeill,  his  son,  grand- 
father of  Rev.  Milton  McNeill,  was  born  in  Wilkes 
County  and  acquired  land  near  Purlear  in  Ready 
River  township,  where  he  spent  his  active  years. 
He  reared  three  sons  named  Larkin,  James  and 
William,  and  two  daughters,  one  of  whom  was 
named  Fanny. 

Larkin  McNeill,  who  was  born  in  what  is  now 
Ready  River  towmship,  grew  up  on  a  farm  and 
learned  the  cooper's  trade.  Later  he  bought  land 
in  Beaver  Creek  Township  and  lived  there  until 
late  in  life,  when  he  removed  to  Moravian  Falls 
Township  and  died  at  the  home  of  a  son.  He  lived 
to  be  sixty-seven  and  for  a  number  of  years  had 
been  afflicted  with  rheumatism.  The  maiden  name 
of  his  wrife  was  Nellie  Ferguson,  who  was  born 
in  Beaver  Creek  Township,  a  daughter  of  Richard 
Ferguson,  a  farmer  and  probably  a  lifelong  resi- 
dent of  Wilkes  County.  Mrs.  Larkin  McNeill  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy.  Her  children  were  named 
Franklin,  John,  Louisa  and  Milton. 

Rev.  Milton  McNeill  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
Beaver   Creek   Township,   January   8,    1846.     He 


366 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


attended  the  rural  schools,  assisted  on  the  farm, 
and  began  his  active  career  as  a  renter.  Several 
years  later  he  bought  a  farm  in  Bushy  Creek 
Township.  In  early  life  he  was  converted,  joining 
the  Baptist  church,  and  in  1875  was  ordained  a 
minister.  He  has  served  as  pastor  of  different 
churches  in  Wilkes  County. 

Milton  McNeill  has  also  played  a  prominent 
part  in  public  affairs.  He  has  served  as  post- 
master of  WUkesboro,  as  sheriff  of  the  county, 
as  clerk  of  the  United  States  District  Court  and 
since  1912  has  been  deputy  clerk  of  the  United 
States  District  Court.  He  was  married  in  1862 
to  Martha  A.  Barlow,  who  was  born  in  Wilkes 
County,  a  daughter  of  Braxton  and  Charlotte 
(Carlton)  Barlow.  Bev.  Mr.  McNeill  and  wife 
have  reared  nine  children,  named  America,  Sarah 
J.,  James  W.,  Julia,  Martha,  Jesse  M.,  Robert 
H.,  Rosa  V.  and  Nellie. 

John  Green  Prevette,  brother  of  Hon.  Joseph 
M.,  was  graduated  from  the  Wilkesboro  High 
School  and  subsequently  took  his  degree  B.  A. 
from  Wake  Forest  College  in  1910.  He  has  been 
activelv  associated  with  his  brother  both  in  the 
practice  of  law  and  in  farming  and  fruit  growing. 

Joseph  M.  Prevette,  who  was  born  at  Wilkes- 
boro, attended  the  high  school  there,  then  entered 
Wake  Forest  College,  where  he  finished  the  classi- 
cal course  in  1909,  and  in  1910  was  graduated 
from  the  law  department  LL.  B.  He  immediately 
began  active  practice  at  Wilkesboro,  and  has 
steadilv  jnirsued  a  dignified  and  influential  course 
in  the"  law  and  public  affairs.  He  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  State  Legislature  in  1917.  The 
Governor  recently  appointed  him  a  member  of 
the  State  Building  Commission  and  he  is  the 
youngest  member  of  that  board.  Politically  he 
is  a  republican,  and  has  served  as  a  member  of 
the   Town  Board  of  Wilkesboro. 

In  1913  Mr.  Prevette  bought  a  hundred, 
twelve  and  half  acres  near  Wilkesboro  and  part 
of  this  is  rich  bottom  land.  This  tract  has  been 
devoted  to  general  farming  and  fruit  growing. 
Mr.  Prevette  erected  a  commodious  frame  house 
on  a  hill  commanding  an  extensive  view  of  the 
surrounding  country,  and  there  he  and  his  famUy 
reside  with  his  mother.  Mr.  Prevette  also  has 
seventy-five  acres  on  Brushy  Mountain,  and  a 
part  of  this  is  cultivated  as  an  apple  orchard. 
His  brother  has  another  tract  adjoining,  which 
is  also  in  an  apple  orchard. 

In  191.3  Joseph  M.  Prevette  married  Elizabeth 
Alton  Gill,  daughter  of  George  E.  and  Lizzie 
(Hunter)  Gill  of  Wake  Forest.  They  have  one 
daughter,  Sarah  E.,  and  a  son,  Joseph  Milton 
Prevette,  Jr. 

WiLLi.iM  Frederick  Carr.  From  the  time  he 
left  the  scholastic  environment  of  the  University 
of  North  Carolina,  William  Frederick  Carr  has 
been  a  rrogressive  leader  in  business  affairs  and 
has  made  his  mark  among  the  textile  industries 
of  the  state.  He  is  now  secretary  and  assistant 
treasurer  of  the  Durham  Hosiery  Mill,  and  is  one 
of  the  leading  factors  in  the  commercial  life  of 
that  citv. 

Mr.  Carr  is  a  native  of  Durham,  where  he  was 
born  January  .3,  1881,  a  son  of  Dr.  Albert  Gallatin 
and  Anna  (Parrish)  Carr.  His  education  was  be- 
gun in  public  schools,  continued  in  Horner's 
Militarv  Institute  at  Oxford,  and  was  finished 
with  his  gi-aduation  from  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  in  1903.     He  then  took  up  hosiery  manu- 


facturing, and  by  hard  work  and  good  natural 
ability  has  won  his  way  to  his  present  position. 

He  is  also  president  of  the  Durham  Morris  Plan 
Bank,  a  director  of  the  Home  Savings  Bank  and 
of  the  Durham  Loan  and  Trust  Company,  and  in 
social  affairs  is  member  of  the  Rotary,  Country 
and  Commonwealth  clubs  and  is  affiliated  with  the 
Benevolent   and  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 

On  November  26.  1913,  Mr.  Carr  married  Clara 
Louise  Carr  of  Baltimore,  Maryland.  They  have 
one  son,  William  Frederick,  Jr.,  born  September 
19,  1914. 

John  Allan  Taylor.  No  citizen  of  Wilmington 
has  been  a  more  aggressive  factor  in  every  for- 
ward movement  for  the  upbuilding  of  that  com- 
munity in  recent  years  than  John  Allan  Taylor, 
long  prominent  as  a  wholesale  merchant. 

In  1898  he  was  one  of  the  committee  of  safety, 
comprising  twenty-five  citizens  in  whom  the  people 
placed  absolute  confidence,  and  who  took  charge 
of  the  administration  of  civic  affairs  during  the 
days  of  the  Wilmington  riot.  This  was  known  as 
the  riot  commission.  Mr.  Taylor  was  author  of 
the  resolutions  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  pro- 
claiming to  the  world  "The  Wilmington  Resolve," 
a  notable  document  which  Governor  Aycock  incor- 
porated into  his  personal  platform  during  the  cam- 
paign. 

Mr.  Taylor  was  also  a  member  of  the  "Revolu- 
tionary Board  of  Aldermen,"  who  took  up  the 
paving  and  general  betterment  of  the  city  and  more 
than  any  other  one  factor  laid  the  permanent 
foundation  of  the  Wilmington  of  today. 

Mr.  Taylor  organized  the  first  Freight  Traffic 
Association  in  North  Carolina,  known  as  the 
Wilmington  Tariff  Association.  He  carried  its  con- 
tentions before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion, and  aggressively  represented  his  home  city 
in  the  movement  to  "make  Wilmington  "a  gate- 
way'* for  North  Carolina.  This  association  was 
organized  in  1898,  and  from  that  time  forward 
Mr.  Taylor  has  been  very  active  in  all  traffic  mat- 
ters and  was  president  of  thp  association  during 
its  existence  and  was  a  leader  in  the  fight  for 
better  traffic   rates  which  culminated  in   1912. 

For  ten  years  Mr.  Taylor  served  as  chairman  of 
the  Joint  School  Committee  of  Wilmington.  Be- 
sides his  service  as  alderman  during  the  riot  he 
served  another  term  at  a  later  date.  For  eight 
vears  he  was  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, and  as  chairman  of  its  traffic  committee 
again  and  again  appeared  before  Congress  in  be- 
lialf  of  Wilmington  in  its  claims  for  recognition 
in  river  and  harbor  bills  and  in  various  tariff 
regulations. 

John  Allan  Taylor  is  a  native  of  North  Caro- 
lina and  has  spent  nearly  all  his  life  in  and  near 
Wilmington.  He  was  born  August  15,  1862,  and 
lived  on  the  plantation  of  his  father  until  he  was 
fifteen.  His  parents  were  John  Douglas  and  Sarah 
Elizabeth  (Walker)  Taylor.  He  received  his  early 
education  under  a  private  tutor  at  Oaks  Planta- 
tion, and  afterwards  attended  a  private  normal 
school.  His  first  business  experience  was  as  book- 
keeiier  in  a  wholesale  house  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two  he  was  admitted  to  partnership,  and 
remained  with  that  firm  in  Wilmington  for  eight- 
een years.  In  January,  1899,  Mr.  Taylor  orga- 
nized the  present  wholesale  grocery  business  of 
which  he  is  the  head.  He  is  a  vestryman  in  St. 
James  Episcopal   Church.     There  is  probably  not 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


367 


a  better  poated  maa  oii  various  economic  ques- 
tions affecting  the  country  and  his  native  state 
thau  Mr.  Taylor. 

On  November  5,  1890,  he  married  Miss  May 
Baker  French,  daughter  of  Judge  Robert  Strange 
French.  They  lost  one  son,  Robert  French,  at 
the  age  of  seventeen.  Two  children  are  now  liv- 
ing. John  Douglas  Taylor,  Jr.,  attended  Wash- 
ington and  Lee  University  and  is  now  with  the 
United  States  Army  in  France,  with  rank  of  sec- 
ond lieutenant.  The  daughter,  Mary  Reid,  is  a 
student  in  HoUis  College  at  Roanoke,  Virginia. 

Bennett  Williamson  Moseley  is  a  Virginia 
man  by  birth  and  early  training  but  for  many 
yeajs  has  been  prominent  in  liusincss  circles  at 
Greenville,  North  Carolina,  and  his  name  is  as- 
sociated with  some  of  the  most  substantial  in- 
dustries and  commercial  affairs  of  that  part  of 
the  state. 

He  was  born  at  Bedford  Springs,  Virginia,  Jan- 
uary '.i,  1874,  son  of  Rev.  Bennetf  Williamson  and 
Louisa  (Venable)  Moseley.  His  father  gave  his 
active  life  to  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church    in   Virginia,   where   he   died    in    1886. 

Bennett  W.  Moseley,  twelve  years  old  when 
his  father  died,  was  educated  in  the  New  London 
Academy  and  tlie  Fishburne  Military  Academy 
at  Waynesl)oro,  Virginia,  where  he  completed  the 
course  in  1892.  He  then  began  a  career  in  busi- 
ness that  he  has  steadilj-  pursued  from  an  unim- 
]>ortant  and  humble  role  as  an  employe  until  he 
now  directs  affairs  of  large  importance  and  lias 
been  the  creator  of  his  own  success.  For  a  time 
he  was  employed  as  a  clerk  in  a  bank  at  Lynch- 
burg, Virginia,  worked  three  years  there  with  a 
general  merchandise  establishment,  and  in  1900 
came  to  Greenville  as  a  cotton  factor.  In  190.5 
he  and  his  brother  Alfred  formed  a  copartnership 
under  the  name  Moseley  Brothers,  establishing 
an  agency  for  general  insurance,  fire  insurance, 
life  insurance,  bonding,  and  in  1907  they  entered 
the  real  estate  field.  At  the  present  time  they 
have  the  largest  agency  of  tlie  kind  in  Eastern 
North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Moseley  is  also  sales  manager  of  the  Green- 
ville Oil  &  Fertilizer  Company  is  a  director  of 
the  National  Bank  of  Greenville,  of  the  Home 
Building  and  Loan  Association,  the  Greenville 
Cooperage  and  Lumber  Company  and  is  vice  pres- 
ident and  director  of  the  Proctor  Hotel  Company. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Carolina  Club  and  an 
elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  July  7,  1905, 
he  married  Mrs.  George  B.  Hughes,  her  maiden 
name  being  Miss  Willie  Fletcher  Picklen  of 
Buckingham  County,  Virginia.  Tlieir  three  chil- 
dren are:  Francis  Venable,  Bennett  Williamson, 
Jr.,  fourtli   of  the   najne,  and   Bancroft  Ficklen. 

Alfred  McDowell  Moseley  brother  and  business 
partner  of  B.  W.  Moseley,  was  born  in  Virginia, 
was  educated  in  the  graded  schools  of  Lynchburg 
and  Cluster  Springs  High  School,  and  his  first 
Inisiness  experience  was  gained  as  a  clerk  with 
a  wholesale  notion  and  hat  firm.  Later  he  worked 
as  clerk  in  a  tobacco  factory  and  for  seven  years 
was  connected  with  the  cotton  exporting  firm  of 
Alexander  Spmnt  &  Son.  At  first  he  was  in  the 
office,  and  later  his  abilities  brought  him  jjromo- 
tion  as  a  cotton  buyer.  In  1903  he  came  to 
Greenville,  North  Carolina,  as  cotton  buyer  for 
Rodgers,  MeCabe  &  Company,  cotton  exporters 
of  Norfolk,  Virginia.  Then  in  1905  he  joined  his 
brother  in  the  firm  of  Moseley  Brothers.  He  is 
also    general    manager    of    the    Greenville    Oil    & 


Fertilizer  Comi>any  a  director  of  the  Gi-eenville 
Banking  &  Trust  Company  and  of  the  Greenville 
Cotton  Mills.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Carolina 
Club.  On  December  9,  1909,  occurred  his  mar- 
riage  to   Nell   M.   Skinnei',   of  Greenville. 

John  L.  Woltz,  M.  D.  Member  of  one  of  the 
old  and  prominent  families  of  Surry  County,  Dr. 
Woltz  was  born  at  Uobson  in  tliat  county,  and 
since  completing  his  medical  education  has  been 
busily  engaged  in  an  enlarging  scope  of  practice. 
Since  1903  his  home  and  office  have  been  iu 
Mount  Airy. 

Dr.  Woltz  is  a  son  of  John  E.  and  Lou  (Kings- 
bury) Woltz.  He  grew  up  in  a  home  of  sub- 
stantial comforts,  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  at  Dobson  and  graduated  from  the  East 
Bend  High  School.  His  father  being  a  prominent 
physician,  he  began  his  medical  studies  under  his 
direction,  and  subsequently  entered  the  Atlanta 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  at  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  where  he  completed  the  course  and  was 
granted  his  M.  D.  degree  in  1897.  The  early 
years  of  his  experience  Dr.  Woltz  liad  iu  Mountain 
City,  Tennessee,  where  he  practiced  two  years  and 
then  removed  to  Pilot  Mountain  in  Surry  County 
of  his  native  state.  In  1903  he  came  to  Mount 
Airy  and  has  found  a  liberal  patronage  for  his 
abUity  and  efforts  in  this  community.  Dr.  Woltz 
is  a  member  of  the  Surry  County  and  North 
Carolina  Medical  societies  and  also  belongs  to  the 
State  Medical  societies  of  Georgia  and  Tennessee. 

He  was  married  in  1896,  the  year  before  com- 
pleting his  medical  course,  to  Issie  Mildred 
Richards.  Mrs.  Woltz  was  born  at  Haystack, 
Surry  County,  daughter  of  Jesse  and  Mary  (Lane) 
Richards.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Woltz  have  a  daughter 
and  two  sons:  Lola  Vivian  and  Howard  Osier 
and  Grier  Cornelius.  With  his  wife  Dr.  Woltz  is 
an  active  member  of  the  Central  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  South.  He  is  affiliated  with  Mount 
Airy  Lodge  No.  107,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  Blue  Ridge  Council  No.  73,  Junior  Order 
of  United  American  Mechanics,  and  with  Mounf 
Airy  Camp  No.  16770  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America. 

James  FsANKLiNf  Spruil.  An  attorney  by  pro- 
fession, James  Franklin  Spruil,  of  Lexington, 
))eing  possessed  of  great  tact,  good  judgment,  and 
a  splendid  knowledge  of  the  law,  has  won  a  note- 
worthy position  among  his  colleagues  of  the  David- 
son County  bar.  A  son  of  James  Spruil,  he  was 
born,  Septemljer  29,  1882,  on  a  farm  in  township 
No.  5,  Pamlico  County,  North   Carolina. 

Tully  Spruil,  Mr.  Spruil 's  paternal  grandfather, 
was  born  in  Columbia,  Tyrrell  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, where  his  father,  Jonathan  Spruil,  a  farmer, 
settled  on  coming  from  England  to  America.  He 
was  reared  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and  about 
1861  removed  to  Pamlico  County,  and  having 
bought  a  tract  of  land  in  township  No.  2,  managed 
it  with  slave  labor.  During  the  Civil  war,  the 
section  of  tlie  country  in  which  he  lived  was 
visited  by  both  armies,  and  he  suffered  heavy 
losses  in  stock  and  supplies,  as  well  as  having 
thirteen  of  his  negroes  set  free.  He  continued 
his  residence  there,  liowever,  until  his  death.  He 
lier  27,  1856,  and  has  always  followed  the 
and  his  good  wife  reared  nine  children,  five 
daughters  and  four  sons,  Albert,  Jonathan,  Daniel, 
and  James.  The  three  older  sons  served  in  the  Con- 
federate  Army. 

James  Spruil   was   born   on   the  parental  home- 


368 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


stead,  in  township  No.  2,  Pamlico  County,  Decem- 
ber 27,  1856,  and  has  always  followed  the 
occupation  of  his  father  and  grandfather.  When 
ready  to  establish  a  home  of  his  own,  he  bought 
land  in  township  No.  5,  Pamlico  County,  where 
he  has  since  been  profitably  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits,  his  fine  farm  being  well  improved,  and 
highly  productive.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Eliza  Cahoon.  She  was  born  in  Dare  County, 
North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Clifford  and  Eliza- 
beth (Midgett)  Cahoon,  coming  from  French 
ancestry,  her  paternal  grandfather  having  been 
a  native  of  France.  Nine  children  were  born  into 
their  home,  namely:  Cora,  Annie,  James  Frank- 
lin, Carrie,  Bertie,  Alice  A.,  Clifford,  Rosa,  and 
Sadie.  Cora  is  the  wife  of  Herman  Bitch.  Bertie 
married  J.  B.  Bryan.  Alice  is  the  wife  of  Curtis 
Willey ;  and  Sadie  married  Frank  Smnmers. 

Acquiring  his  early  education  in  the  rural 
schools,  James  Franklin  Spruil  continued  his 
studies  at  the  Vandemere  High  School,  and  at  the 
Pamlico  Educational  Institute,  at  Bayboro.  In 
1903,  he  was  graduated  from  the  Allenton  Colleg- 
iate Institute,  and  four  years  later  he  was  grad- 
uated from  the  University  of  North  Carolina  with 
the  degree  of  A.  B.  Mr.  Spruil  then  entered  the 
law  department  of  that  university,  and  was  there 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  LL.  B.  in  1910.  In 
August,  1910,  he  was  licensed  to  practice,  and  a 
month  later,  in  September,  1910,  located  in  Lex- 
ington, where  he  has  since  built  up  a  large  and 
eminently  successful  practice.  Mr.  Spruil  cast 
his  first  presidential  vote  for  WUliam  J.  Bryan, 
and  has  been  a  firm  adherent  of  the  democratic 
party  since.  Religiously  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist    Episcopal   Church,    South. 

Benjamin  Franklin  McLean,  a  lavpyer  of  un- 
usual talents  and  long  and  varied  experience,  is  a 
member  of  the  bar  of  Robeson  County  and  has 
practiced  at  Maxton  for  many  years'.  He  is  one 
of  the  youngest  surviving  veterans  of  those  South- 
ern youths  who  took  their  places  in  the  ranks  be- 
•  fore  the  close  of  the  war  between  the  states  and 
withstood  the  shock  of  battle  with  all  the  calmness 
and  bravery  of  veterans. 

Mr.  McLean  was  born  near  Floral  College  in 
Robeson  County  in  1847,  and  represents  some  of 
the  sterling  Scotch  family  stock  of  this  section 
of  North  Carolina.  He  is  a  son  of  Daniel  W.  and 
Sarah  (Campbell)  McLean.  His  father  was  also 
born  in  Robeson  County.  The  grandfather,  NeUl 
McLean,  came  from  Argyleshire,  Scotland,  to 
North  Carolina  about  1795.  He  located  near  Al- 
fordsville  in  what  is  now  the  southeastern  corner 
of  Robeson  County.  Subsequently  he  removed  to 
the  vicinity  of  Red  Springs  and  established  the 
place  known  as  ' '  Cross  Roads. ' '  He  had  a  large 
plantation  and  his  son  Daniel  followed  him  in 
that  vocation.  Daniel  W.  McLean  manifested  un- 
usual interest  in  educational  affairs  and  was  him- 
self a  teacher  of  more  than  ordinary  prominence. 
He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Floral  College,  es- 
tablished about  1845,  and  a  member  of  its  first 
board  of  trustees,  and  continued  that  relationship 
with  the  college  for  a  number  of  years.  Floral 
College  was  a  noted  school  for  young  women,  and 
maintained  under  the  auspices  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Its  modern  successor  is  the  well  known 
Flora  McDonald  CoUese  at  Red  Springs.  Daniel 
W.  McLean  died  in  1862. 

Benjamin  F.  McLean  was  between  sixteen  and 
seventeen  years  of  age  when  in  1864  he  joined 
Company  I)  of  the  First  North  Carolina  Battalion 


of  Heavy  Artillery.  This  battalion  was  stationed 
during  his  service  therein  at  Fort  Caswell,  below 
Wilmington.  Mr.  McLean  did  his  part  in  the 
gallant  defense  of  Fort  Fisher  against  an  immense 
fleet  of  Federal  forces  which  for  days  trained  a 
terrible  fire  against  the  inadequate  but  brave  and 
determined  Confederate  garrison.  This  was  one  of 
the  fiercest  battles  between  the  land  and  naval 
forces  in  the  Civil  war.  At  the  fall  of  Fort 
Fisher  Mr.  McLean  was  made  a  prisoner  and 
during  tlie  rest  of  the  war,  untU  June,  1865,  was 
confined  at  Point  Lookout,  Maryland. 

The  McLean  family  suffered  the  economic  evils 
and  losses  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  so  many  southern 
families  after  the  war.  Benjamin  F.  McLean  on 
his  return  to  the  South  put  himself  in  the  harness 
and  began  working  not  only  for  himself  but  for 
his  widowed  mother  and  the  family.  He  found  a 
position  as  a  bookkeeper  and  for  several  years  was 
also  engaged  in  the  turpentine  industry.  His  early 
ambition  had  been  for  the  law,  but  it  was  many 
years  before  he  was  able  to  carry  out  the  pro- 
gram of  preparation  required.  He  studied  law  as 
opportunity  presented  and  was  licensed  to  practice 
in  1895.  Since  then  he  has  buUt  up  an  enviable 
practice  in  Robeson  County,  and  has  looked  after 
an  increasing  volume  of  litigation  in  the  legal 
)nisiness  in  the  county,  state  and  federal  courts. 
For  several  terms  he  served  as  mayor  of  Maxton, 
and  was  also  formerly  a  United  States  commis- 
sioner. 

Mr.  McLean  is  father  of  a  talented  and  highly 
educated  family  of  three  children.  Dr.  Frank  Mo- 
Lean,  Prof.  George  Halbert  McLean  and  Mrs. 
Sarah  Morrison.  All  received  liberal  educations 
and  Mrs.  Morrison  is  a  graduate  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Conservatory  of  Music.  Dr.  Frank  McLean 
has  attained  an  enviable  position  as  a  physician 
and  surgeon  in  New  York  City.  He  received  his 
literary  and  two  years  of  his  medical  education  in 
the  University  of  North  Carolina,  and  subsequently 
graduated  in  medicine  from  the  University  of 
Virginia.  He  then  spent  a  year  in  a  hospital  at 
Waltham,  Massachusetts,  six  months  in  the  Belle- 
vue  Hospital  at  New  York,  another  six  months  in 
the  Presbyterian  Hospital,  and  then  set  up  in  ac- 
tive private  practice  at  New  York,  where  his  name 
is  already  mentioned  among  the  leaders  of  the 
profession.  He  is  now  a  captain  in  the  Medical 
Reserve  Corps  and  at  present  stationed  at  Camp 
Dix  in  New  Jersey.  Prof.  George  Halbert  McLean 
was  educated  in  the  North  Carolina  Military 
Academy  and  graduated  from  the  Citadel  Prepara- 
tory School  at  Charleston.  For  a  year  he  was 
principal  of  the  High  School  at  Union,  South 
Carolina,  and  then  became  professor  of  French, 
German  and  Modern  languages  at  Staunton  Mili- 
tary Academy  at  Staunton,  Virginia.  He  is  now 
at  the  officers'  training  school  at  Camp  Jackson, 
Columbia,  South  Carolina. 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Harding.  One  of  the  most 
loved  of  men.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Harding  spent  a 
lifetime  of  devoted  service  to  his  state  and 
county.  His  first  and  only  pastorate  as  a  min- 
ister of  the  Episcopal  Church  was  St.  Peter's 
Parish,  Washington,  North  Carolina,  where  h3 
served  continuously  for  forty-three  years.  He 
resisted  every  tempting  offer  to  call  him  from 
his  home,  the  duties  and  people  he  so  much  loved. 
Undoubtedly  he  had  the  affection  and  confidence 
of  a  larger  number  of  people,  regardless  of  class 
or  creed,  than  any  other  man  who  ever  lived  in 
that  community. 


3 


JLA^'uy 


ASTOR.  t-EiJO*-  ^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


369 


He  was  born  at  Chocowiuity.  Beaufort  County, 
North  Carolina,  March  6,  1847,  the  youngest  son 
of  Nathaniel  anrl  Elizabeth  (Patrick)  Harding, 
and  his  career  was  only  part  of  the  honorable 
record  of  this  family.  His  oldest  brother,  .lar- 
vis  Buxton,  was  one  time  sheriff  of  the  county, 
afterwards  losing  his  life  in  Virginia,  as  a  Con- 
federate soldier.  Another  brother,  Rer.  Israel 
Harding,  was  also  a  prominent  Episcopal  min- 
ister. Maj.  Henry  Harding  and  Capt.  Frederick 
Harding  were  officers  in  the  Confederate  service, 
who  after  the  war  filled  many  places  of  honor 
and  distinctioji  in  their  native  and  Pitt  coun- 
ties. 

As  a  boy  Rev.  N.  Harding  attended  school  at 
Chocowinity,  where  the  teaching  and  life  of  Rev. 
N.  Collin  Hughes  had  a  most  powerful  influence 
upon  him.  He  volunteered  as  a  private  when  only 
seventeen  years  old,  during  the  last  year  of  the 
Civil  war,  and  served  faithfully  to  the  end.  He 
wa.s  always  deeply  interested  in  his  comrades 
of  the  Confederate  cause,  attending  many  reun- 
ions. He  was  also  prominent  in  the  State  Na- 
tional Guard,  being  chaplain  of  the  Second  In- 
fantry and  had  the  honor  of  holding  the  oldest 
commission  in  the  state  and  was  one  of  the  oldest 
men  of  his  rank  in  the  country.  At  the  close  of 
the  war  he  taught  school  in  Beaufort  County  and 
near  Wilmington,  North  Cnrolina.  until  1868,  when 
he  went  to  Cheshire  Military  Academy  in  Con- 
necticut and  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  afterwards 
teaching  at  Cheshire  and  preparing  for  the  minis- 
try. He  was  ordained  deacon  at  Wilmington, 
North  Carolina,  in  ,Tuly,  1873,  by  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Thomas  Atkinson,  and  priest  in  Washington,  North 
Carolina  December,  1875,  by  the  same  bishop. 
He  was  called  to  the  rectorship  of  St.  Peter's 
Parish  at  Washington  in  September,  1873,  and 
here  he  found  his  work  until  he  answered  the  call 
of  death   on  June  27,  1917. 

During  these  years  it  is  said  that  he  baptized 
774  persons,  married  21.5  couples,  and  officiated 
at  the  funeral  of  43.5.  He  conducted  more  than 
2,000  services,  and  seldom  missed  a  Sunday  from 
his  pul]iit,  though  unable  to  walk  without  help 
for  seven  years. 

The  diocese  of  East  Carolina  bestowed  upon 
him  every  honor  in  its  power,  even  offering  him 
the  high  office  of  bishop,  which  he  felt  himself 
unable  to  consider  on  account  of  his  infirmities. 
He  was  deputy  to  the  General  Convention  from 
1884  to  1907,  president  of  Standing  Committee, 
member  of  the  Board  of  Examining  Chaplains, 
president  of  the  Council,  and  dean  of  Convocation 
of   Edenton. 

Other  duties  filled  up  his  time  to  overflowing. 
For  twenty-five  years  he  was  county  superintend- 
ent of  schools  and  did  much  for  the  cause  of 
local  public  education.  His  efforts  were  espe- 
cially directed  to  the  raising  of  the  standards  of 
the  country   schools. 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Harding  was  married  Febru- 
ary 3,  1874,  to  Mary  Elizabeth  Hughes,  who  died 
.Tanuary  5,  1887.  Of  this  marriage  four  children 
survive  him:  Collin  Hughes,  Frederick  Harriman, 
Mrs.  Kenneth  G.  Henry  and  William  Blount 
Harding.  On  October  1,  1889,  Rev.  Mr.  Harding 
married  Marina  Brickell  Handy,  daughter  of  Ed- 
mund S.  Hoyt,  of  Washington,  North  Carolina. 
She  with  their  two  children  Edmund  Hoyt  and 
Rena  B.  H.  Harding,  survive  him. 

Edward  Chatham  Bivens,  mayor  of  Mount 
Airy,  is  a  successful  young  lawyer  of  Surry  County 

VoL  IV— 24 


and  represents  an  honored  family  name  in  the 
state. 

Mr.  Bivens  wag  born  in  Hnion  County,  North 
Carolina,  December  29,  1886.  His  grandfather, 
William  Bivens,  served  in  the  Confederate  army 
during  the  war  between  the  states.  His  main 
Inisiness  was  as  a  planter,  and  prior  to  the  war  he 
operated  his  land  with  the  aid  of  his  slaves.  So 
far  as  known  he  spent  his  entire  life  in  Union 
County.  He  married  and  reared  a  family  of 
children,  including  Henry  F.  Bivens,  father  of  the 
Mount  Airy  lawyer.  Henry  F.  Bivens  was  born 
on  the  farm  owned  by  his  father.  This  farm  is 
about  four  miles  northeast  of  Monroe.  His  early 
life  was  spent  there  and  eventually  he  succeeded 
to  the  ownership  of  the  place.  He  finally  left  the 
farm  and  moved  to  Waxhaw  in  Union  County, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  drug  business.  At  the 
same  time  he  superintended  the  operation  of  his 
farm.  His  death  occurred  in  Waxhaw  in  May, 
1908,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five.  His  wife  was  Lulu 
M.  Porter,  who  was  born  in  Lancaster  County, 
South  Carolina.  Her  father  served  with  the  rank 
of  lieutenant  in  the  war  between  the  states.  She 
is  now  living  in  Durham.  Her  four  children  were 
named  Edward  C,  William  Patterson,  Laura  May 
and  lone. 

Edward  Chatham  Bivens  spent  most  of  his  early 
life  in  Waxhaw,  where  he  attended  public  schools. 
He  took  the  full  classical  course  in  Trinity  College 
at  Durham,  where  he  was  graduated  A.  B.  in  1908. 
From  Trinity  he  went  to  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  Law  School  and  finished  his  course  and 
received  his  license  in  1910.  Since  his  gr.adua- 
tion  and  admission  to  the  bar  Mr.  Bivens  has  been 
in  in-actice  at  Mount  Airy,  and  by  careful  and 
conscientious  attention  to  his  work  has  built  up 
a  fine  professional  reputation. 

Mr.  Bivens  was  married  November  10,  191.5,  to 
Miss  Alma  Louise  Banner,  who  was  born  at  Mount 
Airv,  daughter  of  John  L.  and  Emma  Banner. 

Mr.  Bivens  was  elected  to  his  office  as  mayor 
of  Mount  Airy  in  1915.  A  democrat  in  politics, 
he  cast  his  first  vote  for  William  J.  Bryan.  He 
is  affiliated  with  Granite  Lodge  No.  207,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons  and  Blue  Rido-e  Council 
No.  73,  .Junior  Order  United  American  Mechanics. 

Mrs.  Bivens'  father,  John  L.  Banner,  was  born 
on  a  farm  in  Forsyth  County,  North  Carolina. 
His  great-arandfather  Ephraim  Banner,  was  of 
early  Engrlish  ancestry  and  owned  and  occupied 
a  plantation  in  Stokes  County  in  colonial  times. 
Benjamin  Banner,  grandfather  of  John  L.,  was 
born  in  Stokes  or  Forsvth  County,  was  a  pl.nnter 
and  kept  many  slaves  to  perform  the  work  of  the 
fields.  He  married  Peggy  Kiger,  who  was  of 
Pennsylvania  Dutch  ancestry.  Wesley  Banner, 
father  of  ,Tohn  L.  Banner,  was  born  in  Forsyth 
Countv  and  as  a  youne  man  taught  school,  later 
engaging  in  farming  and  the  manufacture  of  to- 
.bacco,  and  in  1886  he  removed  to  Surry  County  and 
bought  a.  flour  and  saw  mill  on  .Johnson  's  Creek, 
with  the  operation  of  which  he  was  identified  until 
his  death  in  1892.  Weslev  Banner  married  Ann 
Morris.  She  was  born  in  Stokes  County,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Frederick  and  Polly  (Horn)  Morris,  a 
granddaughter  of  Hammond  Morris  and  a  great- 
granddaughter  of  Robert  Morris,  who^e  name  is 
familiar  to  everv  reader  of  earlv  American  history 
as  a  friend  of  Washington  and  the  "financier  of 
the  revolution. " 

.John  L.  Banner  married  Mary  Emma  Banner,  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Louisa  (Prather)  Banner. 
Louisa  Prather  was  the  daughter  of  Thomas  and 


370 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Jane    (Beal)    Prather.      Mr.    and    Mrs.    John    L. 
Banner  are  still  living  at  Mount  Airy. 

Calvin  Cowles  Sanpord.  A  prominent  factor 
in  the  business  life  of  Davie  County,  Calvin 
Cowles  Sanford,  president  of  the  C.  C.  Sanford 
Sons  Company,  of  Moeksville,  is  at  the  head  of 
one  of  the  largest  mercantile  establishments  of  his 
community,  as  a  general  merchant  having  a  large 
and  prosperous  trade.  He  was  born,  October  15, 
1843,  in  Davie  County,  on  a  farm  lying  ten  miles 
west  of  Moeksville,  of  English  ancestry,  being  a 
descendant  in  the  eighth  generation  from  the  im- 
migrant ancestor,  his  genealogy  being  thus  traced: 
Thomas,  Ephraim,  Samuel,  Samuel,  Isaac,  Abel, 
Amos,  and  Calvin  C. 

Thomas  Sanford,  born  in  Essex,  England,  in 
1607,  immigrated  to  New  England  in  early  man- 
hood, settling  permanently  in  Milford,  Connecticut. 
His  posterity  is  numerous,  and  may  be  found  in 
almost  every  state  of  the  Union.  Ephraim  San- 
ford became  a  planter  in  New  Haven,  Connecticut, 
and  married  Mary  Powell,  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Priscilla  Powell.  Samuel  Sanford  married 
Hannah  Baldwin,  daughter  of  Richard  Baldwin. 
Samuel  Sanford  married  Abigail,  daughter  of 
Peletiah  and  Martha  (Sanford)  Holbrook.  Isaac 
Sanford  married  Jerusha  Baker.  Abel  Sanford 
married  Delilah  Sperry,  and  migrated  from  Con- 
necticut to  Marion,  New  York. 

Amos  Sanford  was  born  at  Woodbridge,  Con- 
necticut, June  18,  1798,  and  was  brought  up  and 
educated  in  Marion,  New  York.  As  a  young  man, 
he  came  to  North  Carolina  in  search  of  a  favorable 
opportunity  for  improving  his  fortunes.  He  settled 
first  in  Iredell  County,  but  later  located  on  land 
just  across  the  Iredell  County  line,  in  that  part  of 
Rowan  County  now  included  within  the  limits  of 
Davie  County.  He  improved  a  good  farm  there, 
and  later  moved  to  Jonesville  where  he  resided 
until  his  death.  He  was  twice  married.  He  mar- 
ried first  Catherine  Johnston,  and  married  second 
Mrs.  Mary  C.  (Lunn)  GrifSn,  a  daughter  of 
William  and  Esther  Lunn.  By  his  first  marriage 
two  sons  were  born,  namely:  Louis;  and  William, 
who  served  as  captain  of  a  company  in  the  Seventh 
Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops,  during  the 
Civil  war,  and  died  from  the  effects  of  wounds 
received  at  Newbern.  By  his  second  marriage  he 
had  but  one  child,  Calvin  C.  Sanford,  of  this 
sketch. 

Calvin  Cowles  Sanford  attended  the  rural  schools 
of  his  district  throughout  his  boyhood  days,  later 
continuing  his  studies  at  the  Olin  High  School, 
under  the  tutelage  of  Professors  A.  H.  Merritt 
and  R.  P.  Troy.  In  1862,  he  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  Company  F,  Forty-Second  Regiment,  North  Caro- 
lina Troops,  and  on  December  4,  of  that  year,  was 
promoted,  being  commissioned  second  lieutenant 
of  his  company.  Continuing  with  his  command  in 
all  of  its  marches,  campaigns  and  battles  until 
the  close  of  the  war,  he  was  paroled  at  Bush  Hill, 
near  Old  Trinity,  and  returned  home. 

Mr.  Sanford  subsequently  taught  school  a  very 
few'  terms,  after  which  he  came  to  Moeksville, 
and  began  his  mercantile  career  in  the  general 
store  of  Brown  Brothers,  being  employed  as  a 
clerk.  Becoming  familiar  with  the  details  of  the 
business,  Mr.  Sanford,  acquired  a  one-third  in- 
terest in  the  firm,  which  was  continued  under  the 
name  of  the  Brown  Brothers  Company.  Later 
J.  L.  Adams  purchased  a  third  interest  in  the 
concern,  and  was  admitted  to  the  firm.  After 
a  short  time,  Mr.  Sanford  and  Mr.  Adams  bought 


Mr.  Brown 's  interest  in  the  business,  and  the 
firm  name  was  changed  to  Sanford  &  Adams. 
About  four  years  later,  at  the  death  of  Mr.  Adams, 
Mr.  Sanford  became  sole  proprietor  of  the  business, 
which  he  continued  alone  for  a  time.  In  1907, 
his  sons  were  admitted  to  a  copartnership,  and 
the  business  was  incorporated  as  the  C.  C.  San- 
ford Sons  Company,  with  Mr.  Sanffcrd  as  president, 
and  his  son,  Rufus  B.  Sanford,  as  secretary  and 
treasurer.  This  enterprising  company  carries  a 
large  stock  of  general  merchandise,  including  al- 
most everything  in  use  in  the  house  or  on  the  farm, 
and  is  well  patronized  throughoiit  the  community. 
The  firm  also  owns  and  operates  an  up-to-date 
garage,  it  being  the  only  one  in  the  city. 

Mr.  Sanford  married,  in  1872,  Mary  D.  Brown, 
who  was  born  in  Moeksville,  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Margaret  fBrinegar)  Brown.  Mrs.  Sanford 
passed  to  the  life  licyond  .luly  .5,  1909,  leaving 
eight  children,  namely:  William,  Thomas  Franklin, 
Rnfiis  Brown,  Edwin  Cowles,  Laura,  Hugh  A., 
.Tohn  Calvin,  and  Marv  L.  Thomas  F.  Sanford 
married  first  Julia  Farrier,  and  second  Mary 
Hogshead,  neither  of  whom  are  now  living.  By 
his  second  marriage  he  had  two  children,  Mary  M., 
and  Margaret  Blair.  Laura,  wife  of  Robert  T. 
Fawcette,  has  three  children,  Mary  Catherine, 
Calvin  Cowles  and  Robert  T.  Rufus  B.  married 
Adelaide  Gaither,  and  they  have  three  children. 
Lash  Gaither,  Rufus  Brown,  and  Marshall  Clement. 
Hugh  A.  married  Mariorie  Gelder,  and  John  C. 
married   Agnes   G.   Speight. 

H.  Edmund  Rodgers.  A  northern  man  by  birth 
and  training,  H.  Edmund  Rodgers  for  the  past 
three  years  has  practiced  law  with  growing  pres- 
tige and  .success  at  Wilmington  and  besides  look- 
ing after  the  interests  of  his  private  clientage  he 
has  been  dean  of  the  Wilmington  Law  School  since 
he  came  to  the  city  in  1913,  being  the  youngest 
dean  of  law  school  in  the  country. 

He  is  a  graduate  in  law  with  the  degree  LL.  B. 
from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  with  the 
class  of  1913.  Mr.  Rodgers  was  bom  at  Dayton, 
Ohio,  January  23,  1885,  a  son  of  Harry  Frank 
Rodgers,  who  at  one  time  was  sheriff  of  Mont- 
gomery County,  Ohio.  His  early  education  was  in 
the  Steele  High  School  at  Dayton,  where  he  took 
the  scientific  course,  did  his  preparatory  work  in 
Doane  Academy,  and  was  graduated  Bachelor  of 
Science  from  Denison  College  at  Granville,  Ohio, 
in  1909.  From  there  he  entered  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  while  there  was  prominent 
in  both  his  class  work  and  in  athletics,  playing 
a  position  on  the  university  football  team,  was 
one  of  the  members  of  the  team  specially  honored, 
and  was  All-American  tackle  in  1910. 

Mr.  Rodgers  was  married  September  19,  1913, 
to  Lillian  Morton  Baugh,  daughter  of  the  late 
George  W.  Baugh,  a  well  known  Philadelphia  at- 
toii|iey.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rodgers  are  members  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  and  in  politics  he  is  a  re- 
publican. 

John  Randolph  Uzzell,  whose  abilities  long 
adorned  the  Wilson  County  bar,  was  born  in 
Wayne  County,  North  Carolina,  .Tuly  16,  1858, 
a  son   of   Thomas  and   Tirzah    (Smith)    Uzzell. 

His  people  were  farmers,  and  it  was  in  a  rural 
district  that  he  grew  up  and  received  his  first 
instruction.  However,  he  was  liberally  educated, 
attending  the  University  of  North  Carolina  and 
afterwards  the  Dick  and  Dillard  Law  School.  Ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1882,  he  at  once  began  prac- 


T;-   '  IB-'i^^  1 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


371 


tioe  at  Kinston,  but  in  1888  removed  to  Wilson, 
where  he  acquired  a  splendid  practice  and  a 
high  reputation  and  where  he  continued  his  work 
as  a  lawyer  until  his  death  on  May  29,  1907. 
John  R.  Uzzell  was  an  active  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Churcli  and  was  affiliated  with  the  In- 
dependent   Order   of    Odd   Fellows. 

On  September  26,  1886,  he  married  Martha, 
better  known  as  Pattie,  Simms  Woodard.  Five 
children  were  born  to  their  union :  James  W., 
now  secretary  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and 
tax  lister  at  Wilson;  Thomas  R.,  the  Wilson  at- 
torney; Pattie,  wife  of  T.  E.  Davis,  a  traveling 
salesman  living  at  Wilson;  George  Anderson  and 
Helen,  who  are  still  attending  school. 

Thomas  Randolph  ITzzell,  now  in  general 
practice  as  a  lawyer  at  Wilson,  has  had  a  suc- 
cessful experience  and  has  done  much  to  qualify 
himself  for  the  position  which  he  now  enjoys  in 
the  esteem  of  his  fellow  practitioners  and  the 
general  public. 

Mr.  ITzzell  is  former  county  attorney  of  Wil- 
son County.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the 
fall  of  1911  and  has  since  been  in  general  prac- 
tice. He  belongs  to  the  North  Carolina  Bar  As- 
sociation and  is  a  member  of  the  Commonwealth 
and  Country  clubs  of  Wilson. 

He  was  born  in  Wilson  County  October  6, 
1889,  and  his  father,  John  Randolph  Uzzell,  was 
for  many  years  successfully  engaged  in  practice 
as  a  lawyer.  His  mother  was  Pattie  S.  (Wood- 
ard) I'zzell.  Thomas  R.  ITzzell  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools  of  Wilson,  the  Oak  Ridge  In- 
stitute, and  for  two  years  was  a  student  in  the 
academic  department  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  and  prepiared  for  his  profession  in  the 
law  school  of  the  university. 

Edward  M.  Linville,  of  the  old  and  well  known 
family  of  that  name  in  Western  North  Carolina, 
has  for  several  years  been  a  successful  lawyer  at 
Mount  Airy.  He  is  a  leader  in  the  republioaii 
party  in  that  section  of  the  state,  and  was  filling 
the  office  of  postmaster  at  Kernersville  when  he 
resigned  to  establish  his  office  at  Mount  Airy. 

He  was  born  in  Kernersville  Township  of  For- 
syth County  March  3,  1887.  Concerning  his 
ancestry  it  is  known  that  three  brothers  named 
Benjamin,  David  and  Solomon  Linville,  natives  of 
Wales,  came  to  America  along  with  the  William 
Penn  colony.  They  lived  for  a  time  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. Descendants  of  one  of  the  brothers 
migrated  west  and  are  now  to  be  found  in  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  Missouri.  Solomon  became  separated 
from  the  other  two  brothers,  and  it  is  not  definitelj 
known  where  he  spent  his  last  years,  but  the  fact 
has  been  established  beyond  doubt  that  his  descend- 
ants located  in  Belews  Creek  Township  of  Forsyth 
County,  where  they  were  pioneers.  One  of  these 
was  Benjamin,  great-great-grandfather  of  Edward 
M.  Linville.  His  descendants  are  numerous  and 
have  been  represented  not  only  in  agriculture  but 
in  the  various  professions.  There  is  record  of 
David  Linville,  who  is  recorded  in  the  1790  census 
as  head  of  a  family  in  Stokes  County,  which  then 
included   Forsyth   County. 

Moses  Linville,  grandfather  of  the  Mount  Airy 
lawyer,  was  born  in  Belews  Creek  Township  and 
spent  his  life  there  as  a  planter  and  as  a  very 
capable  and  influential  citizen.  He  married  Eliz- 
abeth Hester,  daughter  of  John  Hester,  fi,lso  a 
planter  in  the  same  township. 

William  S.  Linville,  father  of  Edward  M.,  was 


born  in  Kernersville  Township  of  Forsyth  County 
in  1854.  He  acquired  a  good  education  and  for 
several  years  was  a  teacher,  though  his  chief 
occupation  was  farming.  He  is  now  engaged  in 
the  mercantile  business  at  Kernersville  and  has  a 
large  and  complete  stock  of  general  merchandise 
sufficient  to  supply  all  the  needs  of  that  com- 
munity. He  married  Mary  Vance,  daughter  or 
Martin  N.  and  Hepsy  J.  (Smith)  Vance.  Mrs. 
Hepsy  Vance  was  born  in  Kernersville,  a  daughter 
of  Adam  and  Eunice  (Starbuck)  Smith,  of  a 
Massachusetts  family,  and  she  died  at  the  age  of 
sixty-four.  Martin  N.  Vance  was  born  in  For- 
syth County  in  1819,  was  a  farmer  and  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty-two.  His  father  was  John  Vance, 
also  a  native  of  Kernersville  Townshiii.  He  lived  to 
the  age  of  eighty-four  and  his  wife,  Polly  Marshall, 
died  at  seventy-eight.  John  Vance  was  descended 
from  an  ancestor  who  came  out  of  Ireland  and  set- 
tled in  North  Carolina  in  colonial  times.  John 
Vance  's  father  was  also  John,  and  he  spent  his  last 
years  in  Kernersville  Township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam S.  Linville  have  reared  children  named  Addison 
N.,  William  CUnton,  Arthur  J.,  Bettie  E.,  MoUie, 
Walter  S.,  Laura  Frances  and  Edward  M.  The 
sons  Addison,  Arthur  and  Walter  are  all  associated 
with  their  father  in  general  merchandising  at 
Kernersville.  William  C.  is  a  successful  physician 
at  Goldsboro.  Bettie  E.  is  the  wife  of  Judge 
Gideon  Hastings.  Mollie  married  Clyde  A.  Holt. 
Laura  is  the  wife  of  Herman  Morton. 

Edward  M.  Linville  attended  his  first  school  in 
a  log  house  in  the  old  home  district  of  Kerners- 
ville Township.  Later  he  attended  the  graded  and 
high  schools  at  Kernersville  and  completed  his 
education  in  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
College  of  North  Carolina  and  in  Shenandoah 
College  at  Dayton,  Virginia.  Having  in  the  mean- 
time decided  upon  the  legal  profession  as  hia 
career  he  entered  the  law  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina  in  1908,  and  in  the 
same  year  was  given  his  license  to  practice.  For 
a  time  he  was  associated  with  Judge  Hastings  at 
Winston-Salem,  but  a  year  later  removed  to 
Kernersville  and  had  a  promising  business  as  a 
lawyer  in  that  locality  until  November,  1914. 
Since  then  his  home  and  professional  interests 
have  been  centered  at  Mount  Airy  and  he  has 
built  up  a  profitable  practice.  As  a  republican 
he  lias  served  as  the  candidate  of  his  party  for  the 
Legislature.  In  August,  1917,  he  was  appointed 
county  attorney  for  Surry  County. 

Mr.  Linville  was  married  November  30,  1911, 
to  Mrs.  Sue  Lindsay  Holcomb.  She  was  born 
in  Davidson  County,  a  daughter  of  H.  W.  and 
Minerva  (Phillips)  Lindsay,  and  is  the  widow  of 
Virgil  P.  Holcomb.  By  her  first  husband  she  has 
two  children,  named  Lindsay  and  Ruth.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Linville  are  active  members  of  Trinity 
Episcopal  Church,  in  which  he  is  serving  as  vestry- 
man and  lay  reader.  He  is  also  affiliated  with 
Blue  Ridge"  Council  No.  73,  Junior  Order  of 
United  American  Mechanics,  with  Magnolia  Camp 
No.  109,  Woodmen  of  the  World,  and  the  Modem 
Woodmen  of  America.  He  is  now  serving  as 
secretarv  of  the  Surry  County  Fair  Association. 

f 

Hon.  James  L.  Sheek.  Public  spirited,  ener- 
getic and  enterprising,  Hon.  James  L.  Sheek,  of 
]\rocksville.  North  Carolina,  is  actively  identified 
with  the  industrial  and  agricultural  prosperity 
of  Davie  County,  and  has  served  his  fellow-citizens 
with  ability  and  fidelity  in  many  official  positions. 
A  native  of  Davie  County,  he  was  born,  December 


372 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


1,  1866,  on  a  farm  lying  near  Smith  Grove,  not 
far  from  the  place  in  which  the  birth  of  his  father, 
Daniel  S.  Sheek,  ocenrred,  on  September  18,  1818, 
and  which  was  likewise  the  birthplace  of  his  grand- 
father, Eev.  Jacob  Sheek. 

William  Sheek,  Mr.  Sheek 's  great-grandfather, 
■  was  born  and  reared  in  Germany,  and  with  two 
of  his  brothers  immigated  to  America,  the  land 
of  great  opportunities.  Coming  directly  to  North 
Carolina,  he  secured  title  to  a  tract  of  land  in 
Davie  County,  near  Smith  Grove,  and  on  the  home- 
stead that  he  hewed  from  the  forest  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life.  He  reared  four  sons,  as 
follows:  Jacob,  Mr.  Sheek 's  grandfather;  George, 
who  settled  on  the  North  Yadkin  River,  in  Davie 
County:  John,  who  took  up  land  near  Smith  Grove, 
in  Christian  and  Yadkin  counties;  and  one  that 
located  in  Weatherford  County. 

Rev.  .Jacob  Sheek  acquired  a  practical  knowledge 
of  agxieulture  when  young.  At  the  death  of  his 
father,  he  inherited  a  part  of  the  parental  estate, 
aijd  having  purchased  other  tracts  of  laud  carried 
on  farming  with  the  assistance  of  his  slaves,  living 
upon  liis  plantation  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-nine  years. 

Deeply  interested  in  religious  matters  from  his 
youth,  he  was  converted  in  early  life,  and  in  addi- 
tion to  his  agricultural  work  was  for  many  years 
a  local  preacher  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Rev.  Jacob  Sheek  married  Sallie  Sain,  who  waa 
born  in  Davie  County,  on  Dutchmans  Creek.  Four 
children  were  born  of  their  union,  namely :  Daniel 
S.,  father  of  James  L.  of  tliis  sketch;  Wiley,  who 
died  in  Atlanta,  Georgia;  Albert,  a  life-long  resi- 
dent of  Davie  County;  and  Emily,  who  married 
Jonathan  Smith. 

Daniel  S.  Sheek  began  his  business  career  as  a 
general  merchant  at  Smith  Grove,  and  through 
good  management  built  up  a  prosperous  trade. 
Subsecjuently  acquiring  land  by  inheritance,  he 
bought  adjacent  tracts  of  land  near  Smith  Grove, 
and  there  spent  the  remainder  of  his  four  score 
years  of  earthly  life.  He  was  quite  successful 
in  his  labors,  and  in  addition  to  farming  owned 
and  operated  a  flour  mill  for  many  years.  He 
married  Martha  Williams,  a  native  of  Smith  Grove. 
Her  father,  John  Williams,  born,  it  is  believed, 
in  Caswell  County,  this  state,  came  to  Davie  County 
in  early  life,  and  purchased,  near  Smith  Grove, 
the  farm  on  which  he  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Beulah  Etchison,  spent  the  larger  part 
of  their  lives.  Mrs.  Daniel  S.  Sheek  died  at  the 
age  of  sixty-five  years,  leaving  five  sons,  George 
W.,  .John  W.,  Charles  F.,  James  L.,  and  Milton  D. 

Brought  up  on  the  parental  homestead,  James  L. 
Sheek  attended  the  rural  schools  in  boyhood,  and 
later  took  a  course  of  study  at  Moore 's  Commercial 
College,  in  Atlanta,  Georgia.  Following  in  the 
footsteps  of  his  ancestors,  he  has  always  taken 
an  active  interest  in  everything  pertaining  to  agri- 
culture, and  in  the  management  of  his  fine  farm, 
adjoining  Mocksville,  a  part  of  it  being  in  the  city, 
he  finds  both  pleasure  and  profit.  Mr.  Sheek  has 
made  improvements  of  great  value  on  his  estate,  in 
1916  having  erected  the  commodious  and  con- 
veniently arranged  house  which  he  and  his  family 
now  occupy.  A  man  of  versatile  talents,  and  un- 
doubted business  ability  and  tact,  Mr.  Sheek,  in 
addition  to  farming,  owns  and  operates  a  lumber 
mill  in  Mocksville.  and  also  deals  extensively  in 
cotton.  In  1898  Mr.  Sheek  was  elected  sheriff  of 
Davie  County,  and  served  so  ably  that  he  was 
continued  in  office,  by  reelection,  for  a  period  of 
twelve  years.     In  1912  he  had  the  honor  of  being 


elected  as  a  representative  to  the  State  Legislature, 
and  while  ser\-ing  in  that  capacity  was  ever  loyal 
to  the  interests   of  his  constituents. 

Mr.  Sheek  married,  in  1889,  Julia  Rena  Kiln- 
brough.  She  was  born  in  Smith  Grove,  a  daughter 
of  Dr.  George  Marmaduke  and  Sallie  E.  (Brock) 
Kimbrough.  Their  only  child,  James  Kimbrough 
Sheek,  was  graduated  from  the  Mocksville  High 
School,  and  afterward  studied  for  two  years  in  the 
medical  ilepartment  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina.  In  1916  he  enlisted  as  a  volunteer  in 
the  Lincolnton  Cavalry  .  Religiously  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Sheek  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Fraternally  Mr.  Sheek  belongs  to  Mocks- 
ville Lodge  No.  134,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Order  of  Masons ;  arid  to  Mocksville  CouneO  No. 
226,  Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics. 

Marmaduke  D.  Kimbrough,  M.  D.  Conspic- 
uous on  the  long  roll  of  names  that  have  conferred 
honor  upon  the  medical  profession  of  Davie  County 
is  that  of  the  late  Marmaduke  D.  Kimbrough,  M. 
D.,  who  gained  marked  prestige  in  medical  circles, 
and  for  many  years  was  known  as  one  of  the 
most  progressive  and  popular  citizens  of  Mocks- 
ville. He  was  born,  June  2,  1838,  at  Shallow 
Ford,  on  the  Yadkin  River,  in  Yadkin  County, 
North   Carolina. 

His  grandfather.  Dr.  George  Kimbrough,  a 
native,  it  is  thought,  of  France,  immigrated  to 
the  United  States  when  young,  locating  in  Yadkin 
County,  North  Carolina.  Entering  the  medical 
profession,  he  was  for  many  years  actively  and 
successfully  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine, 
being  one  of  the  more  prominent  physicians  and 
surgeons  of  this  section  of  the  state,  his  patronage 
extending  for  miles  in  either  direction  from  his 
home. 

Born,  bred  and  educated  in  Yadkin  County,  John 
Young  Kimbrough  spent  his  entire  life  in  the 
vicinity  of  his  birthplace.  Embarking  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  in  early  manhood,  he  bought 
laud  at  Sliallow  Ford,  and  with  the  assistance  of 
slaves  improved  a  fine  farm,  on  which  he  lived  until 
his  death,  at  a  ripe  old  age.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Amy  Joiner,  spent  her  long 
and  happy  life  in  the  same  locality.  Four  sons 
were  born  of  their  union,  namely:  Marmaduke 
P.,  .John  Anderson,  William  Nathaniel,  and  Lewis, 
wlio  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  Confederate  Army, 
and  died  while  in  service. 

Having  acquired  an  excellent  education  in  his 
youthful  days,  Marmaduke  D.  Kimbrough,  who 
was  an  aml)itious  student,  entered  the  University 
Medical  College,  in  Philadelphia,  and  was  there 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  M.  D.  The  young 
doctor  immediately  began  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  Brookstown,  and  during  the  Civil  war  he  served 
as  assistant  surgeon.  Subsequently  locating  at 
Smith  Grove,  Davie  County,  Dr.  Kimbrough  made 
rapid  strides  in  his  professional  status,  winning 
his  way  to  prominence  as  a  physician  and  surgeon, 
iind  gaining  to  a  marked  degree  the  confidence  of 
his  colleagues,  and  of  the  general  public.  In  1872 
and  1873,  the  doctor  took  a  post  graduate  course 
in  medicine  and  surgery,  making  a  special  study 
of  the  latter,  and  of  diseases  of  the  chest.  Be- 
coming skilful  in  various  operations  connected 
with  his  surgical  work,  Doctor  Kimbrough  success- 
fully performed  tracheotomy,  and  other  equally 
delic^e  operations,  besides  those  of  minor  im- 
portance, his  skill  with  the  surgeon 's  tools  being 
recognized.     The  doctor  subsequently  removed   to 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


373 


Mocksville,  where  he  contimied  a  respected  and 
eminently  popular  resident  until  his  death,  in  1910. 
Doctor  Kimbrough  married,  in  1861,  Sally  Brock, 
who  is  now  living:  at  Smith  Grove.  She  was  born 
near  Farmington,  Davie  County,  in  December,  1847, 
a  daughter  of  William  Britton  and  Frances  Smith 
(Chaffin)  Brock.  Ten  children  were  born  of  their 
marriage,  namely:  Camilla  Frances,  Mary  L., 
Chalmers  L.,  Sally  B.,  Julia  Rena,  Joseph  William, 
John  Armitt,  Algin  Lezora,  Alexander  M.,  and 
Puryear  Eamsey.  A  stanch  republican  in  his 
political  affiliations,  Doctor  Kimbrough  always 
took  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  public  welfare, 
and  served  efficiently  in  many  offices,  including 
that  of  deputy  revenue  collector.  From  18S4  until 
1896  he  was  chairman  of  the  Davie  County  Repub- 
lican Committee,  and  from  1882  until  1896  was 
also  chairman  of  the  Congressional  and  Judicial 
District  Committee. 

Deveraux  Tuklington,  whose  activities  for 
many  years  were  concentrated  upon  his  plantation 
in  Harnett  County,  is  a  resident  of  Turlington,  a 
little  village  on  the  Durham  &  Southern  Railway 
named  for  this  family.  For  many  years  it  con- 
tained a  postoffice  and  Deveraux  Turlington  was 
postmaster  for  twenty-one  years.  With  the  changes 
brought  about  by  the  inauguration  of  rural  free 
delivery,  the  postoffice  has  been  discontinued,  and 
the  people  there  now  get  their  mail  over  rural 
route  from  Duke  and  Dunn.  Turlington  is  situ- 
ated about  four  miles  north  of  the  thriving  little 
City  of  Dunn. 

Mr.  Turlington  was  born  in  Grove  Township  of 
Harnett  County  within  a  hundred  years  of  his 
present  home,  in  1848.  This  homestead  is  an 
liistoric  place.  His  grandfather,  Willis  Turling- 
ton, bought  it  in  1839  from  Dushee  Shaw.  At 
that  time  it  comprised  nearly  three  thousand  acres. 
Dushee  Shaw  was  the  son  of  Daniel  Shaw,  a 
family  which  located  in  this  part  of  North  Caro- 
lina before  the  Revolutionary  war.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  the  first  Scotch  Presbyterian  serv- 
ices in  Eastern  North  Carolina  were  held  in  the 
old  house  which  is  stUl  standing  on  the  Turling- 
ton place. 

Wliile  Willis  Turlington  thus  acquired  a  large 
stake  in  the  lands  of  Harnett  County,  he  never 
occupied  them  as  a  home.  He  had  removed  from 
Martin  County  to  .Johnston  County,  where  he  spent 
many  years  of  his  life  and  where  he  died. 

The  parents  of  Deveraux  Turlington  were  An- 
drew J.  and  Bradhilla  (Denning)  Turlington. 
Andrew  J.  Turlington  was  born  in  this  general 
vicinity  of  North  Carolina,  in  Johnston  County, 
and  during  the  early  '40s  moved  to  the  lands 
acquired  by  his  father  in  Harnett  County,  and  in 
this  locality  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He 
and  his  father  were  extensive  planters.  Andrew 
J.  Turlington  died  June  2.S,  1897.  His  wife,  Brad- 
hilla Turlington,  died  in  December,  1914,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  ninety. 

After  growing  up  and  receiving  his  education 
Deveraux  Turlington  took  up  the  business  of 
planting  and  farming,  and  for  a  long  period  of 
years  has  been  one  of  the  solid  and  substantial 
bulwarks  of  this  section.  He  has  reared  a  fine 
family  and  in  order  to  avoid  the  uncertainties  of 
settlement  of  an  estate  has  already  bequeathed  a 
tine  farm  to  each  of  his  children,  tliese  farms  con- 
stituting portions  of  the  original  Turlington  hold- 
ings. 

Mr.  Turlington's  wife  died  some  years  ago. 
There    are    three    children:    Stewart    Turlington; 


Cora,  wife  of  G.  M.  Stewart,  of  Turlington;  and 
Mary,  wife  of  O.  E.  Bain,  of  Smithfield.  Stewart 
Turlington  besides  having  a  fine  farm  keyed  up 
to  a  high  standard  of  cultivation  and  operation, 
also  owns  and  operates  a  large  cotton  gin  and  a 
sawmill  at  Turlington  Station. 

William  Timothy  Rose.  One  of  the  most  pro- 
gressive and  enterprising  business  men  of  Rocky 
Mount  is  William  Timothy  Rose,  senior  member 
of  the  firm  of  W.  T.  Rose  &  Son,  manufacturers 
of  buggies  and  conducting  an  automobile  re- 
pair and  garage  business.  The  manufacturing 
dejiartment  was  founded  in  1900  by  Mr.  Rose, 
a  practical  machinist,  and  a  large  business  was 
ilone  in  manufacturing  wagons  and  buggies  be- 
fore the  advent  of  the  automobile.  Accepting 
new  conditions,  Mr.  Rose  soon  readjusted  himself 
and  has  been  equally  successful'  along  modern 
lines. 

William  Timothy  Rose  was  born  December  31, 
1862,  in  Edgecombe  County,  North  Carolina,  and 
is  a.  son  of  Timothy  G.  and  Amanda  (Phillips) 
Rose.  ■  He  was  a  small  farmer  when  the  war 
lietween  the  states  broke  out,  and  served  through 
the  war  as  a  private  in  the  ranks  and  was  a 
lirave  soldier  until  the  end.  He  returned  to  Edge- 
combe County  and  continued  his  agricultural  pur- 
suits. 

In  boyhood  William  T.  Rose  attended  the  public 
schools.  He  was  of  a  mechanical  turn  of  mind 
and  preferred  to  work  with  other  tools  than  the 
hoe  and  plough  and  therefore  soon  went  from 
liome  and  learned  the  blacksmith  trade,  which  in- 
iluded  in  his  case  a  knowledge  of  buggy  and  wag- 
ouinaking.  He  established  first  a  general  repair 
business  but  in  1900  branched  out  into  a  regu- 
lar manufacturing  business  and  in  1911  admitted 
his  son,  Howard  L.  Rose,  to  a  partnership.  In 
the  same  year  the  firm  opened  a  garage  and  an 
automobile  repair  shop  and  the  latter  is  thor- 
oughly equipped  and  work  is  done  by  experienced 
machinists.  Mr.  Rose  is  fortunate  in  having  in 
Ills  sou  a  partner  whose  ideas  are  his  own 
and  whose  business  talent  is  marked.  The  firm 
carries  all  kinds  of  automobile  accessories  and 
supplies  and  keeps  on  hand  all  kinds  of  high 
grade  vehicles  beside  automobiles,  such  as  bug- 
gies, carriages  and  wagons.  They  have  fine  dis- 
]ilay  rooms  located  on  Tarboro  and  Washington 
streets,  a  four-story  modern  brick  building,  and 
they  are  agents  for  the  Buick,  the  Oakland  and 
the  Call  machines  and  the  Republic  and  Vim 
trucks.     This  is  a  dependable  business   house. 

Mr.  Rose  was  married  October  10,  1888,  to  Miss 
Fannie  Farmer,  who  was  born  at  Wilson,  North 
<  'arolina,  and  they  have  six  children,  namely : 
Howard  L.,  Leslie  W.,  Ethel,  Bessie,  Raymond 
and  William  Timothy.  Mr.  Rose  and  his  family 
lielong  to  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Rocky 
Mount. 

While  not  very  active  politically,  Mr.  Rose  has 
the  best  interests  of  community  and  country  at 
lieart  and  no  one  is  more  willing  to  perform  a 
]niblic  duty  or  assume  a  necessary  responsibility 
than  he.  He  has  been  proved  a  sound,  reliable, 
trustworthy  man  in  every  particular  and  among 
his  fellow  citizens  is  held  in  esteem.  He  has  been 
a.  member  of  the  Odd  Fellows  for  many  years 
and  belongs  also  to  the  .Junior  Order  of  the  United 
American   Mechanics. 

William  Hates  Foster,  whose  people  have 
been    planters    and    honored    citizens    of    Wilkes 


374 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


County  for  several  generations,  has  found  a  worthy 
and  valuable  place  for  himself  in  the  life  of  that 
community.  He  has  been  a  teacher,  merchant, 
farmer,  and  now  for  several  years  an  active  public 
ofBcial  of  the  county  and  city  of  Wilkesboro. 

His  birth  occurred  on  a  farm  in  Lewis  Fork 
Township  of  WUkes  County  April  11,  1879.  His 
grandfather,  Edmund  Foster,  was  a  planter  in 
Lewis  Fork  Township,  and  before  the  war  had 
slaves  to  work  his  fields.  Edmund  Foster  married 
Jane  Eller.  Her  father,  Absalom  Eller,  also  owned 
and  occupied  a  plantation  in  Lewis  Fork  Town- 
ship. Abslum  M.  Foster,  father  of  William  H., 
was  born  in  the  same  township,  grew  uj)  there 
and  has  always  made  farming  the  chief  part  of 
his  vocation.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  also 
a  merchant,  having  a  store  in  the  locality  known 
as  Dyers  Postoffice.  He  carried  a  stock  of  general 
merchandise  and  continued  actively  in  business 
until  the  store  was  burned  in  1917.  He  is  now 
giving  all  his  attention  to  liis  farm  in  Lewis 
Fork  Township.  He  married  Martha  Ann  Hubbard, 
also  a  native  of  Lewis  Fork  Township.  Her 
father,  William  Green  Hubbard,  was  a  miller, 
owning  and  operating  a  mill  at  Laytown  and 
later  at  King's  Creek,  and  finally  at  I^ewis  Fork, 
where  he  spent  his  last  years.  Being  a  miller, 
he  was  an  important  part  of  the  industrial  army 
and  therefore  exempt  from  field  service  during 
the  war.  Mr.  Hubbard  married  Susan  Lipford. 
Both  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  Mrs.  Abslum  M. 
Foster  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-two.  He  then 
married  for  his  second  wife  Mrs.  Lillie  Eller.  The 
eight  children  of  the  first  marriage  were :  Susan  J., 
who  married  W.  Cicero  Triplett;  William  Hayes; 
Arthur  Garfield;  Monroe;  Ferchase  Olen;  Beulah; 
Kinsey;  and  Arpha. 

William  Hayes  Foster  during  his  boyhood  at- 
tended district  school  and  also  the  Moravian  Falls 
Academy.  From  his  student  career  he  engaged  in 
teaoliing,  at  first  in  the  Dix  Hollow  District,  then 
in  Old  Lewis  Fork  and  finally  at  Hubbard  Mills. 
Altogether  his  work  as  a  teacher  continued  five 
years.  His  next  occupation  was  as  a  merchant  in 
Beddies  River  Township.  There  he  combined  the 
occupation  of  general  merchant  with  farmer. 

In  1905  Mr.  Foster  entered  public  service  as  a 
ganger  in  the  United  States  Eevenue  Department. 
He  held  that  post  until  1908.  In  1910  Mr.  Foster 
was  one  of  the  nine  candidates  for  tlie  ofliee  of 
register  of  deeds  of  Wilkes  County,  was  elected, 
and  by  re-election  has  been  continued  in  that  office 
until  the  present  time.  He  is  one  of  the  leading 
republicans  in  Wilkes  County,  has  served  as  chair- 
man of  the  executive  committee  in  Eeddies  River 
Township  and  also  as  delegate  to  numerous  county, 
district  and  state  conventions. 

On  March  26,  1899,  Mr.  Foster  married  Dorothy 
Luray  Walsh.  She  was  born  in  Lewis  Fork  Town- 
ship, a  daughter  of  Lee  and  Diana  (Goforth) 
Walsh.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foster  have  seven  children: 
Charles  C.  Rov  G.,  Veva  Irene,  Halsey  Brainard, 
Nola,  Shelton"  Bramlet  and  Lutrelle.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Foster  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church. 
He  is  affiliated  with  Mount  Pleasant  Lodge  No. 
573,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  North  Wilkes- 
boro Chapter,  Royal  Arch  Masons.  Ever  since 
leaving  his  work  as  a  teacher  he  has  continued  an 
active  interest  in  educational  affairs  and  is  now 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Wilkes- 
boro High  School,  having  been  elected  in  1914. 
In  1916  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Finance 
Committee  of  the  Town  of  Wilkesboro. 


John  Christoph  B.  Ehkinohaus.  Few  names 
are  more  closely  identified  with  the  history  of 
Elizabeth  City  than  that  of  Ehringhaus,  and  few 
have  been  held,  as  generation  succeeded  genera- 
tion, in  higher  general  esteem.  Not  long  can  a 
visitor  in  this  beautiful  little  southern  city  mingle 
with  its  residents  without  hearing  mention  of  this 
old  and  honorable  name,  a  prominent  bearer  of 
which  at  present  is  John  Christoph  B.  Ehringhaus, 
who  has  won  distinction  both  at  the  bar  and  in 
public  life. 

John  Christoph  B.  Ehringhaus  was  born  at 
Elizabeth  City,  North  Carolina,  February  5,  1882, 
and  is  a  son  of  Erskine  and  Carrie  (Matthews) 
Ehringhaus.  His  father,  one  of  Elizabeth  City's 
substantial  citizens,  was  engaged  in  business  here 
as  a  merchant  for  many  years. 

In  the  city 's  excellent  private  schools,  of  which 
there  were  several  during  Mr.  Ehringhaus 's  boy- 
hood and  youth,  he  was  carefully  prepared  for 
i-ollege  and  then  entered  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  where  he  remained  until  he  secured  his 
A.  B.  degree  in  1901  and  his  LL.  B.  degree  in 
August,  1903.  He  returned  then  to  Elizabeth 
City  and  established  himself  in  a  general  practice 
in  "which  he  has  met  with  marked  success,  and  as 
a  lawyer  has  taken  a  foremost  place  on  the  Pas- 
quotank bar.  He  has  been  connected  with  some 
famous  cases  in  these  courts  and  has  acquitted 
himself  brilliantly.  At  present  he  is  solicitor  for 
the  First  Judicial  District  of  North  Carolina,  in 
which  he  has  served  for  two  terms,  and  he  is 
retained  as  attorney  by  a  number  of  important 
corporations. 

No  one  recognizes  more  fully  the  necessity  of 
a  sound,  fundamental  system  of  government  than 
the  trained  and  enlightened  young  professional 
man,  and  hence  it  is  natural  for  him  to  take  a 
hearty  interest  in  politics  and  be  willing  to  as- 
sume political  responsibilities  with  a  higher  end 
in  ^^ew  than  personal  preferment  alone.  In  1905 
Mr.  Ehringhaus  was  elected  to  the  State  Legisla- 
ture, and  during  the  sessions  of  that  year  was 
the  youngest  member  of  the  House.  Nevertheless, 
he  was  not  the  least  active  and  useful  and  the 
statesmanship  qualities  he  displayed  his  first  term 
brought  him  a  second  election  in  1907.  Among 
the  many  useful  measures  that  Mr.  Ehringhaus 
successfully  championed  while  in  the  Legislature, 
a  very  important  one  was  of  an  educational  char- 
acter. He  drew  and  introduced  in  1905,  a  bill  to 
establish  a  teachers'  training  school  in  Eastern 
North  Carolina  and  secured  its  passage  by  the 
Lower  House.  As  a  result  of  the  movement  thus 
started  such  a  school  was  provided  for  by  the 
Legislature  of  1907,  and  he,  together  with  Gov- 
ernor Jarvis  and  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion Jacques  composed  the  sub-committee  which 
drafted  the  bill  finally  passed.  As  a  re=iult  of  this 
a  training  school  was  located  in  Eastern  North 
Carolina,  known  as  the  East  Carolina  Teachers' 
Training  School,  Greenville,  North  Carolina.  A 
feature  in  deciding  its  location  was  the  highest 
cash  inducement  by  the  various  towns,  and  Green- 
ville secured  the  school.  It  is  an  enterprise  that 
must  always  reflect  the  greatest  credit  and  exer- 
cise of  public  spirit  on  Mr.  Ehringhaus. 

Mr.  Ehringhaus  was  married  January  4,  1912, 
to  Miss  Matilda  Haughton,  who  was  born  in  Wash- 
ington Coimty,  North  Carolina.  They  have  three 
children:  John  Christoph  B.,  Matilda  and  Haugh- 
ton.    Mr.  Ehringhaus  and  family  are  members  of 


^      -•      r         * 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


375 


Christ    Episcopal    Church    at    Elizabeth    City,    in 
which  he  is  a  vestryman. 

Mr.  Ehringhaus  has  business  Interests  aside  from 
his  profession  and  is  vice  president  of  the  Eliza- 
beth City  Shipyard  Company.  Personally  he  is 
friendly  and  companionable  and  is  a  valued  mem- 
ber of  the  Odd  Fellows,  the  Elks,  the  Masons,  and 
various  college  fraternities. 

William  Gkiest  Undekwood.  One  of  the  men 
of  large  affairs  at  Hertford  is  William  Griest 
Underwood,  vice  president,  secretary  and  general 
manager  of  the  Albemarle  Lumber  Company,  and 
otherwise  identified  with  leading  interests  in  East- 
ern North  Carolina.  Although  Mr.  Underwood  is 
not  a  native  Carolinian,  his  interests  have  been 
centered  here  for  many  years  and  he  has  been 
a  very  important  factor  in  the  growth  and  de- 
velopment of  Hertford. 

William  Griest  Underwood  was  born  near  Belle- 
fonte.  Center  County,  Pennsylvania.  His  parents 
were  Joseph  and  Ann  Ada  (Griest)  Underwood, 
the  former  of  whom  has  been  deceased  for  many 
years.  He  was  a  merchant  and  interested  in  lum- 
ber manufacturing.  The  grandfather  of  Mr  Un- 
derwood, Dr.  William  Underwoou,  a  man  endowed 
with  dynauiic  energy,  was  one  of  the  pioneer 
northern  business  men  who  brought  capital  and 
enterprise  to  Eastern  Nortli  Carolina  when  this 
section  was  beginning  to  recover  from  the  rav- 
ages of  war.  He  was  largely  instrumental  in  se- 
curing the  construction  of  the  Norfolk  &  South- 
ern Railroad  to  Elizabeth  City  and  points  further 
south,  and  the  first  locomotive  was  named  Wil- 
liam  Underwood   in   his   honor. 

William  G.  Underwood  was  liberally  educated, 
first  in  private  schools  and  later  at  Swathmore 
College  near  Philadelphia,  from  which  institu- 
tion he  was  most  creditably  graduated  in  1889, 
being  president  of  his  class.  During  his  college 
life  he  was  active  in  its  literary,  fraternal  and 
social  activities  and  was  editor  of  the  Swathmore 
Phoenix,  the  college  paper.  Mr.  Underwood  has 
always  kept  in  touch  with  his  alma  mater  and 
preserves  many  happy  memories  of  his  old  fra- 
ternity associates  in  the  Phi  Kappa  Psi  and  the 
Book  and  Key. 

After  completing  his  college  course  Mr.  Under- 
wood returned  to  Elizabeth  City,  then  the  family 
home,  and  ever  since  has  been  more  or  less  iden- 
tified with  the  great  lumber  industry  in  which 
both  his  father  and  grandfather  were  so  largely 
concerned.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  con- 
nected also  with  the  Blades  Lumber  Company  of 
Elizabeth  City. 

In  190.5  Mr.  Underwood  came  to  Hertford  and 
in  association  with  other  capitalists  purchased 
the  Albemarle  Lumber  Company,  with  which  he 
has  since  continued  to  be  identified  as  vice  presi- 
dent, secretary  and  general  manager.  Saw  and 
planing  mills  are  operated  and  the  plant  has  a 
capacity  of  80,000  feet  of  lumber  daily,  and  un- 
der Mr.  Underwood 's  able  management  it  is  one 
of  the  most  flourishing  industries  of  this  section 
of  the  state.  Mr.  Underwood  has  many  addi- 
tional interests.  He  is  vice  president  of  the 
North  Carolina  Forestry  Association,  is  a  direc- 
tor of  the  North  Carolina  Pine  Association,  and 
is  on  the  directing  board  of  the  Hertford  Bank- 
ing Company. 

Mr.  Underwood  married  Miss  Florence  E.  Smith, 
who  is  a  daughter  of  William  and  Kose  S'tiith, 
of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  They  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  Church.     Mr.  Underwood 


is  a  thirty-second  degree  Mason  and  a  Shriner, 
and  belongs  to  that  exclusive  social  organization, 
the   Virginia   Club,   Norfolk,   Virginia. 

Frank  Btnum  Hendren  is  a  lawyer  by  profes- 
sion, and  for  many  years  has  been  giving  the  best 
of  his  time  and  energies  to  his  large  private  prac- 
tice at  Wilkesboro.  While  his  own  name  suggests 
commendable  ability  in  the  law,  the  family  name 
has  long  been  significant  in  this  section  of  North 
Carolina,  and  many  of  the  Hendrens  have  lived 
close  to  the  soil  and  have  borne  their  part  in  the 
industrial  and  military  and  civic  activities  of  the 
region. 

Mr.  Hendren  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Brushy 
Mountain  Township  of  Wilkes  County,  North  Car- 
olina. His  first  American  ancestor  was  William 
Hendren,  who  was  born  in  the  Province  of  Ulster 
in  Ireland  of  Scotch  ancestry.  Coming  to  America 
a  young  man,  he  Joined  the  pioneers  in  Wilkes 
County  and  soon  afterward  entered  heartily  into 
the  struggle  for  independence.  He  was  a  member 
of  Captain  Gilreath  's  company  in  the  great  battle 
of  King's  Mountain.  For  his  estate  he  secured 
a  tract  of  timbered  land  in  what  is  now  Brushy 
Mountain  Township  and  there  hewed  a  farm  from 
the  wilderness.  From  this  sturdy  ancestry  many 
distinct  branches  of  the  family  have  sprung.  He 
was  twice  married.  His  second  wife  was  a  Miss 
Taylor,  and  she  was  the  great-grandmother  of  the 
Wilkesboro  lawyer.  By  the  first  marriage  there 
were  seven  sons,  and  the  second  marriage  had  fruit 
in  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  Several  of  the 
sons  went  to  Kentucky  and  their  descendants  have 
gone  further  North  and  West. 

Stephen  Hendren,  grandfather  of  Frank  Bynum, 
was  born  in  Brushy  Mountain  Township  in  1807. 
He  spent  his  life  as  a  planter  and  in  the  locality 
of  his  birth,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mary  Cook. 
Her  father  owned  and  occupied  a  plantation  in 
Iredell  County  and  had  numerous  slaves.  Mary 
Hendren  survived  her  husband  some  years,  and 
reared  eight  children,  named  Ambrose  Enzer, 
Ephraim  Elbert,  Jane,  Amelia,  Ailcy,  Stephen 
Elliott,  Oliver  and  Lavinia.  Of  these  children  the 
father  of  Frank  Bynum  was  Ephraim  Elbert  Hen- 
dren, who  was  born  in  Brushy  Mountain  Township 
in  18.'!6.  He  located  on  lands  given  him  by  his 
father  near  the  old  home  and  there  erected  a  log 
dwelling  and  other  farm  buildings.  His  success 
enabled  him  to  acquire  adjoining  land  and  he 
finally  bought  the  old  homestead,  to  which  he 
returned  and  where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  days. 
During  the  war  he  was  a  member  of  the  Home 
Guard.  His  death  occurred  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
two.  He  married  Rufina  Hendren,  who  was  born 
in  Alexander  County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Mary  (Davis)  Hendren.  She  is  still 
living  at  the  old  home  farm.  Her  four  children  are 
Frank  Bvnum,  .lohn,  Lloyd  and  Lenora,  who  mar- 
ried H.  C.  Walker. 

During  his  early  life  on  the  farm  Frank  Bynum 
attended  the  district  schools.  He  was  also  a 
student  in  Cedar  Run  Academy  in  Alexander  Coun- 
ty and  in  Moravian  Falls  Academy.  In  1888  he 
graduated  in  the  literary  course  from  Wake  Forest 
College  and  subsequently  took  up  the  study  of 
law  in  the  offices  of  R.  F.  and  C.  H.  Armfield  at 
Statesville.  He  was  qualified  and  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1895  and  was  the  next  two  years  in  prac- 
tice at  Morganton  with  J.  F.  Spainhour.  Dissolv- 
ing  that   partnership   he   removed   to   Wilkesboro 


376 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


and  for  the  last  twenty  years  has  enjoyed  a  con- 
stantly increasing  practice  and  prestige.  For  fif- 
teen years  he  has  been  associated  with  T.  B.  Finley. 
In  1893  Mr.  Hendren  married  Emma  Catherine 
Campbell.  She  was  born  at  Vashti  in  Alexander 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  S.  W. 
and  Adeline  (Deal)  Campbell.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hen- 
dren are  the  parents  of  eight  children :  ilabel, 
Frances,  Adeline,  Frank,  Gwendolyn,  Hope,  Irene 
and  Katheryn.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hendren  are  active 
members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  have  reared 
their  children  in  tlie  same  faith.  Fraternally 
Mr.  Hendren  is  affiliated  with  Liberty  Lodge  No. 
345,  Ancient  Free  and  Acceiited  Masons. 

Henrt  Leonidas  Stevens  has  been  in  his  full 
career  as  a  lawyer  and  business  man  at  Warsaw 
thirty  years,  and  over  a  rugged  road,  against  the 
competition  in  earlier  years  of  some  of  the  ablest 
members  of  the.  bar  of  the  state  he  has  won  dis- 
tinction and  success  to  a  degree  that  qualifies  him 
as  one  of  North  Carolina 's  foremost  men  in  the 
law  and  in  public  life. 

He  was  born  in  Piney  Grove  Township,  Samp- 
son County,  North  Carolina,  August  31,  18.59,  a 
son  of  Henry  and  Martha  Cornelia  (Best)  Stevens, 
his  father  of  English  and  his  mother  of  Scotch- 
Irish  ancestry.  Genealogists  have  established  a 
pretty  good  case  to  connect  this  branch  of  the 
Stevens  family  of  North  Carolina  with  the  great 
English  house  of  Fitz-Stephens  that  originated  in 
Normandy.  His  Stevens  ancestors  in  North  Caro- 
lina had  their  home  in  Johnston  County,  originally 
Craven  County.  It  is  very  probable  that  liis  great- 
grandfather was  Henry  or  Harry  Stevens,  who 
owned  projierty  in  Johnston  County  in  1750. 

William  Stevens,  grandfather  of  Henry  L.,  mar- 
ried Zilpha  Ann  Cogdale,  a  direct  descendant  of 
the  well  known  Richard  Cogdale  of  Newl/ern, 
North  Carolina,  a  member  of  the  general  meeting 
of  deputies  in  1774  and  of  the  assembly  in  1775 
from  Craven  County.  William  Stevens  sold  his 
old  home  place  in  1825  and  moved  to  Tennessee, 
accompanied  by  all  his  children  except  Henry 
Stevens.  Henry  Stevens  was  born  in  Johnston 
County  April  3,  1807,  and  moved  to  Sampson, 
where  he  died  April  3,  1870.  His  first  wife  was 
Zilpha  Darden,  and  his  second  wife  was  Martha 
Cornelia  Best,  there  being  a  son  and  a  daughter 
by  the  second  wife,  Henry  Leonidas  and  Plina  A. 
Stevens. 

Henry  Stevens  was  a  slave  ovraer,  and  after  the 
war  was  left  in  comparatively  poor  circumstances, 
and  being  unable  to  adapt  himself  quickly  to  the 
new  order  of  things  left  his  widow  and  young 
children  almost  with  no  means  of  support  when 
he  died  about  1870.  Henry  Leonidas  Stevens  was 
then  ten  years  old  and  he  bravely  shouldered  the 
responsibilities  of  helping  his  widowed  mother 
and  his  baby  sister.  He  had  to  forego  a  college 
education  and  his  early  opportunities  were  sup- 
jdied  by  the  Warsaw  High  School,  a  private  tutor 
and  the  study  of  law  in  the  intervals  of  other  oc- 
cupations under  Prof.  J.  N.  Stallings.  He  stood 
the  examination  before  the  Supreme  Court  and 
was  licensed  to  practice  by  the  Supreme  Court  on 
June  7,  1881.  In  March,  1885,  he  took  up  the 
duties  of  his  profession  at  Kenansville  but  one 
year  later  removed  to  Warsaw,  where  his  achieve- 
ments have  made  his  name  an  honored  one  in  the 
jirofession.  He  has  been  a  lawyer,  a  practical 
agriculturist,  has  been  interested  in  banks  and 
various  industrial  enterprises,  has  served  as  chair- 


man of  the  Legal  Advisory  Board  of  Duplin 
County,  as  chairman  of  the  executive  committee  of 
the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association,  and  has  been 
a  very  prominent  democrat,  but  has  never  sought 
nor  desired  any  public  office  as  a  means  and  instru- 
ment through  which  to  exercise  his  influence  upon 
jjublic  affairs.  None  the  less  his  name  is  conspicu- 
ous in  North  Carolina  political  history,  and  to  him 
is  given  the  chief  credit  for  at  least  one  of  the 
greatest  movements  ever  imdertaken  in  state  po- 
litical reform. 

From  1S92  to  1897  he  served  as  county  chair- 
man of  the  democratic  party  and  was  on  the  State 
Democratic  Committee  in  1896-97.  On  the  night 
of  November  30,  1897,  he  drew  up,  .offered  and 
passed  before  the  committee  the  famous  resolu- 
tion committing  the  democratic  party  to  the  white 
man 's  fight.  This  resolution  was  printed  in  the 
state  paper  December  1,  1897,  and  it  served  to 
Ijring  the  white  people  together  and  thereby  re- 
deem North  Carolina  from  the  control  of  the 
fusionists  and  the  radicals.  Probably  no  other 
event  in  politics  has  been  referred  to  more  fre- 
quently since  the  close  of  the  Keconstruction  era, 
and  none  has  had  a  really  greater  significance. 

In  1898  Mr.  Stevens  was  a  candidate  for  the 
judgeship  in  the  Fifth  Congressional  District,  and 
lacked  only  four  votes  of  being  elected.  He  has 
been  credited,  and  rightly,  with  having  been  the 
father  of  nearly  every  enterprise  in  his  home  town 
and  of  many  of  those  in  nearby  communities.  He 
organized  the  Bank  of  Warsaw,  of  which  he  is 
president,  is  stCK-kholder  and  director  in  nearly  all 
the  other  banks  of  the  county,  is  chairman  and 
trustee  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Warsaw 
High  and  Graded  schools,  offices  he  has  held  for 
many  years,  and  is  a  ruling  elder  of  the  Presby- 
terian Chui'ch.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the 
Duplin  Rifle  Guard  in  1880-81,  is  a  member  of  the 
Nahunga  Country  Club  of  Warsaw,  and  is  affili- 
ated with  the  Masonic  order. 

From  an  earlier  published  sketch  it  is  appro- 
priate to  quote  the  following  paragraph,  which 
everyone  of  his  friends  will  recognize  as  an  ex- 
pression of  the  exact  truth:  "He  has  a  kindly 
nature,  developed  no  doubt  by  his  own  early  strug- 
gles; for  he  went  through  that  period  of  hard 
trial  which  so  often  means  tragedy,  but  which, 
when  met  with  a  proper  mental  attitude,  with 
strenuous  effort  and  firm  will,  gives  an  increased 
strength  and  a  final  undreamed  of  success.  He  is 
known  as  the  friend  of  the  widow  and  orphan 
and  his  generous  interest  in  the  young  loses  no 
opportunity  of  expression.  He  has  helped  several 
young  men  through  college  and  assisted  them  to 
start  in  biisiness.  No  one  knows  how  much  of 
this  kind  of  help  he  has  given. ' ' 

Der-ember  22,  1892,  at  Burgaw  in  Pender  Coun- 
ty, Mr.  Stevens  married  Fanny  Walker,  daughter 
of  Edward  DeCoin  Walker,  of  French  Huguenot 
ancestry,  and  Sarah  Victoria  Register,  of  Scotch- 
Irish  and  English  descent.  Her  family  figured  in 
all  the  wars  of  the  United  States  including  the 
Revolution. 

Having  now  secured  that  degree  of  prosperity 
which  represents  freedom  from  anxiety  for  the 
future,  Mr.  Stevens  thinks  less  and  less  of  his 
own  career  and  more  and  more  follows  day  after 
day  the  growing  prospects  and  the  interesting 
achievements  of  his  two  young  sons.  The  older, 
Henry  Leonidas  Stevens,  .Jr.,  born  .January  27, 
1896,  is  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  and  in  1917  entered  the  officers'  training 


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SUj^UJl^ 


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HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


377 


camp  and  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant,  and  is 
now  assigned  as  a  member  of  the  316th  Macliine 
Gun  Battalion,  U.  S.  A.,  stationed  at  Cami)  Jack- 
son, Columbia,  South  Carolina.  The  younger  son, 
Elliott  Walker  Stevens,  is  eighteen  years  of  age, 
and  is  registered  as  a  Bachelor  of  Science  medical 
student  in  the  freshman  class  of  the  University  of 
North  Carolina.  Prior  to  entering  the  university 
he  graduated  from  the  Warsaw  High  School  and 
then  entered  the  "Citadel,"  the  Military  College 
of  South  Carolina,  remaining  there  for  one  year. 

CljVrence  Alfred  Johnson,  who  was  born  at 
Raleigh  March  25,  1877,  a  son  of  Demsey  Taylor 
and  Texanna  (Foushee)  Johnson,  is  a  man  of 
great  energy  and  capability,  a  statement  that  is 
proved  by  his  numerous  influential  business  and 
civic  relations.  For  a  man  not  yet  forty  years 
of  age  he  has  attained  an  enviable  prominence  in 
the  business  affairs  of  his  native  state. 

He  was  educated  in  public  schools,  in  the  Raleigh 
Male  Academy  and  in  a  business  college,  and  his 
first  work  after  leaving  school  was  as  clerk  in 
a  lire  insurance  company.  Later  he  became  cashier, 
and  in  1906  became  associated  with  his  brother 
Arthur  R.  D.  Johnson  in  the  organization  of  the 
corporation  Johnson  &  Johnson  Co.,  merchandise 
brokers,  coal,  ice  and  brick  dealers  and  manu- 
facturers. Since  then  he  has  been  vice  president 
of  this  business. 

He  is  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Cherokee 
Brick  Company,  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
Standard  Ice  Company  and  in  addition  to  all  these 
demands  upon  his  time  and  energy  has  been  an 
efficient  worker  in  the  city  government. 

For  four  years  he  was  on  the  board  of  alder- 
men of  Raleigh,  from  1909  to  1912  inclusive.  While 
an  alderman  he  was  chairman  of  the  fire  commit- 
tee, and  during  that  time  the  fire  departmeut  was 
reorganized  and  put  on  a  paid  service  basis.  He 
was  also  an  alderman  when  the  water  board  ac- 
quired by  purchase  the  city  waterworks  from  a 
private  corporation,  and  he  performed  an  import- 
ant service  in  looking  after  many  of  the  compli'- 
cated    business    details    of   this   transaction. 

Mr.  Johnson  is  a  member  and  former  president 
of  the  Raleigh  Country  Club,  belongs  to  the  Capital 
Club,  and  has  memliership  in  several  fishing  clubs. 
He  is  a  past  grand  regent  of  the  Royal  Arcanum, 
is  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows, and  of  the  Rotary  Club. 

On  April  15,  1903,  he  was  married  at  Morgan- 
ton,  North  Carolina,  to  Miss  Kate  A.  Burr.  They 
have  two  children:  Clarence  Alfred,  Jr.,  and 
Frederick   Burr. 

Arthur  R.  D.  Johnson.  Few  business  men  in 
the  state  represent  more  important  interests  than 
Arthur  R.  D.  Johnson,  of  Raleigh.  He  is  presi- 
dent and  treasurer  of  the  Johnson  &  Johnson  Com- 
pany. 

For  a  number  of  years  Mr.  .lohuson  was  asso- 
ciated with  John  S.  Johnson  under  the  firm  name 
of:  Johnson  &  Jolinson.  In  1906,  at  the  death 
of  the  other  jiartner,  the  ]iresent  corjioration  was 
organized,  and  Mr.  Arthur  Johnson  has  .since  been 
its  president  and  treasurer.  Another  party  to  the 
organization  of  the  company  was  C.  A.  Johnson, 
a  lirother,  who  was  vice  jiresident. 

While  this  is  one  of  the  strong  and  influential 
commercial  organizations  of  Raleigh,  Mr.  Johnson 
has  other  connections  with  the  business  and  civic 
life  of  North  Carolina.  He  is  president  of  the 
Standard  Ice  Company,  vice  president  of  the  Car- 


olina lee  Company,  president  of  the  Cherokee  Brick 
Company,  director  of  the  Commercial  National 
Hank  and  tlie  Wake  County  Savings  Bank,  and  is 
a  member  of  the  capital  and  the  Country  clubs 
and  tlie   Chamber  of   CummerL-e  at  Raleigh. 

Arthur  R.  D.  Johnson  was  born  in  Chatham 
County,  North  Carolina,  October  10,  1872,  a  son 
of  Demsey  T.  and  Texanna  (Foushee)  Johnson. 
His  father  was  a  merchant,  and  the  family  in  both 
lines  have  long  been  prominent  in  North  Carolina. 
Mr.  Johnson's  parents  moved  from  Chatham  Coun- 
ty in  1875  to  reside  in  Raleigh,  and  he  attended 
the  public  schools  of  Raleigh  and  the  Raleigh 
Male  Academy,  and  in  1890  graduated  from  East- 
man Business  College  of  Poughkeepsie,  New  York. 

November  25,  1896,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Vic- 
toria Harris,  of  Franklin  County,  North  Carolina. 
They  are  the  parents  of  four  children:  James 
Foushee,  Arthur  Taylor,  Charlotte  Elizabeth  and 
Frank  Harris. 

C.1PT.  Frank  Brown.  Standing  prominent 
among  the  more  highly  esteemed  and  respected  cit- 
izens in  Rowan  County  is  Capt.  Frank  Brown,  of 
Salisbury,  a  man  of  integrity  and  ability,  whose 
life  has  been  broadened  by  extensive  travel  and 
by  wide  contact  with  public  men  ana  public  affairs. 
A  son  of  the  late  Thomas  E.  Brown,  he  was  born 
in  Rowan  County,  on  the  Bringles  Ferry  Road, 
about  two  miles  from  Salisbury. 

His  grandfatlier,  Allen  Brown,  was  born,  it  is 
supposed,  in  England.  Immigrating  to  America, 
he  settled  near  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina,  at 
an  early  day,  before  there  were  any  railways  in 
this  section  of  the  country.  He  made  a  business 
for  several  years  of  transporting  goods  on  flat 
boats  trom  Wilmington  to  Fayetteville,  from 
whence  they  were  hauled  by  teams  to  the  •interior. 
Coming  from  there  to  Rowan  County  in  1840,  he 
spent  his  last  years  here,  his  remains  being  buried 
in  the  Union  Cluirchyard.  He  reared  seven  children, 
John  D.,  Thomas,  Elizabeth,  James  V.,  Andrew, 
William   and   Henry   T. 

Thomas  E,  Brown,  the  second  child  of  his  par- 
ents, was  born  in  Cun.berliind  County,  North  Car- 
olina, near  Fayetteville,  in  1821,  and  as  a  young 
man  came  to  Rowan  County  to  live.  Purchasing 
a  plantation  and  a  saw  mill  two  miles  south  of 
Salisbury,  he  resided  there  until  1855,  when  he 
moved  to  Salisbury.  He  had  previous  to  that  time 
opened  a  livery  stable  on  East  Fisher  Street,  be- 
tween Lee  and  Main  streets,  and  was  operating 
it  with  slaves.  Having  taken  the  contract  to  carry 
mail  from  Salisbury  to  Olin,  Iredell  County,  he 
was  exempt  from  military  service  in  the  Civil  war. 
He  sub.sequently  went  to  Denton,  Texas,  where  he 
lived  a  while,  having  purchased  and  improved 
jjroperty  there.  Returning  to  North  Carolina  a 
few  years  later,  he  embarked  in  the  hardware  Ijusi- 
ness  at  Asheville  as  head  of  the  firm  of  Brown,  Van 
Gilder  &  Company,  which  was  later  changed  to 
Brown,  Northruji  &  Company,  with  which  he  was 
actively  identified  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-nine  years. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Thomas  E. 
Brown  was  Elenora  Vcrble.  She  was  born  on  a 
plantation  2%  miles  east  of  Salisbury,  a  daughter 
of  Charles  Vcrble,  who  married  Clementine  Braun, 
a  daugliter  of  Michael  Braun,  of  the  Stone  House. 
Mrs.  Thomas  E.  Brown  died  in  1900,  leaving  two 
eliildren,  Frank,  the  special  subject  of  this  sketch, 
and  Lewis  Van,  who  was  for  .several  years  asso- 
ciated with  his  father  in  business  in  Asheville,  and 
whose  death  occurred  in  December,  1916. 


378 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Frank  Brown  was  a  student  in  the  preparatory 
department  of  Davidson  College  when  the  Civil 
war  started,  in  1861.  Immediately  leaving  school, 
he  returned  home  with  the  intention  of  enlisting  in 
the  Confederate  Army.  Appearing  before  the  ex- 
amining board,  the  surgeon  told  him  that  he  would 
discharge  him  from  all  military  service  during  the 
war.  This,  Mr.  Brown  thinks,  was  done  at  his 
father 's  request.  After  Gen.  James  Gordon  passed 
through  Salisbury,  and  told  the  boy 's  father  in 
which  regiment  he  could  enlist,  the  brave  youth 
joined  Company  H,  Fifth  North  Carolina  Cavalry, 
and  at  once  went  to  the  front  with  his  command. 
His  first  experience  in  battle  was  in  a  skirmish 
preliminary  to  the  engagements  at  ' '  The  Wilder- 
ness."  The  brigadier  general  called  for  men  to 
go  forward  and  pick  off  the  artillery  men  that  were 
besieging  them.  Frank  Brown,  one  of  the  youngest 
men  of  his  company,  saw  ahead  of  him  a  tree  that 
would  shelter  him,  and  soon,  with  two  comrades, 
reached  the  tree.  The  comrades  laid  down  and  re- 
loaded the  rifle,  while  Frank  fired  1.50  shots. 

Subsequently  Mr.  Brown  was  detailed  as  courier 
to  General  Barringer,  and  during  the  battle  at 
Chamberlain 's  Run  he  led  both  charges.  At 
Boydton  Plank  Road  he  led  the  charge  on  a  bat- 
tery, and  in  that  charge  he  grabbed  the  colors  and 
rushed  up  the  hill  ahead  of  the  regiment  fifty  yards 
when  he  was  called  upon  by  the  colonel  to  "bring 
the  flag  back  to  the  line."  His  reply  was,  "bring 
the  line  to  the  flag, ' '  which  they  did.  In  a  history 
of  the  First  Maine  Cavalry,  by  Col.  E.  P.  Tobie, 
it  is  stated  that  Private  Brown,  of  Company  H, 
Fifth  North  Carolina  Cavalry,  captured  a  Yankee 
captain,  Vaughn,  of  Hamilton,  Maine  and  four 
privates  aid  three  horses. 

For  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  Mr.  Brown 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain  by  Gen.  W.  H. 
Lee.  The  captain  continued  in  active  service  until 
April  6,  186.5,  when  he  was  captured  and  taken 
to  Hart's  Island  in  Long  Island  Sound.  He  had 
been  there  but  a  short  time  when  he  was  detailed 
to  do  clerical  work  in  the  paymaster  's  department, 
with  which  he  was  connected  until  July  1,  1865, 
when  he  was  released.  Returning  home,  he  again 
entered  Davidson  College,  but  at  the  end  of  six 
months  was  forced  to  relinquish  his  studies  on 
account  of  ill  health. 

Going  then  to  Baltimore,  Captain  Brown  re- 
mained there  a  few  months,  and  then  took  charge 
of  a  bankru"t  stock  of  merchandise  in  Salisbury. 
Disposing  of  that,  he  established  the  first  extensive 
shoe  store  in  the  city,  and  managed  it  successfully 
until  1870.  Going  then  to  Mississippi,  he  had 
charge  of  a  plantation  in  Clarke  County  for  five 
years.  Returning  to  Salisbury,  the  captain  was  here 
engaged  in  bu'=ine=s  for  a  time,  and  later  had  the 
supervision  of  the  government  works  on  the  Yadkin 
River.  Subsequently  he  was  engaged  with  T.  B. 
Jones  &  Company,  railroad  contractors,  as  mana- 
ger, and  pt  the  same  time  was  right-of-way  agent 
for  the  Southern  Railway  Company.  Since  1908 
Captain  Brown  has  traveled  extensively,  visiting 
every  state  in  the  union  and  nearly  every  country 
in  South   .'\m  erica. 

Captain  Brown  married,  in  1868,  Addie  Reid. 
She  was  born  at  Mount  Mourne,  Iredell  County,  a 
daughter  of  Hon.  Rufus  Reid.  Her  father,  who 
owned  a  Isrn-e  plantation  in  Iredell  County,  was 
born  in  either  Gaston  or  Lincoln  County.  He 
operated  his  plantation  with  slaves,  who  used  to 
spin  and  weave,  making  material  for  all  of  their 
clothes,  both  of  cotton  and  woolen.     He  was  also 


engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  ha'sing  a  general 
store  at  Mount  Mourne,  and  was  prominent  in 
public  affairs,  having  represented  IredeU  County  in 
the  Legislature.  He  died  in  1853.  •  Hon.  Rufus 
Reid  was  three  times  married.  The  maiden  name 
of  Ills  tliird  wife,  Mrs.  Brown's  mother,  was  Isa- 
bella Torrance.  She  was  born  in  Mecklenburg 
County,  and  survived  her  husband  many  years.  Mrs. 
Brown  has  three  sisters  and  three  brothers,  as 
follows:  Emma,  Rufus,  Addie,  John,  Lucy  and 
Frank. 

Four  children  have  been  born  of  the  union  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown,  namely:  Frank  Reid,  Isa- 
belle  Eleanor,  Hugh  Torrance  and  Emma  Camille. 
Frank  R.  married  Blanche  Dupuy,  and  they  have 
three  children,  Mary  Dudley,  Elmer  and  Frank 
Reid.  Hugh  T.  married  Grace  Scott,  and  they  are 
the  parents  of  two  children,  Gordon  and  Warren. 
Hugh  T.  is  now  a  first  lieutenant  in  Company  K, 
Nineteenth  Regiment,  National  Army.  Emma  Ca- 
mille is  the  wife  of  Hiram  Grantham,  and  has  two 
children,  Hiram  and  Reid.  Captain  and  Mrs.  Brown 
are  valued  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  captain  has  always  been  interested  in  religious 
afl'airs,  and  while  in  Clarke  County,  Mississippi,  as- 
sisted in  organizing  a  Presbyterian  Church  at  Shu- 
buta. 

Howard  Campbell  MacNatr  is  one  of  those  sub- 
stantial men  who  are  content  to  spend  their  lives 
largely  in  one  community,  to  perform  the  duties 
that  lie  nearest  them,  and  by  their  work  and  char- 
acter gain  the  esteem  of  old  friends  and  neighbors 
rather  than  seek  fortune  and  fame  in  distant 
neighborhoods.  Mr.  MacNair  has  prospered  as  a 
farmer  and  business  man,  has  served  in  the  Legis- 
lature and  in  other  places  of  trust  and  responsi- 
bility and  has  maintained  and  increased  the  pres- 
tige of  a  family  name  that  is  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  honored  in  Robeson  County. 

Mr.  MacNair  was  born  on  the  place  he  now 
occupies,  near  Maxton  in  Robeson  County,  in  1863. 
The  MacNair  home  place  has  long  been  known  as 
Cowper  Hill.  His  parents  were  Murphy  C.  and 
Margaret  Elizabeth  (Stubbs)  MacNair,  both  now 
deceased. 

The  MacNairs  are  of  pure  Scotch  origin  and 
have  been  identified  with  Robeson  County,  form- 
erly Anson  and  Bladen  counties,  from  very  early 
times. 

There  is  kept  in  the  family  annals  "a  short 
history  of  ,Iohn  MacNair,  written  by  himself  and 
transcribed  by  his  granddaughter."  This  John 
MacNair  was  the  great-grandfather  of  Howard 
C.  McNair.  The  short  history  referred  to  reads 
as  follows: 

' '  I  am  a  native  of  Scotland,  was  bom  in  the 
Year  of  Our  Lord  1735,  in  ,  a  small  viDage 

of  that  name  in  the  Parish  of  Kilkenny  in  the 
Shire  of  Argyle,  North  Britain.  I  was  the  young- 
est son  of  Neil  MacNair.  My  grandfather's  name 
was  Edward  MacNair,  my  mother 's  name  was 
Sally  McGill.  I  was  married  to  Jennet  Smylie, 
daughter  of  .John  Smylie,  December  1763.  My 
eldest  son  Roderick  was  born  October  1764.  My 
daughter  Betsy  was  born  .January  1766.  My  third 
child  Neill  was  bom  in  1768.  My  first  wife  died 
September  1769,  and  my  third  child  Neill  died  in 
December  of  the  same  year.  I  came  to  North 
Carolina  in  America  in  the  year  1770  and  bought 
a  plantation  at  Hitchcock  in  Anson  county  and 
lived  there  some  time.  I  married  my  second  wife 
Catherine   Buie,    daughter   of   Donald   Buie   from 


(C/lC.JiLa^  ^cL^ 


i:- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


379 


Dura,  Scotland,  in  1772.  My  eldest  daughter 
Sallie  by  my  second  wife  was  born  in  1773.  My 
first  son  by  my  second  wife,  Malcolm,  waa^born 
August  1776.  My  second  wife  died  .\ugiist  1787." 
To  this  brief  history  his  granddaughter  .added 
other  notes  which  throw  additional  light  on  the 
founder  of  the  family  and  some  of  his  descen- 
dants. Referring  to  John  MacNair,  she  says: 
"From  all  I  can  learn  of  him  he  was  a  very 
pious  man,  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church 
and  raised  up  his  children  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord.  He  also  belonged  to 
the  Masonic  fraternity  and  was  promoted  to  a 
Royal  Arch  Mason  in  that  order.  After  living  a 
while  in  Richmond  county  he  removed  to  Bladen, 
now  Robeson  county,  and  settled  on  Lumber  River, 
where  his  great-grandson,  Robert  MacNair,  after- 
wards lived.  He  then  became  a  ruling  elder  in 
Center  church  and  filled  that  oflSce  until  his 
death."  His  second  marriage  was  to  a  widow, 
Mrs.  Catherine  (Buie)  McFarland,  who  had  sev- 
eral children  by  her  first  union.  One  of  them 
was  Duncan  McFarland,  a  great  man  in  his  day 
who  almost  controlled  the  two  counties  of  Rich- 
mond and  Robeson,  laid  out  all  the  public  roads, 
and  was  a  member  of  Congress  for  a  number  of 
years.  By  his  second  marriage  John  MacNair 
had  two  children,  Sarah  and  Malcolm.  Sarah  mar- 
ried Peter  Wilkinson,  and  they  moved  to  the 
State  of  Mississippi,  and  had  a  large  family. 

Rev.  Malcolm  MacNair,  son  of  John  MacNair 
and  grandfather  of  Howard  C.  MacNair,  was  a 
distinguished  pioneer  minister  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  His  name  appears  prominently  in  the 
early  religious  history  of  North  Carolina.  He  was 
a  man  of  the  highest  talents,  and  although  death 
came  to  him  in  his  prime  he  had  accomplished  a 
great  work  for  the  cause  of  religion.  The  family 
annalist  already  quoted  says  of  him:  "He  was  a 
great  man  and  was  one  of  the  most  talented  min- 
isters of  the  day.  Was  for  twenty  years  pastor  of 
Centre,  Ashpole,  Laurel  Hill  and  Red  Bbiff 
churches.  He  was  born  August  26,  1776,  and  died 
on  August  4,  1822,  and  was  buried  at  Laurel  Hill. 
His  wife  was  a  native  of  Petersburg,  Virginia, 
was  left  an  orphan,  left  Petersburg  at  the  age  of 
twelve  vears,  and  was  reared  in  the  home  of  her 
mother's  brother,  Harrison,  a  man  of  wealth. 

Murrihy  C.  MacNair,  a  son  of  the  pioneer 
minjiiter  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Rev.  Malcolm 
MacNair,  was  born  at  the  old  homestead  a  mile 
and  a  half  east  of  Maxton  on  the  Lumberton 
Road  in  1818.  He  was  educated  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina,  and  graduated  at  the 
early  aee  of  sixteen.  After  teaching  school  he 
studied  law  and  while  a  young  man  located  at 
Bennettsville,  South  Carolina,  where  he  practiced 
his  profession  for  a  number  of  years.  Giving  up 
the  law  he  returned  to  the  old  home  near  Marton, 
and  lived  there  until  his  death  at  the  age  of 
sixty-three.  During  the  war  he  held  a  civil  posi- 
tion under  the  Confederate  Government.  He  oper- 
ated a  larse  estate  as  a  farmer,  and  for  many 
years  served  as  a  magistrate  at  Maxton.  In  that 
capacity  he  was  a  friend  and  legal  adviser  to 
practically  all  the  people  in  the  country  around 
Maxton.  He  was  a  man  of  splendid  character  and 
measured  up  to  the  highest  ideals  of  manhood. 
His  vrife.  Margaret  Elizabeth  Stubbs,  who  was 
born  in  Marlboro  County,  South  Carolina,  was  a 
daughter  of  Rev.  Campbell  Stubbs,  a  noted  Bap- 
tist minister. 

The    old    MacNair   place    near    Maxton    where 


Howard  C.  MacNair  was  born  and  still  lives  has 
been  in  cultivation  as  a  plantation  and  farm  since 
about  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 
It  was  originally  a  very  large  estate,  but  during 
succeeding  generations,  as  a  result  of  inheritance, 
has  been  divided  a  number  of  times.  Mr.  Mac- 
Nair 's  farm  at  present  comprises  120  acres.  Farm- 
ing is  his  chief  business  and  has  been  so  for 
many  years,  but  he  has  other  interests  in  Maxton, 
being  president  of  the  Carolina  Electric  Company, 
a  local  public  service  corporation. 

Mr.  H.  C.  MacNair  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Robeson  County  and  in  McMillan's 
Military  School  at  Floral  College  in  that  county. 
He  has  proved  himself  a  vigorous  and  forward 
looking  democrat,  and  in  1912  was  elected  a  mem- 
lier  of  the  Legislature  from  his  county  and  served 
during  the  session  of  1913.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  board  of  road  commissioners  in  1907  and 
1908,  and  again  in  1911  and  1912.  Mr.  MacNair 
has  been  a  deacon  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
since  1898.  The  most  successful  and  busy  men  of 
modern  times  have  a  diversion  or  recreation.  Mr. 
MacNair 's  is  the  game  of  checkers.  He  is  an 
ex])ert  checker  player,  not  only  as  measured  by 
his  local  reputation,  but  in  many  competitions  has 
proved  himself  the  equal  of  the  best  in  the  entire 
South. 

Mr.  MacNair  married  Miss  Susanna  Morrison, 
a  native  of  Robeson  County  and  daughter  of  the 
late  Daniel  S.  Moi-rison,  for  many  years  a  leading 
citizen  of  the  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  MacNair 
liave  in  their  home  near  Maxton  a  family  of  seven 
children,  to  whom  they  have  accorded  the  best  of 
advantages.  Their  names  are:  Lillian,  wife  of 
Mr.  E.  P.  Williams;  Miss  Margaret  Elizabeth; 
H.  Campbell  MacNair,  a  member  of  the  United 
States  Army  and  now  in  France;  Donald  Mac- 
Nair; Walter  MacNair;  Sue  MacNair;  and  John 
Franklin  MacNair. 

Judge  Frank  Marion  Wooten,  judge  of  the 
Pitt  County  Court,  is  a  man  of  versatile  abili- 
ties and  experience,  is  a  pharmacist  as  "well  as  a 
la-n-j-er  by  profession,  and  his  friends  say  it  is 
characteristic  of  him  to  do  well  whatever  he  un- 
dertakes. 

He  was  born  at  LaGrange,  North  Carolina, 
August  4,  1875,  a  son  of  Richard  Lafayette  and 
.lulia  A.  (Loftin)  Wooteu.  His  father  was  a 
farmer  and  in  a  country  environment  spent  his 
boyhood,  attending  public  schools  and  Davis  Mil- 
itary Institute.  For  four  years  he  was  a  farmer 
on  his  own  account.  Judge  Wooten  arrived  in 
Greenville  January  17,  189.3.  His  first  two  years 
here  were  spent  as  clerk  in  a.  drug  store.  Going 
to  Philadelphia,  he  studied  pharmacy  and  in 
1897  completed  his  course  in  the  New  York  Col- 
lege of  Pharmacy.  He  then  entered  the  drug 
business,  but  in  1901  gave  up  that  profession  and 
Inisiness  temporarily  to  attend  the  law  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  He 
was  licensed  in  1903,  and  returned  to  Greenville 
to  assume  the  new  role  of  attorney  and  build  up 
a  practice  during  the  next  year.  After  that  he 
resumed  his  active  connections  with  the  drug 
luisiness,  but  since  1909  has  been  wholly  active 
as  a  lawver  a,nd  public  official. 

Greenville  gives  him  credit  for  a  very  success- 
ful administration  of  the  municipal  affairs  while 
he  occupied  the  office  of  mayor  in  1906-07  and 
again  from  1908  to  1913.  In  'l915  he  was  elected 
judge  of  the  Pitt  County  Court,  and  that  is  his 
present  official  relationship  with  his  home  county. 


380 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Judge  Wooten  is  a  member  of  the  Delta  Kappa 
Epsilon  college  fraternity,  the  Masonic  Order, 
and  is  a  past  chancellor  of  the  ICnights  of  Py- 
thias. He  is  a  member  of  St.  Paul's  Episcopal 
Church.  On  July  7,  1909,  he  married  Miss 
Elizabeth  Wade,  of  Virginia.  They  have  one 
son,   Frank  Marion,  Jr. 

Virgil  L.  Blackburn.  The  kind  of  success  that 
comes  to  a  man  after  years  of  experience  and 
close  attention  to  business  is  pei'haps  the  most 
satisfactory  of  all,  and  it  is  the  kind  enjoyed  by 
Virgil  L.  Blackburn  in  his  capacity  as  a  merchant 
at  Clemmous  in  Forsyth  County.  Mr.  Blackburn 
has  been  through  all  the  grades  of  apprenticeship 
and  service  in  the  mercantile  line,  and  for  many 
years  was  a  traveling  salesman  over  the  South. 

He  was  born  in  Lewiston  Township  of  Forsyth 
County  and  his  people  were  pioneers  in  this  section 
of  North  Carolina.  His  great-grandfather,  Bryson 
Blackburn,  was  born  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  came 
to  America  when  a  young  man,  and  established 
the  family  line  which  has  since  produced  so  many 
worthy  citizens  in  North  Carolina. 

Roliert  Blackburn,  grandfather  of  Virgil  L.,  was 
a  natural  mechanic  and  an  expert  and  industrious 
workman.  He  established  a  machine  shop  and 
blacksmith  shop,  and  gained  widespread  fame 
as  a  gunsmith  and  as  a  maker  of  various  kinds  of 
edged  tools  and  farm  implements.  His  skill 
naturally  attracted  a  large  patronage  and  he 
found  his  services  in  demand  up  to  the  limit  of 
his  strength  and  time.  His  shop  gave  name  to  an 
entire  community,  and  for  years  it  was  the  center 
of  Blackburn 's  Crossroads.  He  lived  there  until 
his  death  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven.  Robert  Black- 
burn married  Mary  Gosleu,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty-eight.  Her  parents  spent  their  lives  in 
Lewiston  Township,  and  her  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Thorp,  was  unusually  well  educated  for 
a  woman  of  her  generation  and  possessed  unusual 
gifts  as  a  poet.  Robert  Blackburn  and  wife  reared 
three  sons  named   Harvey,  Milton   and   Coston. 

Milton  E.  Blackburn  was  born  in  Forsyth 
County  and  Lewiston  Townsliip,  May  28,  1820. 
He  inherited  some  of  his  father 's  skill  and  learned 
the  carpenter's  trade.  "When  the  Fogle  Brothers 
started  liusiness  lie  was  the  first  man  to  enter 
their  employ  and  assisted  in  building  their  first 
mill.  He  continued  in  their  service  steadily  for 
twenty  years.  During  the  war  he  was  in  the 
service  of  the  Confederate  government,  being  de- 
tailed to  work  at  the  saltpeter  works.  Following 
the  war  lie  bought  the  Jacob  Frye  plantation  on 
Muddy  Creek,  and  not  only  superintended  the  farm 
liut  continued  work  at  his  trade.  He  lived  there 
until  his  death.  Milton  Blackburn  married  Luciuda 
Doub.  She  was  born  in  the  Doub  settlement  in 
Vienna  Township  of  Forsyth  County,  February 
14,  182.5.  Her  grandfather,  Rev.  John  Doub,  was 
born  in  Germany,  came  to  America  and  settled 
in  North  Carolina,  was  a  tanner  by  trade  and 
l)uilt  and  operated  one  of  the  first  tanneries  in 
the  state,  the  location  of  the  tannery  becoming 
known  as  the  Doub  Chapel  Settlement.  He  was  a 
good  liusiness  man  and  was  also  a  minister  of  the 
Metliodist  Episcopal  Cliurch,  and  the  first  Metho- 
dist meetings  in  that  locality  were  held  in  his  log 
house.  His  remains  now  repose  in  Doub  Chapel 
Churchyard.  His  son,  Peter  Doub,  took  up  the 
ministry  as  a  regular  profession,  and  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  Methodism  in  various  parts  of  the 
South.  He  traveled  as  a  missionary  and  church 
organizer  all  over  North  and  South  Carolina,  Vir- 


ginia and  Tennessee,  and  in  many  places  was  the 
first  to  preach  the  Gospel.  Lucinda  Doub 's  father, 
Michael  Doub,  was  born  in  Vienna  Township, 
learned  the  tanner 's  trade,  was  converted  in  his 
youth  and  was  also  a  Methodist  Episcopal  minister. 
As  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina  Conference 
he  held  pastorates  in  different  places,  and  he 
finally  bought  a  home  in  the  Doub  Chapel  Settle- 
ment where  he  spent  his  last  years.  He  married 
Grace  Reynolds,  who  was  born  in  Lynchburg,  Vir- 
ginia, daughter  of  a  physician  and  surgeon  who 
had  rendered  service  to  the  American  cause  in  a 
professional  capacity  during  the  Revolutionary 
war.  Mrs.  Milton  Blackburn  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven,  having  reared  six  children  named 
Mary,  Ida,  Newton  E.,  Olin  W.,  Lulu  G.  and 
Virgil  L. 

The  environment  in  which  Virgil  L.  Blackburn 
spent  his  early  life  was  sufficient  to  stimulate  his 
amliition  and  give  him  character  and  the  moral 
fiber  necessary  toV  meeting  the  various  problems 
of  the  world.  He  attended  the  home  school,  and 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  was  clerk  in  a  general  store 
at  Clemmous.  He  also  worked  in  a  store  at  Ar- 
cadia and  with  this  experience  he  went  on  the  road 
as  a  traveling  salesman.  He  traveled  over  most 
ot  the  South,  selling  goods  in  North  and  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Texas  and  Arkansas.  In  1899  Mr.  Blackburn  left 
the  road  and  locating  at  Winston  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Rominger  &  Crim,  furniture 
dealers.  He  was  in  business  with  that  firm  until 
1910,  when  he  sold  his  interests  and  opened  a 
department  store  at  Clemmous.  He  has  developed 
a  large  and  rtourishing  trade.  His  success  is  due 
to  tlie  fact  that  he  has  made  a  close  study  of  the 
varied  wants  of  his  community  and  has  endeavored 
to  keep  a  stock  of  goods  that  would  satisfy  all 
reasonable  demands.  His  stock  includes  everything 
to  eat  and  wear,  also  household  furnishings  and 
equipment,  sewing  machines,  pianos  and  organs 
and  other  merchandise. 

Mr.  Blackburn  was  married  in  1894  to  Miss 
Maggie  Sheets.  She  was  born  in  Clemmons  Town- 
ship, daughter  of  John  W.  and  Charlotte  (Harper) 
Sheets.  To  tlieir  marriage  was  born  one  son, 
Milton  Virgil  Blackburn.  Mr.  Blackburn  is  a 
memlier  of  Clemmons  Aerie  No.  733,  of  the  Fra- 
ternal Order  of  Eagles,  Salem  Lodge  No.  26,  In- 
dependent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  Elm  Camp  of  the 
Woodmen  of  the  World,  and  is  a  former  member 
of  the  Junior  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics 
and  the  Knights  of  Pythias. 

Joseph  Christopher  Shepard.  One  of  the  con- 
spicuous successes  in  business  affairs  at  Wilming- 
ton has  been  won  by  Joseph  Christopher  Shepard. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  was  a  retail  druggist 
and  pharmacist,  and  finally  utilized  his  experi- 
ence and  business  ability  to  organize  the  Shepard 
Chemical  Company,  and  as  the  head  of  that  busi- 
ness he  has  built  it  up  until  it  is  now  one  of  the 
largest  concerns  of  its  kind  in  the  South.  It  is 
incorporated  with  a  capital  stock  of  $600,000  and 
the  company  keeps  from  ten  to  fifteen  traveling 
representatives  on  the  road. 

Mr.  Shepard  was  born  at  Scotts  Hill  in  New 
Hanover  County,  North  Carolina,  July  11,  1867, 
a  son  of  Dr.  Joseph  C.  and  Henrietta  (Foy) 
Shepard.  His  father  was  a  physician  and  for 
some  time  the  son  had  inclinations  to  foUow  the 
same  profession.  As  a  boy  he  attended  public 
and  private  schools  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
finished   the   course   of   the   A.    C.   Davis   College. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


381 


He  was  also  a  student  of  medicine  for  two  years 
but  eventually  turned  to  the  drug  business  and  in 
1887  came  to  Wilmington.  For  twelve  years  Mr. 
Shepard  was  in  the  wholesale  and  retail  drug  busi- 
ness and  then  having  originated  and  prepared  a 
number  of  proprietary  remedies  he  took  steps  to 
provide  for  their  manufacture  and  sale.  That  was 
the  origin  of  the  Shepard  Chemical  Company, 
which  was  established  in  1913,  with  Mr.  Shepard 
as  president. 

On  November  25,  1896,  he  married  Miss  Wini- 
fred Davis  Bowden,  of  Kenansville,  North  Caro- 
lina. Their  two  children  are  Winifred  Bowden 
and  Mary  Louise.  Mr.  Shepard  is  afiUiated  with 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  with  the 
United  Commercial  Travelers,  and  is  a  former 
trustee  of  Grace  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of 
Wilmington. 

John  David  Cox.  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court 
of  Pitt  County,  has  played  an  active  role  in 
many  lines  of  business  and  public  life,  and  is  one 
of  the  liest  known  and  most  admired  citizens  of 
Greenville. 

He  was  born  in  Pitt  County  February  5,  1859, 
a  son  of  Josiah  and  Sallie  Ann  ( Tyson  i  Cox. 
His  father  was  a  farmer  and  the  son  grew  up  in 
the  atmosphere  of  rural  pursuits  and  his  earlv 
trainiug  was  accomplished  under  the  direction  of 
John  G.  Elliott,  a  native  educator  of  the  time, 
while  he  finished  his  education  in  the  University 
of  North  Carolina  during  1883-84.  Eeturning 
home,  he  took  up  farming  and  also  surveying.  For 
about  twenty  years  Mr.  Cox  gave  most  of  his 
time  to  his  work  as  a  surveyor  and  timlier  esti- 
mator. Along  with  priv.ate  duties  he  carried  pub- 
lic responsibilities.  He  served  eighteen  years  as 
justice  of  the  peace,  was  for  four  years  a  mem- 
lier  of  the  Board  of  Education,  represented  Pitt 
County  in  the  State  Legislature  in  1891  with  a 
dignit}-  and  efficiency  that  are  even  yet  remem- 
bered gratefully,  and  for  six  years  filled  the  office 
of  county  surveyor.  He  was  elected  to  his  pres- 
ent position  as  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  in 
1914,  for  the  term  of  four  years.  Mr.  Cox  among 
other  interests  is  a  director  of  the  Pitt  County 
Cotton  Oil  Company  and  he  is  affiliated  with  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  On  Decem- 
ber 2.S,  1885,  he  married  Miss  Adelaide  Smith, 
of  Pitt  County.  Wliile  they  have  no  children  of 
their  own  they  have  reared  a  fine  family  consist- 
ing of  five  adopted  children.  The  names  of  these 
children  are  Laura  V.,  James  S.,  Addie  A.,  George 
H.  and  Loren  G. 

Alfred  I?o.=;s  L.\zenbt.  Prominently  and  ac- 
tively associated  with  the  industrial  and  manu- 
facturing interests  of  Rowan  County,  Alfred  Ross 
Lazenby,  of  Salisbury,  occupies  a  noteworthy 
position  among  the  foremost  contractors  and 
builders  of  this  section  of  the  state,  and  through 
the  exercise  of  his  native  ability  .and  good  .indg- 
ment  has  built  up  a  large  and  profitable  business. 
A  native  of  Iredell  County,  he  was  born  in  Olin 
Township,  ,and  was  there  bred  and  educated. 

Humphrey  Bennett  Lazenby,  his  father,  was 
born  in  Olin  Township,  Iredell  County,  November 
2,  1818,  and  as  a.  young  man  served  an  apprentice- 
ship at  the  carriage  maker's  trade  and  as  a  mill- 
wright. During  the  Civil  war.  he  entered  the  Con- 
federate service,  and  was  assigned  to  the  quarter- 
master's department.  After  the  war  he  operated 
a  flour  mill  for  nearly  a  score  of  years.  His  last 
days  were  passed  in  Statesville,  his  death  occurring 


there  .Tiily  24,  1887.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Elizabeth  Tomlinson,  was  born  in  Iredell 
County,  Juno  21,  1827,  and  died  October  4,  1889. 
They  were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  Adelia, 
William,  Robina,  .Sallie,  Ellen,  Thomas,  Alfred 
Ross  and  Hum]ihrey  Lee. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  making  use  of  his 
native  mechanical  talents,  Alfred  Ross  Lazenby 
began  an  apprenticeship  at  the  carpenter 's  trade, 
and  at  the  end  of  two  years  had  mastered  its  de- 
tails. He  then  accepted  a  position  as  clerk  in  a 
mercantile  establishment  at  Statesville,  but  soon 
gave  that  up  and  workeil  at  his  trade  as  a  journey- 
man carjienter  for  a  time.  Mr.  Lazenby  subse- 
quently, in  partnership  with  his  brother  William, 
embarked  in  Imsiness  in  Statesville  as  a  contractor, 
continuing  until  1898.  In  that  year  Mr.  Lazenby 
located  in  Salisbury,  where  he  has  since  been  kept 
busily  employed,  as  a  contractor  and  builder  his 
services  being  in  constant  demand.  He  has  erected 
many  of  the  finest  residences,  business  blocks  and 
public  buildings  in  this  section  of  the  county,  and 
has  now  in  process  of  erection  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  Cliurch  Building  of  Salisbury,  and  the 
Central  Methodist  Church  at  Spencer.  His  work  is 
specially  noted  for  its  thoroughness,  artistic  beauty 
and  durability,  and  is  a  credit  to  his  industry  and 
ability  and  an  ornament  to  the  neighborhood  in 
which  it  is  located. 

Mr.  Lazenby  married,  in  1899,  Minnie  Estelle 
Rickert.  a  native  of  Iredell  County.  Her  father, 
Silas  Rickert.  was  born  in  the  same  county,  August 
17.  1827,  and  his  father,  Micliael  Rickert,  was  born 
in  Germany.  Mrs.  Lazenby 's  great-grandfather  on 
the  paternal  side  came  with  his  wife  and  three 
sons,  Michael.  .laeob  and  Andrew,  to  North  Caro- 
lina from  Germany,  settling  in  Mecklenburg 
County,  where  he  was  for  many  years  employed  as 
a  school  teacher.  Michael  Rickert  grew  to  man- 
hood in  Mecklenburs  Countv.  and  there  married 
Marcraret  Swann.  Silas  Rickert  was  reared  in 
Iredell  Countv.  and  there  spent  his  life,  dying 
January  19,  1884.  He  married  Victoria  Feimster, 
a  daughter  of  .Tames  King  and  Flora  Adaline 
(Campbell)  Feimster.  She  was  born  April  8, 
1840,  and  died  July  9,  1916.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lazenby 
have  one  child,  Alfred  Rickert.  Both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lazenby  are  members  of  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  in  which  he  has  served  for  many 
years  as  a  member  of  the  official  board.  Frater- 
nallv  Mr.  Lazenby  belongs  to  Salisbury  Lodge  No. 
24,  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  to  Salisbury  Council 
No.  26.  Junior  Order  of  United  American 
Mechanics. 

John  Matthias  Bernhardt.  About  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  there  were  many  colonists 
in  North  Carolina  of  German  extraction.  They 
were  mainly  an  aaricultural  people  but  a  number 
became  prominent  in  public  life.  Four  of  these 
families  became  especially  notable,  the  Bernhardt, 
Ramsauer.  Behringer  or  Barrinser,  and  Warliek, 
and  to  all  these  can  ,Tohn  Matthias  Bernhardt, 
one  of  the  substantial  citizens  of  Lenior,  North 
Carolina,  trace   an   ancestral  line. 

John  Matthias  Bernhardt  was  born  near  Lenoir, 
in  Caldwell  County,  in  ISRO.  His  parents  were 
Matthias  and  Barbara  ('('Ramsauer')  Bernhardt. 
On  the  maternal  side  the  historic  family  name  is 
perpetuated  in  history  by  the  Battle  of  Ramsauer 's 
;Mill,  one  of  the  decisive  battles  of  the  War  of  the 
Revolution,  in  North  Carolina.  This  battle  was 
fought  on  the  plantation  of  the  Ramsauer  family, 
two   miles   north   of  Lincolnton.     The  Ramsauers 


382 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


were  whigs  and  Daniel  Bamsauer  fought  in  this 
battle  on  the  whig  side  against  his  brother-in-law, 
Nicholas  Warlick,  and  other  near  relatives.  The 
mother  of  Mr.  Bernhardt  was  born  near  here, 
on  the  South  Fork  River,  where  her  parents  owned 
ancestral  lands.  Her  father  was  Solomon  Ram- 
sauer.  Her  mother  was  a  Warlick  and  was  a 
descendant  of  Nicholas  Warlick,  a  tory  captain 
who  was  killed  at  the  Battle  of  Eamsauer's  Mill. 
The  mother  was  also  a  descendant  of  the  well 
known    Shuford    family    of    North    Carolina. 

On  the  jiaternal  side  the  great-great-grandfather 
of  John  M.  Bernhardt,  was  John  Christian  Bern- 
hardt, of  German  parentage.  He  came  to  Amer- 
ica from  Switzerland,  in  1748,  returned  to  Switzer- 
land and  came  hack  to  the  United  States  in  1750. 
He  settled  at  Philadelphia  and  married  Ann  Eliza- 
beth Behringer,  or  Barringer,  a  sister  of  Gen. 
John  Paul  Barringer,  of  Revolutionary  fame.  On 
coming  to  North  Carolina,  about  1760,  he  settled 
on  Little  Coldwater  Creek,  in  what  is  now  Cabar- 
rus but  was  then  a  part  of  Meeklenberg  County. 
He  organized  the  first  German  Reformed  Church 
in  North  Carolina  and  was  otherwise  prominent 
in  his  day  and  generation. 

.John  Matthias  Bernhardt,  the  great-grandfather 
of  John  M.  Bernhardt  of  Lenoir,  married  Anna 
Margaret  Bernhardt,  and  their  son,  John  Christian 
Bernhardt,  was  the  grandfather.  He  lived  and 
died  at  Bethel  Church,  near  Meisenheimer  Springs, 
in  what  is  now  Stanly  but  formerly  Cabarrus 
County.  He  was  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina 
State  Senate  for  a  number  of  terms,  was  a  prom- 
inent layman  in  the  German  Reformed  Church  and 
was  interested  in  gold  mining  in  the  period  in 
which  that  industry  flourished  in  North  Carolina, 
and,  with  his  brother.  Col.  George  Bernhardt,  was 
one  of  the  originators  of  the  Gold  Hill  mining 
district. 

Matthias  Alexander  Bernhardt,  son  of  John 
Christian  and  father  of  John  Matthias  Bernhardt, 
was  born  on  his  father's  farm  on  Bear  Creek,  in 
Stanly  County.  He  was  for  many  years  a  merchant 
at  Co'ncord,  North  Carolina.  In  1857  he  removed 
to  Caldwell  County,  locating  on  a  farm  three  miles 
east  of  Lenoir,  the  county  seat.  He  was  a  farmer 
and  also  a  statesman,  representing  Caldwell 
County  in  the  Legislature  in  1864  and  1874.  His 
death  occurred  in  1876. 

John  Matthias  Bernhardt  bears  his  great-grand- 
father's name  and  reverences  his  memory.  He 
attended  the  local  schools  and  Davidson  College, 
after  which  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business 
at  Lenoir,  in  partnership  with  Maj.  G.  W.  F. 
Harper  and  the  firm  was  the  leading  enterprise 
of  its  kind  in  the  place.  Mr.  Bernhardt  became 
active  in  politics  and  his  party  services  received 
recognition  during  the  first  administration  of 
President  Cleveland,  who  appointed  him  a  special 
agent  for  the  Interior  Department,  in  Oregon,  in 
which  capacity  Mr.  Bernhardt  served  two  years 
with  the  greatest  eflBciency.  Upon  his  return  to 
Lenoir  he  organized  a  furniture  factory  here,  under 
the  title  of  the  Bernhardt  Manufacturing  Company. 
It  has  been  developed  into  a  great  industry,  em- 
ploying many  hands,  its  products  being  both  high 
grade  and  medium  priced  furniture,  especially 
bedroom  suites.  This,  however,  is  rather  a  side 
line  for  Mr.  Bernhardt,  as  he  is  one  of  the  leading 
lumber  men  of  the  state  and  his  principal  interests 
are  in  timber  and  general  lumber  manufacturing. 
He  is  a  prominent  Mason  and  a  member  of  several 
other  orders. 

Mr.    Bernhardt    married    Miss    EUen    Douglas 


Harper,  who  is  a  daughter  of  Maj.  G.  W.  F. 
Harper,  extended  mention  of  whom  will  be  found 
elsewhere  in  this  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bernhardt 
have  four  children :  George  Harper,  James  D., 
Ella  and  John  Christian.  Mr.  Bernhardt  and 
family  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
He  is  one  of  Lenoir  's  most  useful  citizens,  public 
spirited  and  dependable,  a  hearty  supporter  of 
many  worthy  enterprises  that  have  grown  pros- 
perous through  his  encouragement,  and  a  liberal 
contributor   to   both   small   and   great  charities. 

Edgak  J.  Godwin.  One  of  the  thriving  com- 
mercial centers  of  Cumberland  County  is  Godwin, 
and  while  this  village  was  named  for  another 
member  of  the  Godwin  family,  its  business  enter- 
prise is  now  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Edgar  J. 
Godwin,  who  has  done  much  to  sustain  and  in- 
crease the  reputation  of  this  notable  family  for 
worthy  achievement  in  business,  farming  and  pub- 
lic spirited  citizenship  in  this  part  of  North  Caro- 
lina. 

Mr.  Godwin  is  still  a  young  man  in  years,  but 
has  crowded  his  life  full  of  worthy  activities  as 
a  merchant,  farmer  and  public  official.  He  was 
born  in  1878  at  the  Godwin  plantation,  five  miles 
northeast  of  the  present  Town  of  Godwin  in  Cum- 
berland County.  His  early  associations  were  with 
the  farm  and  his  main  occupation  has  always  been 
farming.  In  the  last  few  years  his  business  in- 
terests have  grown  until  his  store  at  Godwin  is 
one  of  the  largest  and  best  equipped  country 
stores  in  this  section  of  North  Carolina.  He  first 
sold  goods  as  a  merchant  at  his  home  five  miles 
northeast  of  Godwin,  where  he  established  a  store 
in  1905.  In  the  latter  part  of  1915  he  opened 
his  present  stock  of  goods  at  Godwin,  and  though 
he  still  continues  to  live  at  his  farm  his  business 
keeps  him  in  almost  continuous  services  at  Godwin. 

This  town,  which  is  on  the  main  line  of  the 
Atlantic  Coast  Line  Railway,  sixteen  miles  from 
Fayetteville  and  seven  miles  from  Dunn,  was 
named  for  one  of  his  uncles,  the  late  Hon.  I.  W. 
Godwin,  the  original  settler  in  that  vicinity,  and 
who  at  one  time  represented  Cumberland  County 
in  the  State  Legislature.  Besides  his  extensive 
mercantile  business  Mr.  Edgar  J.  Godwin  carried 
on  general  farming  at  his  home  place  and  is  an 
extensive  cotton  planter.  He  is  a  man  of  solid 
resources  and  enjoys  the  highest  financial  rating 
in  the  business  world.  His  mercantile  business  is 
carried  on  under  the  name  of  E.  J.  Godwin  &  Son. 
His  partner  is  his  sou  Oliver  W.  Godwin,  who, 
though  only  seventeen  years  old,  has  shown  com- 
mendable aptitude  and  ability  for  business  admin- 
istration. Mr.  Edgar  J.  Godwin  married  Miss 
Alma  Godwin,  of  Wayne  County.  Besides  the  son 
Oliver  they  have  three  daughters,  Mabel,  Marie 
and  Garnette. 

The  public  record  of  Mr.  Edgar  J.  Godwin  com- 
prises nine  years  of  service  as  justice  of  the 
peace  for  Cumberland  County.  For  six  years 
ending  in  1914  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  County  Commissioners  of  that  county. 

Edgar  J.  Godwin  is  a  son  of  D.  J.  and  Caro- 
line (Thornton)  Godwin,  the  former  deceased  and 
the  latter  still  living  at  the  age  of  eighty-four. 
The  Godwins  are  of  English  ancestry.  About  a 
hundred  twenty-five  years  ago  the  first  of  the 
name  settled  in  Cumberland  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  they  have  lived  continuously  through 
several  generations  in  the  vicinity  of  the  place 
where   Edgar  J.  Godwin  was  born.     The  latter 's 


i.zT-oy- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


383 


grandfather,  Edgar  J.  Godwin,  for  whom  he  was 
named,  was  also  born  and  reared  there.  The  old 
Godwin  home  is  five  miles  northeast  of  the  present 
Town  of  Godwin,  and  in  the  extreme  northeast 
part  of  Cumberland  County.  It  is  about  five 
miles  from  Dunn,  which  is  in  Harnett  County, 
that  county  having  been  a  part  of  Cumberland 
until  its  creation  in  1853.  The  Godwin  homestead 
is  close  to  the  Black  Eiver. 

Among  other  prominent  members  of  the  family 
one  of  national  reputation  at  the  present  time  is 
Hon.  Hannibal  L.  Godwin,  of  Dunn,  who  was 
born  in  Harnett  County,  November  3,  1873,  sou 
of  Archibald  B.  Godwin.  He  was  educated  in 
Trinity  College  and  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina law  department,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1896,  has  served  as  mayor  of  Dunn,  as  a  member 
of  the  North  Carolina  State  Senate,  was  on  the 
State  Central  Committee  from  1903  to  1905,  presi- 
dential elector  in  1904,  and  since  his  election  in 
1906  has  been  continuously  representative  of  the 
Sixth  North  Carolina  District  in  Congress,  serving 
from  the  session  of  1907  to  the  present  date,  and 
bearing  a  conspicuous  and  influential  part  in  the 
notable  program  of  democratic  legislation  carried 
out  within  the  past  ten  years.  Congressman 
Godwin's  brother,  Mr.  R.  L.  Godwin,  is  also  a 
resident  of  Dunn  and  is  one  of  the  widely  known 
lawyers  of  North  Carolina. 

The  Godwins  are  notable  as  a  family  both  for 
their  intellectual  strength  and  for  physical  stature 
and  power.  They  are  in  every  sense  of  the  word 
a  race  of  big  men.  Equally  notable  as  a  char- 
acteristic is  their  love  for  beautiful  homes.  Con- 
gressman Godwin  and  his  brother  have  magnifi- 
cent mansions  at  Dunn.  Mr.  Edgar  J.  Godwin 
shares  the  family  characteristic  in  this  respect 
and  has  a  home  which  would  bear  favorable  com- 
parison with  any  in  the  state  and  among  country 
homes  is  truly  preeminent.  Although  most  of  his 
farm  lies  in  Cumberland  County  his  residence  is 
situated  ,iust  over  the  line  in"  Harnett  County. 
The  finest  of  city  homes  do  not  surpass  it  in 
its  comfort  and  conveniences  of  electric  lights  and 
other  facilities,  while  in  its  harmonious  setting 
and  in  the  treatment  of  its  architecture  with  re- 
lationship to  the  beautiful  grounds  that  surround 
it  the  charm  of  the  home  is  unsurpassed.  The 
costly  and  beautiful  structure  stands  upon  an 
elevation  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  grove,  and 
is  a  country  home  which  once  seen  is  never  for- 
gotten and  remains  one  of  the  most  pleasing 
memories  of  North  Carolina  landscape  carried 
away  by  any  traveler  or  visitor. 

William  "Wills  Green,  M.  D.,  is  the  third 
successive  member  of  the  family  to  bear  the  name 
and  the  Greens  are  a  widely  known  and  promi- 
nent family  of  North  Carolina.  Doctor  Green 
en.ioys  a  successful  and  secure  position  as  a  phy- 
sician and  surgeon,  with  many  influential  a.sso- 
ciations  and  connections.  His  home  is  at  Tar- 
boro. 

He  was  horn  in  Franklin  County.  North  Carolina, 
.Tuly  29,  IBS'!,  a  son  of  William'  Wills  and  Mary 
Elizabeth  rBlaeknall)  Green.  His  father  was  a 
farmer  and  planter,  and  aericultiire  has  been 
the  chief  vocation  of  the  family  through  many 
eenerations.  Doctor  Green  was  educated  in  pub- 
lic schools,  in  the  noted  Bingham  School  at  Me- 
bane.  took  his  literary  course  in  the  ITniversitv  of 
North  Carolina,  and'  later  attended  the  medical 
department,   where   he   was    graduated    M.    D.    in 


1908.  In  1913  he  pursued  post-graduate  studies 
in  Cornell  University   Medical  Department. 

Doctor  Green  began  practice  at  Tarboro,  and 
though  handling  a  general  practice  he  is  coming 
to  the  tront  rapidly  as  a  capable  surgeon.  He 
is  ou  the  surgical  staff  of  the  Edgecombe  General 
Hospital,  is  local  surgeon  of  the  Atlantic  Coast 
Line  Railway,  is  physician  for  Edgecombe  County, 
is  county  coroner,  and  belongs  to  the  Atlantic 
Coast  Line  Railway  Association  of  Surgeons  and 
the  Edgecombe  County,  the  District  and  North 
Carolina  Medical  societies  and  the  American  Med- 
ical Association. 

Doctor  Green  is  affiliated  with  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  with  the  Beta  Theta  Pi 
and  the  Phi  Thi  college  fraternities  and  the  Tar 
Heel  Club.  November  19,  1913,  lie  married  Miss 
Sue  Poxhill  Baker,  daughter  of  the  distinguished 
Tarboro  surgeon,  Dr.  Julius  Meredith  Baker, 
They  have  one  daughter,  Elizabeth  Baker. 

Doctor  Green  is  now  in  France,  a  captain  in  the 
Medical  Reserve  Corps  with  Evacuation  Hospital 
No.  4. 

Edward  E.  Ellee,  who  is  president  of  the  North 
Wilkesboro  Commercial  Organization,  has  done  a 
good  deal  in  recent  years  to  promote  co-operative 
marketing  in  his  agricultural  district.  When  he 
located  at  North  Wilkesboro  in  1909  the  farmers 
were  just  waking  up  to  the  necessity  of  building 
up  a  home  market  for  the  distribution  and  dispo- 
sition of  their  poultry  and  other  produce.  Mr. 
Eller,  who  had  had  previous  experience  in  the  pro- 
duce business  in  different  localities,  established 
connections  with  the  source  of  production  and  the 
larger  markets  of  Philadelphia,  New  York  City 
and  Baltimore,  and  has  been  the  medium  of  the 
shipment  of  hmidreds  of  carloads  of  general  prod- 
uce and  poultry  from  this  section.  His  business 
enterprise  has  stimulated  and  raised  the  standard 
of  the  local  industry  and  has  proved  a  factor  in 
the  world-wide  movement  for  a  closer  connection 
between  the  producer  and  consumer. 

While  Mr.  Eller  was  born  near  Ottumwa,  Iowa, 
February  12,  1870,  his  present  home  is  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  where  his  ancestors  lived  for  several  genera- 
tions. He  is  a  son  of  Jesse  Eller,  who  was  born  in 
Lewis  Pork  Township  of  Wilkes  County  in  Decem- 
ber, 1835,  and  a  grandson  of  Peter  Eller.  Jesse 
Eller  acquired  a  very  good  education  during  his 
youth  and  taught  school.  He  afterwards  took  up 
farming,  and  continued  his  residence  in  Wilkes 
County  until  1869,  when  he  removed  to  Iowa  and 
settled  near  Ottumwa.  In  1871  he  went  still  fur- 
ther west,  to  the  Nebraska  frontier,  and  was  one 
of  the  pioneers  in  Clay  County  of  that  state.  He 
took  up  a  government  claim  and  proceede4  to 
develop  it  by  breaking  the  virgin  prairie  and  living 
in  a  sod  house,  which  was  typical  of  the  homes  in 
that  district  then  and  for  many  years  afterward. 
Around  him  was  a  practically  unchartered  and 
undeveloped  wilderness.  The  prairies  were  still 
covered  with  buffalo,  elk  and  antelope  and  the 
period  of  Indian  hostilities  was  not  yet  passed. 
The  lot  of  the  pioneers  in  Nebraska  was  not  an 
altogether  happy  one.  There  were  persistent  hot 
winds,  grasshoppers,  crop  failures,  low  prices  and 
other  obstacles  to  prosperity  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion. Finally,  in  1880,  Jesse  Eller  gave  up  the 
struggle,  sold  his  farm  and  returned  East.  He 
bought  a  farm  near  Atkins  in  Smyth  County,  Vir- 
ginia, and  there  continued  his  work  as  a  general 
farmer  until  his  death  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven. 


384 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


He  married  Mary  Laxton,  who  was  born  near 
Boomer  in  Wilkes  County.  She  died  at  the  age  of 
sixty-eight.  Her  twelve  children  were  named 
Oscar.  Virginia,  James  A.,  Quiney  A.,  Edward  E., 
Ella,  Toy,  Lulu,  Mollie,  Mattie,  E'mma  and  Ben  H. 

Edward  E.  Eller  has  many  recollections  of  life 
in  a  sod  house  in  a  western  prairie  community. 
Much  of  his  education  was  acquired  after  the  fam- 
ily returned  to  Virginia.  He  attended  in  that 
state  the  Marion  High  School.  When  quite  young 
he  was  a  factor  on  the  home  farm  and  he  con- 
tinued farming  until  the  age  of  twenty-five.  He 
then  spent  two  years  as  a  teacher  in  Ashe  Coiuity, 
North  Carolina,  aud  also  took  up  the  mercantile 
business  at  Obids  in  that  coiinty.  In  1897  Mr. 
Eller  removed  to  Norfolk,  Virginia,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  the  produce  business  in  that  city  until 
1899,  when  he  came  to  North  Wilkesboro  and  began 
the  development  of  his  riresent  enterprise. 

In  1897  he  married  Elizabeth  McNeill,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Peter  and  Mary  fPhillips)  McNeill.  They 
have  three  children :  Mary,  Ernest  and  Franklin. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eller  are  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  he  being  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Deacons 
and  secretary  of  the  Berean  Sunday  School  Class. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
of  North  Wilkesboro,  and  is  afiiliated  with  Wilkes- 
boro Lodge  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Oddfel- 
lows, the  North  Wilkesboro  Council  of  the  .Tunior 
Order  of  American  Mechanics  and  with  the  Knights 
of  Pythias. 

.JO-SEPH  DucxwORTH  ELLIOTT.  It  would  be  dif- 
ficult to  name  any  of  the  important  enterprises 
contributing  to  the  remarkable  prosperity  of 
Hickory,  Catawba  County,  without  naming  Joseph 
Duckworth  Elliott,  for  he  has  been  the  main  mov- 
ing force  in  the  development  of  this  place  from  an 
unimiiortant  country  town  to  one  of  the  foremost 
industrial  centers  in  North  Carolina.  Builder, 
banker  and  manufacturer,  Mr.  Elliott  has  led  in 
every  enterprise  commercially  and  industrially, 
and  additionally  has  been  a  dominating  factor 
in  public  matters  leading  to  civic  improvement. 

Joseph  Duckworth  Elliott  was  born  in  South 
Carolina  during  the  temporary  residence  of  the 
family  there,  and  is  a  son  of  Hiram  C.  aud  Altha 
(Duckworth)  Elliott.  Hiram  C.  Elliott  was  bom 
in  Iredell  County,  North  Carolina,  where  his 
father,  of  Scotch-Irish  parentage,  had  settled 
when  he  came  to  America,  and  that  county  con- 
tinued to  be  the  family  home  for  many  years. 
Hiram  C.  Elliott  became  a  contractor  and  builder 
and  because  of  his  skill  and  honorable  business 
methods,  was  called  to  many  sections  of  both 
Carolinas  to  engage  in  important  construction 
work.  .loseph  Duckworth  was  reared  on  his 
father's  farm  located  in  the  western  part  of  Ire- 
dell County  and  attended  school  at  Statesville. 
Inheriting  a  measure  of  mechanical  skill,  perhaps, 
and  having  a  natural  inclination  toward  working 
in  wood,  he  laid  the  groundwork  of  his  building 
knowledge  by  first  learning  the  carpenter  trade 
in  a  well  known  establishment  at  Knoxville,  Tenn- 
essee, where  his  training  was  thorough  in  every 
detail  of  the  building  art. 

Mr.  Elliott  came  to  Hickory  in  1885,  finding 
the  usual  quiet,  unambitious  country  town,  with 
its  small,  everyday  activities  and  unimportant 
dragging  industries.  His  quick  intelligence  saw 
wonderful  opportunities  here,  and  with  the  instinct 
of  a  natural  builder,  in  imagination  he  pictured 
the  present  flourishing  industrial  plants  with 
their  hundreds  of  happy,  contented,  prosperous 
workmen,    and   then    set    the   machinery   in   order 


that  made  'his  visions  concrete  facts.  Since  then 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  have  been  in- 
vested here  in  establishing  furniture  factories  and 
various  kinds  of  wood-working  industries,  this 
being  a  great  construction  point  for  wagons, 
builders'  material  and  cotton  mills.  All  these 
concerns  are  well  capitalized  aud  pay  high  wages 
and  this  contributes  to  general  prosperity  as  the 
larger  part  of  these  wages  are  spent  at  Hickory. 

While  Mr.  Elliott  has  built  up  an  independent 
fortune  for  himself,  no  other  man  has  done  so 
much  for  the  place.  Besides  being  the  organizer 
and  principal  financier  of  most  of  the  large  enter- 
prises, he  has  spent  a  fortune  in  erecting  the  busi- 
ness houses  and  industrial  plants  that  he  still 
owns.  Mr.  Elliott  owns  a  large  amount  of  property 
but  very  little  of  it  is  vacant,  it  being  said  of  him 
that  no  land  apjiears  attractive  to  him  until  it 
has  been  improved  with  buildings,  and  these,  to 
satisfy  him,  must  be  appropriate  and  fine  ex- 
amples of  constructive  art.  He  may  be  especially 
proud  of  the  building  which  is  the  home  of  the 
First  National  Bank,  of  which  institution  he  is 
jiresident.  This  is,  undoubtedly,  one  of  the 
liandsomest  bank  buildings  in  the  South,  with  an 
exterior  of  white  marble  and  an  interior  of 
Tennessee  marble,  seemingly  perfect  in  its  classic 
beauty.  It  is  the  exclusive  home  of  the  bank  and 
is  equipped  with  every  modern  safety  device  and 
comfort  and  convenience. 

Mr.  Elliott  is  president,  as  mentioned  above,  of 
the  First  National  Bank,  and  additionally  is  presi- 
dent of  the  Hickorv  Manufacturing  Company; 
the  Dudley  Shoals  Cotton  Mills;  the  Falls  Manu- 
facturing Company;  the  Hickory  Electric  Com- 
pany; the  Elliott  Knitting  Mills;  the  Hickory 
Overall  Company ;  and  is  vice  president  of  the 
Hickory  Furniture  Company;  of  the  First  Building 
and  Loan  Association,  and  of  the  Hickory  Spinning 
Company.  The  last  named  is  a  new  industry,  the 
most  modern,  complete  and  thoroughly  equipped 
spinning  mills  in  the  South,  for  the  manufacture 
of  cotton  yarns,  having  been  completed  in  the 
summer  of  1917,  on  a  site  of  twenty-three  acres, 
in  West  Hickory.  Mr.  Elliott  is  also  a  member 
of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  A.  A.  Shuford 
Mills  Company,  of  the  Piedmont  Wagon  and  Manu- 
facturing Company,  and  a  number  of  other  business 
enterprises  and  industries  in  which  he  is  interested 
financially. 

It  is  remarkable,  but  typical  of  the  energy  and 
enterprise  of  Mr.  Elliott,  that  with  the  responsi- 
bilities of  these  large  business  interests  resting 
upon  him,  he  should  have  found  time  and  inspira- 
tion to  take  an  active  part  in  politics  and  the 
civic  welfare  of  the  community.  It  is  creditable 
to  his  fellow  citizens  that  they  early  recognized 
his  sterling  traits  of  character,  his  energy,  vitality 
and  sound  judgment,  and  practically  forced  public 
office  upon  him,  with  the  convictions  that  he  would 
find  a  way  to  accomplish  needed  things.  He  has 
served  ten  terms  of  two  years  each,  as  mayor  of 
Hickory,  and  during  his  administrations  admirable 
public  improvements  have  been  brought  about. 
He  also  served  two  terms  as  state  senator  from 
this  district,  representing  Catawba  and  Lincoln 
counties,  and  during  that  time  brought  about  the 
passage  of  the  bill  that  provided  for  the  drainage 
of  these  counties  under  which  thousands  of  acres 
of  what  is  now  the  richest  agricultural  land  in 
the  district  have  been  reclaimed. 

Mr.  Elliott  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Mary  Eliott,  who  belongs  to  one  of  the  old 
families  of  Charlotte,  Mecklenburg  County,  North 
Carolina,      and      they      have      three      daughters: 


TILDE  N 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


385 


Mrs.  Pearl  Sherrill,  Mrs.  Hazel  Heuderson,  and 
Miss  Kate  Elliott.  Mr.  Elliott  is  a  Knight  Temi> 
lar  Mason  and  a  Shriner,  belonging  to  Osins 
Temple,  Ancient  Arabic  Order  Nobles  of  the  Mystic 
Shrine,  at  Charlotte. 

John  Q.  A.  Wood.  Few  there  are  still  remain- 
ing among  earthly  scenes  who  can  claim  the  unique 
distinction  of  having  carried  on  the  dangerous 
work  of  blockade-running  during  the  civil  strife 
between  the  forces  of  the  South  and  North  m 
the  '60s,  yet  this  was  the  experience  of  Hon.  John 
Quincv  Adams  Wood,  then  a  lad  in  his  'teens, 
and  now  one  of  the  most  highly  respected  busi- 
ness men  of  Elizabeth  City.  During  a  long  and 
honorable  career  Mr.  Wood  has  been  identifie.l 
with  various  large  and  important  business  enter- 
prises, has  likewise  been  prominent  in  public  life, 
and  at  the  present  time  is  chiefly  interested  in 
the  operation  of  a  large  buggy  manufacturing 
and  repair  shop  and  automobile  garage. 

Hon  John  Q.  A.  Wood  was  born  at  Parkville 
North  Carolina,  July  20,  1846,  and  is  a  son  of 
William  G.  and  Martha  (White)  Wood.  His  par- 
ents were  farming  people,  and  the  youth  s  early 
education  was  gained  in  the  country  public  schools, 
and  when  the  struggle  between  the  states  came 
on  he  ran  the  blockade  on  the  land  between  Eliza- 
al»th  City  and  Richmond.  When  the  war  had 
closed  he  completed  his  education  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina,  and  after  completing  his 
education  secured  employment  in  a  general  store 
as  a  clerk.  In  that  caiiacity  he  gained  the  neces- 
sary knowledge  of  business  methods  to  engage  in 
commercial  pursuits  on  his  own  account,  and  for 
some  years  earrieil  on  a  general  merchandising 
liusiness. 

For  some  years  Mr.  Wood  had  been  interested 
in  republican  national  affairs,  and  finally  came 
prominentlv  before  the  public  in  1874  as  candidate 
for  a  seat  "in  the  Legislature.  He  was  duly  elected 
to  that  body,  and  when  he  left  the  House,  in 
1878,  was  elected  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court,  a 
position  which  he  retained  for  twenty  years.  He 
was  then  ready  to  reenter  the  business  field,  and 
January  1,  1899,  purchased  a  plant  for  the  man- 
ufacture of  wagons,  buggies,  etc.,  which  he  soon 
put  on  a  decidedly  paying  basis  and  which  he  has 
since  liuilt  up  to  large  proportions,  now  employ- 
ing fifteen  skilled  mechanics.  The  advent  of  the 
automobile  and  its  subsequent  growth  in  public 
favor  caused  him  to  add  a  garage  to  his  manu- 
facturing and  repair  plant,  and  he  now  handles 
Dodge  Brothers  automol>iles,  this  department  hav- 
ing also  shown  a  steady  and  healthy  growth.  In 
the  meantime  Mr.  Wood  has  continued  to  main- 
tain his  interest  in  politics  and  public  affairs,  and 
is  one  of  the  most  prominent  republicans  in  the 
commonwealth.  In  1896  he  was  nominated  and 
made  an  especially  good  race  for  Congress,  but 
political  conditions  were  against  him,  as  they  were 
also  in  1908,  1910,  1912,  1914  and  1916,  in  each 
of  which  years  he  was  candidate  for  state  audi- 
tor. He  has  numerous  business  interests  and  is  a 
director  in  the  Savings  Bank  &  Trust  Company, 
the  Elizabeth  City  Electric  Light  &  Power  Com- 
panv,  and  the  Elizabeth  City  Water  Works.  He  is 
a  Mason  of  prominence,  and  has  been  active  in 
religious  work,  being  a  member  of  the  board  of 
stewards  of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  a  delegate  to  conventions  of  that  denomina- 
tion  for  many  years. 

Mr.   Wood    has   been   married   three   times,   the 

Vol.  IT— 25 


present  Mrs.  Wood  hawng  borne  the  maiden  name 
of  Julia  Elliott.  Mr.  Wood  is  the  father  of  the 
following  children:  Mary  E.,  who  is  now  Mrs. 
T.  B.  Cooke;  Julia  E.,  who  is  the  wife  of  Wil- 
liam P.  Skinner;  John  E.,  who  graduated  from 
the  state  university  and  taught  there  one  year. 
He  is  now  a  lieutenant  in  Company  C,  One  Hun- 
dred and  First  United  States  Engineers,  and 
now  in  France  in  the  line  of  battle;  Walter  P.; 
Nellie  R.,  of  Saint  Mary 's  College ;  Helen  G.,  a 
graduate  of  Winston-Salem  College;  Elizabeth 
Olive;   and  Harold  Stuart. 

C.VPT.  Jame.s  Borden  Lynch.  Among  the  men 
[irominent  in  the  architectural  profession  of  Wil- 
mington, one  who  has  come  to  the  forefront  rap- 
iilly  during  recent  years  is  Capt.  James  Borden 
Lynch,  junior  memljer  of  the  firm  of  Gause  & 
Lynch.  Caiitaiii  Lynch  is  also  well  known  in 
military  circles,  being  an  officer  of  the  Wilming- 
ton Light  Artillery,  now  connected  with  the 
United    States    Coast    Artillery. 

Captain  Lynch  was  born  January  29,  1883,  at 
Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  and  is  a  son  of 
Adolplius  B.  and  Mary  (Borden)  Lynch.  His  fa- 
ther is  one  of  the  well  known  citizens  of  Wil- 
mington, and  at  present  is  paymaster  for  the  At- 
lantic Coast  Line  Railway.  Jainea  B.  Lynch  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Wilmington,  at 
Ca|ie  Fear  Academy,  and  at  the  Agricultural  and 
Mechanical  College  at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina. 
For  eight  years  after  his  graduation  from  the 
last-named  institution  he  was  employed  in  the 
offices  of  various  architects  from  New  York  City 
to  Tampa,  Florida,  and  in  191.5  returned  to  Wil- 
mington and  entered  upon  the  private  practice 
of  his  profession.  Shortly  thereafter  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  James  F.  Gause,  Jr.,  and  the  firm 
of  Gause  &  Lynch  is  now  accounted  one  of  the 
leading  firms  of  this  kind  in  the  county.  They 
have  numerous  handsome  structures  to  their  credit 
and  have  contributed  materially  to  the  upl)uilding 
and  beauty  of  Wilmington.  Mr.  Lynch  is  a 
member  of  the  North  Carolina  Architectural  As- 
sociation, and  aside  from  his  profession  is  a  mem- 
1  er  of  the  Cape  Fear  Country  Club,  the  Carolina 
Yacht  Club  and  the  Kappa  Sigma  fraternity.  In 
1901  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  C,  Sec- 
ond Regiment,  North,  Carolina  National  Guards, 
known  as  the  Wilmington  Light  Artillery.  In 
1909  he  was  advanced  to  second  lieutenant,  in 
191.5  to  first  lieutenant,  and  August  1,  1916, 
was  promoted  to  captain,  a  rank  which  lie  now 
holds.  Company  C  has  since  1908  been  connected 
with  the  Coast  Artillery,  and  is  known  as  Sec- 
ond Company,  Coast  Artillery  Corps,  North  Car- 
olina National  Guard. 

On  January  16,  1916,  Captain  Lynch  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Carlotta  Mugge,  of  Wilmington.  They 
are  members  of  Grace  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

L.  A.  CARPENTER.  Among  the  old  families  of 
Catawba  County,  none  are  more  widely  known  or 
have  been  of  more  substantial  importance  to  this 
section  of  the  state,  than  the  Carpenters.  Since 
1760  this  family  has  belonged  to  this  county,  liv- 
ing in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  Town  of  Maiden, 
a  busy  center  that  it  founded,  furnishing  the 
original  site  and  largely  nourishing  by  the  enter- 
jirises  it  established.  The  Maiden  Cotton  mill, 
which  has  been  in  continuous  and  successful  opera- 
tion for  the  past  thirty-five  years,  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  industrial  prosperity  of  this  section. 


386 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


The  present  bead  of  this  old  and  prominent  famUy 
worthily  represents  the  stock  and  is  found  in  L.  A. 
Carpenter,  one  of  Maiden's  most  substantial  men 
and   respected   citizens. 

L.  A.  Carpenter  was  born  on  the  Carpenter  home- 
stead, five  miles  east  of  the  present  Town  of 
Maiden,  Catawba  County,  North  Carolina,  in 
1853.  His  parents  were  H.  F.  and  Mary  (Car- 
penter)   Carpenter. 

Josejjli  Carpenter,  the  paternal  grandfather,  de- 
scended from  one  of  the  early  German  settlers  in 
Catawba  County  and  here  he  reared  his  family. 
He  acquired  extensive  tracts  of  land,  the  Car- 
penter farm  embracing  a  wide  territory.  His 
sou  H.  F.,  father  of  L.  A.  Carpenter,  was  born 
one  mile  south  of  the  present  Town  of  Maiden. 
He  became  a  farmer  and  for  many  years  did 
a  heavy  business  as  a  tanner.  He  was  one  of  the 
thrifty,  enterprising  men  who  are  so  valuable  to 
a  comnumity.  In  1882  he  established  the  Maiden 
Cotton  mill,  which  was  the  first  industry  here  and 
around  it  the  town  was  built  up  on  what  was  pre- 
viously the  Carpenter  farm.  For  many  years  the 
mill  was  operated  under  the  firm  of  H.  .P.  Car- 
penter &  Sons,  and  he  retained  his  interest  until 
his  death. 

L.  A.  Carpenter  not  only  learned  the  principles 
of  farming  but,  also  the  affiliated  industries  that 
pertain  to  extensive  agricultural  operations.  Thus 
he  became  an  expert  tanner  and  also  a  wool  carder, 
wool  carding  being  an  industry  in  the  hands  of 
the  Carpenter  family  to  a  large  extent  in  this 
section  at  that  time.  As  a  member  of  his  father's 
firm,  lie  was  one  of  the  owners  of  the  Maiden 
Cotton  mill,  and  still  retains  this  valuable  interest. 
He  owns  the  old  Carpenter  farm  on  which  his 
father  was  reared  and  it  is  highly  developed  and 
well   improved. 

Mr.  Carpenter  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Ellen  Huitt,  who  belongs  to  a  well  known  old 
family  of  the  county,  and  they  have  the  following 
children:  Mrs.  Essie  Murphy,  M.  F.,  P.  A., 
Mrs.  Bertha  Holeshanser,  Mrs.  Pearl  Covington, 
Mrs.  Daisy  Warlick,  Mrs.  S.  M.  Finger,  and  Clyde, 
Ruby,  David  and  Donald  Carpenter.  While  a 
number  of  his  children  are  married  and  have 
settled  near  the  old  home,  the  third  youngest  son, 
thinks  of  home  and  parents  from  the  other  side 
of  the  world.  He  is  a  poldier  in  the  regular  army 
of  the  United  States,  is  sergeant  of  his  company, 
and  is  stationed  in  the  Philippine  Islands. 

Mr.  Carpenter  has  always  taken  some  pride 
in  his  ancestry  and  also  an  interest  in  local  his- 
tory, identified  as  it  is  with  so  much  that  pertains 
to  the  honorable  achievements  of  his  own  family. 
At  his  home  in  Maiden,  a  visitor  is  sometimes 
invited  to  a  view  of  a  wonderful  collection  that 
he  owns,  a  museum  in  fact,  for  it  contains  articles 
of  great  value  and  antiquity,  and  an  added  in- 
terest is  afforded  as  Mr.  Carpenter  is  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  the  rare  old  books,  the  ancient 
ornaments,  the  faded  pictures  and  by-gone  house- 
hold utensils  and  even  the  firearms  of  another 
day.  The  collection  is  larger  and  more  varied  than 
is  often  found  in  a  private  home  and  if  its  ulti- 
mate destination  be  a  public  museum,  Mr.  Car- 
penter will  have  performed  a  generous  and  public 
spirited  act. 

Archibald  L.  Bullock  is  one  of  the  leading 
merchants,  bankers  and  planters  of  the  commu- 
nity of  Rowland  in  Robeson  County.  The  quali- 
ties which  have  been  dominant  in  his  own  success- 
ful career  are  those  which  have  characterized  and 


distinguished  the  Bullocks  for  generations.  There 
is  hardly  a  better  known  name  in  the  South.  It 
is  an  English  family,  and  the  first  Americans  of 
the  name  settled  in  Virginia  in  the  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  From  Virginia  one  broth- 
er went  to  North  Carolina  and  another  to  Georgia. 
The  Georgia  Bullocks  have  spelled  their  names 
slightly  different  from  those  of  North  Carolina. 
Some  of  the  family  still  remain  in  England,  where 
for  several  generations  they  have  been  connected 
with  the  Bank  of  England.  Sturdiness  and  sta- 
bility are  the  outstanding  characteristics  of  this 
family.  With  few  exceptions  they  have  never 
gone  in  for  public  life,  law  or  politics.  They 
have  been  essentially  and  practically  financiers  and 
builders  of  permanent  wealth  in  property  and 
lands. 

Archibald  L.  BuUock  was  born  in  Robeson 
County,  at  what  is  now  the  Town  of  Fairmont, 
in  1852.  He  is  a  son  of  J.  W.  and  Sarah  (McCal- 
■  him)  Bullock.  His  father  was  born  in  Robeson 
County  in  1828,  served  through  the  war  as  a 
Confederate  soldier,  and  died  at  his  home  at 
Rowland  in  1906.  His  father  was  Lemuel  Bul- 
lock, and  his  grandfather  was  a  Revolutionary 
soldier  who  settled  in  Robeson  County,  North 
Carolina,  while  the  war  for  independence  was  still 
in  progress.  J.  W.  Bullock's  wife,  Sarah  McCal- 
lum,  was  of  pure  Scotch  ancestry.  Her  father, 
Archie  McCallum,  was  a  Robeson  County  resi- 
dent and  the  family  had  been  identified  with  that 
county  from  the  time  of  the  earliest  Scotch  set- 
tlements there. 

Until  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age  Archi- 
bald L.  Bullock  lived  at  home  on  his  father's 
plantation.  When  he  left  home  it  was  to  take 
his  place  at  wages  of  $10  a  month  in  a  store  at 
Alfordsville.  It  was  chiefly  on  the  foundation 
of  his  own  character  and  sturdy  abilities  that 
he  laid  the  structure  of  his  permanent  and  sub- 
stantial success.  He  remained  an  employe  of  the 
store  at  Alfordsville  7%  years.  Experience  gave 
liim  confidence  and  with  his  capital  he  finally 
formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother,  W.  F.  Bul- 
lock, and  together  they  set  up  as  general  mer- 
chants at  Alfordsville  under  the  name  A.  L.  and 
W.  F.  Bullock.  That  business  grew  and  pros- 
pered and  was  continued  imtil  1903,  when  A.  L. 
Bullock  withdrew  and  established  himself  in  a 
similar  business  at  Rowland.  For  the  past  fifteen 
years  Rowland  has  been  his  home  and  the  scene 
of  his  varied  business  enterprises.  He  now  has 
the  largest  store  and  the  best  commercial  build- 
ing in  Rowland,  conducted  under  the  name  of 
A.  L.  Bullock.  The  store  building  is  one  of  the 
best  in  the  entire  county,  a  two-story  brick  block 
with  a  hundred  foot  frontage.  It  comprises  sev- 
eral complete  stores,  filled  with  a  large  stock  of 
merchandise.  Mr.  Bullock  is  also  vice  president 
of  the  Bank  of  Rowland,  is  an  extensive  farmer 
and  one  of  the  leading  producers  of  cotton  in  this 
section  of  the  state.  His  principal  farm  is  the 
' '  Doors ' '  farm  in  Alfordsville  Township,  com- 
prisine  300  acres  of  the  rich  soil  for  which  this 
part  of  the  state  is  noted.  Two  other  good  farms 
lielonging  to  Mr.  Bullock  lie  east  of  Rowland  in 
Thompson  Township. 

His  solid  character  and  large  means  have  made 
him  a  leading  and  invaluable  citizen  of  his  town 
and  county.  He  served  four  years  as  county  com- 
missioner of  Robeson  County  and  two  years  as  a 
member  of  the  county  board  of  road  commissioners. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
Flora  McDonald  College  at  Red  Springs,  and  has 


J.  W.  liULLuCK 


ASTOR,   LENOX 

-;t;D\T10N£l 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


387 


been  one  of  the  most  liberal  supporters  of  that 
splendid  Presbyterian  school  since  its  foundation. 
On  his  mother's  side  he  inherits  the  best  of  Scotch 
Presbyterianism  and  since  his  youth  has  been  a 
leader  in  the  church.  He  is  a  communicant  and 
an  elder  in  the  Ashpole  Presbyterian  Church.  This 
is  1%  miles  from  Kowland,  and  is  a  flourishing 
congregation  of  nearly  250  members.  Ashpole  has 
much  history  associated  with  it  as  a  church,  and 
has  been  an  organized  institution  for  about  125 
years. 

Mr.  Bullock  married  Mary  Whitley,  of  Mecklen- 
burg County.  They  have  one  son,  A.  L.  Bul- 
lock, Jr. 

Alonzo  Commodore  Kerlet  is  an  alumnus  of 
the  University  of  North  Carolina  whose  time  and 
activities  for  fifteen  years  have  been  completely 
devoted  to  educational  work.  Aside  from  the 
formal  routine  of  teaching  he  has  done  much  in  a 
constructive  way  to  promote  educational  advance- 
ment in  different  sections  of  the  state,  a"d  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  resourceful  school 
administrators.  Mr.  Kerley  is  now  superintendent 
of  the  Morgantou  graded   schools. 

He  was  born  in  B'lrke  County,  North  Carolina, 
May  22,  1877,  son  of  Samuel  Commodore  and  Har- 
riet Matilda  (Warlick)  Keiley.  He  grew  up  on 
his  father 's  farm,  attended  country  schools  and 
also  the  Patton  School  at  Morganton.  Prom  1898 
to  1902  he  pursued  the  classical  course  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  graduating  A.  B.  Dur- 
ing the  following  year  he  taught  at  Siler  CSty 
and  then  for  one  year  was  principal  of  the  Ash- 
land Avenue  School  in  Asheville,  for  two  years 
did  school  work  in  Tennessee,  and  then  took 
charge  of  the  schools  of  Mooresville,  North  Car- 
olina. Mr.  Kerley  has  the  distinction  of  having 
organized  the  graded  school  system  of  that  town, 
and  worked  until  the  community  had  voted  suf- 
ficient bond  issues  to  give  t.ie  schools  proper  equip- 
ment. He  was  there  from  1906  to  1910  and 
stepped  from  the  school  su]ierintendency  into  the 
office  of  postmaster  of  Mooresville,  which  he  held 
from  1910  to  1914.  Since  then  he  has  been 
superintendent    of   the   Morganton   High   School. 

Mr.  Kerley  is  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina 
Teachers  Assembly  and  is  affiliated  with  the 
Knights  of  Pythias.  He  was  formerly  a  steward 
of   the   Methodist    Episcopal    Church,    South. 

November  26,  1905,  he  married  Mary  Louise 
McAnulty,  of  Hickory  Valley,  Tennessee  They 
have  three  children:  Martha  Louise,  Robert  Com- 
modore, born  August  28,  1908,  and  David  Moor- 
man,  born  .January  9,   1918. 

Rev.  "WiLLi.iM  Caloway  Me.vdows.  Earnest 
and  sincere  in  his  con\nctions  and  broad  and  lib- 
eral in  spirit,  Rev.  William  C.  Meadows,  of  East 
Fruitland,  Wilkes  County,  is  well-known  through- 
out the  district  in  which  he  resides  as  an  earnest 
worker  in  all  religious  and  charitable  undertakings 
and  as  a  man  of  sterling  worth  and  integrity.  He 
was  born  in  Sugar  Loaf  Township,  Alexander 
County,  North  Carolina,  February  11,  1845,  of 
English  ancestry,  being  a  descendant  in  the  fifth 
generation  from  Daniel  Meadows  (1),  the  immi- 
■  grant  ancestor,  the  line  of  descent  being  through 
Daniel  (2),  Gilham  (3),  Harvey  (4),  and  William 
C.    (5). 

Daniel  Meadows  (1)  was  born  and  bred  in 
England,  and  as  a  soldier  in  the  British  Army 
came  to  America  during  the  Revolutionary  war. 
He  evidently  sympathized  with  the  colonists,  as  he 


never  returned  to  his  native  land,  but  settled  in 
Virginia  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  there  re- 
mained until  his  death. 

Daniel  Meadows  (2)  migrated  from  Virginia, 
the  place  of  his  birth,  to  North  Carolina  when 
young,  becoming  one  of  the  earlier  settlers  of  that 
part  of  Wilkes  County  that  is  now  included  within 
the  limits  of  Alexander  County.  Purchasing  a 
tract  of  wild  land,  he  at  once  began  its  improve- 
ment, and  was  there  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil 
throughout  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Gilham  Meadows  was  born  and  reared  on  the 
home  farm  in  Alexander  County.  He  became  a 
farmer  from  choice,  and  with  his  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Sally  Laws,  lived  to  a  good  old 
age,  his  entire  life  having  been  spent  in  his  native 
county. 

Harvey  Meadows  was  born  in  Alexander  County 
in  1806,  and  was  there  a  life-long  resident  and 
farmer.  He  married  Jane  Grayson,  who  was  born 
in  Wilkes  County  in  1814,  of  Virginian  ancestry, 
and  to  them  six  children  were  born  and  reared,  as 
follows:  Elizabeth,  Martha,  William  C,  John  G., 
Serena  and  Clementine. 

During  the  days  of  his  boyhood,  William  C. 
Meadows  attended  the  short  terms  of  the  Sugar 
Loaf  Township  Schools,  in  the  meantime,  while  as- 
sisting his  father,  becoming  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  various  branches  of  agriculture.  In 
November,  1863,  he  enlisted  in  Company  F,  Second 
Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops,  and  with  his 
comrades  actively  participated  in  many  engage- 
ments of  importance.  At  Winchester,  Virginia,  in 
October,  1864,  Mr.  Meadows  was  severely  injured, 
a  ball  passing  through  his  neck.  Two  months  later, 
having  recovered  from  his  injuries,  he  rejoined  his 
command,  and  was  again  at  the  front  in  several 
battles.  On  April  3,  1865,  he  was  captured  by  the 
enemy,  and  being  taken  to  New  York  was  there 
held  as  a  prisoner  of  war  until  June  20,  1865, 
when  he  was  paroled. 

Returning  to  the  parental  home,  Mr.  Meadows 
resumed  farming  with  his  father,  and  continued  as 
his  assistant  about  three  years,  when  he  settled  on 
the  farm  which  he  has  since  occupied.  This  prop- 
erty was  improved  by  Mr.  Meadows '  father-in-law, 
Mr.  James  Price,  who  came  to  Moravian  Falls 
Township  at  an  early  day,  and  having  bought  this 
land,  which  is  advantageously  located  on  Moravian 
Creek,  immediately  began  to  make  use  of  its  avail- 
able resources.  Soon  after  settling  here  Mr. 
Meadows  built  a  grist  mill  and  a  saw  mill,  and 
subsequently  took  up  the  millwright 's  trade,  which 
he  followed  successfully  several  years,  erecting 
mills  in  different  parts  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina 
and  Tennessee.  In  1901  Mr.  Meadows  invented  the 
Meadows  Mill,  a  portable  mill  for  grinding  corn, 
and  in  1907  took  out  a  patent  for  the  mill.  He 
and  his  son  Franklin  D.,  subsequently  began  to 
manufacture  these  mills  on  the  home  farm,  and  at 
the  .]jimestown  Exposition  were  awarded  the  gold 
medal  for  the  best  mill.  In  1909  they  sold  their 
mill  manufacturing  business  to  R.  L.  Doughton 
and  .T.  D.  Moore,  and  Mr.  Meadows  resumed 
farming. 

At  the  age  of  twelve  years  William  C.  Meadows 
united  with  the  Baptist  Church,  and  from  that 
time  was  deeply  interested  in  religious  matters.  In 
1871  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  in  1879  was 
ordained  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  The  ensuing 
four  years  he  had  charge  of  the  Pilgrim  Church  in 
Alexander  County,  and  for  another  four  years  was 
pastor  of  the  Pleasant  Home  Church  in  Wilkes 
County,  at  the  same  time  preaching  in  Little  Rock 


388 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Church.  Later  Mr.  Meadows  had  charge  of  the 
churches  of  his  deuomiuation  in  Mount  Carniel, 
Mount  Pleasant  and  Pleasant  Hill,  and  at  New 
Hope  in  Wilkes  Count}-.  After  eighteen  years  of 
strenuous  labor  as  a  minister  Mr.  Meadows  lost  his 
voice,  and  he  was  forced  to  retire  from  the  ministry 
for  twenty  years.  Since  regaining  his  vocal  powers 
he  has  often  supplied  pulpits  in  different  places, 
being  ever  ready  to  respond  to  calls. 

Mr.  Meadows  married,  April  3,  1867,  Mary 
Price,  who  was  born  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by 
Mr.  Meadows,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Annie 
( Hubbard  j  Price.  She  died  November  7,  189.5, 
leaving  five  children,  William  G.,  Franklin  D., 
Robert  C,  Viola  and  Pansy.  Mr.  Meadows  mar- 
ried for  his  second  wife,  in  1896,  Eveline  Carlton, 
who  was  born  in  Wilkes  County,  a  daughter  of 
Burton  and  Xancy   (Swanson)    Carlton. 

William  G.  Meadows,  the  eldest  child  of  Bev. 
Mr.  Meadows,  married  Grace  McRary,  and  they 
have  three  children,  Vetra,  Mark  and  Annie. 
Franklin  D.  Meadows  married  for  his  second  wife, 
Miss  Parlier,  who  died  a  few  years  later,  leaving 
two  children,  Fay  and  Clate.  He  subsequently 
married  for  his  third  wife  Edna  Edson.  Robert  C. 
Meadows  married  Minnie  Carlton,  and  they  have 
two  sons,  James  and  Earl.  Viola,  wife  of  Rom 
Carlton,  has  three  children,  Blake,  Caloway  and 
Marie.  Pansy,  wife  of  Mint  Jones,  has  two  chil- 
dren, Mary  and  Evelyn.  Vetra  Meadows,  the  oldest 
grandchild  of  Rev.  Mr.  Meadows,  married  .\rthur 
Deal,  and  has  two  children,  Lucile  and  Annie  W. 
Mark  Meadows  married  Margaret  Pennell,  and 
they  have  one  daughter,  Pauline.  Annie  Meadows 
marrieil  Romulus  Jennings,  and  has  three  children, 
Beatrice,  Romulus,  Jr.,  and  Gracie  E. 

Although  seventy-three  years  of  age.  Rev.  Mr. 
Meadows  continues  evangelistic  work,  the  latest 
result  of  which  is  the  organizing  of  a  Baptist 
Church  at  Oakwood,  North  Carolina,  to  which  he 
has  given  a  large  part  of  the  means  needeil  for  the 
erection  of  a  house  of  worship.  He  also  has  given 
liberally  of  his  means  to  the  Thoniasville  Baptist 
Orphanage,  located  at  Thoniasville,  North  Caro- 
lina. 

Caleb  H.  H.wxes.  As  general  deputy  collector 
of  revenue  for  the  United  States  Caleb  H.  Hayues, 
of  Mount  Airy,  Surry  County,  is  administering 
the  affairs  of  his  office  wisely  and  well,  and  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all  concerned.  A  son  of  Caleb 
H.  Haynes,  Sr.,  he  was  born  on  a  farm  lying 
two  miles  south  of  Mount  Airy,  August  16,  186.'!. 

William  Haynes,  his  paternal  grandfather,  was 
a  Virginian  by  birth  and  breeding,  and  a  mill- 
wright by  trade.  Coming  to  North  Carolina,  he 
located  in  Rockford,  anil  while  working  at  his 
trade  fell  from  a  mill,  receiving  injuries  that 
caused  his  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Martha  Hill.  She  was  born  in  Stokes  County, 
North  Carolina,  and  many  of  her  relatives  ar^  now 
residents  of  that  locality,  and  of  Forsyth  County. 
Left  a  widow  with  nine  young  children,  Stephen, 
Robert,  Joseph,  James,  John,  Caleb  H.,  Polly, 
Martha  and  Susan,  she  reared  and  educated  them, 
keeping  a  home  for  them  until  her  death,  in  1861!. 

Caleb  H.  Haynes,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Rockford, 
Surry  County,  and  there  as  a  boy  and  youth  be- 
came familiar  with  the  various  branches  of  agri- 
culture. Industrious  and  economical,  he  saved 
some  money,  and  before  his  marriage  bought  a 
farm,  making  at  first  but  a  small  payment.  Labor- 
ing with  energy  and  untiring  zeal,  he  was  subse- 
quently enabled  to  complete  the  payment   on  his 


land,  which  was  advantageously  located  in  Mount 
Airy  Township,  and  there  he  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  life,  passing  away  April  30,  1863,  aged 
thirty-six  years,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  1827. 
A  patriotic,  loyal  citizen,  he  was  ever  interested 
in  all  movements  tending  toward  the  betterment  of 
the  community  in  which  he  lived,  and  during 
the  Civil  war  was  a  member  of  the  Home  Guards. 

Caleb  H.  Haynes,  Sr.,  married  Margaret  Davis, 
who  was  born  in  Mount  Airy  Township,  Surry 
County,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Ruth  (Fields) 
Davis,  and  granddaughter  of  Matthew  Davis,  a 
pioneer  of  Surry  County,  coming  to  North  Caro- 
lina from  Grayson  County,  Virginia.  Her  father 
was  an  extensive  land  owner,  operating  liis  planta- 
tion with  slave  labor,  and,  in  common  with  his 
neighbors,  met  with  great  financial  losses  during 
the  Civil  war.  After  the  death  of  her  husband, 
which  occurred  at  a  comparatively  early  age, 
Mrs.  Margaret  (Davis)  Haynes,  superintended  the 
management  of  the  home  farm,  and  at  the  time 
of  her  death,  in  Ajjril,  1910,  had  the  pleasure  of 
knowing  that  each  child  had  a  good  home  of  its 
own.  She  reared  three  children,  as  follows:  Wil- 
liam D.;  Mary,  wife  of  Christopher  Bunker,  who 
owns  and  occupies  the  Haystack  Farm,  just  west 
of  Mount  Airy;   and  Caleb  H. 

While  assisting  his  widowed  mother  in  the  care 
of  the  family  homestead,  Caleb  H.  Haynes  ac- 
quired a  practical  knowledge  and  experience  in  the 
art  and  .science  of  general  farming,  which  he  fol- 
lowed on  the  home  estate  until  1892.  Being  elected 
registrar  of  deeds  in  that  year,  Mr.  Haynes  held 
the  position  for  the  ensuing  four  years.  In  1898 
he  was  elected  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court,  and  in 
that  capacity  rendered  excellent  service  for  eight 
consecutive  years.  From  1908  until  1912  Mr. 
Haynes  served  as  sheriff,  an  im])ortaut  office  to 
which  he  was  elected  by  the  people,  and  in  1913 
he  was  honored  with  an  aj)|)ointment  to  his  pres- 
ent official  position  as  United  States  general  deputy 
collector  of  revenue.  In  this  capacity,  he  dis- 
pdays  wise  judgment,  and  labors  diligently,  his 
duties  taking  him  oft  times  into  and  through 
many   other   states  of  the  Union. 

On  January  10,  1889.  Mr.  Haynes  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Lizzie  Bunker,  daughter  of 
Chang  (one  of  the  Siamese  Twins)  and  Adelaide 
(Yates)  Bunker.  Ten  children  have  blessed  the 
union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Havnes.  namely:  Minnie, 
Joseiih  Bunker,  Grace  Adelaide,  Caleb  Vance, 
Rachel,  Lucile,  Ethel,  Charles  D.,  Lester  Yates  and 
Mary   Lou. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haynes  are  active  members  of  the 
Baptist  Church,  and  when,  in  1907,  the  present 
church  edifice  was  erected,  Mr.  Haynes  was  a  mem- 
ber of  its  building  committee.  Fraternally  Mr. 
Haynes  belongs  to  Mount  Airy  Lodge  No.  107, 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  Politically 
he  has  been  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  principles 
of  the  democratic  party  since  casting  his  first 
Iiresidential  vote  for  Grover  Cleveland.  In  1912 
Mr.  Haynes  was  a  delegate  to  the  national  demo- 
cratic convention  in  Baltimore,  and  was  an  original 
Woodrow  Wilson  man.  He  is  now  a  member  of 
the  local  board  of  education. 

George  Rouxtree.  The  famous  Cape  Fear  re- 
gion of  North  Carolina  is  no  less  rich  in  men 
and  women  of  fine  attainments  and  character  than 
in  historical  associations  and  deeds  of  achieve- 
ment. In  business,  politics  and  the  law  the  name 
of  Rountree  has  been  one  of  honorable  distinc- 
tions  in    this   region    for   a   long   period    of   years. 


<1^. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


389 


One  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Wilmington 
bar  today  is  George  Rountree,  a  former  presi- 
dent of  the  State  Bar  Association  and  also  a 
former  jndge  of  the  Snperior  Court. 

Judge  Rountree  was  born  at  Kinston,  North 
Carolina,  July  7,  1855,  a  son  of  Robert  Hart  and 
Cynthia  Bid'dle  (Loftin)  Rountree.  His  own 
career  has  reflected  many  of  the  characteristics 
of  his  father.  Robert  H.  Rountree  during  a  long 
life  has  been  known  for  his  business  ability,  his 
personal  character  that  has  won  him  leadership  in 
every  relationship,  and  along  with  the  attainment 
of  business  success  he  has  won  and  attained  the 
respect  and   confidence   of   all  who  knew  him. 

Coming  of  a  family  of  means,  George  Rountree 
had  a  liberal  training  for  his  life  work.  One 
phase  of  his  early  education  was  passed  at  Beth- 
any College,  situated  in  the  rugged  region  of  the 
West  Virginia  Pan-handle,  a  school  founded  and 
fostered  by  Alexander  Campbell.  After  finish- 
ing his  .iunior  year  there  Mr.  Rountree  entered 
Harvard  T'niversity  with  the  junior  class,  and 
was  graduated  A.  B.  in  June,  1877.  He  also  pre- 
]pareil  for  the  law  and  began  its  practice.  His 
work  was  interrupted  by  i-easons  of  health  and 
for  some  four  or  five  years  he  busied  himself  with 
commercial  affairs,  until  he  found  that  field  un- 
congenial to  his  tastes  and  abilities.  He  then 
resumed  the  practice  of  law  as  a  partner  of  his 
uncle,  A.  J.  Loftin,  under  the  name  and  stvle  of 
Loftin  &  Rountree,  at  Kinston.  In  1890  Mr. 
Rountree  removed  to  Wilmington  and  in  1001  ad- 
mitted as  a  partner  J.  O.  Carr  and  continued  the 
liractice  of  law  under  the  firm  name  of  Rountree  & 
Carr  until  19Ki,  when  he  was  appointed  judge  of 
the  Superior  Court  by  Governor  Locke  Craig.  In 
1906  he  was  elected  nresident  of  the  State  Bar 
Association  in  North  Carolina. 

His  career  as  a  public  man  has  some  points  of 
interest.  In  November,  1898,  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  during  the 
following  session  was  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
constitutional  anuuidments.  In  that  capacity  he 
practically  drafted  and  secured  the  passage  of  the 
amendment  to  tlu^  State  Constitution  on  suffrage  or 
elective  franchise.  That  amendment  was  adopted 
by  the  people  at  the  election  of  1900.  and  still  is 
the  basis  for  electoral  qualifications.  The  primary 
purpose  of  the  amendment  was  to  secure  an  edu- 
cated electorate,  and  that  purpose  has  been,  to  a 
certain  extent,  realized  by  the  stimulus  given  to 
)iopular  education  by  that  amendment.  Mr. 
Rountree  was  again  elected  to  the  Legislature  in 
1900,  and  in  the  assembly  of  1901  again  impressed 
his  ability  and  judgment  upon  current  legislation. 
In  19i:i  Mr.  Rountree  was  called  from  his  pri- 
vate practice  when  Governor  Locke  Craig  ap- 
pointed him  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court.  In 
1914  he  was  elected  for  the  full  term  in  that  office 
Init  after  three  years  on  tlie  bench  he  resigned,  his 
resignation  taking  effect  January  1,  1916.  He 
then  resumed  private  practice  as  a  member  of 
the  firm  of  Rountree,  Davis  &  Carr.  Mr.  Roun- 
tree has  enjoyed  a  large  practice  and  has  been 
connected  with  much  of  the  important  litigation 
of  liis  time,  sudi  as  the  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin 
Valley  Railroad  receivership  and  the  case  of  South 
Dakota  vs.  North  Carolina,  in  the  Supreme  Court, 
in  which  he  appeared  as  one  of  the  counsel  for 
North  Carolina;  and  although  unsuccessful  his 
argument  was  adopted  in  the  dissenting  opinion 
of  Justice    (now  Chief  Justice)   White. 

Mr.    Rountree    is    a    democrat    in    politics,    but 


belongs  distinctively  to  the  conservative  wing  of 
that  party;  was  a  great  admirer  of  Grovcr  Cleve- 
land and  believed  in  his  policies,  and  was,  there- 
fore, out  of  sympathy  with  all  phases  of  radical- 
ism, either  in  law  or  politics,  and  is  a  convinced 
believer  in  the  system  of  government,  with  its 
ehecks  and  balances,  estaWished  by  the  "Fathers 
by  the  Convention  of  1787. 

Jndo-e  Rountree  is  a  menibei'  of  the  Harvard 
Club  of  New  York  City,  of  the  Cape  Fear  Club 
and  tlie  Country  Club  of  Wilmington,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  vestry  of  St.  James  Episcopal 
Church  at  Wilmington  and  for  a  number  of  years 
until  he  was  elevated  to  the  bench  was  C^iancellor 
of  the  Diocese  of  East  Carolina. 

October  27,  1881,  at  Wilmington,  he  married 
Meta  Alexander  Davis,  daughter  of  Hon.  George 
and  Mary  (Polk)  Davis.  One  of  the  men  whom 
North  Carolina  holds  in  high  honor  and  esteem 
was  George  Davis.  He  was  not  only  a  man  of 
large  achievements,  but  was  greatly  beloved  and 
revered  in  his  state.  A  testimony  to  the  regard 
in  which  he  was  held  by  his  fellow  citizens  is 
the  monument  that  stands  to  his  memory  at  the 
corner  of  Third  and  Market  streets  in  Wilming- 
ton. George  Da-sas  served  as  a  senator  in  the 
Confederate  States  Congress  and  for  over  a  year 
was  attorney-gejieral  of  the  Confederate  states, 
being  the  last  to  hold  that  office.  Mrs.  Rountree 's 
mother  was  a  daughter  of  William  G.  Polk,  and 
a  niece  of  the  famous  bishop  and  Confederate 
general,  Leonidas  Polk. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rountree  have  had  five  children. 
Isabel  Davis,  born  July  10,  1883,  married  Novem- 
ber 12,  1908,  Van  R.  C.  King,  and  died  on  May 
21,  1916.  Robert  Hart,  the  second  child,  was  born 
September  14,  1886,  and  died  July  .31,  1887.  Cyn- 
tliia  Polk  was  born  March  2,  1890;  Meta  Davis 
was  born  December  16,  1893;  and  George  was 
horn  April  7,  1904. 

Cl.\rence  Call.  A  man  of  excellent  business 
judgment  and  tact,  actively  and  successfully  deal- 
ing with  extended  interests  and  enterjirises, 
Clarence  Call,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Wilkesboro, 
is  contritiuting  his  full  share  toward  the  advance- 
ment of  the  mercantile,  manufacturing  and  finan- 
cial prosperity  of  city,  county  and  state.  A  son 
of  Isaac  Slater  Call,  he  was  born  in  1869,  in 
Wilkesboro,  of  pioneer  ancestry. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  Thomas  Call,  was 
born,  it  is  thought,  in  what  is  now  Davie  Coun- 
ty, North  Carolina.  Coming  from  there  when 
young  to  Wilkes  County,  he  bought  a  tract  of 
land  in  Wilkes  County,"  east  of  Wilkesboro,  and 
on  the  farm  which  he  imiu-oved  spent  the  remain- 
der of  liis  days.  He  married  Elizabeth  Slater, 
a  sister  of  Fielding  Slater  and  an  aunt  of  Sen- 
ator Overman.  She  survived  her  husband,  living 
to   a   good   old   age. 

Born  on  the  home  farm  in  Wilkes  County  in 
1825,  Isaac  Slater  Call  received  a  practical  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools,  and  while  yet  young 
entered  the  employ  of  Colonel  Wauah,  becoming 
a  clerk  in  his  store  at  Wilkesboro.  When  familiar 
witli  the  details  of  trade  he  emliarked  in  mer- 
cantile imrsuits  on  his  own  account  in  Wilkesboro, 
where  he  operated  a  general  store  until  1856, 
when  he  was  unfortunately  burned  out.  The 
following  twenty-eight  years  he  was  employed  in 
the  Court  House,  a  jiart  of  the  time  being  clerk 
of  the  courts,  and  a  i>art  of  the  time  serving 
as  de'-uty  county  clerk  and  as  county  treasurer, 
continuing    thus    until    his    death    in    1893. 


390 


HISTORY  OP  NORTH  CAROLINA 


The  maiden  ni.me  of  the  wife  of  Isaac  S.  Call 
was  Martha  Caroline  Mastin.  She  was  boru  in 
the  eastern  part  of  Wilkes  County,  November  13, 
18:i6,  a  daughter  of  William  Mastin,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Rev.  Thomas  Mastin.  She  was  of 
pioneer  ancestry.  Her  great-grandfather,  Thomas 
Mastin,  a  native  of  Virginia,  was  one  of  the  very 
early  settlers  of  Wilkes  County.  Bev.  Thomas 
Mastin  was  a  pioneer  Baptist  preacher,  aJid  spent 
the  last  years  of  his  life  at  Briar  Creek  Church 
in  W'ilkes  County.  William  Mastin  was  born, 
without  doubt,  in  Wilkes  County,  and  as  a  young 
man  was  for  a  while  engaged  in  the  mercantile 
business,  having  been  in  partnership  with  Colonel 
Waugh.  Subsequently  he  served  for  many  years 
as  clerk  of  the  courts  of  Wilkes  County.  He 
married  Rebecca  Amanda  Saint  Clair,  a  daughter 
of   John    Saint    CHair. 

Mrs.  Martha  Caroline  (Mastin)  Call  still  resides 
in  Wilkesboro,  an  a  five  and  interesting  woman 
of  eighty-one  years  retaining  the  full  possession 
of  her  mental  faculties,  and  giving  no  evidence 
of  having  traveled  so  far  beyond  the  seventy- 
mile  post  at  which  t..e  journey  of  the  average 
person  is  supposed  to  stop.  Brought  up  in  pioneer 
tinies,  she  well  remembers  when  all  supplies  were 
brought  from  Fayetteville  to  Wilkes  County  with 
teams,  a  hard  and  tedious  mode  of  transporta- 
tion. Just  before  she  was  married  her  father 
bought  a  stove,  the  first  one  she  had  ever  seen, 
her  mother  having  jireviously  cooked  before  the 
open  fire,  and  she  thinks  that  was  the  first  stove 
ever  brought  into  Wilkes  County.  A  part  of 
her  wedding  feast,  by  the  way,  was  cooked  on 
that  stove.  As  a  girl  she  learned  to  spin  and 
weave,  and  during  the  progress  of  the  Civil  war 
she  clothed  her  family  in  homespun,  spinning 
and  weaving  the  material,  and  fashioning  the 
garments  with  her  own  hands.  She  reared  seven 
children,  namely:  Alice  Amanda,  Eugenia,  Annie, 
Laura  Jane,  Clarence,  Buel  Slater  and  Isaac  Slater. 
She  has  now  living  twenty  grandchildren  and 
fourteen  great-gramlcliildren  descendants  of  whom 
she   may    well    be    proud. 

Having  obtained  his  preliminary  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Wilkesboro,  Clarence  Call 
entered  the  Moravian  Dalls  Academy,  of  which 
Professor  George  W.  Greene,  later  a  missionary 
to  China,  was  then  principal.  Beginning  life  for 
himself  as  a  clerk,  he  was  first  employed  in  a 
drug  store  at  North  Wilkesboro,  and  later  in  a 
general  store.  Changing  his  occupation,  Mr.  Call 
became  a  commercial  traveler,  dealing  first  in 
hardware,  and  afterwards  selling  hats  for  a  Nor- 
folk firm.  Resigning  that  position,  he  entered 
the  employ  of  Samuel  Wittkossky,  of  Charlotte, 
and  traveled  for  him  until  1894.  In  that  year 
he  was  elected  sheriff  and  treasurer,  and  having 
been  reelected  to  the  same  offices  in  1896  served 
two  full  terms  in  each  position.  In  the  mean- 
time, in  1895,  Mr.  Call  opened  a  mercantile 
estaldishment  in  North  Wilkesboro,  and  has  since 
carried  on  a  substantial  and  successful  business 
in  that  line.  He  is  likewise  actively  associated 
with  various  other  enterprises,  being  a  director 
in  the  Bank  of  North  Wilkesboro;  a  director  of 
the  Oak  Furniture  Company,  and  the  president 
of  the  New  Williams  Mill  Company,  manufac- 
turers   of   corn    mills. 

Mr.  Call  married,  in  December  1901,  Miss 
Sallie  Cook,  who  was  born  at  Friendship,  Guilford 
County,  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
Cook,  and  into  their  home  three  children  have 
been  born,  namely :  Gozeal,  Madeline  and  Dorothy. 


Religiously  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Call  are  members  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  he  has  served  as 
vestr™ian  and  of  which  he  is  now  treasurer. 
Actively  identified  with  the  republican  party  since 
casting  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Benjamin 
Harrison,  Mr.  Call  has  since  been  an  earnest 
supporter  of  its  principles.  He  has  served  for 
sixteen  years  as  a  member  of  the  State  Board 
of  Elections,  having  first  been  appointed  by  Gov- 
ernor Aycock,  and  later  by  Governor  Bickett.  He 
has  also  served  as  a  member  of  the  State  Repub- 
lican Committee  and  as  chairman  of  Congressional 
Committee  of  his  district.  Intelligently  interested 
ill  ]>olitical  matters,  Mr.  Call  attended  the  re- 
jiuljlican  national  conventions  of  1896,  1908,  1912 
and    1916. 

Da.n'iel  Joel  Brookshire.  One  of  the  foremost 
building  contractors  of  Wilkes  County,  Daniel  J. 
Brookshire,  of  North  Wilkesboro,  is  a  self-made 
man  in  everj'  sense  implied  by  the  term.  Beginning 
life  on  a  low  rung  of  the  ladder  of  attainments,  he 
has  made  diligent  use  of  his  faculties  and  oppor- 
tunities and  is  fast  approaching  the  top,  his  suc- 
cess being  due  entirely  to  his  own  earnest  efforts. 
A  son  of  Willis  Brookshire,  he  was  born  on  a  farm 
in  Moravian  Falls  Township  January  6,  1876.  His 
granilfather,  Joel  Brookshire,  was  born  in  Alex- 
ander County,  while  his  great-grandfather  on  the 
jiaternal  side  was  a  native  of  Caldwell  County, 
l)eing  of  pioneer  ancestry. 

Acquiring  a  good  education  when  young,  Joel 
Brookshire  taught  school  for  many  years,  teaching 
fir»t  in  Alexander  County,  and  afterwards  in 
Wilkes  County,  where  he  sfjent  the  closing  years  of 
his  life.  He  married,  and  reared  four  sons:  Far- 
ley, Hubbard,  Joel  and  Willis. 

A  native,  of  Alexander  County,  Willis  Brook- 
sh're  was  born  in  Mount  Olive  Township,  and  was 
there  brought  up  on  a  farm.  He  served  as  a  sol,- 
dier  in  the  C^onfederate  Army,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  war  settled  in  Wilkes  County,  about  three 
miles  from  Boomer,  on  the  farm  that  he  now  owns 
and  occupies.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Sarah  Welborn.  A  native  of  Wilkes  County,  she 
was  born  not  far  from  Boomer,  being  a  daughter 
of  David  and  Rebecca  Welborn  and  a  member  of 
the  well-known  pioneer  family  of  that  name.  She 
died  when  but  fifty  years  of  age,  leaving  the  fol- 
lowing children :  Philo,  James,  Mary,  Ellen,  Daniel 
.loel,  Susie  and  Bonnie. 

In  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  Daniel  J. 
Brookshire  attended  the  district  school,  and  on  the 
home  farm  was  well  drilled  in  the  numerous 
branches  of  agriculture.  At  the  age  of  eighteen 
years  he  began  learning  the  trade  of  a  brick  mason, 
and  after  serving  an  apprenticeship  of  three  years 
located  at  North  Wilkesboro,  his  sole  capital  at 
that  time  having  been  willing  hands,  good  health 
and  an  unlimited  amount  of  courage  and  enter- 
]irise.  Succeeding  well  at  his  trade,  Mr.  Brook- 
shire subsequently  engaged  in  business  as  a  build- 
ing contractor,  and  has  continued  to  the  present 
time.  He  has  been  kept  busily  employed,  having 
built  many  business  blocks,  public  buildings  and 
private  residences,  evidences  of  his  substantial 
work  being  seen  in  all  parts  of  the  county.  In 
1914  he  erected  his  present  commodious,  modernly 
constructed,  brick  house,  which  is  surrounded  by 
amide  grounds  and  beautified  by  shade  trees  and  a 
variet}'   of   fruit   trees. 

Mr.  Brookshire  married,  in  1898,  Rebecca  Bum- 
garner,  who  was  born  in  Reddies  River  Township, 
a    d;iughter    of    William    and   Nancy   Bumgarner. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


391 


Eight  children  have  blessed  their  union,  Richard 
Bryan,  Ernest  Thurman,  Aurora,  Jettie,  Carrie, 
James,  Jay  and  Pearl.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brookshire 
are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Mr.  Brook- 
shire belongs  to  Liberty  Lodge  No.  4.5,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons;  and  to  North 
WilkesborO  Chapter,  Royal  Arch  Masons. 

C'AREY  J.  Hunter,  a  native  son  of  North  Caro- 
lina, has  for  over  thirty  years  been  closely  identified 
with  its  commercial,  institutional  and  civic  affairs. 
In  the  insurance  field  he  has  hardly  a  peer  as  a 
business  getter  and  builder.  His  enterprise  has 
also  extended  to  real  estate,  manufacturing  and 
other  lines,  while  his  public  spirit  has  led  him  into 
active  participation  with  a  number  of  educational, 
philanthropic  and  benevolent  institutions. 

Born  near  Apex  in  Wake  County,  North  Carolina, 
June  1,  1857,  he  is  a  son  of  Joseph  C.  and  Pianetta 
(Beckwith)  Hunter.  His  father  was  both  a  farmer 
and  civil  engineer,  and  later  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  lumber.  Educated  in  local  .schools,  in- 
eluding  the  A])ex  Academy,  Carey  J.  Hunter  grad- 
uated in  1881  from  Wake  Forest  College.  His  first 
activity  was  merchandising  at  Greenville,  North 
Carolina,  but  in  1888  he  found  his  real  work  in  life 
when  he  took  the  state  agency  of  the  Union  Central 
Life  Insurance  Company  of  Cincinnati,  being  their 
financial  representative  for  North  Carolina  since 
1905.  He  has  held  the  state  agency  for  thirty 
years,  and  for  a  number  of  years  also  included  Vir- 
ginia in  his  territory  as  superintendent.  It  is  said 
that  the  Union  Central  Life,  which  has  completed 
fifty-one  years  of  prosperous  existence,  was 
practically  unknown  in  North  Carolina  until  Mr. 
Hunter  took  the  state  agency.  He  wrote  the  first 
application  for  a  policy  written  by  the  company  in 
North  Carolina,  and  he  also-  performed  a  similar 
work  of  extension  in  behalf  of  that  company  in 
Virginia. 

While  his  position  as  a  business  man  is  best  de- 
fined by  his  success  in  the  insurance  field,  a  num- 
ber of  other  interests  have  claimed  his  time  and 
attention.  For  a  number  of  years  he  has  been  pres- 
ident of  the  Biblical  Recorder  Publishing  Company 
and  director  and  president  of  the  Mutual  Publish- 
ing Company.  He  is  also  a  director  of  the  Com- 
mercial National  Bank,  a  director  of  the  Caraleigh 
Cotton  Mills  Company,  a  director  of  the  Mechanics 
Savings  Bank,  of  the  Melrose  Knitting  Mills  and 
of  the  Capudine  Chemical  Company.  He  is  also 
president  and  a  director  of  the  Parker-Hunter 
Realty  Company,  and  a  trustee  of  the  Raleigh 
Cemetery  Association,  a  director  of  the  Lillington 
Oil  Mill,  and  a  director  of  the  Commercial  Build- 
ing Company. 

For  thirty  years  Mr.  Hunter  has  devoted  himself 
to  the  welfare  of  his  alma  mater.  Wake  Forest 
College,  of  which  he  is  a  trustee,  chairman  of  the 
executive  and  finance  committees  and  secretary  of 
the  board  of  trustees.  He  is  a  trustee  of  Meredith 
College,  and  was  on  the  board  of  trustees  before  a 
single  building  was  erected  and  has  also  served  on 
the  finance  committee  and  as  chairman  of  the 
executive  committee.  He  is  a  prominent  Baptist 
layman,  is  a  deacon  in  the  First  Baptist  Church  of 
Raleigh,  a  member  of  the  Mission  Board  and  its 
executive  committee,  and  was  the  first  president 
and  for  three  years  held  that  office  in  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association.  He  belongs  to  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Country  Club  and  the 
National  Geographic  Society.  Governor  Aycock  ap- 
pointed him  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Pub- 
lic Charities,  and  he  has  held  that  office  by  appoint- 


ment from  each  successive  governor,  being  now  a 
member,  under  the  new  law,  of  tlie  State  Board  of 
Charities  and  Public  Welfare.  He  has  had  much 
to  do  with  the  success  of  the  North  Carolina  Agri- 
cultural Society  which  conducts  the  North  Carolina 
State  Fair  Association,  being  a  member  of  the 
executive  committee. 

On  October  18,  1883,  Mr.  Hunter  married  Eu- 
genia Avera  Tomlinson,  a  native  of  Hernando  de 
Soto  County,  Mississippi.  Mrs.  Hunter  died  No- 
vember 8,  iS)16.  Carey  J.  Jr.,  their  oldest  child, 
graduated  in  1916  from  Wake  Forest  College  and 
won  a  medal  for  speaking  at  his  graduating  com- 
mencement. He  secured  his  degree  from  Columbia 
University,  New  York  City,  June,  1918,  in  the 
Pulitzer  course  in  journalism,  and  is  now  on  the 
staff  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post.  Rufus  A., 
after  graduating  in  1917  at  the  high  school,  en- 
tered Wake  Forest  College  in  September,  1917. 
The  daughter,  Margaret  Eugenia,  is  in  the  high 
school,  and  another  child,  Ramelle,  died  at  the  age 
of  ten  months. 

James  Hill  Ramsay.  A  representative  citizen 
of  Rowan  County,  and  a  man  whose  integrity  and 
ability  are  beyond  question,  James  Hill  Ramsay, 
ex-postmaster  of  Salisbury,  is  a  practical  man  of 
affairs,  and  has  been  actively  identified  with  nu- 
merous industrial  and  commercial  enterprises,  and 
likewise  with  the  agricultural  progress  of  the  com- 
munity. It  has  been  the  unanimous  opinion  for 
the  jiast  three  decades,  although  he  is  not  of  the 
dominant  political  party,  that  Mr.  Ramsay  is  one 
of  the  country's  most  popular  citizens.  A  native 
of  Rowan  County,  he  was  born  in  Scotch-Irish 
Township,  of  pioneer  stock,  being  a  descendant  m 
the  fifth  generation  from  one  of  the  earlier  settlers 
of  the  county,  Robert  (1)  Ramsay,  the  line  de- 
scending through  Robert  (2),  David  (3),  James 
Graham   (4),  to  James  Hill  (5). 

Robert  (1)  Ramsay  was  born  either  in  Scotland 
or  Ireland,  of  Scotch  parents,  coming  with  his 
parents  to  America  as  a  boy.  He  grew  to  man  s 
estate  in  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania.  Many 
years  after  his  marriage  with,  it  is  supposed,  a 
Miss  Gatis,'  he  came  with  his  family,  in  1766,  to 
North  Carolina,  settling  in  what  is  now  the  south- 
ern part  of  Iredell,  then  Rowan  County.  He  se- 
cured a  tract  of  land  in  the  vicinity  of  '  Old 
Center  Church."  and  there  settled  with  his  _  six 
sons  and  one  daughter.  A  portion  of  the  original 
e-rant  is  still  owned  by  his  descendants.  Robert 
Ramsay  brought  with  him  from  the  session  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  at  New  London,  Chester 
County,  Pennsvlvania,  certificates  to  show  that  he, 
his  wife  and  their  family  were  in  good  standing. 
Although  an  ardent  patriot,  Robert  Ramsay  was  too 
old  for  military  serrice,  but  history  shows  that 
he  gave  three  of  his  sons  for  the  war  of  independ- 
ence, nnd  family  tradition  says  that  all  six  fought 
to  make  this  country  free. 

Robert  (2)  Ramsay,  a  native  of  Chester  County, 
Pennsvlvania,  was  fifteen  years  old  when  he  came 
with  his  narents.to  North  Carolina,  and  bravely 
assisted  his  father  and  brothers  in  the  pioneer  task 
of  redeeming  a  farm  from  the  wilderness. 

He  was  a  bold  and  very  active  Revolutionary 
soldier  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  captain.  He  was 
in  a  number  of  battles  and  skirmishes,  notably  the 
battles  of  Ramsour's  Hill,  June  20,  1780,  and 
Charlotte  Court  House  on  the  26th  of  September 
following,  when  the  whigs  won  for  Charlotte  the 
proud  distinction  of  lieing  the  "Hornet's  Nest" 


392 


HISTOKY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


of  America.  He  vras  also  at  the  Battle  of  Cow 
Pens,  fought  January  17th  and  Cowan's  Fori' 
February  1,  1781.  He  became  a  planter,  married 
Nancy  Agnes  McCorkle,  a  sister  of  the  Rev.  Sam- 
uel Eusebius  McCorkle,  D.  D.,  for  many  years 
pastor  of  the  Church  of  Thyathia,  and  principal 
of  the  celebrated  Zion  Parnassus  Academy.  His 
remains,  with  those  of  his  wife  and  one  of  his 
sons,  and  one  of  his  daughters,  lie  in  Thyathia 
Churchyard,  near  and  about  the  middle  of  the 
old  rock  wall  on  the  west  side  of  Rowan  County. 

David  (.3)  Ramsay,  was  born  in  that  part  of 
Rowan  County  that  is  now  included  within  the 
limits  of  Iredell  County.  He  inherited  a  portion 
of  the  parental  homestead  and  being  successful  as 
a  tiller  of  the  soil  purchased  other  tracts  of  land, 
and  with  the  assistance  of  slaves  carried  on  gen- 
eral farming  in  his  native  county  until  his  death 
in  18.58.  He  was  a  ruling  elder  in  Prospect  Pres- 
byterian Cliureh  nineteen  years. 

As  a  member  of  Gen.  .Joseph  Graham  's  staff,  he 
went  in  pursuit  of  the  Creek  Indians  in  1812-1814, 
and  later  he  served  as  colonel  conmiandant  of  the 
militia  of  Iredell  County,  and  for  many  years  was 
.iustice  of  the  peace.  He  married  Margaret  Fos- 
ter Graham,  who  was  born  in  Rowan  County,  a 
daughter  of  James  Graham,  a  Revolutionary  sol- 
dier who  served  against  the  Cherokees  in  1776;  was 
with  Gates  at  Camden  in  1780  and  Davidson  at 
Cowan's  Ford  in   1781. 

James  Graham  's  father  was  one  of  the  active 
leaders  of  the  Rowan  Regulators  in   1770-71. 

Hon.  James  (4)  Graham  Ramsay,  M.  D.,  was 
the  third  child  and  oldest  son  of  David  and  Mar- 
garet Foster  Ramsay,  and  was  born  in  Iredell 
County,  North  Carolina,  about  eleven  miles  south- 
east of  the  Town  of  Statesville,  on  the  first  day 
of  March,  1S2.'{.  He  was  reared  on  his  father's 
plantation  and  enioyed  such  advantages  of  educa- 
tion as  the  old  field  schools  of  that  day  afforded. 
After  due  prenaration  he  entered  Davidson  College 
and  graduated  from  that  institution  in  its  second 
class  in  1841.  Davi<lson  College  did  not  forget 
her  alumnus,  but  in  1846  gave  him  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts.  He  was  his  society  's  representa- 
tive in  1840  and  the  alumni  orator  in  1847  and 
again  in  1874.  .\fter  teaching  a  year  subsequent 
to  his  graduation,  he  read  medicine  under  his 
brother-in-law,  Dr.  R.  T.  Dismukes,  entered  the 
Jefferson  Medical  College  at  Philadelphia,  and  re- 
ceived his  medical  diploma  in  1848. 

He  established  himself  as  a  physician  in  West- 
ern Rowan  County,  and  continued  practicing  med- 
icine for  more  than  half  a  century.  Being  natur- 
ally a  student,  he  soon  became  one  of  the  most 
learned  and  successful  physicians  in  Western  North 
Carolina  and  enjoyed  the  love  and  confidence  of 
brethren  of  the  profession,  but  his  studies  extended 
beyond  the  limits  of  his  profession  into  general 
literature,  politics,  theology  and  masonry,  and 
many  were  the  chaste  and  elegant  addresses  which 
he  delivered  on  different  subjects,  several  of  which 
have  been  printed  and  read  with  profit. 

Doctor  Ramsay  early  became  active  in  politics. 
An  ardent  admirer  of  Henry  Clpy,  his  activities 
began  in  1844.  In  1848  he  was  in  the  Taylor- 
Cass  campaign  and  in  1852  for  the  Scott-Graham 
ticket.  In  1854  was  defeated  for  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives; in  1856-58-60  and  '62  was  sent  to  the 
State  Senate  from  the  district  composed  of  the 
counties  of  Rowan  and  Darie  and  again  in  1883. 
Doctor  Ramsay  was  an  old  line  whig  and  a  peace 
man  in  1860  and  advocated  the  election  of  Bell 
and   Everett   on  the  platform   of   the  "Union,  the 


constitution  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws." 
He  vigorously  opposed  secession,  speaking  every- 
where in  Rowan  and  the  surrounding  counties, 
urging  the  people  not  to  declare  for  disunion,  but 
when  the  war  actually  began  he  submitted  to  the 
inevitable,  and  went  with  his  section.  He  was 
whole-hearted  for  the  southern  cause  and  was  re- 
turned to  the  Senate  in  1862  and  was  elected  to 
represent  his  district  in  the  Second  Congress  of 
the  Confederate  States.  Doctor  Ramsay  served  the 
public  in  many  different  positions.  In  1872  he 
was  elector  on  the  republican  ticket  and  cast  his 
vote  for  General  Grant  for  the  president  and  later 
on  was  offered  a  foreign  appointment  as  minister 
to  one  of  the  South  American  republics,  which  he 
at  that  time  declined.  He  was  a  ruling  elder 
of  the  Third  Creek  Presbyterian  Church  for  forty- 
six  years  and  was  appointed  as  a  delegate  to 
numerous  Presbyteries  and  Synods  and  was  called 
b}'  Concord  Presbytery  as  one  of  its  commissioners 
in  four  general  assemblies,  the  first  being  the 
charter  assembly  of  the  Southern  Church  which 
met  in  Augusta,  Georgia,  December  4,  1861.  In 
Masonry  Doctor  Ramsay  attained  to  the  Royal 
Arch  Degree,  and  was  on  several  occasions  called 
to  deliver  addresses  before  the  fraternity,  which  he 
did  with  great  acceptance.  He  was  a  polished 
and  graceful  writer,  and  an  interesting  speaker, 
possessing  fine  literary  taste  and  ability. 

On  September  30,  1846,  Doctor  Ramsay  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Sarah  Jane  Foster  and 
they  lived  hapi)ily  together  for  nearly  a  half  cen- 
tury. She  preceded  him  to  the  life  beyond,  dying 
in  1895.  They  were  the  parents  of  two  daughters 
and  six  sons,  as  follows;  Margaret  Foster,  Flor- 
ence May,  David  Allan,  .Tames  Hill,  Edgar  Burton, 
William  Graham,  Robert  Linncaus,  and  Claudius 
Clinton,  all  of  whom  have  joined  the  great  ma- 
jority beyond  save  James  Hill  and  Claudius  Clin- 
ton. .\fter  the  death  of  his  wife  Doctor  Ramsay 
broke  up  his  home  in  the  country  and  spent  his 
remaining  davs  with  his  son  in  Salisbury,  dying 
January   10,   1903. 

Claude 'C.  (5)  Ramsay  was  horn  at  Palermo  in 
Rowan  County  on  December  31,  1865.  When  life 
was  young  he  went  to  Seattle,  Washington,  mar- 
ried Miss  Grace  Eleanor  Anderson  of  that  ]ilace, 
and  has  been  growing  with  that  wonderful  city 
and  is  now  one  of  its  ]>rominent  and  public-spirited 
citizens.  He  has  represented  his  district  in  the 
State  Legislature  and  is  now  chairman  of  the 
board  of  commissioners  for  King  County,  in  which 
county  the  City  of  Seattle  is  located. 

James  (5)  Hill  Ramsay  was  born  and  reared  on 
the  farm  at  Palermo,  received  an  academical  edu- 
cation, and  soon  after  attaining  his  majority  be- 
came postmaster  at  So\ith  River,  and  manager  of 
a  general  store,  continuing  in  both  positions  until 
1880.  In  that  year  Mr.  Ramsay  located  in  Salis- 
bury, where  he  has  been  an  honored  and  esteemed 
resident.  Off  and  on  for  more  than  twenty-three 
years  he  has  served  as  postmaster  in  Salisbury 
and  has  also  been  actively  identified  with  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  agricultural  and  mechanical  pros- 
perity of  this  section  of  the  state.  His  farming 
interests  are  in  his  nati%-e  township,  Scotch-Irish. 
In  the  intervals  between  his  service  as  postmaster 
Mr.  Ramsay  was  tobacco  manufacturer  and  hard- 
ware merchant. 

In  1891  Mr.  Ramsay  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Isabelle  Miller,  daughter  of  Maj.  Daniel  Byrd  Mil- 
ler, a  Confederate  veteran  of  Columbia,  South  Caro- 
lina. Their  children  are  Annie  Laurie,  Margaret 
EUinor,     James     Graham     and     Claudius     Clinton. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


393 


Annie  Laurie  is  the  wife  of  Tlionias  M.  Hines  and 
has  one  son,  Thomas  M.  Hines,  Jr.  James  Gra- 
ham, a  graduate  of  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, is  a  first  lieutenant  at  Camp  Jackson,  Colum- 
bia, South  Carolina,  and  Claudius  C.  is  now,  in 
1917,  a  sophomore  at  the  University  of  North 
Carolina. 

Mr.  Ramsay  and  family  are  Presbyterians;  fra- 
ternally he  belongs  to  tlie  Odd  Follows,  Elks,  Ma- 
sonic Order,  his  memliership  in  the  latter  being 
in  Andrew  Jackson  Lodge.  At  different  times  Mr. 
Eamsay  has  been  president  of  the  Old  Hickory 
Club,  the  second  oldest  social  organization  in  the 
state.  Mr.  Ramsay  having  been  so  actively  and 
generously  identified  with  all  phases  of  the  life 
of  the  people,  is  today  one  of  the  most  representa- 
tive men  in  his  county.  The  just  commendation 
he  deserves  is  accorded  to  him  by  all  who  know 
him. 

Thomas  G.  Wade.  To  an  inventor  everyday 
things  are  full  of  interest  and  possibilities.  He 
may  never  have  enjoyed  the  long  technical  train- 
ing that  enabled  Volta  to  develop  the  electric 
current,  Faraday  a  dynamo.  Bell  the  telephone 
and  Edison  the  phonograph,  but  inventive  genius 
is  present  when  he  can  take  everyday  things  close 
at  hand  and  through  change  and  better  combina- 
tion evolve  new  products  of  great  practical  value. 
In  this  connection  attention  is  directed  to  one  of 
Cumberland  County's  inventors,  Thomas  Greer 
Wade,  wlio  has  perfected  a  home  utility  inven- 
tion that  gives  promise  of  bringing  him  a  for- 
tune. 

Thomas  Greer  Wade,  who  is  one  of  the  busy 
men  of  Beard,  North  Carolina,  was  born  in  1880, 
at  Rocky  Mount,  Franklin  County,  Virginia.  His 
parents  are  Z.  T.  and  Katie  (Greer)  Wade,  both 
of  whom  were  born  also  in  Franklin  County  and 
now  reside  with  their  talented  son  at  Beard.  The 
Greer  family  is  an  old  and  historic  one  of  Vir- 
);inia,  where  it  was  established  in  colonial  times 
bv  Lord  Watt  Greer,  of  England.  The  late  Dr.  J. 
H.  Greer,  an  eminent  physician  of  Franklin  Coun- 
ty, Virginia,  was  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Katie  Wade. 
Mr.  Wade  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native 
state,  where  he  had  farm  and  livestock  experience, 
and  from  there  came  to  Cumberland  County,  North 
Carolina,  in  190.5.  He  took  a  position  with  the 
Atlantic  Coast  Line  Railroad  Company  as  agent 
at  Beard  "Station,  in  which  office  he  continued  un- 
til Septeniijer,  1917. 

A  great  many  of  the  notable  discoveries  have 
been  tlie  result  of  accident  and  Mr.  Wade  may, 
in  part,  attribute  his  invention  to  an  accident  that 
to  another  niMu  might  have  meant  nothing  but  a 
broken  utensil,  but  which  in  him  immediately 
called  forth  inventive  powers  that  were  only  lying 
dormant.  It-  was  while  performing  the  domestic 
task  of  churning  cream  that  Mr.  Wade  broke  the 
old-fashioned  stationary  dasher  he  was  using.  It 
wa.^  no  great  trouble  for  him  to  fashion  a  new 
one  and  with  the  love  of  experiment  that  belongs 
to  everv  natural  inventor  he  tried  trimming  it  to 
windmill  or  iiropellor  shaiie.  using  a  nail  through 
the  dash-rod  so  that  the  dasher  would  revolve.  A 
trial  was  made  in  water  and  the  result  noted  and 
then  in  the  costiv  cream,  with  the  result  that  but- 
ter was  in-odui'cd  in  approximately  half  the  usual 
time. 

Mr.  Wade  was  quick  to  see  that  the  rotary  pro- 
pe'Ior  reversihg  every  stroke  was  a  great  imjirove- 
ment    on    the   old    plan,   and    it   did    not   take    him 


long  to  evolve  the  idea  that  two  propellers  going 
in  opposite  directions,  would  probably  produce 
butter  in  approximately  one-fourth  the  time  of 
the  old  way.  This  theory  proved  correct  and  the 
lirst  time  the  double  dasher  was  used,  butter  was 
produced  in  five  minutes.  Since  that  time  the 
dasher  has  been  so  perfected  that  the  time  of 
buttermaking,  formerly  in  most  households  a  long 
and  tiresome  process,  has  been  reduced  as  low 
as  one  minute  and  forty  seconds. 

Mr.  Wade,  on  realizing  the  great  value  of  his 
invention,  lost  no  time  in  applying  for  a  patent 
and  his  application  was  filed  at  Washington,  D.  C, 
in  the  United  States  Patent  Office  on  December 
29,  1916,  and  was  patented  July  24,  1917,  copies 
of  this  patent  being  obtainable  by  addressing  the 
Commissioner  of  Patents,  Washington,  D.  C,  for 
a  trifling  sum.  The  Canadian  Patent  has  been 
granted  and  will  be  placed  on  the  market  there 
by  August  1,  1918.  Simple  as  the  device  is  in 
construction,  it  required  considerable  ingenuity 
and  perfect  accuracy  in  adjusting  the  parts,  Mr. 
Wade  easily  triumphing  in  these  particulars. 
Seemingly  in  a  great  agricultural  section  like 
Cumberland  County  such  a  convenient  utility  would 
be  deemed  indispensable,  and  probably  this  is  the 
case,  judging  by  the  mass  of  correspondence  that 
Mr.  Wade  finds  he  must  attend  to,  many  of  the 
letters  received  being  in  high  praise  of  the  de- 
vice. In  October,  1917,  the  dasher,  under  the  ap- 
propriate name  of  the  B.  D.  Q.  (Butter  Double 
Quick)  dasher,  was  demonstrated  at  the  Fayette- 
ville  North  Carolina  Fair  and  took  the  first  prize, 
the  Blue  Ribbon,  and  it  has  met  with  a  remark- 
able sale.  In  January,  1918,  it  is  being  manu- 
factured for  him  by  the  Carolina  Wood  Products 
Company  at  Asheville,  and  plans  are  being  made 
for  the  erection  and  equipment  of  -a  factory  for 
the  exclusive  manufacture  of  the  dasher,  and  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Fayetteville  are  making 
efforts  to  have  the  industry  located  in  that  city. 

Mr.  Wade  has  a  happy  domestic  circle  of  wife 
and  two  children,  the  latter  bearing  the  names  of 
Virginia  Dare  and  Dorothy  Wade.  Mr.  Wade 
married  Miss  Virginia  Embrey,  who  was  born  in 
Fauquier  County,  Virginia.  Naturally  she  is  very 
)iroud  of  the  success  of  Mr.  Wade 's  invention, 
knowing  that  he  deserves  full  credit  for  it. 

JAME.S  Franklin  Gause,  Jr.  Among  the 
younger  generation  of  Wilmington  business  and 
]irofessioiia!  men  whose  names  are  deserving  of 
special  mention  for  what  they  have  accomjdished 
in  their  chosen  vocations  is  James  Franklin  Gause, 
.Jr.,  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  architects, 
Gause  &  Lynch.  His  career  has  been  an  exem- 
jilification  of  typical  ambitious  manhood,  and  he 
is  already  accorded  a  place  among  the  men  whose 
activities  are  serving  to  maintain  Wilmington's 
prestige  in  the  fields  of  business  and  architecture. 

.James  Franklin  Gause,  .Jr.,  was  born  at  Wil- 
mington North  Carolina,  June  1.5,  1885,  and  is 
a  son  of  James  Franklin  and  Frances  Caroline 
(Jones)  Gause.  His  education  was  given  him  in 
the  public  schools  of  his  native  place,  and  when 
he  wa.s  still  a  lad  he  liegan  his  apjirenticeship 
to  his  chosen  vocation  as  blue  ]irint  boy  in  the 
mechanical  rooms  of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line  Rail- 
way. There  he  dis]dayed  ability  of  a  high  order, 
energy  and  fi<lelity,  and  his  promotion  was  quick 
and  sure,  so  rapid,  in  fact,  that  he  found  him- 
self wijhin  the  remarkably  short  space  of  four 
years    occupying    the    responsible    position    of  _as- 


394 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


sistant  mechanical  civil  engineer.  Eventually  he  left 
the  railway  oflBces  to  gain  more  extensive  and 
rliversified  experience,  and  for  several  years  worked 
in  architects'  offices  at  Birmingham,  Alabama, 
and  Atlanta  and  Augusta,  Georgia.  In  1908, 
when  he  was  ready  to  embark  upon  his  individual 
career,  he  located  at  Waynesville,  North  Carolina, 
and  in  1911  established  his  home  and  office  at 
Wilmington,  where  he  has  since  continued  to  fol- 
low his  jirofession.  In  1915  he  took  into  jiai't- 
nership  James  Borden  Lynch,  and  since  that  time 
the  firm  has  operated  under  the  style  of  Gause 
&  Lynch.  Mr.  Gause  has  drawn  the  plans  and 
erected  numerous  large  structures,  largely  of  a 
public  character,  including  the  New  Hanover  Coun- 
ty Prison,  a  concrete  edifice  which  accomodates 
2.">0  prisoners.  He  is  a  member  of  the  North 
Carolina  Association  of  Architects,  of  which  he 
was  a  director  in  191.5,  and  the  North  Carolina 
Chapter  of  the  American  Institute  of  Architects. 
His  social  connections  include  membership  in  the 
Cape  Fear  Country  Club  and  the  Carolina  Ya^ht 
Club.  Mr.  Gause 's  standing  as  an  architect  is 
high  and  as  a  citizen  of  Wilmington  he  has  al- 
ways been  ready  to  assist  in  progressive  and 
public-spirited  movements. 

On  August  19,  191.3,  Mr.  Gause  was  married 
to  Miss  Esther  Virginia  Edson,  of  Brooklyn,  New 
York.  They  are  members  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church. 

John  Wetmore  Hinsdale,  Jr.,  is  a  son  of  the 
distinguished  North  Carolina  lawyer  and  states- 
man, John  W.  Hinsdale,  Sr.  During  his  own 
career,  as  a  practicing  lawyer  at  Raleigh  for  the 
past  fifteen  years,  he  has  earned  many  of  the  cred- 
itable rewards  and  honors  of  the  profession. 

He  was  bom  at  Raleigh  August  21,  1879,  was 
educated  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina, 
graduating  in  the  literary  course  in  1900  and  from 
the  law  department  in  1901.  Since  then  he  has 
been  in  active  general  practice  at  Raleigh.  He  is 
^  member  of  the  Wake  County  and  the  North 
Carolina  Bar  associations,  and  of  the  Capital  and 
Country  clubs. 

Benjamin  Kin.sey  Hays,  M.  D.  A  number  of 
capable  and  high-minded  physicians  enjoy  the 
credit  and  honor  that  goes  with  North  Carolina 's 
enviable  position  among  the  states  in  point  of  the 
efficiency  and  personnel  of  its  public  health  work. 
In  the  opinion  of  his  contemporaries  and  fellow 
workers.  Dr.  Benjamin  Kinsey  Hays  of  Oxford 
is  entitled  to  more  than  a  modest  share  of  credit. 

While  it  is  not  difficult  to  find  various  reasons 
of  self  interest  and  advantage  that  impel  many 
men  to  take  up  some  branch  of  the  public  welfare 
movement,  it  is  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  ascribe 
any  selfish  motive  to  those  physicians  who  at  the 
sacrifice  of  their  remunerative  clientele  oftentimes 
devote  themselves  to  public  health  propaganda. 
Doctor  Hays  has  been  a  conspicuous  example  of 
this  disinterested  service  and  has  given  time  and 
energy  to  public  health  work  which  devoted  to 
his  private  profession  would  have  meant  a  comfort- 
able fortune. 

Doctor  Hays  was  born  at  Oxford,  North  Caro- 
lina, July  o,  1870,  and  nearly  all  his  life  has  been 
spent  in  that  quiet  and  scholastic  community.  His 
parents  were  John  W.  and  Sallie  (Duty)  Hays, 
his  father  being  for  many  years  an  attorney. 
Doctor  Hays  was  educated  in  Horner 's  Military 
School  at  Oxford,  and  also  in  the  Fishburn  Mili- 
tary School  in  Virginia.     He  spent  one  year  with 


the  Government  Geological  Survey,  liegan  his 
medical  studies  in  a  private  office,  and  continued 
them  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons 
at  Baltimore  and  in  University  College  of  Meiti- 
cine  at  Richmond,  Virginia.  For  two  years  he 
was  associated  with  Dr.  Hunter  McGuire  as  interne 
in  his  private  hospital  in  Virginia. 

Doctor  Hays  returned  to  Oxford  in  1895  and 
devoted  himself  to  general  practice.  For  twelve 
seasons  he  was  resident  physician  of  the  Buffalo 
Lithia  Springs  of  Virginia.  In  1908  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  state  board  of  medical  examiners, 
served  as  its  secretary  throughout  his  entire  term 
of  six  vears,  and  in  1915  was  elected  secretary 
of  the  North  Carolina  Medical  Association,  an  of- 
fice he  still  fills.  He  has  been  a  frequent  con- 
tributor to  medical  journals,  and  has  delivered 
addresses  before  the  state  medical  societies,  in- 
cluding one  at  the  meeting  at  Greensboro  in  1905, 
.ind  has  addressed  graduating  classes  at  Richmond, 
Virginia,  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  and  other 
places.  He  has  made  a  close  study  of  the  county 
health  and  public  health  work  in  general,  and  is 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  ablest  authorities  in  this 
field. 

Doctor  Hays  is  a  member  and  steward  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  has  appeared  as 
a  lecturer  before  the  Men's  Bible  Class  of  the 
Sunday  school  many  times.  Many  of  his  themes 
have  been  chosen  with  a  view  to  substituting  sci- 
entific knowledge  for  superstitions  and  eradicating 
old  time  popular  fallacies  which  still  have  a  strong 
hold  upon  otherwise  intelligent  people. 

Doctor  Hays  married  .Tune  4,  1902,  Miss  Anne 
Dp  La  Croix,  a  native  of  Massachusetts.  Doctor 
Havs  raised  four  adopted  daughters,  Katie  and 
Tsabelle  Fleming,  children  of  his  sister,  and  Clara 
and  Fannie  Hays,  children  of  his  brother. 

Clarence  Rotden  Pugh.  Pasquotank  County 
can  furnish  no  better  sample  of  self-made  man- 
hood than  that  represented  in  the  career  of  Clar- 
ence Royden  Pueh,  of  Elizabeth  City.  In  thfl 
le^al  profession,  in  business  affairs,  in  public  life 
and  in  the  promotion  of  religion,  morality  and 
good  citizenship  he  has  been  a  leader,  and  while 
still  a  young  man,  as  years  go,  has  attained  a 
position  of  prominence  and  independence  solely 
throuq-h  the  exercise  of  his  own  abilities  and  an 
intelligent  acceptance  of  just  such  opportunities 
as  come  to  men  in  general. 

Mr.  Pugh  was  born  March  31,  1884,  at  Wan- 
chese.  Roanoke  Island.  Dare  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, a  sou  of  Saint  Clair  and  Holland  (Wescott) 
Pu?h.  His  father  was  a  merchant  and  fisherman 
on  Roanoke  Island,  where  the  youth  attended  pub- 
lic and  private  schools,  subsequently  going  to  Dur- 
ham Preparatory  School  and  then  to  Trinity  Col- 
lege. Durham,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1906. 
In  the  following  year,  when  but  a  little  past  his 
majority,  he  became  an  independent  candidate  for 
the  North  Carolina  Legislature,  and  was  elected 
to  that  body  as  the  only  independent  chosen,  be- 
ing the  youngest  member  of  the  House.  When  his 
term  expired  he  went  to  the  University  of  Chi- 
cago, where  in  1908  and  1909  he  took  a  law  course, 
and  in  1910  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Illinois. 
In  that  same  year  he  further  prepared  himself 
in  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  but  in  1911  re- 
turned to  Chicago,  and  during  that  and  part  of 
the  following  year  was  engaged  in  teaching  school. 
In  1912  he  also  taught  law  in  the  Hamilton  Col- 
lege of  Law,  but  early  in  191.3  returned  to  North 
Carolina,  and,  settling  at  Elizabeth  City,  was  ad- 


,RY 


AS.  . 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


395 


mitted  to  the  bar  of  the  state  in  February.  Since 
that  time  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  general  prac- 
tice of  his  calling  and  has  steadily  risen  to  a 
foremost  place  among  the  practitioners  of  this 
section.  He  is  at  home  in  every  department  of 
his  calling  and  has  been  identified  with  a  number 
of  important  eases,  his  success  in  which  speaks 
well  for  his  knowledge  of  the  law,  his  logic,  and  his 
powers  of  oratory  and  persuasiveness.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  organizations  of  his  profession  Mr. 
Pugli  is  a  member  of  the  Masons  and  a  Knights 
Templar  and  Shriner,  and  belongs  to  the  Benevo- 
lent and  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  tlie  Knights  of 
Pytliias  and  the  Improved  Order  of  Eed  Men.  He 
has  various  important  business  connections,  be- 
ing secretary-treasurer  of  the  East  Caroline  Trans- 
piortation  Company,  secretary-treasurer  of  the 
Albemarle  King  Coal  Company,  and  a  partner  in 
the  firm  of  Daniels  &  Pugh,  an  ice  corporation. 
Mr.  Pugh  was  the  main  factor  in  the  organization 
of  the  Elizabeth  City  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and 
at  the  present  time  is  its  manager.  Since  the 
early  days,  when  he  was  independent  in  his 
views,  he  has  swung  his  support  to  the  republican 
party,  having  been  chairman  of  the  Pasquotank 
County  executive  committee,  and  at  one  time  was 
candidate  for  the  office  of  state  superintendent  of 
puljlic  instruction.  He  has  been  particularly  ac- 
tive in  religious  work,  and  at  present  is  one  of 
tlie  stewards  of  the  City  Eoad  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  and  superintendent  of  the  Sunday 
school,  member  and  secretary  of  the  Conference 
Sundav  School  Board;  and  president  of  the  Dis- 
trict Sunday  School  Institute. 

On  December  2.-!,  1908,  Mr.  Pugh  was  happily 
married  to  Miss  Adell  Bulpitt,  of  Taylorville.  Il- 
linois. 

JuLltrs  Brown  hns  l^een  an  active  member  of 
tl'_e  bar  of  Greenville  for  the  past  fifteen  vears. 
While  the  law  represents  to  liim  a  means  of  liveli- 
hood he  has  also  used  his  profession  in  many 
ways  to  promote  the  public  welfare  and  has 
frenuently   served   the    publV. 

Mr.  Brown  was  born  in  Bet'-el,  Nortli  Carolina 
Nnveniher  18,  1879.  a  son  of  Fernando  an,l  Ann 
M.  (Martin)  Brown.  He  arew  ui>  at  his  fnther's 
farm,  attended  the  Betliol  Hio],  Scliool.  and  took 
1ms  law  work  in  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, .o-radnatinff  in  Aneust,  1902.  On  being  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  he  located  at  C'-eenville'  and 
seoii  won  his  spurs  as  an  able  and  hard  fip,htinc 
attorney  in  competition  with  many  older  and 
experienced  men.  He  is  a  member  in  eooil  stand- 
inq-  of  the  North  Carolina  Bar  Association,  and 
wn.s  formerly  attorney  for  the  Board  of  County 
Commissoners.  Mr.  Brown  is  a  Ma«<^>i  an.l  Odd 
Fellow.  He  married  August  l.i  191.1,  Miss  Estelle 
Thiq-pen.  of  Greenville.  They  have  one  daughter 
Julia   Estelle.  " 

Clarence  Albert  Shore,  M.  D.  As  a  scientist 
physician  and  public  health  official  Doctor  Shore 
IS  one  of  the  eminent  men  of  North  Carolina. 
After  his  graduation  from  the  I'niversitv  of  North 
Caroliim  in  1901  he  spent  three  years  in  that  insti- 
tution as  instructor  in  biologv.'  He  then  entered 
the  medical  department  of  Johns  Hopkins  TTni- 
versitv  at  Baltimore,  where  he  was  graduated  in 
Medicine  in  1907.  Since  then  Doctor  Shore  has 
rendered  an  invaluable  service  in  the  North  Caro- 
lina State  Laboratory  of  Hygiene. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Public  Health 
Association,  of  the  Tri-State  Medical  Association, 


of  the  Wake  County  and  North  Carolina  Medical 
societies,  tlie  American  Medical  Association  and 
the  Southern  Medical  Association. 

Doctor  Shore  was  born  in  Salem,  North  Carolina, 
November  26,  1873,  a  son  of  Henry  Washington 
and  Lavinia  Elizabeth  (Boyer)  Shore.  His  father 
was  a  merchant  and  tlie  family  were  members  of 
the  Moravian  Church,  with  which  Doctor  Shore  is 
also  identified.  His  early  education  was  acquired 
in  the  Moravian  Boys  School  at  Salem,  and  he  was 
there  prepared  for  college,  next  entering  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina.  Doctor  Shore  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Sigma  Alpha  Epsilon  and  the  Nu  Signia 
Nu  College"  fraternities,  and  the  Capital  Club  at 
Raleigh.  He  was  married  May  27,  1914,  to  Miss 
Ellen  Dortch,  of  Raleigh.    . 

H.\RRY  Henline  Barker.  Scholarly  in  his  at- 
tainments, and  well  versed  in  legal  lore,  Harry 
Henline  Barker,  of  Elkin,  Surry  County,  hSs  made 
rapid  strides  in  his  professional  career,  his  suc- 
cess being  due  to  the  sturdy  application  of  his 
natural  and  acquired  forces.  A  son  of  Dr.  Larkin 
Jones  Barker,  he  was  born,  March  22,  1886,  on  a 
farm  in  Knob  Township,  Yadkin  County,  North 
Carolina.  He  is  of  pioneer  stock,  being  a  grand- 
son of  Howell  Barker,  Jr.,  and  great-grandson  of 
Howell  Barker,  Sr.,  a  pioneer  of  Iredell  County. 

Howell  Barker,  Sr.,  was  an  extensive  landholder, 
owning  and  occupying  a  plantation  in  Iredell 
County.  He  was  born  February  24,  1750,  and  died 
September  11,  1847,  aged  ninety-seven  years,  six 
months,  and  eleven  days.  His  will,  dated  Novem- 
lier  15,  1839,  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
subject   of   this   sketch. 

Howell  Barker,  Jr.,  was  born  on  the  home  farm 
ill  Iredell  County,  and  there  spent  his  earlier  life. 
Moving  to  Yadkin  County  about  1850,  he  bought 
a  tract  of  land  near  Jonesville,  and  with  slave 
labor  improved  a  good  plantation,  on  which  he 
resided  until  his  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
second  wife,  through  whom  the  line  of  descent  is 
traced,  was  Rebecca  Henline.  She  was  born  in 
Iredell  County,  and  died  on  the  home  plantation  in 
Yadkin   County. 

The  only  child  of  his  parents,  Larkin  Jones 
Barker  was  born  November  13,  1842,  in  Iredell 
County,  aliout  eighteen  miles  from  Statesville,  on 
a  farm  bordering  on  Rocky  Creek.  Having  been 
graduated  from  the  .Tonesville  High  School,  he 
began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  E.  B.  Hamp- 
ton, of  Jonesville,  and  later  attended  lectures 
at  the  Baltimore  College  of  Physicians  and  sur- 
geons. Receiving  his  degree  of  M.  D.,  Barker 
located  in  .Jonesville,  and  having  built  up  an 
extensive  and  lucrative  )U'actice  remained  there 
until  his  death,  November  25,  1897. 

On  May  3,  1870,  Doctor  Barker  married  Mary 
E.  Martin,  who  was  born  in  Wilkes  County,  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1850,  a  daughter  of  Leland  Martin,  and 
granddaughter  of  James  Martin.  Her  paternal 
great-grandfather,  Benjamin  Martin,  a  soldier  in 
the  Revolutionary  army,  was  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  Wilkes  County.  He  subsequently  bought  large 
tracts  of  land  on  the  Yadkin  River,  about  two 
miles  from  the  Roaring  River  Railway  Station,  and 
on  the  farm  wliich  he  improved  lived  and  died, 
his  remains,  with  those  of  his  wife,  being  laid  to 
rest  on  the  old  homestead.  James  Martin  inherited 
both  land  and  slaves,  his  plantation  bordering  on 
the  Yadkin  River,  extending  five  miles  on  the  north 
side,  his  home  being  located  near  the  present  site 
of  the  Roaring  River  Railroad  Station.  Public- 
spirited  and  patriotic,  he  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 


396 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


War  of  1812.  His  Tvife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Elvira  Bryan,  was  born  in  Virginia,  a  ilanghter 
of  John  Bryan,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and 
a  member  of  the  well-known  family  of  that  name, 
prominent  in  the  annals  of  Virginia. 

Leland  Martin  was  born  in  Wilkes  County  in 
1826.  He  inherited  a  part  of  his  father's  estate, 
and  also  a  few  negroes,  and  in  addition  to  carry- 
ing on  general  farming  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  tobacco.  His  home  was  pleasantly  situated 
on  the  Yadkin  River,  two  miles  above  the  present 
site  of  Roaring  River  Railroad  Station,  and  there 
his  death  occurred  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
three  years.  For  upwards  of  forty  yeare  he  served 
as  postmaster  at  Brier  Creek,  and  in  the  final 
settlement  the  United  States  Government  sent  him 
a  check  for  one  penny,  which  was  his  just  due. 
The  grandmother  of  H.  H.  Barker  was  born  in 
Burke  County,  on  a  jilantation  bordering  on  the 
Johns  River.  Her  father  lost  his  mother  when 
quite  young,  and  not  liking  the  stepmother  which 
his  father  provided  him,  he  ran  away  from  home, 
and  from  that  time  was  self  supporting.  At  the 
time  of  his  marriage  with  Laura  Perkins,  the 
daughter  of  a  wealthy  planter  of  Burke  County, 
he  settled  on  land  that  his  wife  had  inherited,  in 
Burke  County,  and  from  that  time  until  his  death 
was  successfully  engaged  in  farming.  He  took 
an  active  part  in  public  atTairs,  in  183:5  represent- 
ing Burke  County  in  the  State  Legislature.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Leland  Martin  reared  six  children,  as 
follows:  Mary  E.,  Ella,  James  D.,  Calara,  Harry, 
and  Phlete.  "  Mrs.  Mary  E.  (Martin)  Barker 
reared  five  sous  and  one  daughter,  namely:  Walter 
Bryan;  Edgar  Reid;  Ralph  Lee,  deceased;  Ethel; 
Royden  Jones;  and  Harry  Henline.  Ethel  is  the 
wife  of  Dewey  L.  Rayman,  of  Statesville,  North 
Carolina.  The  mother  is  now  li\-ing  and  makes 
her  home  with  her  children.  Both  she  and  her 
husband  united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  in  early  life,  and  brought  up  their 
children  in  the  same  religious  faith.  Her  hus- 
band was  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity. 

Acquiring  a  practical  education  in  the  schools 
of  Jonesville  and  Elkin,  Harry  Henline  Barker  en- 
tered ujion  a  professional  career  when  eighteen 
years  old.  and  for  two  terms  taught  school  in  the 
Reddies  River  District.  Having  previously  decided 
upon  a  legal  career,  he  then  entered  the  law  de- 
partment of  the  T'niversity  of  North  Carolina,  and 
having  completed  the  required  course  of  study 
was  admitted  to  the  liar  on  February  :'>,  1908.  Im- 
mediately locating  in  Elkin,  Mr.  Barker  has  con- 
tinued in  practice  here  since,  his  clientage  being 
large  and  eminently  satisfactory. 

Mr.  Barker  married,  November  10,  1909,  Miss 
Edith  Grier,  who  was  born  in  Charlotte,  Mecklen- 
burg County,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Virginia 
Dare  (Vail)  Grier.  Three  children  have  been  born 
of  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barker,  namely:  Mary 
Virginia,  Harry  H.,  Jr.,  and  Margaret.  Religiously 
Mr.  Barker  belongs  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  while  Mrs.  Barker  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  Fraternally  Mr.  Barker 
is  a  member  of  Elkin  Lodge  No.  454,  Ancient  Free 
and  Accepted  Order  of  Masons;  of  North  Wilkes- 
boro  Chapter,  Royal  Arch  Masons;  of  Bryan  Lodge 
No.  167,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows;  of 
Piedmont  Lodge  No.  96,  Knights  of  Pythias;  of 
Elkin  Council,  Junior  Order  of  I'nited  American 
Mechanics;  and  of  Winston-Salem  Lodge,  Benevol- 
ent and  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 


WiLLi.\ii  L.ixiER  Hill  has  played  a  varied  and 
useful  part  in  his  home  city  of  Warsaw,  Duplin 
County.  He  is  a  lawyer  of  more  than  thirty-five 
years"  experience,  has  carried  on  extensive  opera- 
tions as  an  agriculturist  and  farmer  in  Duplin 
County,  and  is  also  one  of  the  leading  bankers 
and  men  of  affairs  of  that  locality.  He  was  born 
at  Faisons,  North  Carolina,  October  28,  1857,  a 
son  of  Col.  Christopher  Dudley  and  Mary  Faison 
(Hicks)  Hill.  His  father  was  a  nephew  of  Gov- 
ernor Edward  B.  Dudley  of  North  Carolina.  His 
mother  was  the  great-granddaughter  of  Thomas 
Hicks,  the  colonial  congressman,  and  also  a  great- 
granddaughter  of  George  Miller,  who  served  with 
the  rank  of  captain  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

William  L.  Hill  was  educated  in  the  Bingham 
School  at  Mebane,  and  besides  his  preparatory 
education  had  some  military  training  there  and 
was  a  first  sergeant  in  1875.  He  was  graduated 
in  June,  1879,  with  the  degree  A.  B.  from  the 
University  of  North  Carolina,  and  then  took  his 
law  course  in  the  Dick  &  Dillard  Law  School  at 
Greensboro.  Mr.  Hill  was  licensed  to  practice 
law  in  1882.  Throughout  his  career  agriculture 
and  other  business  affairs  have  had  an  urgent  de- 
mand upon  all  his  time  and  attention,  oftentimes 
to  the  exclusion  of  his  regular  law  business. 

He  is  president  and  was  the  organizer  of  the 
Citizens  Bank  of  Warsaw  and  was  chairman  of 
the  committee  that  erected  the  handsome  bank 
building.  When  he  was  a  child  in  1 860  his  grand- 
father. Gen.  William  Lanier  Hill,  willed  the 
grandson  a  magnificent  piece  of  property  at  War- 
saw, and  William  L.  Hill  has  since  been  the  main 
factor  in  making  Warsaw  a  splendid  and  beauti- 
ful city  and  business  center  through  the  develop- 
ment of  this  property.  His  real  estate  interests 
also  include  large  hoMings  of  farm  lands  in  Dup- 
lin County  and  for  twelve  years  he  was  president 
of  the  East  Carolina  Truckers'  Association,  for 
fourteen  years  he  was  chairman  of  the  Demo- 
cratic Executive  Committee  of  the  Third  Congi-es- 
sional  District,  is  a  director  of  the  State  Hospital 
at  Goldsboro,  and  is  a  trustee  of  the  University 
of  North  Carolina.  Mr.  Hill  is  a  stanch  demo- 
crat, but  has  never  evinced  any  political  aspira- 
tions. He  is  afiilated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
is  senior  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  War- 
saw, superintendent  of  its  Sunday  school,  and  he 
contributed 'most  of  the  means  for  the  building 
of  the  church  home.  Mr.  Hill  is  a  member  ot  the 
Sons   of   the   American    Revolution. 

On  January  2,  1895,  at  Clinton,  North  Carolina, 
he  married  Mary  Lou  Brown,  daughter  of  John 
Bright  and  Mary  Penelope  (Morisey)  Brown.  Her 
father  was  a  grandson  of  Gen.  Thomas  Brown  of 
Bladen  County,  a  leader  in  Revolutionary  times. 
Mary  Penelope  Morisey,  her  mother,  was  descended 
from  Col.  Richard  Clinton  and  Gen.  James  Kenan, 
both  prominent  figures  in  the  colonial  records. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hill  have  two  sons,  Dudley  Brown, 
who  volunteered  for  the  training  camps  and  is 
with  Pershing's  army  in  France  in  the  Signal 
Corps,  and  John  Bright,  who  is  a  cadet  at  West 
Point.  Both  are  members  of  the  class  of  1917 
'u  the  I^niversity  of  North  Carolina.  Mr.  Hill 
is  chairman  of  the  Council  of  Defense,  also  chair- 
man of  the  Exemption  Board  of  Duplin  County, 
and  ve'y  active  in  all  work  pertaining  to  the 
war. 

Samuel  Newberx  Harrell  M.  D.  As  superin- 
tendent  of   the    Edgecombe   General    Hospital   and 


^/..^^^, 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


397 


member  of  its  staff,  Doctor  Harrell  enjoys  a  place 
of  special  (Ustiiietiou  among  the  physicians  of 
Edgecombe  County  and  has  been  steadily  gaining 
success  and  honors  as  a  talented  physician  during 
a  period  of  twenty  years  in  which  he  has  prac- 
ticed   at    Tarboro. 

Doctor  Harrell  was  born  in  Martin  County, 
North  Carolina,  April  l.i,  IST.j.  His  parents  were 
Augustus  and  Harriet  (Whiehurst)  Harrell,  sub- 
stantial farming  people  of  Martin  County.  Doc- 
tor Harrell  was  educated  in  public  schools,  in 
the  Davis  Military  School,  and  took  both  his 
literary  and  medical  course  in  the  University  of 
Virginia,  graduating  M.  D.  in  1897.  Since  that 
date  he  has  been  in  general  practice  at  Tarl>ort). 
Among  other  associations  he  was  for  four  years 
county  coroner  and  superintendent  of  health  two 
years,  was  ju-esident  of  the  Edgecondic  County 
Medical  Society  in  191(i  and  its  secretary  for  ten 
years,  and  also  belongs  to  the  Fourth  District 
and  the  North  Carolina  State  Medical  Societies 
and  the  American  Medical  Association.  Doctor 
Harrell  is  an  active  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

June  (J,  1900,  he  married  Miss  Isabel!  Gillesby 
Fairley,   of    Manchester,    North   Carolina. 

Stephen  Fekr.\nd  Lord.  Distinguished  not 
only  for  the  honored  ancestry  from  which  he 
traces  his  descent  but  for  his  own  blameless  recorci 
as  a  man  and  a  citizen,  Stephen  F.  Lord,  of  Salis- 
bury, is  conspicuously  identified  with  the  business 
activities  of  the  city,  and  is  an  important  factor 
in  promoting  its  best  interests.  He  was  born  in 
Salisbury,  a  son  of  the  late  Hon.  .lohn  B.  Lord. 

Born  in  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  about  1820, 
John  B.  Lord  was  left  fatherless  when  young,  and 
his  mother  married  again  and  moved  to  South 
Carolina.  He  took  advantage  of  every  offered  0]j- 
portunity  for  acquiring  an  education,  preparing 
himself  for  the  legal  profession.  Admitted  to  the 
bar  before  he  was  twenty  years  old,  he  came  to 
Rowan  County,  and  immediately  opened  a  law 
office  in  Salisbury,  where  he  continued  a  resident 
until  his  death.  Wheeler  's  History  says  of  him  as 
follows:  "John  B.  Lord,  who  died  in  June,  1851, 
amid  the  lamentations  of  his  family  and  friends, 
was  a  patriotic  and  useful  citizen  of  Salisbury. 
He  was  a  native  of  Wilmington,  of  good  family, 
fine  acquirements  and  benevolent  feelings.  In 
1842  and  1844  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  a 
director  of  the  Central  Railroad  Company. ' ' 

John  B.  Lord  married  Ann  Ferrand,  a  daughter 
of  Dr.  Stephen  and  Margaret  (Steele)  Ferrand. 
Her  maternal  grandfather,  Gen.  John  Steele,  was 
born  in  Salisbury,  North  Carolina,  November  1, 
1764,  being  a  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  Steele, 
the  latter  a  heroine  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  who 
patriotically  did  not  only  "her  bit,''  but  the  very 
best  she  could  to  aid  America  's  cause.  In  Barnes ' 
Centenary  History  we  find  the  following  account  of 
her  generosity:  On  the  nigh't  of  February  1,  1781, 
Gen.  Nathaniel  Greene,  during  his  famous  retreat 
from  the  enemy,  alighted  at  the  Salisbury  Inn 
after  a  hard  day 's  ride  through  mud  and  rain. 
The  army  physician,  who  had  charge  of  the  sick 
and  wounded  prisoners,  met  him  at  the  door  and 
inquired  after  his  well-being.  "Fatigued,  hungry 
and  cold,  and  penniless, ' '  was  the  heavy-hearted 
reply.  The  patriotic  landlady,  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Steele,  overheard  the  words.  Lighting  a  cheerful 
fire,  she  spread  a  warm  supper  before  him,  and 
then,   quietly   producing  two   bags   of   specie,   her 


hoarded  treasure,  said,  "Take  these;  you  will  want 
them,  and  I  can  do  without  them. "  It  is  hard  to 
decide,  says  the  historian,  which  was  the  happier, 
the  noble-hearted  giver  or  the  relieved  receiver, 
who  renewed  his  journey  with  a  lightened  heart. 
Mrs.  Elizal)eth  Steele  died  November  22,  1790.  A 
tablet  marks  the  spot  where  the  tavern  stooil,  and 
the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  have 
named   the   Salisbury  Chapter  in  her  honor. 

Gen.  John  Steele,  great-grandfather  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  became  influential  in  public 
affairs  in  early  life;  in  1787  he  was  elected  to  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  re-elected  in  1788.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  convention  that  assembled  at 
Hillsboro  July'21,  1788,  and  in  1790  was  elected 
a  mendier  of  the  first  Congress  held  under  the  Con- 
stitution, and  served  until  1793.  In  1794  he  was 
again  honored  with  an  election  to  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  served  continuously  until  18Ui,  in 
the  meantime  having  been  speaker  of  the  House 
several  times.  In  1806  he  was  appointed  com- 
missioner to  a<ljust  the  boundary  lines  between  the 
two  Carolinas,  succeeding  General  Davie.  He  was 
appointed  as  the  first  comjitroUer  of  the  treasury, 
and  served  through  the  administrations  of  both 
Washington  and  Adams.  On  the  day  of  his  death, 
August  14,  181.5,  he  was  again  elected  to  the 
House  of  Commons.  He  married  Mary  Nesfield, 
who  outlived  him  many  years.  They  reared  three 
children,  namely:  Ann,  who  married  first  Gen. 
,Iesse  A.  Pearson,  and  married  second,  Archbald 
Henderson ;  Margaret,  who  married  Dr.  Stephen 
Ferrand;  anil  Eliza,  who  became  the  wife  of  Col. 
Roljert  MacNamara. 

After  the  death  of  her  husband  Mrs.  Ann  (Fer- 
rand )  Lord  married  for  her  second  husband  Rev. 
John  Haywood  Parker,  rector  of  Saint  Luke 's 
Church.  By  her  marriage  with  her  first  husband, 
Hon.  John  B.  Lord,  she  had  three  children,  namely: 
William  Campbell,  who  was  the  oldest  of  the  chil- 
dren, was  captain  of  a  company  in  the  Fifty- 
seventh  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Troops,  and 
lost  his  life  while  in  the  Confederate  service; 
Stejihen  Ferrand,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and  a 
daughter  who  married  Maj.  N.  E.  Scales,  of  the 
Confederate  Army. 
ji  After  preparing  for  college  at  Brigham  's  Aca- 
demy in  Orange  County,  Stephen  Ferrand  Lord 
entered  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  but  left 
before  graduation  to  enter  the  service  of  the  state 
in  the  ]iaymaster  's  department,  with  which  he  was 
associated  until  the  close  of  the  Civil  war.  The 
ensuing  three  years  he  was  ticket  agent  on  the 
Nortli  Carolina  Railroad  at  Salisbury,  and  was 
then  discharged  for  having  voted  the  democratic 
ticket.  Locating  then  at  'Third  Creek,  now  Cleve- 
land, Rowan  County,  Mr.  Lord  was  there  engaged 
in  mercantile  pursuits  for  six  years.  Removing 
then  to  the  farm  which  his  wife  had  inherited,  it 
being  located  on  the  line  dividing  Salisbury  and 
Locke  townships,  he  remained  there  as  an  agri- 
culturist for  six  years.  Coming  then  to  Salisbury, 
Mr.  Lord  has  since  been  actively  identified  with  the 
business  life  of  the  city,  and  as  a  prosperous  and 
extensive  dealer  in  real  estate  has  bought  and  sold 
many  valuable  pieces  of  eity,  suburban  and  farm 
property,  and  has  also  served  as  president  of  the 
Perpetual  Building  and  Loan  Association.  He  has 
been  prominent  in  the  administration  of  municipal 
affairs,  having  served  for  six  years  as  alderman, 
and  for  two  years  as  mayor  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Lord  married  Ann  McCoy,  a  daughter  of 
William  S.  and  Ann  McCoy.  She  passed  to  the 
higher  life   in   1879,   and   their   only   child   died   in 


3.98 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


infancy.     Religiously  Mr.  Lord  is  a  member  and  a 
warden  of  Saint  Luke  's  Episcopal  Church. 

Francis  M.vriox  Thompson.  For  many  years 
actively  and  prosperously  identified  -with  the  busi- 
ness affairs  of  Salisbury," and  prominent  in  political 
circles,  Francis  Marion  Thompson  has  accomplished 
a  satisfactory  work,  and  is  now  living  retired,  en- 
joying all  the  comforts  of  life  at  his  pleasant  home. 
A  "son  of  Joseph  Hiram  Thompson,  he  was  born 
at  Tyro  Shops,  Tyro  Township,  Davidson  County, 
North  Carolina,  of  English  antecedents. 

His  paternal  grandfather.  Dr.  Frederick  Thomp- 
son, was  born,  it  is  supposed,  in  England.  Coming 
to  America,  he  lived  first  in  Eichmond,  Virginia, 
and  then  located  in  Salisbury,  North  Carolina, 
where  he  practiced  medicine  until  1814.  In  that 
year  he  purchased  land  in  what  is  now  Tyro  Town- 
ship, Davidson  County,  and  there  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life,  following  not  only  his  pro- 
fession,  but   improving  a   farm. 

Joseph  Hiram  Thompson  was  born  in  Salisbury, 
North  Carolina,  in  1810,  and  as  a  boy  of  four 
years  was  taken  by  his  parents  to  Tyro  Township, 
and  there  grew  to  manhood  on  the  home  farm, 
to  the  ownership  of  which  he  subsequently  suc- 
ceeded. He  was  a  natural  mechanic,  and  having 
established  a  foundry  and  machine  shop  on  his 
farm  the  locality  became  known  as  Tyro  Shops. 
Successful  in  all  of  his  undertakings,  he  became 
an  extensive  landholder,  purchasing  500  acres  in 
Yadkin  Valley,  near  Yadkin  College,  and  managed 
with  slave  labor.  He  continued  his  residence  in 
Tyro  Township  until  his  death,  in  July,  1872. 

Joseph  Hiram  Thompson  was  twice  married.  He 
married  first  Cynthia  Eatts,  who  spent  her  life  in 
Tyro  Township',  dying  in  1847.  He  married  for  his 
second  wife,  Ellen  Elizabeth  Bafts,  a  sister  of  his 
first  wife.  She  was  born  in  Tyro  Township  in 
1823,  and  died  in  1889.  By  his  first  marriage, 
there  were  eight  children,  Louise,  Mary,  John  Fred- 
erick, Sarah,  William  L.,  Charles  M.,  Joseph,  and 
Cynthia.  By  his  second  marriage  there  were  five 
children,  Francis  Marion,  Patrick  Henry,  Richard 
Baxter,  Robert  Fulton,  and  George  McDuffie. 

Francis  Marion  Thomjison  was  fitted  for  college 
under  private  tutorship,  and  subsequently  attended 
North  Carolina  College,  in  Mount  Pleasant.  Upon 
leaving  college,  he  opened  a  hardware  store  at 
Lexington.  Davidson  County,  where  he  continued 
until  1889.  Coming  to  Salisbury  in  that  year, 
Mr.  Thompson  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
tobacco  for  four  years,  and  the  following  four 
years  was  superintendent  of  the  North  Carolina 
division  of  internal  revenue.  In  1897  he  was 
elected  mayor  of  Salisbury,  and  served  for  two 
years,  when,  on  account  of  ill  health,  he  gave  up 
active  business  cares,  and  retired  to  private  life. 

Mr.  Thompson  married,  at  tlie  age  of  twenty- 
three  years,  Virginia  Elizabeth  Eeid,  one  of  his 
fellow-students  at  North  Carolina  College.  She 
was  born  near  Mount  Pleasant,  North  Carolina,  a 
daughter  of  William  Eeid.  Her  father,  a  farmer, 
operated  his  land  with  slave  labor.  During  the 
Civil  war  he  was  detailed  to  secure  wood  for  the 
railroads,  all  of  the  engines  at  that  time  having 
been  wood  l)urners.  He  married  Julia  Melchoir, 
a  daughter  of  Christopher  and  Elizabeth  (Miller) 
Melchoir.  Christopher  Melchoir,  Mrs.  Thompson's 
maternal  grandfather,  was  very  prominent  and  in- 
fluential in  public  life.  He  represented  Cabarrus 
County  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  1819-21-23 
and  '24,  and  in  the  Senate  in  the  years  of  1829- 
30-31-36-38   and    '40.     He   lived  to   the  venerable 


age  of  ninety  years.  William  Eeid  lived  to  be 
eighty-five  years  old,  but  his  wife  died  at  the  age 
of  fifty-one  years.  They  reared  five  children,  as 
follows:  John  Monroe;  Virginia  Elizabeth,  now 
Mrs.  Thompson;  Minnie  Lee;  James  Calvin;  and 
Robert  Eugene. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson  are  the  parents  of  five 
children,  Lena,  Claude,  Ernest,  Eugene,  and  Em- 
mett.  Lena  married  Dr.  R.  L.  Ramsay,  and  they 
have  eight  children,  Robert  Lamar,  Margaret  Belle, 
Marion  Elizabeth,  Lena  Thompson,  Mary  Ellen, 
James  Alston,  Virginia  Moore,  and  John  Andrew. 
Claude,  who  married  Johnsye  Sloop,  died,  leaving 
one  daughter,  .Tohnsye.  Eugene  married  Ida  How- 
ard, aiul  they  have  four  children,  Francis  Eugene, 
Herbert,  Claude,  and  Reid.  Emmett  married  Ger- 
trude Wise,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  three 
children,  Francis  Marion,  Emmett  Gray,  and  Ger- 
trude Wise.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson  are 
members  of  St.  John 's  Lutheran  Cliurch. 

Hon.  Stephen  McIntyke  is  senior  member  of 
the  law  firm  Mclntyre,  Lawrence  &  Proctor  at 
Lumherton.  In  scope  and  importance  of  interest 
entrusted  to  them  this  firm  is  without  question 
one  of  the  strongest  and  most  -successful  in  the 
state. 

Besides  his  record  as  a  lawyer  Mr.  Mclntyre 
has  enjoyed  many  of  those  distinctions  that  are 
so  often  given  the  true  and  able  lawyer,  and 
every  trust  and  duty  thus  conferred  upon  him  he 
has  discharged  with  a  degree  of  fidelity  and  effi- 
ciency that  adds  much  honor  to  his  commendable 
record. 

Mr.  Mclntyre  is  a  worthy  descendant  of  an 
honored  family  in  North  Carolina,  The  Mcln- 
tyres  are  of  pure  Scotch  origin,  his  ancestors 
having  come  to  North  Carolina  prior  to  the  Revo- 
lutionary war  along  with  the  many  Scotch  Pres- 
byterian families  who  first  settled  the  Cape  Fear 
region.  His  grandfather,  Stokes  Mclntyre, 
learned  the  trade  of  millwright  and  doubtless  be- 
cause of  his  efliciency  in  that  line  he  left  his  na- 
tive section  of  the  state  along  the  Cape  Fear 
River  and  moved  into  the  region  of  the  Yadkin, 
Rocky  and  other  rivers  whose  streams  furnish 
abundant  of  ojiportunities  for  development  of 
water  power.  In  this  locality  Stokes  Mclntyre 
built  some  of  the  earliest  mills  in  Stanley  and 
Anson  counties.  His  own  home  was  on  the  Rocky 
River  in  Anson  County. 

Mr.  Stephen  Mclntyre  was  born  in  Union  Coun- 
ty, North  Carolina,  April  16,  1867,  son  of  Isaiah 
and  Martha  (Hill)  Mclntyre.  Isaiah  Mclntyre 
was  born  in  Anson  County  and  when  a  young  man 
moved  to  Union  County,  where  he  followed  farm- 
ing. 

Stephen  Mclntyre 's  early  environment  was  his 
father 's  farm  in  Union  County.  The  best  oppor- 
tunities of  his  life  have  been  those  he  sought  or 
created  for  himself.  With  the  education  of  the 
common  schools  he  so  managed  his  affairs  as  to 
be  able  to  enter  Wake  Forest  College  in  1890,  and 
was  graduated  there  in  the  classical  A.  B.  course 
in  1893.  The  following  two  years  he  was  teacher 
at  Louisburg,  North  Carolina.  He  was  the  first 
law  pupil  to  matriculate  in  the  now  famous  law 
school  of  Wake  Forest  College.  He  was  licensed 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina  to  prac- 
tice law  in  February,  1896.  It  was  soon  after 
receiving  his  license  to  practice  that  Mr.  Mclntyre 
moved  to  Lumberton,  and  has  thus  been  a  factor 
in  the  professional,  business  and  social  affairs  of 
that  city  and  county  for  over  twenty  years.     His 


HISTOKY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


399 


liist  partnership  was  with  the  late  E.  K.  Proctor, 
Jr.  This  tirni  continued  from  October  15,  1896, 
until  the  death  of  Mr.  Proctor  in  1902.  In  1903 
Mr.  Mclntyre  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  K. 
C.  Lawrence,  and  their  relationship  still  continues. 
In  1906  the  junior  member  of  the  firm  Mclntyre, 
Lawrence  &  Proctor,  a  son  of  the  late  E.  K. 
Proctor,  Jr.,  was  admitted  to  the  firm. 

This  firm  commands  a  practice  in  all  the  State 
and  Federal  courts.  Some  idea  of  the  extent  of 
their  legal  connections  is  obtained  by  noting  their 
associations  as  Division  Counsel  for  the  Seaboard 
Air  Line,  special  counsel  for  the  Southern  Rail- 
way and  the  Raleigh  &  Charleston  Railroads,  the 
Aberdeen  &  Eockfist  Railroad,  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Company,  and  they  are  also  attorneys 
for  several  of  the  cotton  mills  at  Lumbertou  and 
other  corporations.  Besides  handling  the  legal 
business  for  these  corporations  they  do  an  exten- 
sive general  practice. 

Mr.  Mclntyre  is  both  a  business  man  and  lawyer, 
is  a  director'of  the  National  Bank  of  Lumbertou, 
is  president  of  the  Robeson  Building  &  Loan  As- 
sociation, and  is  a  director  of  the  Jennings  and 
Dresden  Cotton  Mills. 

With  all  the  varied  interests  that  demand  some 
share  of  his  attention  Mr.  Mclntyre  has  found 
time  to  serve  his  church,  the  demands  of  social 
life,  and  those  of  public  oflBce.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  he  is  the  only  man  in  the  state  who  at  the 
same  time  has  been  a  trustee  of  Wake  Forest  Col- 
lege, Meredith  College  and  the  Thomasville  Or- 
phanage, the  three  great  Baptist  institutions  of 
North  Carolina.  He  is  deacon  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  Lumbertou.  Mr.  Mclntyre  further  added 
to  his  honors  and  his  record  of  service  by  two 
terms  as  state  senator  from  Robeson  County.  He 
was  in  the  sessions  of  1899  and  of  1901,  and  while 
in  the  Senate  in  the  session  of  1901  he  had  an 
important  part  in  the  impeachment  proceedings 
brought  against  Chief  Justice  Fnrches  and  Justice 
R.  M.  Douglass  of  the  Supreme  Court.  He  is  also 
remembered  as  having  introduced  the  bill  and 
secured  its  passage  appropriating  the  first  $100,000 
for  the  public  school  fund  in  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Mclntyre  married  Miss  Mitta  Allen,  daugh- 
ter of  Romulus  Allen,  of  Wake  Forest.  They  were 
married  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Mclntyre  in  Wake 
Forest.  Their  four  children  are:  Mildred,  wife 
of  L.  P.  Stack;  Lillian,  wife  of  E.  R.  Mclntyre; 
Robert  and  Stephen,  Jr. 

Walter  Gray  Jerome  was  a  teacher  in  early 
life,  but  gave  up  that  vocation  some  years  ago 
and  entered  the  real  estate  business  at  Winston- 
Salem.  He  has  been  very  successful  in  this  line 
and  his  chief  activity  is  the  buying  and  improv- 
ing of  city  and  suburban  tracts  for  residence  pur- 
poses and  he  has  done  much  to  develop  certain 
sections  of  Winston  Salem. 

Mr.  Jerome  is  president  of  the  Ardmore  Com- 
pany, president  of  the  Racine  Company,  president 
of  the  Fidelity  Insurance  Agency,  Incorporated, 
secretary  and  general  manager  of  the  Banner  In- 
vestment Company  and  a  director  of  the  Fealty 
Building  &  Loan  Association.  His  business  repu- 
tation and  position  are  w-ell  assured,  though  he  is 
not  yet  thirty  years  of  age. 

His  birth  "occurred  in  the  Methodist  parsonage 
in  Bladen  County,  North  Carolina,  August  29, 
1887,  while  his  father,  Rev.  Condon  P.  Jerome  was 
pastor.  His  grandfather  was  named  William 
Thomas  Jerome.     Rev.  Condon  P.  Jerome  was  born 


in  Cabarrus  County,  North  Carolina.  The  great- 
grandfather was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  l)ut  in 
the  early  days  came  to  North  Carolina  and  spent 
the  rest  of  his  life  in  Cabarrus  County.  Grand- 
father Jerome  was  for  a  number  of  years  a  mer- 
chant in  Cabarrus  County.  Rev.  Mr.  Jerome  is  a 
graduate  of  Trinity  College  and  afterward  joined 
the  North  Carolina  Methodist  Conference,  in 
which  he  has  been  an  active  and  well  known 
worker  ever  since.  He  married  Flora  E.  Gray, 
who  was  bora  in  Randolph  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, daughter  of  Abner  and  Mrs.  (Blair)  Gray, 
and  the  granddaughter  of  Samuel  Gray.  Rev.  Mr. 
Jerome  and  wife  reared  nine  children:  Josie  T., 
Walter  Gray,  Annie  C,  Fred  D.,  Gladys,  Grace, 
Eunice,  Robert  L.  and  Flora. 

Walter  Gray  Jerome  had  a  liberal  education. 
He  attended  Fremont  Academy  and  prepared  for 
college  at  Gatesville  High  School.  Entering  Trin- 
ity College,  his  father's  alma  mater  he  was  gradu- 
ated with  the  class  of  1907.  He  spent  one  term 
teaching  in  the  old  Trinity  High  School,  and  from 
there  came  to  Winston-Salem.  Mr.  Jerome  was 
for  three  years  an  instructor  in  the  high  school 
at  Winston-Salem.  He  resigned  his  position  as  a 
teacher  to  enter  the  real  estate  business,  where 
his  chief  success  in  life  so  far  has  been  gained. 

Mr.  Jerome  was  married  in  1913  to  Elizabeth 
Pollard.  She  is  a  native  of  Winston-Salem,  daugh- 
ter of  W.  B.  and  Margaret  (Brown)  Pollard.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Jerome  have  two  children :  Elizabetli 
Pollard  and  Walter  Gray,  Jr.  They  are  members 
of  the  West  End  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South. 

William  Francis  XJtley.  The  arduous  service 
and  the  wounds  he  sustained  as  a  gallant  fighting 
soldier  of  the  Confederacy  during  the  war  proved 
no  handicap  to  a  successful  business  career  in 
the  case  of  William  Francis  Utley.  For  half  a 
century  he  has  been  prominently  identified  with 
the  commercial  and  civic  life  of  Wake  County,  and 
is  as  well  known  in  the  capital  city  of  Raleigh  as 
in  his  home  town  of  Apex. 

His  birth  occurred  in  Wake  County  July  9,  1844, 
a  son  of  Quinton  and  Eliza  Jane  ( Speight)  Utley. 
His  father  not  only  had  a  farm  but  also  conducted 
a  general  merchandise  store  in  Raleigh  in  the  early 
days  of  Wake  County.  William  F.  Utley  had 
gained  his  early  education  in  the  local  schools  and 
in  the  Holly  Springs  High  School  before  the  war 
broke  out.  "  He  was  not  yet  seventeen  when  the 
hostilities  were  precipitated,  and  a  few  days  later 
on  May  14,  1861,  he  was  enrolled  as  a  private 
in  Company  D  of  the  Twenty-sixth  North  Caro- 
lina Infantry.  In  1862  he  was  advanced  to  the 
rank  of  orderly  sergeant.  For  fully  three  years 
he  discharged  faithfully  all  the  duties  of  a  brave 
and  efficient  soldier.  In  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg 
on  July  3,  1863,  he  was  wounded  and  cajitured,  but 
after  five  weeks  in  prison  was  exchanged.  He  was 
also  wounded  in  the  Battle  of  the  Wilderness,  be- 
ing shot  in  the  hand,  but  reported  for  duty  the 
next  day  and  was  assigned  to  the  ordnance  depart- 
ment until  he  could  handle  a  gun,  when  he  again 
rejoined  his  regiment.  His  last  engagement  waa 
Reams  Station  on  August,  2.5,  1864,  where  he  lost 
a  leg,  and  this  permanently  disabled  him  from 
further  service  and  he  was  sent  home. 

For  two  years  after  the  war  he  taught  school. 
Then  for  three  years  was  engaged  in  the  lumber 
business  at  Apex,  North  Carolina,  and  following 
that  opened  a  general  stock  of  merchandise,  con- 


400 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


tinuing  in  that  line  of  bnsiness  for  thirty  years 
and  through  it  largely  gaining  those  resources  and 
that  extensive  acquaintance  which  have  made  him 
so  large  a  factor  in  the  business  life  of  his  county. 
He  retired  from  merchandising  in  1904. 

Mr.  Utley  served  as  a  director  of  the  Carolina 
Trust  Comijany  of  Raleigh  until  he  sold  his  inter- 
ests, has  been  vice  president  of  the  Merchants  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Raleigh  since  its  organization,  and 
was  vice  president  of  the  Banking  Loan  &  Trust 
Company  of  Sanford  until  lie  disposed  of  his  in- 
terests: in  1910  he  organized  the  Peoples  Bank  of 
Apex,  which  he  served  two  years  as  president  and 
is  now  active  vice  president ;  is  a  director  of  the 
Apex  Consolidated  Tobacco  Company,  and  has 
various  other  interests,  including  a  large  amount 
of  farm  land,  where  he  raises  tobacco  as  his  chief 
crop. 

Mr.  Utley  rendered  some  very  effective  service 
during  his  term  as  commissioner  for  Wake  County, 
and  he  has  served  as  alderman  of  Apex  and  for  a 
number  of  years  as  a  magistrate  of  Wake  County. 
He  is  an  active  democrat  and  a  member  of  the 
Missionary  Baptist  Church. 

Mr.  Utley  married  Miss  Martha  Elizabeth  Gib- 
bons, whose  father  was  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Gibbons,  a 
native  of  Green  County,  North  Carolina,  who  died 
in  1889.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Utley  are  the  parents  of 
five  children,  three  children  now  living:  Dr.  Harvey 
Gibbons  is  in  practice  at  Gastonia,  North  Carolina ; 
Lottie  Edith  is  the  wife  of  B.  H.  Parker,  a  cotton 
broker,  Gastonia,  North  Carolina;  Elizabeth  Hardy 
is  Mrs.  Alfred  J.  Fletcher,  wife  of  an  attorney  at 
Fuqua  Springs,  North  Carolina. 

Robert  Ruark  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
North  Carolina  on  his  tweut^'-first  birthday.  That 
was  on  December  .3,  1899.  In  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember prior  to  his  admission  he  had  been  grad- 
uated from  the  law  department  of  the  L'niversity 
of  North  Carolina,  and  was  thus  well  prepared  to 
take  up  all  the  serious  resjionsibilities  of  life  when 
he  crossed  that  intangible  dividing  line  between 
youth     and    maturity.      The     success    which     has 


attended   his   efforts   since   then   gives  him   a   posi- 
tion among  the  leading  lawyers  of  the  state. 

He  was  born  in  Southport,  North  Carolina, 
December  3,  1878,  a  son  of  James  Buchanan  and 
Sallie  Potter  Ruark.  His  father  has  been  for 
many  years  a  merchant  in  Southport.  Prior  to 
his  entering  the  University,  Robert  Ruark  attended 
private   schools   in   his   home  town. 

He  was  in  practice  at  Wilmington  until  1903, 
and  during  the  year  1903  was  assistant  to  the 
general  attorney  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph 
Company.  The  years  1904-05  Mr.  Ruark  spent  in 
Lexington,  North  Carolina,  but  then  returned  to 
Wilmington  and  has  built  up  a  splendid  practice, 
largely  corporation  work,  for  lumber  companies, 
insurance  companies,  banks  and  other  business 
concerns.  He  is  now  legal  adviser  to  the  city 
council  of  Wilmington.  Mr.  Ruark  is  state  coun- 
sel in  North  Carolina  for  the  Fidelity  and  Casualty 
Company  of  New  York,  is  local  counsel  for  the 
Equitable  Life  and  Assurance  Company,  and  local 
counsel  for  the  United  States  Fidelity  and  Guar- 
anty Companv'. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina  Bar 
Association,  the  Cape  Fear  Club,  the  Carolina 
Yacht  Club,  and  for  many  years  has  served  on 
the  Board  of  Stewards  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  is  now  a  member  of  the  Trinity 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  being  chairman  of 
its  finance  committee  and  teacher  of  the  Men's 
Bible  Class. 

On  October  24,  1902,  Mr.  Ruark  married  Miss 
Hettie  Gibbons  Westbrook,  of  Faison,  North  Caro- 
lina. She  is  one  of  the  four  daughters  of  John 
Samuel  and  Frances  (Gibbons)  Westbrook.  Her 
father  was  a  farmer  and  nurseryman  of  more  than 
ordinary  achievements  in  the  field  of  horticulture 
in  this  state.  He  was  the  first  North  Carolina 
horticulturist  to  engage  in  the  growing  of  straw- 
berries for  the  northern  markets.  That  was  in 
187M  and  the  scene  of  his  operations  was  at  Wilson. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ruark  have  three  sons:  Samuel 
Westbrook,  Robert  James  and   Henry  Gibbons. 


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